Teacher education in Bhutan: highlights and challenges for reform

Bhutan is embarking on a comprehensive education reform process, with teachers and teacher education at the centre of a number of initiatives. This study describes the current state of affairs based on interviews with key informants and semi-structured focus groups in Bhutan. Several major themes emerged, including issues of quality of students and teaching, the integration of theory and practice, organizational structure and culture, and working conditions at the present Colleges of Education, and in the broader education sector.     

Toward a Theory of School Effectiveness and Leadership

ABSTRACT

The research on school effectiveness and school improvement lacks theoretical development. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the construction of a theory of school effectiveness and leadership. The contribution made here is in the form of a typology of school effectiveness. In the early stages of theoretical development, typologies are often useful devices for organizing what is known and for focusing attention on important questions and areas for further exploration. Within the typological framework offered here, school effectiveness is supposed to be a function of three major factors: administrative appropriateness, teacher preparedness and student readiness. While parents and community effects are important, they are assumed to be mediated by these three factors. The most ineffective schools are those in which the administration is inappropriate, the teachers are not prepared to teach and the students are not ready to learn. In the most effective schools, the opposite is the case. Schools tend to move back and forth between these two extremes in stages. It is hypothesized that there are eight stages of school effectiveness, the stages ranging from the most ineffective to the most effective school.     

Socialization of graduate teaching assistants: a case study in an American university

Although graduate teaching assistants [GTAS] play an important role on most American university campuses, and despite the fact that the GTA experience is often the only formal professional training that faculty receive, little is known about how GTAS are prepared for their role. One of the most enigmatic processes related to GTA role development is that of socialization. This paper reports the results of a study examining the types of messages that new GTAS receive about their role and the manner in which particular types of communication strategies are used to cope with inconsistencies and conflicts among those messages. It was found that GTAS are exposed to thematic messages about what it means to be a GTA, that they experienced difficulties when attempting to use those messages to guide behavior and decision‐making, and that information‐seeking strategies were used in response to the specific types of problems that were experienced.     

Strength in numbers? Women and mathematics

Two studies were conducted to test the link between numerical distinctiveness, stereotype threat and mathematical performance among women. In the first study, stereotype threat was measured with a stereotype activation task. Women in a solo, non-solo or control condition completed word fragments and a mathematical activity. Solo women, rather than their non-solo counterparts showed mathematical performance deficits. Evidence did not support the mediating role of stereotype activation. In the second study, stereotype anxiety was assessed. According to analyses, solo women reported greater stereotype-related anxiety than non-solo women. A link between stereotype anxiety and mathematical performance deficits was also uncovered. Finally, mathematical underperformance was associated with greater interest in feminine activities. Strategies to buffer the effects of stereotype threat are discussed.