Promoting higher levels of reflective writing in student journals

This paper traces the development over several years of an initiative involving student journals that was introduced into a tertiary science education course for pre‐service teachers to promote enhanced learning of how to teach science. Very soon after introducing the journals into course work the lecturer began engaging in ‘unplanned’ informal reflection (reflection‐in‐action and reflection‐on‐action) when she witnessed the shallow, often trivial nature of her students’ reflective writing and the lack of pedagogical insights they were gaining from the exercise. Motivated by her own ongoing scholarship the lecturer introduced purposeful coaching of reflective skills into her pedagogy to scaffold students’ learning and promote more useful reflection. The impact of these interventions on students’ reflective capabilities and learning were investigated using a formal action research cycle. Findings indicate that student teachers’ reflective skills improved and resulted in deeper and more focused thinking about how to teach science for learning.     

‘I never imagined I’d have to teach these children’: providing authentic learning experiences for secondary pre‐service teachers in teaching students with special needs

This article describes a collaborative and cross‐curricula initiative undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The project involved developing an integrated approach to providing professional year pre‐service secondary teacher education students with experiences that would assist them to develop their knowledge and skills to teach students with special needs in their classrooms. These experiences were undertaken in the authentic teaching and learning context of a post‐school literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In preliminary interviews pre‐service teachers revealed that they lacked experience, knowledge and understanding related to teaching students with special needs, and felt that their teacher education program lacked focus in this field. This project was developed in response to these expressed needs. Through participating in the project, pre‐service teachers’ knowledge and understanding about working with students with diverse learning needs were developed as they undertook real and purposeful tasks in an authentic context.     

Towards an understanding of the place of ethics in school-based action research in the United Kingdom

As school-based action research has taken a higher profile in UK schools, the place of ethics warrants particular attention. This paper draws on evidence from a taught online Master of Education course collated via chat room discussion where 53 researching teachers were asked to explore policy within their own institution regarding school-based action research ethics. None of these teachers identified the existence of any such policies but described instead current practices. We analysed their reported school-based action research practices and discovered three major categories of response: the unexamined use of gatekeepers; the unsupported use of existing ethics guidelines (such as those of the British Educational Research Association); and the conflation of legal and ethical demands by schools. We raise questions relating to the relationship between ethics and education and call for all those involved in school-based action research to take part in developing action research ethical policy in school.     

The impact of Specialist School status: a case study of two contrasting mathematics and computing colleges

The research examines the range of effects of obtaining Specialist School status in two contrasting mathematics and computing colleges, concentrating on the mathematics department. The positive impact of a wider range of technology was evident in both schools although the inherent pedagogical perspectives within each mathematics department remained fixed. Some definite tensions were evident in both schools – timetabling difficulties mitigating against maintaining and strengthening partnerships, a growing assumption that, having obtained Specialist School status, all mathematics staff were deemed to be ‘experts’. Key subject personnel in both schools obtained promotion within two years; each left a significant ‘gap’ in provision and development and raised issues of ‘succession management’ which had been unforeseen.     

Segmenting Texts Into Meaningful Word Groups: Beginning Readers’ Prosody and Comprehension

It was hypothesized that prosodic reading facilitates beginning readers’ comprehension by allowing them to segment the text into meaningful word groups. Two prosodic features of the oral reading of second-grade students were considered: lack of inappropriate pauses and attention to punctuation. To examine the unique contribution of these features to reading comprehension, fluency (speed and accuracy of reading) and vocabulary were controlled. As expected, both prosodic features were significantly related to comprehension, jointly explaining as much variance as fluency. Accordingly, it might be counterproductive to encourage reading speed and accuracy at the expense of prosody.     

Mental Rotation With Tangible Three‐Dimensional Objects: A New Measure Sensitive to Developmental Differences in 4‐ to 8‐Year‐Old Children

There is an emerging consensus that spatial thinking is fundamental to later success in math and science. The goals of this study were to design and evaluate a novel test of three‐dimensional (3D) mental rotation for 4‐ to 8‐year‐old children (N = 165) that uses tangible 3D objects. Results revealed that the measure was both valid and reliable and indicated steady growth in 3D mental rotation between the ages of 4 and 8. Performance on the measure was highly related to success on a measure of two‐dimensional (2D) mental rotation, even after controlling for executive functioning. Although children as young as 5 years old performed above chance, 3D mental rotation appears to be a difficult skill for most children under the age of 7, as indicated by frequent guessing and difficulty with mirror objects. The test is a useful new tool for studying the development of 3D mental rotation in young children.     

‘I assume they don't think!’: teachers’ perceptions of Normal Technical students in Singapore

Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about students in a particular grouping hierarchy are shaped by their ideological views. Within education systems that have high international profiles, such as Singapore, what has been less explored is how teachers think about and interact with students who are seemingly positioned as being ‘low-ability’ or ‘low achieving’ within disadvantaged education contexts. This paper accordingly examines teachers’ perceptions of ‘Normal Technical’ students in Singapore. The findings underscore the need to understand teachers’ interpretations and thinking about teaching and learning processes that influence classroom practice. This is a necessary starting point for pedagogical innovation and change in schools.