Teacher identity development through action research: a Chinese experience

This study explores how two language teachers constructed and reconstructed their professional identities through their action research (AR) facilitated by university researchers in China. Informed by the theory of ‘community of practice’, the findings of the study show that AR exerted a transformative impact on the teachers’ identity development. Four distinctive routes of identity change were noted, namely their transformation from ‘fisherman’ to ‘fishing coach’, from ‘craftsman’ to ‘teacher researcher’, from ‘lonely fighter’ to ‘collaborator’, and from ‘housekeeper’ to ‘change agent’. Such change can be attributed to their engagement and practice in different communities of practice. However, the participants’ identity development also encountered some contextual obstacles, including the rigid school curriculum, lack of research knowledge, as well as the power dynamics between them and the researchers. Several implications can be drawn for teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders to help teachers construct a solid and robust professional identity in seeking their continuing professional development through AR.     

The white cube in the black box: assessing artistic research quality in multidisciplinary academic panels

Despite its imperfections, academic peer review has been accepted as a satisfactory process by which assessment panels comprised of different disciplinary representatives arrive at agreement through a system of shared rules and language that respects disciplinary plurality. Artistic researchers, whose output is required to meet both scholarly research criteria and the aesthetic standards expected by their peers in the art world, express concern that university peer review processes disadvantage their disciplines due to differences between artistic research and more science-informed research expectations. As research created with the artistic ‘white cube’ in mind intersects with this ‘black box’ of scholarly peer review, do the shared protocols adopted by peer-review panels extend to research expressed not in scholarly text but in artistic artefact? Are there features inherent in artistic research that impinge upon equitable consideration within these settings? This paper draws upon face-to-face interviews with visual and performing artists in three Australian universities to explore how these researchers experience university peer review. It contributes a distinctive disciplinary perspective to understanding university assessment and evaluation processes for the benefit of both academic staff and postgraduate students.     

Investigation of guided school tours,student learning,and science reform recommendations at a museum of natural history

A study of docent‐led guided school tours at a museum of natural history was investigated. Researchers engaged in naturalistic inquiry to describe how natural history content was conveyed to students and what students gained from this model of touring. They also investigated how the content and pedagogy within the guided tour complemented recommendations from formal science standards documents and informal learning literature. About 30 visiting school groups in Grades 2–8 were observed. Teachers (n = 30) and select students (n = 85) were interviewed. Researchers found that tours were organized in a didactic way that conflicted with science education reform documents and research related to learning within informal contexts. Students' responses to interview questions indicated high satisfaction with the tours but low levels of science learning. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 200–218, 2003     

The role of pupil voice as a trigger for teacher learning in Lesson Study professional groups

This paper focuses on the role of pupil voice as a trigger for teacher learning and for improving teaching quality. This is investigated in the context of Lesson Study (LS), a professional development model that can incorporate pupil voice into teachers’ collaborative reflections on lessons. Data are from two LS groups of mathematics teachers in London (one primary and one secondary school). Video-recorded pupil interviews and teacher discussions were transcribed. Episodes of teacher discussions were coded for reference to pupil input and subsequent impact on future plans. Qualitative analysis of discussions examined whether some pupils’ input was favoured over others’. Results are significant in pointing to LS as a mechanism for attending to pupil voice. In so doing, it is suggested that pupil input provided a challenge for teachers in their interpretations of pupil learning, evaluating lessons and planning, and in contributing to teacher learning from LS.     

WebCT Role-Playing: Immediacy Versus E-Mediacy in Learning Environments

University teachers are increasingly encouraged to use e-Learning techniques to expand on- and off-campus learning environments available to students. Many e-Learning tools are attractive because of their ease of use and considerable research has demonstrated their popularity with both students and educators. Our research deviates from discourses promoting the attractiveness of the technology and instead examines the quality of learning outcomes offered by e-Mediated techniques, especially for distance learners. We outline an experiment in which e-Mediated delivery was compared to the immediacy of face-to-face teaching exercises. We demonstrate that, despite the ease of design, students in the e-Mediated environment did not retain or apply their knowledge as well as those from the face-to-face medium. We provide suggestions as to why this is the case and make recommendations for overcoming the hurdles in e-Mediated delivery identified by our research. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Parental Academic Socialization: Effects of home‐based parental involvement on locus of control across U.S. ethnic groups

This study investigates the relations between three academic socialisation processes and late adolescents’ internal locus of control. A sample of 249 college students from four ethnic groups completed three measures. Three factors explained 46.44% of the variance in academic socialisation, and the following differences were found: emotional support and active involvement were rated by all as the most frequent practices used by parents, and European Americans rated these significantly higher than did Asian Americans, who reported the highest mean score on “demandingness” practices. Separate multiple regression analyses suggested that among Asian Americans and European Americans, emotional support practices predicted internal locus of control; however, this model was not significant among Latinos and African Americans. Results suggest that academic socialisation practices operate differentially on psychological outcomes for adolescents in different ethnic groups, extending our knowledge of how culture shapes parenting and parent–child relationships.     

Development of Working Memory from Grade 3 to 5: Differences between Children With and Without Mathematical Learning Difficulties

Based on the finding that children with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) have deficits in working memory (WM), the question arises as to whether these children differ from typical learners only in the level or also in the developmental trajectories of WM functioning. To this end, the WM of 80 children with MLD and 71 typical learners was assessed longitudinally from third to fifth grade. Typical learners outperformed children with MLD in the phonological, visuospatial and central executive WM functioning in third grade. Latent change analyses indicated that both phonological and central executive WM functioning developed in a parallel pattern in children with MLD and in typical learners. In contrast, visuospatial WM functioning revealed a different development in children with and without MLD since the gap between both groups decreased over time. Overall, despite starting at a lower level, the WM functioning in children with MLD did not develop more slowly.     

Included? The Status of African American Scholars in the Discipline of Criminology and Criminal Justice Since 2004

This article provides a re-examination of the progress of African Americans in criminology/criminal justice doctoral programs since 2004. It focuses on African-American faculty, their scholarly research, and involvement in professional associations. Recent trends in African Americans enrolled in doctoral programs also are analyzed. Findings indicate that the representation of African-American faculty and doctoral students in criminology and criminal justice programs has increased although both continue to be under-represented in programs at predominantly white institutions. Evidence of increases in their contributions to the body of knowledge and service to professional associations was notable. The article concludes with strategies and recommendations for ensuring that inclusion continues to matter in the next decade.     

‘When I do “bad stuff,” I make the most difference’: exploring doubt,demoralization, and contradictions in LGBTQIA + ally work

Research has demonstrated that teacher allies are integral to social justice work that strives to ensure safety and success for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender and sexuality non-conforming (LGBTQIA+) students. However, prevailing discussions present allyhood in ways that ignore the complexities and contradictions that shape an ally’s efforts and experiences. Drawing on narrative-based interviews with ‘Bailey,’ and integrating conceptual frameworks that seek to make doubt and failure productive, this paper seeks to redefine ally activism in ways that challenge prevailing notions of ally work and that more fully consider sociocultural and political contexts.