Is teacher knowledge associated with performance? On the relationship between teachers’ general pedagogical knowledge and instructional quality

Researchers have identified general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) as a relevant category of teacher knowledge. However, hardly any study has examined the relationship between GPK of teachers and the instructional quality delivered to their students. This article therefore investigates the relationship between teachers’ GPK assessed via a standardised paper–pencil test and the quality of their instruction rated by their students. A sample of 246 in-service teachers at vocational schools in Austria is used. Teachers’ GPK positively correlates with students’ perceptions of effective classroom management, generic teaching methods/teacher clarity and teacher–student relationships. Regression analysis shows that GPK is a significant predictor for instructional quality even when controlled for teacher education grades, teacher personality (Big-Five) and teaching experience. Implications of teachers’ GPK as a resource for their teaching, limitations of the study and perspectives for future research are discussed.     

Children’s Daily Routines During Kindergarten Transition

Routines are an important feature of family life and functioning in families with young children. Common daily routines such as dinnertime, bedtime, and waking activities are powerful organizers of family behavior and may be instrumental to children and families during times of transition, such as elementary school entry. Daily routines were examined in 132 families with children entering kindergarten. Although the majority of families reported regular daily routines for their children, parents anticipated that their child’s daily routines would substantially shift upon kindergarten entry, including changes in children’s sleep habits. Significant changes in child and family routines have been implicated in adjustment difficulties during kindergarten transition. Results of this investigation are discussed in terms of aligning family daily routines with kindergarten expectations. Furthermore, educational professionals in early childhood education and elementary school can partner with families to promote seamless kindergarten transitions for all children.     

Disrupting the 'boys don't read' discourse: Primary school boys who love reading fiction

This article disrupts dominant discourses around boys and reading that often homogenise young males as reluctant, disengaged and, at times, adversarial readers. Rather than essentialising boys, we argue there is a need for a more sophisticated knowledge base about the influences, constraints and diverse experiences of boys as readers in society today. Drawing on interviews (n = 30) with Year 4 (8 to 9-year-old) boys at six schools, we consider their personal recounts of their enjoyment in reading, their preferred reading choices and narratives related to their experiences as readers at school. Analysis highlights boys' emerging reading interests, sophisticated and specific reading preferences, and changes in reading identities over time. Boys' preferences for particular fiction authors, novel series and genres dispute the common assumption in educational contexts that boys prefer to engage with non-fiction books. This finding is significant, as negative gendered stereotypes can impact on boys' reading self-concepts. It is also critical given Jerrim and Moss's recent research highlighting the importance of fiction in the development of reading skills. We consider implications for pedagogical practices that broaden reading experiences for the diversity of emerging masculine reading identities in nations such as Australia, where there is an absence of reading for pleasure in education policies.     

Associations between teacher-rated behavioral problems and reading difficulties? Interactions over time and halo effects

Associations between reading difficulties and problem behaviours in the classroom have been discussed controversially since the 1970s. The present paper investigates the influence of reading performance on teacher ratings of behavioural problems while taking into account behavioural autocorrelations and teacher halo effects. Teachers rated reading (in the middle of the school year) and behaviour (at the beginning and end of the school year) for a sample of 171 first-grade students. In addition, the students’ reading performance was objectively assessed via a standardised test at the end of first grade. The results showed that the effect of reading problems on classroom behaviour is heavily affected by autocorrelational and halo effects. After controlling for the interaction between teachers’ ratings of reading and behaviour, objectively measured reading performance had only a marginal direct effect on behaviour (as rated by teachers). Therefore, we argue that findings from the literature on the co-morbidity of behaviour and reading may be affected by similar (halo) effects, causing the effect of reading difficulties on classroom behaviour to be overestimated. Co-morbidities reported in the study should be closely examined with respect to their ‘methodological composition’ in the future.     

Embedded gender expectations: A covariate analysis of conflict situations and issues

A recent meta‐analysis of gender differences in the selection of conflict management strategies revealed small effect sizes. To explore the possibility that the primary experiments used situations and instances containing embedded gender expectations, 49 participants completed a survey evaluating the actual scenarios used in the primary research. They rated conflict strategies far efficacy, consequences, and gender bias and evaluated the scenarios for the male/female sex role appropriateness of each situation reported in the primary studies. A covariate analysis provides evidence that gender‐based cognitions play a small, but meaningful role in assessments of conflict situations.     

Academic self-concept and causal attributions for success and failure amongst elementary school children

A great deal of research shows that the way in which children attribute causes to their successes and failures in school has implications for the development of their academic self-concept (ASC). The most common attributions are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The present study asked 68 elementary school children aged seven to eight years how they explained their successes and failures in school subjects. The aim of the study was to examine whether there were gender differences in the children’s responses which might indicate differences in ASCs or in their explanations for the causes of success or failure. Data were collected via quantitative questionnaires. Results showed no gender differences in ASC but, within the group, boys were more likely to attribute their success to high ability; on the other hand girls were more likely to attribute their failures to low ability or the difficulty level of task. This suggests that boys are more likely than girls to provide positive, self-enhancing reasons for their success while girls are more likely than boys to provide negative, self-deprecating reasons for their failures.     

Teaching in a patient-centered medical home

Teaching Lamaze International classes in a patient-centered medical home allows the childbirth educator the best environment for giving evidence-based information and empowering parents to give birth their way. Patient-centered medical home facilities and providers practice evidence-based care and adhere to the principles of family-centered maternity care. In patient-centered medical homes, women can expect to give birth using the Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices and to fully participate in their care with appropriate interventions and the right to informed consent and informed refusal.