Qualitative data analysis in cross‐cultural projects

Large‐scale research projects, conducted in a cross‐European context, are increasingly attractive to educational researchers and policy‐makers. However, this form of comparative research across cultures brings problems concerning the standardization of data collection and analysis, particularly where ethnographic research is concerned, as it prioritizes a full range of qualitative research strategies. This paper outlines the use of a universal model and the approaches recently taken by two research teams and contrasts these with another recent nine‐partner comparative European study that used ethnographic methods. We then describe the analytical procedures used in the project, which encouraged participant observation and individual researcher interpretation in order to generate grounded accounts and outline how they were culturally sensitive and meaningful to research teams who used varied analytical approaches. However, this raised difficult issues for the ‘final’ analysis and the production of a loosely coupled research report. Our pragmatic solution was a process of ‘qualitative synthesis’ whereby individual partner reports were collated by the Project Director and treated as data and a grounded theory approach was applied to generate tentative theory in respect of creative learning. The paper concludes by arguing that data generated by a loosely coupled approach to qualitative comparative research which uses a wide range of data collection methods can be effectively analysed with a qualitative synthesis.     

Open Learning and New Technologies in Teacher Education: new paradigms for development

This paper suggests that teacher education is undergoing significant transformation. In most countries there is a recognition that the quality and extent of provision will need to be raised. Open and distance education, utilising new interactive forms of technology, will have a crucial, perhaps major, role to play in this process. The school will act increasingly as a ‘site’ for learning within evolving models of initial and in‐service teacher education. All forms of teacher education will exploit new technologies. There will be an increasing convergence between conventional and open and distance modes of delivery. New assessments of costs and effectiveness will need to be made. Changes in technology has rendered ‘out‐of‐date’ much of the previous evaluative evidence. National and international expertise in open and distance education, new methodologies and teacher education will need to be developed.     

The Reconstruction of Primary Teachers' Identities

Primary teachers have had to reconstruct their identities in response to the reconstruction of the education system. The holism, humanism and vocationalism of the old Plowden self-identity has been challenged by a new assigned social identity signalled in the assault on child-centred philosophy, the diminution of elementary trust, and changes in the teacher role. These challenges have thrown up new dilemmas for teachers, and represent 'fateful moments' in the careers of their identities. In trying to resolve the dilemmas, teachers have engaged in identity work, characterised mainly by identity talk, and a number of emotional and intellectual strategies. The result has been a partitioning of the old Plowden self-identity, with the 'real self' being largely withheld from the new personal identity and the sense of vocationalism being set to one side. The new personal identity in teaching represents a more instrumental and situational outlook, with the substantial self finding more expression elsewhere. Identity work is still in progress and seems set to continue while teachers have to find ways of relating to two or more competing discourses.     

Making it Happen: a personal account of a teacher education aid project in the Solomon Islands

Secondary teacher education in the Solomon Islands has been non‐existent since an early attempt was abandoned a decade ago. An international aid project now has attempted to implement a carefully wrought plan. This article outlines the plan, describes what actually happened when the plan was implemented, and proposes some principles which might be useful in guiding the efforts of future project managers charged with the responsibility of making things happen in a culture other than their own.     

Attracting,recruiting and retaining male teachers: policy issues in the male teacher debate

Frequent calls for more male teachers are being made in English‐speaking countries. Many of these calls are based upon the fact that the teaching profession has become (even more) ‘feminized’ and the presumption that this has had negative effects for the education of boys. The employment of more male teachers is sometimes suggested as a way to re‐masculinize schools so they become more ‘boy‐friendly’ and thus contribute to improving boys' school performance. The focus of this paper is on an Australian education policy document in the state of Queensland that is concerned with the attraction, recruitment and retention of male teachers in the government education system. It considers the failure of this document, as with many of the calls for more male teachers, to take into account complex matters of gender raised by feminism and the sociology of masculinities. The paper then critiques the primary argument given for the need for more male teachers: that is, that male teachers provide boys with much needed role models.     

Effects of group rearing on the control exerted by an imprinting stimulus

Prior research suggests that group rearing may attenuate a young bird’s tendency to approach and follow an imprinting stimulus. The present work examined the effect of group rearing on a different measure of attachment, suppression by the imprinting stimulus of distress calling induced by abrupt reductions in group size. In Experiment 1, ducklings were reared in groups of 12 or 3 over Days 1–6 posthatch, and each group received a total of 3.5 h of exposure to an imprinting stimulus. Subsequent tests revealed that, when the groups of ducklings were separated into smaller subgroups: (1) the fewer the ducklings in a subgroup, the more distress calls emitted; (2) a given number of birds separated from a larger group emitted more distress calls than an equal number from a smaller group; and (3) regardless of the subgroup size, fewer distress calls occurred when the imprinting stimulus was present than when it was absent. A second experiment revealed that when a group of 12 birds was first confronted with an imprinting stimulus on Day 6 posthatch, they reacted with an increase in distress calling and corner huddling (an aversive reaction). After several hours of exposure to the stimulus, however, its presence exerted a powerful suppressive effect on distress calling. It is concluded that the social bonds between the members of a brood do not preclude the formation of a social attachment to an imprinting stimulus subsequently encountered.     

Acquisition of behavioral control by the auditory features of an imprinting object

Presentations of a visible moving object immediately suppressed ongoing distress vocalization in newly hatched ducklings, but presentations of only the auditory features of the object initially had no effect. However, as the ducklings received more and more exposure to the visible moving object, the object’s auditory features gradually acquired the ability to suppress distress calls themselves. These auditory features failed to develop suppressive properties in ducklings which received prolonged exposure to those features but never saw the object in motion. The gradual acquisition of behavioral control by the auditory features of a moving object is taken to represent the essence of the imprinting process.     

MicroObservatory Net: A Network of Automated Remote Telescopes Dedicated to Educational Use

Many students have a deep interest in astronomy, but a limited opportunity to use telescopes to explore the heavens. The MicroObservatory Network of automated telescopes is designed to provide access to classroom teachers who wish their students to conduct projects over the World Wide Web. The intuitive interface makes it easy for even 10-year-olds to take pictures. Telescopes can be remotely pointed and focused: filters, field of view, and exposure times can be changed easily. Images are archived at the website, along with sample challenges and a user bulletin board, all of which encourage collaboration among schools. Wide geographic separation of instruments provides access to distant night skies during local daytime. Since first light in 1995, we have learned much about remote troubleshooting, designing for unattended use, and for acquiring the kinds of images that students desire. This network can be scaled up from its present capability of 240,000 images each year to provide telescope access for all US students with an interest in astronomy. Our WWW address is http://mo-www.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory/