Learning to Read in the Digital Age

ABSTRACT—The digital age offers transformative opportunities for individualization of learning. First, modern imaging technologies have changed our understanding of learning and the sources and ranges of its diversity. Second, digital technologies make it possible to design learning environments that are responsive to individual differences. We draw on CAST's research and development on universal design for learning to suggest the potential of digital reading environments that are designed to support learning and engagement by addressing the diversity in learners' representation, strategic and affective networks. Optimal customization depends on continued advances in the digital tools of the neurosciences and the design and enactment of digital learning environments.     

Empathy, Interaction and Caring: Teachers' Roles in a Constrained Environment

This paper describes some of the key findings from a recently completed PhD, which examined the role of empathy in teacher–pupil relationships and its relevance to moral modelling. The project collected data through interviews and classroom observations and used grounded methodology theory for the analysis. The literature considers the latest research in neuroscience and the significance of emotions in moral decision making alongside older psychological research on affect and empathy in learning.
Despite an overwhelming desire to support, care for and relate deeply to pupils, teachers were continually constrained by the conditions in which they worked. Time was stolen from them by the nature of the current education system; the fragmented and rigid curriculum; the time poor nature of their working conditions; the bureaucracy of modern education and the large numbers of pupils and low frequency of contact. The moral model available for students becomes degraded and needs remain unmet. Teachers are obliged to show lack of care towards individuals, the reverse of what they believe to be necessary and what their pupils want and need.     

Getting Angry at Peers: Associations with Liking of the Provocateur

We examined how preschoolers coped with anger in interactions with well liked and not well liked peers. The free-play interactions of preschool-aged children ( M age = 66.27 months) were observed for 6 months. The frequency, causes, and intensity of children's anger, as well as their anger-related reactions, were compared for incidents provoked by peers who were "really liked" to those provoked by peers who were liked only "a little bit." Although there were no differences in the intensity of anger provocations by well liked and not well liked provocateurs, children's responses to provocations by well liked peers were more controlled than was the case for anger provoked by peers who were not well liked. In general, boys were more responsive to how they felt about the provocateur than were girls. These findings suggest that anger episodes with well liked children were less stressful than those with peers who were not well liked.     

Changing Teacher–Child Dyadic Interactions to Improve Preschool Children's Externalizing Behaviors

A randomized controlled trial was used to examine the impact of an attachment‐based, teacher–child, dyadic intervention (Banking Time) to improve children's externalizing behavior. Participants included 183 teachers and 470 preschool children (3–4 years of age). Classrooms were randomly assigned to Banking Time, child time, or business as usual (BAU). Sparse evidence was found for main effects on child behavior. Teachers in Banking Time demonstrated lower negativity and fewer positive interactions with children compared to BAU teachers at post assessment. The impacts of Banking Time and child time on reductions of parent‐ and teacher‐reported externalizing behavior were greater when teachers evidenced higher‐quality, classroom‐level, teacher–child interactions at baseline. An opposite moderating effect was found for children's positive engagement with teachers.     

Exploring Teachers’ Depressive Symptoms,Interaction Quality,and Children’s Social-Emotional Development in Head Start

Research Findings: This study explored the role Head Start teachers’ (n = 355) depressive symptoms play in their interactions with children and in children’s (n = 2,203) social-emotional development, specifically changes in children’s problem behaviors and social skills as reported by parents and teachers during the preschool year. Results of the multilevel path analyses revealed that children in classrooms with more depressed teachers made significantly fewer gains in social-emotional skills as reported by both teachers and parents. We found no evidence of mediation by the quality of teacher–child interactions. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for understanding and supporting Head Start teachers’ mental health and potentially improving children’s social-emotional outcomes.     

Students as epistemological agents: claiming life experience as real knowledge in health professional education

Higher Education - University teachers’ practices of resistance against dominant epistemological norms have been described in recent critical higher education literature, but comparatively...     

Preschool teachers’ self-efficacy,burnout, and stress in online professional development: a mixed methods approach to understand change

ABSTRACT

This mixed methods study examines the impact of online professional development on preschool teachers’ self-efficacy, burnout, and stress. Participating teachers (n = 89) were randomly assigned into four groups: one of three treatment conditions (course-only, conference, reflective writing) or a control group. All treatment conditions received a 14-week online course on teacher-child interactions, which included regular homework assignments and community discussion boards. The conference and reflective writing conditions received additional supports. Regression analyses revealed that teachers who were in the course-only treatment condition had decreased self-efficacy and increased emotional exhaustion, a component of burnout, relative to the control group. However, teachers in the conference and reflective writing conditions did not experience such negative effects. Qualitative analyses suggest that all teachers tended to focus on personal challenges within the course, but teachers who had access to conference and reflective writing supports benefited from the availability of emotional outlets and/or opportunities for feedback