CULTURALLY RESPONSIBLE MENTORING: EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH FOR PREPARING STUDENT TEACHERS FOR DIVERSITY

Teacher education is challenged with preparing teachers to work effectively with culturally diverse students. Gaps in the research literature demonstrate that more bridging is needed between teacher education coursework and student teaching experiences, particularly in terms of supervision approaches that consider multicultural issues. This study argues that culturally responsible mentoring is one way to help student teachers put multicultural education into practice. Culturally responsible mentoring helps preservice teachers become critical thinkers about the cultural contexts in which they work. It also assists them in developing equitable and inclusive practices for their particular students. This study defines and describes the practices of culturally responsible mentoring and examines the impact it has on two student teachers in the field.     

Contributors in this Issue

After going through Assertive Discipline training, a student teacher entered her new first-grade class. The mentor classroom teacher did not use Assertive Discipline, but gave permission for the student teacher to use this management system. After teaching students her rules, rewards, and negative consequences—and appropriately implementing Assertive Discipline—it was found that students responded to both the student teacher and the regular classroom teacher in the appropriate ways each expected.     

BOOK REVIEWS

The relationship between components of emotional intelligence (EI) (interpersonal ability, intrapersonal ability, adaptability and stress management) and academic performance in English, maths and science was examined in a sample of 86 children (49 males and 37 females) aged 11–12 years during the primary–secondary school transition period. Results indicated that for both males and females, intrapersonal ability had little relationship with academic achievement, while adaptability had the strongest relationship with achievement in all subjects. Gender differences were particularly pronounced for science, for which stronger relationships were observed with all EI components for males. In addition, apparent only for males was a negative relationship between stress management and science. These findings offer support for the current inclusion of a personal and emotional element in the primary school curriculum, and indicate that such training is likely to help males more than females to make a successful transition from primary to secondary school.     

The Role of Play in Helping Children with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Access the Curriculum in a Mainstream Secondary School

In this discussion I aim to explore the use of ‘play’ with pupils with perceived emotional and behavioural difficulties in mainstream secondary schools and to provide practical examples of how this could be achieved. This will involve references to viewpoints regarding the value of play for its own sake, for therapeutic purposes, within child development, and within Primary education, and then the linking of these with discussions regarding the needs of children with perceived emotional and behavioural difficulties. The part on practice will focus on the use of play, in the sense of the provision of practical and concrete materials, as a means of accessing the curriculum in a mainstream secondary classroom, rather than on its use for emotional or social development, although the three can be shown to be interchangeable. This discussion is in no way meant to be considered as comparable to a piece of research or containing any empirical evidence as to the validity of the arguments within it. It is meant to present considerations, prompted by and deriving from personal perspectives and experiences.     

A Quantitative Survey of Knowledge of Reproductive Health Issues of 12-14-year-old Girls of Different Ethnic and Religious Backgrounds in Iran: Implications for education

A quantitative research study was conducted to examine the knowledge of girls aged 12-14 years regarding reproductive health in five cities in Iran with different ethnic and cultural majorities. A cross-sectional study using a self-administrated questionnaire was conducted among guide school (middle school) pupils. Data analysis was based on 1,893 questionnaires. The internal consistency of the items was 0.80. Overall, knowledge level was unsatisfactory. An association between age and knowledge about reproductive health was found. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference in the knowledge of reproductive health between cities. The findings suggest that reproductive health education initiatives that involve mothers may be most appro priate in terms of cultural and religious sensitivities, and be in keeping with the wishes of the girls themselves.     

Design of Online Professional Development in Science Content and Pedagogy: A Pilot Study in Florida

The Exploring Florida Science project goals were: (1) increasing content knowledge of secondary science teachers, specifically in topics that are important to the future of the state, and (2) providing secondary science students with digital media for use in project-based learning. A team of instructional designers, educators, scientists, web designers and teacher educators designed an online professional development environment. Needs analysis included identification of the high incidence topics on the state science achievement test and topics of socio-scientific importance in the state. Development followed tenets of design-based research, and was guided by E-Learning for Educators standards and evaluated for content, pedagogy and usability using rubrics based on established guidelines. This paper details design, development, and evaluation frameworks, and summarizes pilot testing outcomes.     

“One man one job”: the marriage ban and the employment of women teachers in Irish primary schools

In 1932, the Irish government, facing an economic downturn, introduced a marriage ban which required that female primary school teachers were required to resign on marriage. This followed a series of restrictive legislative measures adopted by Irish governments throughout the 1920s which sought to limit women's participation in public life and the public sector. Such a requirement emerged in several countries in response to high unemployment and applied principally to women's white-collar occupations, leading some commentators to argue that it stemmed from a social consensus rather than an economic rationale. Despite opposition to the ban from the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) on the basis that it was unconstitutional, would lead to fewer marriages and that married women were in fact more suited to teaching children, it remained in place until 1958. Although the ban is much referred to as part of the gender ideology that informed legislation in the early years of independent Ireland, the particular history of married women teachers has been little researched in the academic context. Over 50 years since the rescinding of the ban, this article examines its impact through an analysis of primary sources, including government cabinet minutes and the public commentary of the INTO and positions this history within the international context.     

Studying Political Tensions in University Governance: A Focus on Board Member Constructions of Role

Tertiary Education and Management - The article considers the importance of examining how members of university governing bodies understand and perform their roles in the politically complex...     

Grades or Scores: Predicting Future College Mathematics Peflormance

Do men and women with similar admissions test scores earn similar grades in mathematics? What factors may explain underprediction for women? Do men and women differ in persistence in mathematics study?