A narrative inquiry into schooling in China: three images of the principalship

This narrative inquiry exploring contemporary Chinese schooling involved three researchers who worked collaboratively as a team. Each researcher resonated with a different image of the principalship embedded in the storied account proffered by Xu Xiaozhang 校长, leader of Hexie Elementary School in Tianjin, China. (1) Principal as the lead teacher; (2) principal as an agent of a harmonious learning community; and (3) principal as a teacher-maker were the images Principal Xu held and expressed. In the interpretive analysis, Xu Xiaozhang’s images of principal were nested one within the other in ways that brought Deweyan pragmatism and Confucian thought fruitfully together. The subtle nuances of the images provide an upclose view of schooling on one elementary campus in China that is of international interest and value.     

Children's Interpretations of Biblical Meal Stories: Ethnographic Intertextual Voicing as the Practice of Hospitable Pedagogy

Based on the ethnography conducted by Magrini in three midwestern United Methodist congregations, this article examines the development of “ethnographic intertextual voicing,” which describes multiple contexts and the ways in which these contexts influence representation of the participants and in turn, create in a community of learning. The ethnography studied children's interpretations of biblical meal stories, Eucharist experiences, and reflections on daily meal practices. Magrini's hospitable pedagogy approach was applied with 25 children ages 5 through 11. The hospitable pedagogy approach created a teaching and learning environment through which ethnographic intertextual voicing emerged. The author argues that ethnographic intertextual voicing is influenced by familial, ethnic, and faith contexts, as well as those of the researcher, and can create a community of learning as a result of the ethnographic research itself through the practice of hospitable pedagogy as a research methodology.     

Design lessons about participatory self-directed online learning in a graduate-level instructional technology course

This article reports on a case of participatory self-directed online learning within the context of a graduate-level instructional technology course. The course was about online learning environments and relied on both asynchronous and synchronous technologies. In this case, the instructor and students engaged in collaborative course design through one of the assignments where student teams and the instructor led one week’s worth of course activities and discussions. This article begins with a discussion of the literature on participatory self-directed online learning. Then, the article presents an overview of the course design, detailed discussion of the assignment that framed student participatory self-directed learning and two examples of student assignments. The framing question for organising this case was as follows: What lessons can a team of graduate students and the instructor learn about self-directed participatory online learning from a collaborative design project? The article ends with the overall lessons learned from the case and implications to future design of online activities.     

Lakota Undergraduates as Partners in Aging Research in American Indian Communities

Studies have established the beneficial role of engaging students in research at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Authentic research experiences serve as a tool for instruction where students are actively involved in the process of discovery, the scientific method, and advancing existing fields with scientific data. Further, students report that they enjoy such experiences, making them more likely to pursue and maintain active careers in the sciences. Engaging minority students as active partners in faculty research not only involves them in the scientific process, but also enables others to gain access to minority participants in a culturally-appropriate manner. This paper focuses on the mutually beneficial role of American Indian students as active partners in faculty research on aging, where they played a vital role in the development and completion of the project. The benefits for the students included high retention rates for a typically at-risk group of college students, a mentoring relationship with a faculty member, and opportunities to blend their cultural background with the college experience.     

Advice from Rural Elders: What it Takes to Age in Place

Older adults prefer to age in place (AIP), and there are psychological, physiological, and economic benefits in doing so. However, it is especially challenging to AIP in rural communities. AIP models have been tested in urban settings and age-segregated communities, but they are not appropriate for rural communities. This paper presents rural AIP variables identified in the literature as well as those described by 39 older adults in five focus groups.     

Benefits of Brief Counseling Training for Master's‐Level Trainees in University Counseling Centers

Little has been addressed in the literature about the advantages of brief counseling training for master's‐level trainees working in university counseling centers. This article discusses the benefits that time‐limited treatment affords trainees and offers implications for training and research.     

Developing Expertise With Classroom Assessment in K–12 Science: Learning to Interpret Student Work. Interim Findings From a 2-Year Study

This article reports findings on growth in 3 science teachers' expertise with interpretation of student work over 1 year of participation in a program. The program was designed to strengthen classroom assessment. Using a framework for classroom assessment expertise, we analyze patterns of teacher learning, and the roles of the professional program and the quality of the assessments provided with teachers' instructional materials.     

Mapping the social side of pre-service teachers: connecting closeness,trust, and efficacy with performance

This exploratory study foregrounds the important, but often understudied social side of pre-service teacher development and its relation to teaching performance in one university-based teacher preparation program in the US. We examine the extent to which pre-service elementary teachers’ social relationships and perceptions of peer trust and efficacy are associated with performance on a high stakes mathematics teaching assessment. Findings suggest that social and emotional support through close social ties, peer trust, and self-efficacy are significantly and positively associated with pre-service teachers’ teaching performance. Our work further contributes to the development and discourse about teacher education in university-based teacher preparation programs.     

Teacher Acceptability of Functional Assessment-Derived Treatments

This study examines whether teachers find a treatment clearly linked to a functional assessment more acceptable than treatments based on arbitrarily selected reinforcers. We randomly assigned 111 elementary school teachers to 3 experimental conditions. In all conditions, a problem vignette was read that included the same functional assessment summary but varied according to whether the treatment recommendation was linked to the assessment results. A one-way analysis of variance revealed significantly higher pretreatment acceptability ratings and likelihood of use for the treatment linked to assessment. Implications of these results for school-based consultation are discussed.     

Peer victimization and depression in children with and without motor coordination difficulties

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a chronic disability that impacts children's performance of everyday motor‐based activities and is associated with the development of secondary social and mental health problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate peer victimization and depression in children who were and were not at risk for DCD. Selected from a population‐based sample, 159 at‐risk fifth graders were matched for age and gender to 159 controls. Children completed measures of depression and frequency of peer victimization. Results showed that children at risk for DCD reported more symptoms of depression and more frequent verbal and relational victimization than their peers. Being at risk for DCD and being bullied more frequently, especially relationally, significantly predicted increased depression symptoms. Findings highlight the importance of school psychologists remaining aware that children with DCD are at increased risk of experiencing bullying and depression. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.