Listening to children’s voices on intercultural education policy and practice

The overarching purpose of this research is to investigate native and immigrant children’s experiences of intercultural pedagogical practices in Cyprus schools. It also explores their suggestions for the improvement of policies and practices for intercultural education. Last but not least, it examines whether Cypriot and immigrant students share similar or different conceptualisations and understandings regarding the above aspects. To this end, interviews were carried out with 40 pupils, aged 11–12, of five primary schools, which presented high concentrations of immigrant students. On the basis of our analysis of our data, the children appeared to perceive intercultural education in terms of culturally responsive discussions, collaborative learning and language learning.     

Self–Efficacy Pathways Between Relational Aggression and Nonsuicidal Self–Injury

The authors recruited college students (N = 648) and investigated relationships among academic and social self–efficacy, relational aggression from parents and peers, and nonsuicidal self–injury (NSSI). Results indicated that both types of self–efficacy were related inversely to NSSI. Academic self–efficacy mediated the relationship between parental emotional abuse and NSSI, whereas social self–efficacy mediated the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI. Clinical implications of these findings for college counselors are discussed.     

Emotions and values – a case study of meaning-making in ESE

With an interest in the role of emotions and values in students’ meaning-making in Environmental and Sustainability Education a case study was carried out in a Swedish school-class with students, 12 years of age. During a six-week thematic group-work focusing environmental and sustainability issues related to food, the students were observed and interviewed in their daily school practice. The results are presented here through narrative reporting, and analysed with the use of Dewey’s theoretical perspectives on experience, distinguishing three phases in a process: a start, an activity phase and a closure. Martha Nussbaum’s theory of emotions is used to assist in the understanding of emotions and values. The study reports on active and independent meaning-making processes in students’ group work. The results provide examples of students’ meaning-making experiences and the role of emotions and values in them, indicating that more of values are formed and expressed in the concluding phase.     

Effekte videobasierter Trainings zur Förderung der Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen über Klassenführung im Grundschulunterricht

Self-efficacy in classroom management and knowledge on classroom management are important teacher resources regarding their health. Fostering student teachers in their self-efficacy in classroom management and situated knowledge on classroom management is a promising approach for reducing reality shock at the beginning of in-service teaching. Thus, the present quasi-experimental pre-post control group study investigates whether video-based and practice-oriented coursework in teacher education can promote self-efficacy in classroom management and the professional vision of classroom management. Analyzing own classroom videos as well as analyzing videos from other teachers lead to a significantly higher latent increase in self-efficacy and professional vision than that of a control group. This was only the case for professional vision in a course with own teaching elements but without video analysis.     

Re-Discovering a Roman Wall Painting at Harvard: New Research on a Fragment from the Villa at Boscotrecase

ABSTRACT

This article presents historical and scientific analysis, as well as the conservation treatment of a newly rediscovered Roman wall painting fragment, now in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums. Although the piece has not previously been published, it was among a group of fragments removed from a Roman villa near Boscotrecase in southern Italy, an area that has been key to the study of Roman wall painting and other decoration. Technical imaging confirms the use of painting techniques consistent with other high-quality paintings in the area. Materials analysis revealed a palette consistent with published findings of Roman wall paintings, including abundant use of Egyptian blue and green earth. Of interest was the use of Egyptian blue as an optical brightener in select white passages. Despite the high quality of the painting, no cinnabar was present, and all red passages were achieved using hematite. Multiple different white minerals were identified including calcite, aragonite, and gypsum. The widespread presence of gypsum is unusual and may point to alteration.     

Achievement of English as New Language Learners in Monitor Status: A Cross Sector Comparison from Denver

This study uses administrative data to measure the effect of attending a charter school in Denver, Colorado on the achievement of reclassified English as New Language (ENL) students during their monitor period in the mainstream classroom environment. We utilize school choice data from Denver’s Common Enrollment System (CES) to control for each school a family selected entering grade six, a typical time for a structural move, in order to better control of unobserved variable bias. Results indicate charter attendance increases achievement in mathematics and English on state testing. Charter school success in the CES environment provides insights for districts serving large numbers of ENL students.     

Creating Participatory Discourse for Teaching and Research in Early Childhood Science

This paper presents the results of a study conducted with second grade students and pre-service teachers. This study examined the possibilities for engaging children in critical discourse about their classroom science experiences. At the heart of this discussion lies the desire to provide a space for teachers and children to develop relationships and to explore the learning of science together. Themes that emerged include: (1) on-going, focused, critical dialogue between children and teachers supported children in developing agency in the classroom, and (2) on-going conversations created the opportunity for children to reveal their ways of knowing and developing interpretations of the practice of science.     

Can students with dyslexia be effectively supported in the diversity of an international school setting?

In the diversity of an international school, many children for whom dyslexia is a barrier to literacy skill development may not have formally been identified as dyslexic; however, it does not mean that their needs do not require to be met. This paper considers the elements necessary to support the learners with dyslexia. Teaching Reading Through Spelling, which is a synthetic phonics-based APSL (alphabetic, phonic, syllabic, linguistic) programme, was used, 3 × 45 minutes a week, in an international school setting. The students (N = 12) made 2.0 years spelling, and 2.8 years reading improvement in one year. In addition to selecting an appropriate teaching programme, successful additional elements were found to be careful planning for both short and long term, effective communication and involvement of all participants.     

Reconceptualizing the relationship between universities and schools: a dialectic and polysemic approach

This review essay adds to the conversation to which Allison Skerrett and Hannah Sevian contribute in their article, Identity and biography as mediators of science and mathematics faculty’s involvement in K-12 service. Here we address the need to reconceptualize faculty service in public schools and traditional notions of scholarship. We discuss the importance of transforming university structures that envision service as less important than “scholarship” and “teaching” while mediating hierarchical ideas of what “service” entails. We share a dialectical view of social life and an ethical stance that values polysemy and polyphony both in research and in our daily interactions. Here we employ a dialectical lens that seeks multiple perspectives as we engage in a dialogue about these issues.