Introduction Teaching Situations as Object of Research: Empirical Studies within Theoretical Perspectives

This volume gathers contributions that share the same double concern: to focus on teaching situations in classrooms, especially the work of the teacher, and to be strongly anchored in original theoretical frameworks allowing to take the classroom situation as unit of analysis. The contributions are not a representative sample of all research sharing this focus worldwide. The theoretical frameworks are grounded mainly (but not solely) in the theory of didactic situations (Brousseau, 1997) and the anthropological theory of didactics (Chevallard, 1992, 1999). There are 11 articles altogether, 9 of which present research works within the chosen theme and focus. The other two are commentary papers offering a reflection on studies of classroom situations from the point of view of other theoretical viewpoints. “Original” in the sense of having been developed specifically for research in mathematics education and not borrowed from other domains such as psychology, sociology, etc.     

Aistear vis-à-vis the Primary Curriculum: the experiences of early years teachers in Ireland

Launched in 2009, the Aistear early years curriculum framework sought to complement and extend the primary school curriculum (PSC) at infant class level in the Republic of Ireland. While Aistear focuses on the development of attitudes, values and learning dispositions and is neither statutory nor inspected, the PSC centres on the acquisition of subject-based knowledge and the development of age-appropriate skills, and is subject to external inspection. To explore teachers’ experiences regarding the status of Aistear vis-à-vis the Curriculum, this study adopted a multi-method approach involving questionnaire surveys (n?=?104), one-to-one interviews (n?=?6) and classroom observations (n?=?6) to identify everyday practices in the classroom. Acknowledging the importance of play, there was little evidence that Aistear has transformed classroom teaching. Didactic teaching approaches remain dominant, with play afforded peripheral status. The study provides an original insight into the challenges teachers experience in meeting competing curricular demands.     

Internet of toys across home and early childhood education: understanding the ecology of the child’s social world

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from an ongoing international study of children’s use of Internet-connected toys (IoToys) across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Greece. The authors sought to investigate practices with IoToys across homes and early childhood settings. Data from 12 case study families and approximately 200 children who interacted with case study children in early childhood settings were collected alongside interviews with parents and educators. Findings indicate that digital difference between home and education is recurring due to infrastructure and budgetary issues in early childhood settings, resulting in organic play-based IoToy use at home versus structured adult-directed teaching of IoToys in early childhood practice. Working from a social-ecological theoretical frame however demonstrated that children skilfully and fluidly transitioned between digital and non-digital play and across diverse socio ecological contexts of home and early childhood settings.     

Journal usage in NHS hospitals: a comparison report of total usage at an acute NHS Trust and a specialist NHS Trust in the North West of England

BACKGROUND: Health care libraries spend a large amount of their non-pay budgets on the purchase of scientific, technical and medical journals. In a typical hospital library in the National Health Service (NHS) North West Strategic Health Authority (SHA), this can represent between 80 and 90% of the collection development budget. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were collected from 1 December 2005 to 30 November 2006 using COUNTER-generated usage statistics obtained from publishers' administration tools. Between the two trusts included in the study, 93 376 full-text article downloads were recorded; of these, 15 952 or 17.1% articles were downloaded from national core content journals via Proquest. Photocopies made by users for their own use were recorded whenever this data were available. CONCLUSIONS: NHS staff at the sites included in this study recorded a high volume of journal usage. There was a marked difference in usage patterns between the acute and specialist trusts in the study. The journals provided by national core content represented a much higher proportion of total usage at the acute trust (29.9%) compared with the specialist cancer trust (4.5%). This study supports the view that the local purchasing of journal titles is an important component of the overall journal-based information provision to NHS staff.     

Design of an evidence-based diversity workshop to support participation of older people in their community care

Diversity is what makes a person unique, with the intersection of diversity characteristics potentially a strength or a barrier to accessing healthcare, and thereby affecting health and well-being outcomes. Many older people with diverse needs are not accessing appropriate services to meet their needs, leading to suboptimal health and well-being. Community aged care workers are at the frontline, working with diverse older people with complex needs; yet there is a dearth of training available in this sphere. This paper outlines the development and pilot evaluation of a diversity training workshop for managers and frontline community aged care workers. The aim of the workshop was to empower the workforce to support increased participation of older people with diverse needs in their own care, to ultimately lead to their improved health and well-being.

Workshop development was underpinned by sound education principles, a competency framework and research evidence. First iteration of the workshop underwent pilot testing with three groups, two in metropolitan Melbourne (n = 31) and one in regional Victoria (n = 10), Australia. Feedback was gathered via an independent observer (field notes), pre- and post-workshop surveys, and phone interviews with participants 3-month post-workshop. Pilot data and feedback informed changes to workshop content (type of knowledge, application of knowledge and skills), workshop structure and androgogical (adult learning) approach.

An evidence-informed diversity training workshop was developed through an iterative process, with the aim of enhancing knowledge, skills and attitudes of community aged care workers. This approach has developed a workshop that aims to better meet the needs of an aged care workforce, so that they may better support older people with diverse needs to increase engagement and participation in their care, optimizing their health and well-being.     

Reflecting on Meaning: Crafting Visual Metaphors on Whiteness

Movies that treat the imagined future and that deal with issues of adolescence coming to adulthood are represented by The Hunger Games. The role of movies that present a dystopic view of the future in our actual attempts to deal with contemporary adolescence is discussed in this article. The use of images of the future as representations of the present is examined.     

Path integration in cockroach larvae,Blattella germanica (L.) (insect: Dictyoptera): Direction and distance estimation

The question of how an insect finds its way between foraging areas and its shelter has been investigated in cockroaches,Blattella germanica. Our aim was to demonstrate that they integrate the characteristics of their outward trip to estimate direction and distance, which enable them to return to their shelter, relying on path integration mechanisms using kinesthetic cues. The return path pattern was characterized by a nearly linear oriented-to-the-goal trajectory, an arrest, and a systematic search at a much slower speed. The arrest position indicated that the insect’s home vector was back to zero and that it was the estimated shelter position. If the shelter failed to be at the arrest position, cockroaches started a nonrandom systematic search directed mainly around the arrest. They looped back and forth around the arrest position and increased the size of their loops with time. The pattern of this search seems to be an ubiquitous trait in insects.     

Comparing children's and student teachers’ ideas about science concepts

Children and teachers may not think in the same way about particular science concepts. Such parallel lines of thought can compound children's confusion and misunderstanding as they learn science at primary school. The situation could be more acute when student teachers are teaching science, because of their limited experience of considering children's ideas. This paper investigates children's and student teachers’ ideas about certain science concepts: ‘animal’, ‘flower’, ‘living’, ‘force’ and ‘energy’. The ideas and understandings of 96 children and 168 student teachers were explored. Results showed that the student teachers and children had similar ideas about ‘flower’ and ‘animal’, whereas they evidenced very different responses to ‘living’, ‘energy’ and ‘force’. Implications for classroom practice are considered.