The Emotional Challenge of Listening and Dialogue

In this article the writer explores the importance of and difficulty surrounding dialogue between students and teachers. This discussion is set within the wider context of a debate about the education of the emotions in our society and the argument is that this dialogue has a part to play in the education of the emotions. Thinking in the field of psychotherapy is drawn on as well as the writer's experience as an educator, counsellor and trainer. She is currently working in higher education and concerned with teacher education and research. This background is relevant in that this experience is drawn on and it also shows up the focus of much of the work. This is concerned with personal, social and emotional development in education and with making this integral to education and organizations.     

The NCTQ Selectivity Standard and Principal Evaluation of Teacher Preparation

Ratings published by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) require selectivity in admission to educator preparation programs. NCTQ provides a list of citations to support the selectivity standard termed “strong support.” A review of each citation in the list found little or no support for the standard. Original data was collected examining employment supervisor ratings of over 11,000 teachers’ preparation and analyzed for correlations and differences based on the selectivity standard. No significant differences were found between supervisor ratings of teachers who met or did not meet the NCTQ test standard and no significant correlations were found between the selectivity tests, grade point average, and principal ratings of teachers. These findings bring into question the listed selectivity standard and the rationale for its inclusion in NCTQ's public ranking process.