Voices on the Web: Student teachers negotiating identity

Student teachers studying by distance or external mode occupy a marginal and potentially isolated position with respect to the university. When undertaking a practicum experience, they individually enter a space within their placement school in which they may once more be presented with the challenge of operating from the margins. Using the Web and a 'bulletin board' facility, external Graduate Diploma in Education students were provided with the opportunity to 'chat' on-line during their recent practicum experience. The 'visible voices' of those students who participated in this Web link provide an interesting background to considerations of the ongoing negotiation within these marginal spaces by student teachers with respect to their emerging teaching identities. The extent to which the Web can provide students with a new notion of a learning community or a site for a critical or resistant dialogue and implications for broader issues concerning student 'voice' and subjectivities are considered within this article.     

Online searching for information on medical devices.

Problems in online retrieval of information concerning medical devices are discussed, including background data regarding legislative history and terminology. An analysis of the results of searching on ten sample topics in this subject area provides a framework for approaching such problems. In addition to a consideration of recall, uniqueness, and overlap, other factors influence database selection and order of consultation. Indexing characteristics of selected health science, engineering, business, and regulatory databases play a major role in medical device information provision.     

Measuring teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs: Development and use of the TEBS-Self

This paper distinguishes between teacher efficacy and teacher self-efficacy beliefs and describes a need for theory and research-based measures of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs that are grounded in the context of the classroom. To meet this need, a new measure of teacher self-efficacy beliefs, the Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs System-Self (TEBS-Self), is described by the authors. Principal components analysis results are presented from three independent studies performed in the United States (n=2373 K-6 teachers) using the TEBS-Self.     

From working group to standing committee: A history of diversity,equity, inclusion and accessibility work at the Society for Scholarly Publishing

• The Society for Scholarly Publishing's (SSP) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee began as a grassroots initiative in 2016.
• Over a a period of 4 years, the committee evolved from a six-member task force to a large standing team consisting of more than 25 individuals.
• The task force developed a strategic plan consisting of three major objectives that formed the basis of the group's strategic initiatives. The committee implemented several DEIA nitiatives that provided education and resources to SSP members about DEIA within their workplaces and promoted DEIA practices in the work that SSP committees were doing on behalf of the organization.

     

Home-schooling in the Republic of Ireland

Internationally, there continues to be a rise in the popularity of home-schooling. Although the growth in the numbers of families choosing this alternative approach was evident prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic school closures, it appears to have impacted on the decision for some to home-school permanently. Using a scoping review of the literature, this paper considers the research evidence around home-schooling in the United Kingdom and Europe. It then focuses on home-schooling in the Republic of Ireland to assess the change and development of home-schooling over time. In line with trends internationally, Irish administrative data show an increase in the numbers of families engaging in home-schooling in recent years, particularly for students with disabilities. The paper situates these findings within the context of ongoing debates on inclusive and special education in Ireland and the capacity of mainstream schools to educate and include every student.