Religion is a MUST in English Schools

This article exposes the problem of using declarative rather than procedural knowledge to help K–12 students recognize irony in stories. It offers commonplace procedures drawn from students’ everyday language experience together with more abstract irony clues to help students recognize irony in stories and increase their story comprehension. Six irony-laden stories are briefly examined to underscore their basic ironic core and guide instruction of elementary, middle, and secondary students.     

More than Just Worksheets?: A Study of the Confidence of Newly Qualified Teachers of English in Teaching Personal, Social and Health Education in Secondary Schools

This paper addresses concerns regarding the preparedness of newly qualified teachers to deliver Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) in the United Kingdom in relation to the training received during Initial Teacher Education and through early Continuing Professional Development. The paper is situated not only within a context where OfSTED has questioned the adequacy of some non-specialist PSHE teachers but also one where, due to a range of social and health concerns centred on young people, schools and teachers are being expected to play an increasingly important role in the social and health education of their pupils. As such, PSHE is increasingly seen as important across all curriculum areas. This paper relates specifically to the confidence of trainee and newly qualified teachers of English in teaching PSHE in secondary schools in the United Kingdom. Drawing on questionnaire data collected from recent Professional Graduate Certificate in Education graduates, the paper suggests that trainee and newly qualified teachers have the skills and knowledge drawn from their main subject (English) to deliver PSHE; however, many lack confidence and awareness to acknowledge these skills. The paper suggests that this situation may be addressed through increased opportunity to deliver and receive feedback on PSHE teaching during initial teacher training.     

Differing expectations: an account of home and school factors affecting EAL learners from Arabic-speaking backgrounds

This article considers research from a preliminary study of Libyan children's accounts of their experience learning English as an additional language (EAL) within mainstream schools in the LJK. The analysis of interviews and classroom observations suggests that for equal opportunity to take place, local education authorities need to place greater emphasis on language and educational provision for newcomers to UK primary schools. In addition, there is still a communication barrier as well as a language barrier between home and school which needs to be addressed in order for children to adjust to and meet school requirements. In a similar way, parents of newly arrived children need to have clear expectations. The implications of this piece of research are extremely relevant for additional language acquisition in British schools and, in particular, for the education of newcomers whose circumstances are similar to those of the children in this study. This research also enables the voice of Arab children, as learners of the English language, to reach educators and policy makers, and empower them further in the research processes which inform British education policy.     

Hokanson,Brad & Gibbons,Andrew ed (2013) Design in educational technology Springer (Berlin) isbn 978‐3‐319‐00926‐1 283 pp £90 http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/book/978‐3‐319‐00926‐1

Here is a well written and well edited book with focus on the concept of design in modern educational technology practice. It is for both new and experienced designers; those new to the field might find opportunities to expand their practice, while experienced designers will find affirmation of many past practices and the opportunity to explore new ideas for future projects. If you think this book is likely to be of value to you, I suggest you buy your own copy Diane P Janes     

Voice over distance: a case of podcasting for learning in online teacher education

This paper reports on a case study of an online pre-service teacher education course in a New Zealand university aimed at exploring the potential of student-generated podcasts as a form of interactive formative assessment at a distance. The study was part of a wider two-year funded project with the overall goal of documenting, developing, and disseminating effective and innovative e-learning practice. Findings from lecturer and tutor interviews, student focus group (FG) discussion, and course evaluations indicate that the podcasting task provided opportunities for the course lecturer, tutors, and students to learn and share ideas with one another. The experience empowered students to develop the skills and confidence to initiate more independent inquiry into technologies to support their pedagogical purposes. The study contributes to a better understanding of the skills, dispositions, and knowledge needed to prepare teacher candidates for teaching-learning contexts where information and communication technologies are increasingly pivotal.     

M in CoMputational thinking: How long does it take to read a book?

Even at the primary level, computational thinking (CT) can support young students to prepare for participating in futures that are immersed in data. In mathematics classrooms, there are few explanations of the ways CT can support students in formulating and solving complex problems. This paper presents an example of a primary classroom investigation (8-9 year olds) over seven lessons of the problem “How long does it take to read a book?” The aim is to illustrate ways a statistical investigation can provide context for CT and demonstrate how the two complement each other to solve problems involving mathematics. The findings highlight opportunities and challenges that students face across the elements of CT—decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition and modelling, and generalization and algorithmic thinking, including recommendations for teaching.     

Entwicklungsförderung im außerschulischen Kinder- und Jugendsport

The concept “Psychosocial Resources in Sport” (Sygusch, Ein sportartenorientiertes Förderkonzept für Schule und Verein. Schorndorf: Hofmann, 2007) substantiates methodical measures to systematically promote resources such as self-concept, self-efficacy, group cohesion, and social competence. In the PRimus-study this concept was implemented in handball and apparatus gymnastics over 7 months in 29 training groups (age: 12–16 years). The aim, amongst others, was to evaluate whether the concept is effective in child and youth sport. For this purpose a mixed-method design was chosen. The development of resources were measured through qualitative trainer interviews (n?=?39) as well as quantitative surveys of athletes (IG: n?=?374; KG: n?=?270) over three measurement times. The trainer statements show that the intervention initiated resource strengthening processes which indicate a promotion of resources. The quantitative measurements, however, do not reveal substantial changes throughout the intervention period. The change in behavior of coaches and athletes – regardless of the intervention measures – influences the development of resources. Overall, it must be noted that broad-based intervention concepts, which are also feasible, had difficulty proving the effects and the effectiveness.