SMART moves? A case study of one teacher’s pedagogical change through use of the interactive whiteboard

This case study investigates how the use of an interactive whiteboard (IWB) leads to pedagogical change within a UK secondary school classroom. A teacher’s experiences as recorded in a reflective journal, and the responses of students as recorded in a questionnaire, are set within the context of rhetoric about the value of IWBs. It is argued that this action research approach is particularly valuable because of the insights a teacher has on the complexities of the classroom environment. Assumptions about the way in which IWBs should (and do) change the dynamics of interactivity within the classroom are considered by questioning the definition of terms such as ‘interactive’ and ‘pace’. The case study concludes that if a teacher understands and utilises appropriate strategies to meet given learning objectives, pedagogical change will emerge, with teachers empowered by the IWB to consider how learning takes place, and match activities to learners’ needs. However, IWB use will be within the context of the philosophy of the teacher and how much he or she wants to pursue new ideas in order to support learning.     

Facilitating adult learning and a researcher identity through a higher education pedagogical process

This empirical study uses auto-ethnography to describe a higher education pedagogical process that facilitated largely doctoral students in preparing their candidacy proposals through the use of specific adult learning principles. Students＇ experiences and points of view of such a learning environment were explored, including： （1） how they contributed to their peers＇ learning; （2） how their peers contributed to their own individual learning; and （3） how the learning environment impacted the process. Key factors identified as pivotal to learning to learn, include creating a learning sanctuary and trusting relationships, engaging in mutual inquiry and the co-construction of meaning, and bridging research theory and practice. These factors enabled students to expand their identities to include a researcher identity and to negotiate deep knowledge at the personal level. Throughout this article, the students＇ points of view are used to elucidate shared and diverse experiences, in addition to supporting conclusions and recommendations for practice and further study.     

Prevention and Intervention Programming: Lessons from an After-School Program

Given that thoughtfully developed formal after-school programs can make a difference in the academic performance of schoolchildren, and that some public schools are implementing their own on-site after-school curricula, this study sought to identify programmatic features that appear to be associated with successful after-school programming. Qualitative methods were used and the study site was the Manchester Youth Development Center, which has a twenty-five-year record of effective service. The six elements found as salient were that both structure and autonomous space are provided; academic achievement is supported; the program is culturally consistent (in the present case, African-American cultural patterns are evidenced); there is a core of committed authoritative adults; the leadership is child-centered; and the environment is safe.     

Cultural distance,mindfulness and passive xenophobia: Using Integrated Threat Theory to explore home higher education students’ perspectives on ‘internationalisation at home’

This paper addresses the question of interaction between home and international students using qualitative data from 100 home students at two ‘teaching intensive’ universities in the southwest of England. Stephan and Stephan's Integrated Threat Theory is used to analyse the data, finding evidence for all four types of threat that they predict when outgroups interact. It is found that home students perceive threats to their academic success and group identity from the presence of international students on the campus and in the classroom. These are linked to anxieties around ‘mindful’ forms of interaction and a taboo around the discussion of difference, leading to a ‘passive xenophobia’ for the majority. The paper concludes that Integrated Threat Theory is a useful tool in critiquing the ‘internationalisation at home’ agenda, making suggestions for policies and practices that may alleviate perceived threats, thereby improving the quality and outcomes of intercultural interaction.     

The effects of teacher read-alouds and student silent reading on predominantly bilingual high school seniors’ learning and retention of social studies content

Teacher read-alouds (TRA) are common in middle and high school content area classes. Because the practice of reading the textbook out loud to students is often used out of concern about students’ ability to understand and learn from text when reading silently (SR), this randomized controlled trial was designed to experimentally manipulate text reading while blocking on all other instructional elements to determine the relative effects on learning content. Predominantly Spanish–English bilingual twelfth-graders (n = 123) were randomly assigned to either a TRA or SR condition and provided 1 week of high quality instruction in US history. Daily lessons included teaching key terms in the passage, previewing text headings, and conducting comprehension checks. Results of immediate, 1-week delayed, and 1-month delayed assessments of content learning revealed no significant differences between the two groups. Students were also asked to rate the method of reading they believed best helped them understand and remember information. Students in the SR condition more consistently agreed that reading silently was beneficial. Findings suggest low performing adolescents of different linguistic backgrounds can learn content as well when reading appropriately challenging text silently as when the teacher reads the text aloud to them.     

Engaging identities in a regional university classroom

This paper examines the coincidence between how lecturers teach and what students expect to learn at a regional university in Australia. It looks outside cognitive and behavioural theories of motivation to find that both students and lecturers are driven by a common goal, but it is not a methodology. I examine the ways in which students and lecturers seek support for their identity, and how their desire for recognition can support or interfere with the aims of education. The paper proposes that one of the fundamental challenges in higher education is to understand what goes on in-between students and lecturers in the university classroom. While many lecturers in this study are already doing this, there continues to be only an intuitive understanding of what motivates the relation between learning and teaching.     

The role of hybrid learning spaces in enhancing higher education students’ employability

Graduate employment rates and self-reported employability are increasingly a feature of higher education funding measures. However, graduate outcomes do not denote the whole learning experience of the student nor is the student experience reducible to a single statistic. This paper discusses a design-centric approach to employability development which was enacted within a hybrid learning space. The study engaged 52 final-year speech pathology students, their lecturer, the lead researcher and a career practitioner (advisor) at an Australian university. Students first created personalized employability profiles using an established online self-reflection tool. The online tool produced a personalized report and enabled students to access developmental resources relating to employability and student success. The project team used anonymized student data to transform a previously generic “careers” workshop into a targeted workshop in which students explored individual and cohort findings and participated in developmental activities informed by the data. The initiative’s contribution to learning space research is in its composition as a hybrid learning space in which educators and students engaged as learners and developers of their online learning spaces, and educators collaborated to analyze student data and inform learning and teaching enhancements within the same study period. It is anticipated that the data from subsequent years will inform the curricular review, particularly if subsequent student cohorts express similar concerns. Implications for higher education policy and practice are discussed.     

American state intervention in the parent-child legal relationship

There are two traditions in the history of American family law that are reflected in different state legislation dealing with child abuse and neglect. They indicate a continuing cultural dilemma about the rights of parents and those of children. One tradition supports the privacy and autonomy of the family, and the right of the parents to the child. Such a view of the permanence of the parental role helps to explain state laws which make the termination of parental rights nearly impossible to achieve. Social workers in such jurisdictions must protect children by means of long foster-care placements. Pennsylvania represents a state with laws supporting parental rights.Another tradition is derived from that of the court acting as a parent, the parens patriae heritage. In the United States the Juvenile Court has assumed this protective and intrusive role. Where such legal support exists, children may be freed for adoptive homes, as they are in Colorado. This paper outlines the state laws of Pennsylvania and Colorado pertaining to the termination of the parent-child legal relationship. These laws indicate that American children in families at risk are protected very differently. As long as state laws differ so greatly, equality of justice for families and children will exhibit substantial variation due to residence.