Effects of perceptual salience on the matrix task performance of four- and six-year-old children.

The effects of salience on 4- and 6-year-old children's ability to classify multiplicatively was investigated. A rank-ordered salience hierachy consisting of 3 dimensions was first assessed for each S. Several weeks later half the Ss of each age group were presented with a series of 9 3 times 3 matrix problems consisting of values from 2 dimensions ranked high in salience. The remaining half received identically structured matrices consisting of values from 1 highly salient dimension and of others from a dimension ranked low in salience. The goal in each problem was to select that compound stimulus from a set of alternatives that appropriately filled an empty cell in the matrix. Prior to the matrix problems, half the Ss in each matrix condition received sensitization training designed to increase the salience of the relevant dimensions in the matrix problems. The results showed that the pre-assessed salience of the relevant dimensions affected matrix solution in that more accurate performance was associated with those problems with both relevant dimensions relatively high in salience than those with one high and one low. Although the older Ss solved more problems, the evidence for coordination in the younger Ss was clear. No effects of sensitization training were found.     

Related factors of the MTAI and the 16PF

The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI) and the Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF) were administered to 395 undergraduate teachers-in-training. The MTAI and the 16PF were compared using canonical analysis. They contained three related factors accounting for 41% of their total variance. It was concluded that teachers' attitudes toward their pupils are determined in large part by measurable personality traits.     

Teacher burnout—Solutions for the 1980s: A review of the literature

In recent years, popular, professional, and scholarly journals and periodicals have carried a significant number of articles concerning the teacher burnout phenomenon. This phenomenon is described as physical, emotional, and attitudinal exhaustion and results in a significant decrease in teacher job satisfaction and performance. It is caused by high levels of stress related to inordinate time demands, inadequate relationships, large class sizes, lack of resources, isolation, fear of violence, role ambiguity, limited promotional opportunities, lack of support, etc. In addition to resulting in a number of emotional and physical illnesses, burnout manifests itself in increased job turnover and absenteeism, reduced job satisfaction, mental and physical withdrawal and detachment, increased inter- and intraindividual conflict, and a general reduction in individual and ultimately school performance. Some solutions which hold considerable promise for reducing this phenomenon are improved teacher status; rewarding ambition, commitment, motivation, and performance; job enrichment or redesign; preservice stress preparation; teacher conditioning; improved supervision and support; implementing quality circles; joint student-parent-teacher problem solving; and participatory team leadership.     

The use of a custom-built online environment for communication with and support of student-teachers during school placement

School Placement is recognised as a central component of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes for the professional development and personal growth of student-teachers. It is also acknowledged to be a particularly challenging time for students during which they require support and guidance from their ITE tutors. In this regard, online environments hold much potential to facilitate greater communication between student-teachers and tutors during school placements. This paper considers the communicative features of a custom-built online environment for teacher education in the context of a concurrent ITE degree. It identifies a number of positive outcomes from the use of this system with regard to communication between student-teachers and their tutors. These include a more sustained and dialogical engagement between student-teacher and tutor throughout the duration of the placement, enhanced levels and quality of support that tutors can extend to student-teachers while on placement and more productive face-to-face communication between tutors and students.     

Relating Preschool Quality to Children’s Literacy Development

Preschool classrooms were investigated to determine the extent to which quality is related to children’s literacy development. The study included 24 classrooms of 428 prekindergarten children in a large, urban Midwestern school district. Results suggest that global classroom quality and literacy environment quality are strongly related. Literacy environment quality and children’s literacy abilities are also related. Differences in classroom quality were found to have an impact on children’s literacy scores—the higher the quality, the higher the scores. This article also describes lessons learned from the investigation and provides suggestions for teachers and administrators for improving quality to enhance literacy development.     

Teachers’ conceptions of teacher professionalism in England in 2003 and 2006

Theoretical and political perspectives on the nature of professionalism in teaching are abundant, but little is known about the views of teachers themselves. We asked primary and secondary school teachers in England what teacher professionalism means to them. We explored what teachers think about professionalism, on what dimensions their thinking varies, and how much it varies. We researched how successful the government had already been, and how successful it would be in the future, in changing teachers’ conceptions of professionalism. Two large‐scale national surveys were conducted, with a longitudinal element. We found that teachers’ thinking about their professionalism may be construed as consisting of an inner core of strong, shared beliefs and commitments; an intermediate set of coherent but contested components of professionalism; and an outer layer of disparate elements which are generally highly disputed and which remain unintegrated into broader ways of thinking.