From balance to blasphemy: shifting metaphors for researching early childhood education

This paper seeks to make trouble for the metaphor of ‘balance’ in early childhood education research, drawing on the arguments of Gore (, ), Haraway (), McWilliam (), and a study (McArdle, ) that was designed to focus not only on teacher practice, but also to inquire into ways of speaking teacher practice. Our rationale for trouble‐making is to ask questions about the way that the imperative to ‘balance’ disallows the investigation of pedagogy as a more complex field of practice, one that is inevitably riddled with unresolved and unresolvable contradictions and tensions. To understand how it is possible to think structure as freedom, we are forced to refuse any neat distinction between what enables and what constrains (McWilliam, ). For Haraway (), inquiry is ‘blasphemous’ when it refuses to ‘see’ practices in terms of the possibility of resolution, focusing instead on the irony of their unresolvability.     

The teacher leadership process: Attempting change within embedded systems

This embedded case study examines the leadership practices of eleven teacher leaders in three urban schools to identify how these teacher leaders attempt to change the teaching practice of their colleagues while working as professional learning community leaders and as mentors for new teachers. Using a theoretical framework integrating complex systems theory with Kotter’s (Leading change. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1996) eight steps for leading organizational change, we analyze the work and perspectives of individual teacher leaders, and we examine how teams of teacher leaders and principals function collectively in their efforts to lead instructional change. Our findings have implications for schools seeking to utilize teacher leadership as a reform strategy for authentic instructional improvement.     

Prevention is better than cure: coping skills training for adolescents at school

Children and adolescents today face a plethora of stressful problems, including family and relationship conflict, death of close family members or friends, and academic and social pressures. Such problems have been found to contribute to an increased risk of various emotional–social–cognitive difficulties in adolescence. These include academic failure, social misbehaviour, interpersonal problems, and depression.

Programmes that promote coping with normative stress, delivered to the whole population, have been considered to represent a promising direction for the prevention of social emotional difficulties. The Best of Coping: Developing Coping Skills Program (Frydenberg & Brandon, 2002 Frydenberg E Brandon CM (2002) The best of coping Melbourne: Oz Child [Crossref] [Google Scholar]) was introduced in two school settings on four separate occasions. Evaluation of the results provides modest support for coping skills enhancement but provide a warning about the need for caution when implementing and evaluating the Programme. First, it appeared to have some opposing effects on males and females. Second, improvements in students' coping responses were apparently related to the authenticity of implementation of the Programme.

The findings are discussed with regard to the need to implement programmes through which we can teach adolescents coping responses, which include optimism and problem‐solving skills, so that they may handle problems and stressors more effectively. Additionally, an important feature of such programmes is a focus on the reduction of the use of non‐productive coping skills. With an increase in psycho‐social problems, the need to provide school‐based programmes is discussed, with emphasis placed on programme implementation. In particular, the probable need for ongoing involvement of psychologically trained school counsellors with teachers, through the life of the programme.     

Shifting learning goals: from competent tool use to participatory media spaces in the emergent design process

Recently, the relationship between identity and learning has come front and center in discussions about how to design successful learning environments for youth who struggle in mainstream institutions. In this essay, I explore the role identity development plays in constructing learning environments for traditionally marginalized youth. While I agree with DeGennaro and Brown on the importance of identity development for learning, I stretch the relationship between these two constructs in several ways: First, I will argue that how we define “technology” and what that means for marginalized youth, particularly those who are assumed to be victims of the “digital divide” is a crucial aspect of the design of successful digital learning environments. Second, I discuss how identity is represented in these digital learning spaces, and analyze how meaning is constructed in multimodal spaces such as websites. Finally, I reflect on DeGennaro and Brown’s notion of “emergent design,” as a positive contribution to design research, and propose the idea of incorporating youths’ already existing competencies into the emergent design process.

Sport development and physical activity promotion: An integrated model to enhance collaboration and understanding

As inactivity and obesity levels continue to rise, calls are being made for sport development action to be further directed towards capitalising on the value of community participation for health and social benefits. This paper seeks to highlight a current disconnect between physical activity and sport management research, and identify opportunities for collaboration. To date, the sport management literature has predominantly focused on sport as a form of entertainment with spectatorship outcomes, where professional codes are a commonly used setting of research inquiry. There has been less focus on organisational issues related to participation in sport and recreation. This is identified as a gap, given the current push towards increasing focus on sport and recreation promotion for community wellbeing. The present paper sought to examine physical activity and sport management research, to identify commonalities and potential for integration and co-operation. The outcome of this review is a conceptual framework, integrating socio-ecological models, taken from physical activity research, and sport development concepts derived from sport management theory. The proposed conceptual framework seeks to provide sport management researchers with direction in their efforts to promote participation in sport, recreation and physically active leisure domains, particularly for community wellbeing purposes. Furthermore, such direction may also enhance the capacity of researchers to capitalise on opportunities for collaboration and integration across domains of inquiry.     

A sociocultural investigation of pre-service teachers’ outdoor experiences and perceived obstacles to outdoor learning

Abstract

This study utilizes a sociocultural approach to explore how pre-service elementary teachers’ experiences in both outdoor and formal school settings have contributed to their intentions for taking their students outdoors and perceived obstacles to doing so. The participants were pre-service elementary teachers (N?=?95) enrolled in an elementary science education methods course at a public university in the Midwestern United States. This study builds on the qualitative research methodology established in a prior research study, whereby after reading Richard Louv’s book entitled Last Child in the Woods, pre-service teachers completed written essay responses to prompts about their past outdoor experiences, their intentions for taking their students outdoors, and additionally in this study, perceived obstacles to doing so once they become teachers. Analysis of the data indicates the importance of participants’ youth experiences in the outdoors and positive intentions for taking students outside. In addition, findings describe major obstacles discussed by pre-service teachers, and we use sociocultural theory to analyse the context of these findings. Implications for teacher educators working to better equip pre-service teachers to overcome these perceived obstacles are discussed.     

Purposeful Reflections: Scaffolding Preservice Teachers' Field Placement Observations

ABSTRACT

In this qualitative study we examine preservice teachers' abilities to connect theory and practice through the use of a collaboratively developed field observation guide, namely the “Targeted Field Observation Guide.” The goal in developing and implementing this field-based observation guide was to help preservice teachers make explicit, purposeful connections between their required, course-embedded field placements and the secondary undergraduate content area literacy courses in which they were enrolled. Forty-three preservice teachers participated in this study and were enrolled in a large public university or a small private college in the Midwestern United States. Analysis of participants' weekly written reflections shared via computer-mediated communication (Google Docs) reveals that using a field-based observation guide further supported connections and conversations with peers regarding their field reflections and observations. However, many participants' reflections still demonstrated limited connections between theory and practice.     

New Carpets for Old Brooms? Training teachers for the education industry

This article is a critique of the document The Education Industry and The National Competency Agenda, which was produced by members of the Schools and Curriculum Division of the federal Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) in April 1992. The authors examine the policy context in which the document was produced. They then go on to analyse the case for reform argued in this document, drawing attention to the mechanisms by which the document seeks to inform and persuade its educational audience. A detailed analysis and critique is made of its central assumptions in relation to teacher education, with a more appropriate agenda for reform of teacher education subsequently outlined.     

From childhood nature experiences to adult pro-environmental behaviors: An explanatory model of sustainable food consumption

Abstract

In two studies, the role of nature experiences and social norms during childhood is explored next to adulthood biospheric values, connectedness to nature, environmental identity, and objective knowledge in relation to pro-environmental behaviors. Study 1 (N?=?185) tested the hypothesized model in the realm of general pro-environmental behaviors and sustainable fruit consumption on a sample of students. Study 2 (N?=?155) tested the model in the realm of sustainable seafood consumer choice on a general population sample. Path analyses show consistent results across samples. Results show that childhood nature experiences and exposure to pro-environmental social norms during childhood are related to adulthood development of connectedness with nature and biospheric values; these, in turn, help in shaping adulthood environmental self-identity ultimately influencing the enactment of sustainable food choices during adulthood. These findings point toward the relevance of childhood experiences for pro-environmental behaviors as compared to the provision of information. The role of objective knowledge across samples is inconsistent, thus requiring future investigations.