Gardening with grandparents: an early engagement with the science curriculum

In many cultures, elders are revered within the extended family as a source of wisdom gained from long experience. In Western societies, this role has been marginalised by changes in family structure, and grandparents' significant contribution to children's upbringing often goes unacknowledged. A research study with families of three‐ to six‐year‐olds in East London reveals how grandparents from a variety of cultural backgrounds passed on knowledge about growing fruit and vegetables to their grandchildren through joint gardening activities. Children learned to identify different plants, and to understand conditions and stages of plant growth. Grandparents from Bangladesh introduced children to a wide range of fruits and vegetables, and concepts were reinforced through bilingual communication. Analysis shows that these intergenerational learning encounters fostered children's scientific knowledge in ways that supported and extended curriculum work in the early years.     

Classroom management practices and their associations with children’s mathematics skills in two cultural groups

The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which contextual factors predict children’s mathematics skills in different cognitive domains. The sample consisted of 1734 students from 26 Estonian- and 17 Russian-language schools in Estonia. Mathematics and non-verbal reasoning tests were carried out at the beginning of the third grade. In addition, teachers were asked about their classroom management practices. The results of multilevel modelling showed that applying supportive practices in the classroom contributes to higher achievement in mathematics. Teachers from Estonian- and Russian-language schools were also found to differ with regard to their management practices, and these practices were shown to have different effects on children in Estonian- and Russian-language schools in terms of mathematics achievement.     

Science-specialist Student-teachers Consider Promoting Technological Design Projects: Contributions of Multi-media Case Methods

In school science, students often experience simplistic representations of knowledge-building practices in science and technology – which, in reality, are complex, unpredictable and theory-limited. While there are a great variety of reasons (many of which are beyond teachers' direct control), this occurs partly because teachers of science generally have not had such realistic experiences. While student-teachers can develop this kind of meta-scientific literacy in university-based science teacher education programmes, this depends on the extent to which activities are legitimised through close associations with authentic school contexts. In this paper, we report effects on science-specialist student-teachers' conceptions about science and technology, and corresponding priorities for school science, after interacting with a case documentary that depicted students collaborating in development and evaluation of pneumatic-controlled robotic arms. Data, including video footage of student-teachers' interactions with cases and audio recordings of interviews with them and their teacher, indicated that many student-teachers developed more naturalistic perspectives on knowledge development in science and technology and corresponding pedagogical priorities. At the same time, most also recommended an apprenticeship for students, gradually moving them from unrealistic (e.g., following a linear model for technological design) to more realistic (e.g., accommodating flexibility in design, while pointing out such limits to creativity as techno-determinism) problem solving contexts.     

Online tutorial support in open and distance learning: students' perceptions

The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) offers 199 courses with online features to enhance the distance learning environment. The university has arranged these courses to provide students with greater flexibility in interacting with tutors, classmates, and the content itself. Integral to learner flexibility online is access, valuing computers and online learning, endorsement, and language proficiency. The current investigation attempts to explore these issues by examining the perceptions of OUHK students enrolled in courses with online tutorial supports. The methods of questionnaire survey and semi‐structured interview were employed. Surveyed using multistage stratified sampling technique were 449 OUHK students enrolled in 18 upper level courses (9 English, 9 Chinese) at the OUHK. Forty‐two students were randomly selected for a follow‐up interview. Five major topics were explored including: (1) accessing the Internet; (2) perceptions of technology; (3) rationale for using the Internet in course work; (4) learning strategies used by the tutor online; and (5) perceptions of the online tutorial support.     

Addressing gender violence among children in the early years of schooling: insights from teachers in a South African primary school

This paper explores how teachers in a poor township primary school in South Africa construct meaning regarding gender violence among children, and how they talk about addressing that violence. The paper argues that major influences on the endemic violence include complex societal structures that are inscribed with cultures of violent masculinities, extreme socio-economic conditions and gender inequality. It shows how primary school teachers recognise violent masculinities and gender power imbalances but simultaneously uphold the notion of children’s innocence as a rationale for refuting the primary school as a site of violence. The paper explores contradictions embedded in some of the solutions which the teachers suggest as a way of addressing violence. For example, while they highlight the importance of teaching peace, respect and equality, they also advocate the use of corporal punishment as an effective means of dealing with violent conduct among school children.     

Children's knowledge of astronomy and its change in the course of learning

This study examined the nature of 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old children's (n = 113) knowledge of astronomy and the process of knowledge change during learning. Children's pre-existing knowledge was assessed by questions and drawing tasks. About half of the children were taught elementary concepts of astronomy in small groups and afterwards all participants’ knowledge was assessed again. Most children could be categorized as having fragmented astronomy knowledge and the proportion of non-scientific models first proposed by Vosniadou & Brewer [Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W. F. (1992). Mental models of the Earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 535–585] was no greater than could be expected by chance. Children seemed to acquire factual information rather easily and therefore early instruction should introduce the core facts related to the topics. Some children over-generalized new knowledge very easily, indicating that the materials used in teaching may promote the development of non-scientific notions and that those notions must be addressed promptly to avoid the development of coherent non-scientific models.     

The Effect of Verbal and Visuo-Spatial Abilities on the Development of Knowledge of the Earth

Difficulties in students’ understanding of the spherical model of the Earth have been shown in previous studies. One of the reasons for these difficulties lies in beliefs and preliminary knowledge that hinder the interpretation of the scientific knowledge, the other reason may lie in the low level of verbal and visuo-spatial abilities. The study aims to investigate the effect of verbal and visuo-spatial abilities, but also that of preliminary knowledge on the later development of the knowledge of the Earth in school. 176 schoolchildren (96 boys and 80 girls) from five schools were tested; the mean age of the children during the first interview was seven years and eight months. All students were interviewed twice – in grades 1 and 2, before and after they had learnt the topic in school. Factual, scientific and synthetic knowledge was assessed. The facilitative effect of visuo-spatial and verbal abilities and preliminary factual and scientific knowledge on students’ knowledge of astronomy after having learnt the topic in school was shown. In contrast, the hindering effect of synthetic knowledge was not found.     

Teacher professional standards to support teacher quality and learning in Estonia

In the modern world, teachers are expected to be ‘learning professionals’ who constantly expand their knowledge and skills and share both practical and theoretical insights in a community of colleagues. Teacher professional competence‐based standards could be an instrument to support teachers' professional learning if they are integrated with broader assessment and evaluation frameworks and if their evaluation, professional development and career advancement are in line with the standards. In Estonia, teacher professional standards were first developed in 2005. Currently, they support initial teacher education, the evaluation of teacher competences and the design of continuous professional learning. They also allow teachers to progress to the senior teacher and master teacher qualification level. According to our findings, the standards are successfully used to design pre‐service education and award certificates at the end of the studies. However, they do not support building the teachers' career ladder and only in some schools do they support planning of professional learning. In this article, we give an overview of the changes in the professional standards of teachers in Estonia and analyse why they have not found the desired degree of use in teachers' career advancement and professional development in the school context and why they have not had a significant effect on teacher status in society.