Investigating epistemological beliefs in vocational education for child care workers: New ways of thinking about learning and training

Epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowing and knowledge) have provided interesting insights into effective teaching and learning in higher education over the last 30 years. However, to date, little research has taken place in regard to teaching and learning in the technical and further education (TAFE) context in Australia. Seventeen 1^st and 2^nd year child care students studying for a Diploma in Children's Services were interviewed about the nature of their epistemological beliefs. The findings revealed new ways of thinking about evaluativistic beliefs, described as “practical evaluativism”. These beliefs may have implications for the way in which students evaluate theory and practice for implementation in their own child care practice.     

An investigation of student teachers' knowledge about their own learning

Twenty-nine student teachers from a large metropolitan university in Queensland, Australia were interviewed at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of a year-long graduate diploma in education to investigate the nature of their knowledge about learning and changes in such knowledge over the year. At Time 1 and Time 2 most students thought learning should be meaningful and preferred to use transformative learning approaches. However, students indicated a willingness to engage in reproductive approaches to learning if the content to be learned was uninteresting, workloads were high, or assessment was examination-focussed. The results also indicated that while many students did not experience significant changes in their knowledge about learning over the year, they believed that transformative learning had become more of a focus for them. Investigating student teachers' knowledge about learning has implications for effective learning in teacher education programs.     

Assessing Error in Behavioral Data: Problems of Sequencing

Both classical test theory and generalizability theory focus on measurement error as a group property. Thus, common estimates o f errors o f measurement are developed for all members o f a group. But with behavioral data, unlike specifically test data, it is sometimes possible to estimate error separately for each individual. This enables one to ask questions about the relationships between error o f measurement and other characteristics o f the individual. Consequently, it also makes possible the use of regression techniques to call upon group data to improve the estimates o f individual measurement error. The focus on the individual also lays bare the possibility o f sequencing effects, and it is shown that, even in the absence o f trend, autocorrelation can cause standard procedures to grossly underestimate the magnitude o f measurement error. Classroom observation data are examined for autocorrelation, and recommendations are made about the scheduling o f data collection so as to minimize its effects.     

Dyslexia policy and practice: cross‐professional and parental perspectives on the Northern Ireland context

This article considers policy and practice in relation to dyslexia provision in Northern Ireland since the 2002 Task Group Report. Using interviews with original and current stakeholders, this research, funded by SCoTENS (Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South), examined the extent to which recommendations have been met in the intervening years. Perspectives of interviewees indicated that while pockets of good practice have existed, this has been inconsistent. Despite the Department of Education (Northern Ireland) promoting and funding a significant and replicable model of teacher education and making efforts to monitor its efficacy, concerns remain regarding the optional nature of training, the maintenance of the discrepancy model of dyslexia identification, the need for early multi‐disciplinary identification, whole‐school policy development and post‐primary provision. In addition, stakeholders questioned the sustainability of funding and advocated enhanced transparency for parents, whose voices, it would appear, can still go unheard.     

Early education and day care: in search of a policy

This paper examines policy issues in the provision of services for children under five and their families. It argues that services have developed in response to political and economic factors rather than in response to the needs of children and their parents. It shows how the separate strands of development that have led to the current confused situation reflect different ideological and philosophical approaches which tend to militate against a more coherent and co‐ordinated service provision. In the absence of a national policy on services for children under five, the paper examines the attempts by some local authorities to rationalize their own services on a local basis. It considers some of the areas in which a policy is required, including the organizational structure of services, flexibility and responsiveness of nurseries and centres to the needs of families, the quality of day care and education, the involvement of parents, equal opportunities, the relationship between the vouluntary and statutory sectors, pay and conditions of pre‐school workers, and initial and in‐service training.