More than canons: teacher knowledge and the literary domain of the secondary English curriculum

Background:?The matter of teacher knowledge in the curriculum subject of English is not simple. Certainly it is not easy to delineate what its ‘content knowledge’ should be and how this relates to other aspects of teacher knowledge. In the context of education policy in England, at a time of change when the nature of the subject and its pedagogy are under scrutiny, the issue acquires heightened relevance from an initial teacher preparation perspective.

Purpose:?This paper sets out to consider the following questions: how do teachers of English acquire their teacher knowledge? What is known about the nuanced process of teacher knowledge development in English? Curriculum content is one element of teacher knowledge, but in the literary domain of English it does not suffice to specify what and how much should be read. The questions are discussed from the perspective of the knowledge development of postgraduate English teachers during initial teacher preparation.

Sources of evidence:?Literature concerning the development of teacher knowledge and expertise both generally and in the curriculum subject of English is critically discussed. Within the literature, the notion of the mentor–novice dialogue is identified as an important way of developing teacher knowledge. Alongside the literature, three illustrative mentor accounts are presented, drawn from the experience of postgraduate students learning to teach English to secondary school pupils.

Main argument:?The mentor accounts suggest that the boundaries of English are not easily demarcated. They indicate that the knowledge developed is other than the ‘content’ knowledge that might be acquired through initial degree studies. It is argued that teacher education demands a conception of teaching that takes full account of this knowledge development. At the same time, specific dispositions that do not automatically follow from prior academic attainment appear to be relevant. It is suggested that how these are cultivated, and how they are distinctive to the subject discipline are important questions for initial teacher preparation.

Conclusions:?Whatever the new contexts for initial teacher preparation, understanding how teachers acquire and apply ‘teacherly’ knowledge deserves as much attention as the content of a subject or the prior attainment of entrants to the profession. Initial teacher preparation arrangements need to acknowledge the complexity of learning to teach English as a curriculum subject. Learning to teach is a nuanced process, requiring engagement with a dedicated pedagogical content knowledge. In literary English teaching, this comprises attention to micro and macro aspects concurrently, for example through attention to individual texts concurrent with consideration of conceptions of readers and reading.     

Toward A Pragmatic Discourse of Constructivism: Reflections on Lessons from Practice

Although New York's highest court granted children the constitutional right to a meaningful high school education in Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York, equitable funding has yet to be implemented. The state of New York continues to stall on revising the funding formula statewide, despite the many indications that this must be done if the state is to satisfy the Court of Appeal's 2003 ruling. Although some factors that affect children's performance in school, such as lead poisoning and poverty, lie beyond the control of the schools, schools are nevertheless required to remediate their effects by providing special education. Equitable funding based on obtaining good educational outcomes for all children would help create conditions under which children could improve their life chances through education. After equitable funding has been obtained, defining the markers of a meaningful high school education will be the next task for school reformers in New York.     

Respecting Both the Sacred and the Secular: An Interview with Theodore M. Hesburgh

An important objective in science education is for students to understand the nature of science. Therefore, it is important that science textbooks, which are key resources in elementary science curricula, convey an accurate conception of the nature of science. This study examined first- to fifth-grade elementary science textbooks with regard to their presentations of the nature of science.     

The Search for Reform: An Interview with Seymour B. Sarason

Leadership demands in American public schools have changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Whether–or how–the practice of leadership will change to meet those demands is an open question. The change in demands is largely a consequence of the introduction of performance-based accountability—policies that evaluate, reward, and sanction schools on the basis of measured student performance. While the merits of these policies are debatable, the fact that they have changed—probably fundamentally—the demands placed on school leaders is not.     

Using Rating Augmentation to Expand the Scale of an Analytic Rubric

A method of expanding a rating scale 3-fold without the expense of defining additional benchmarks was studied. The authors used an analytic rubric representing 4 domains of writing and composed of 4-point scales to score 120 writing samples from Georgia's 11th-grade Writing Assessment. The raters augmented the scores of papers on which the proficiency levels appeared slightly higher or lower than the benchmark papers at the selected proficiency level by adding a “+” or a “?” to the score. The results of the study indicate that the use of this method of rating augmentation tends to improve most indices of interrater reliability, although the percentage of exact and adjacent agreement decreases because of the increased number of rating possibilities. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that the use of augmentation may produce domain-level scores with sufficient reliability for use with diagnostic feedback to teachers about the performance of students.     

Cognitive-Training Programs for Older Adults: What Are they and Can they Enhance Mental Fitness?

ABSTRACT

People are living longer, and in better physical health, than at any other time in history. But what of their mental health? Does it decline with age, offsetting the gains made in physical health and longevity? Can it be maintained? Can it improve? A review of the literature suggests that cognitive decline is not universal, pervasive, or irreversible. It also demonstrates that older adults can benefit from cognitive training. The challenge, however, is to provide such training in ways that are acceptable to older adults. The answer is to be found, firstly, in research that identifies best practices for cognitive skill development in ecologically valid activities involving older adults, psychologists, and adult educators. These best practices can then serve to assist educators to design continuing education programs and other activities that are readily accessible, affordable, and enjoyable.     

Changing Aging Competency Following a GeroRich Intervention Initiative: Implications for Bachelor's and Master's Social Work Education

This article reports an evaluation of a GeroRich effort to increase age-specific content throughout bachelor and master-level social work curricula. A total of 426 students (128 BSWs and 298 MSWs) completed pre and posttests in 2004–2005, self-rating their aging competency using the Social Work with Aging Skill Competency Scale II (New York Academy of Medicine, 2005 New York Academy of Medicine . ( 2005 ). Practicum Partnership Program Geriatric Social Work Competency Scale II . Retrieved July 7, 2005, from New York Academy of Medicine Geriatric Practicum Partnership Program Web site:http://socialwork.nyam.org/pdf/GSWCompetencyScaleII.d  [Google Scholar]). Additional outcome questions were included to assess elements of the specific strategy. Findings indicate that both groups showed improved aging competency, but policy and human behavior courses were key to competency for BSW students, while practice and field classes predicted competency for MSWs.