Inter-generational learning of teachers: what and how do teachers learn from older and younger colleagues?

This paper examines how and what teachers learn from their older and younger colleagues. Data were gathered from interviews and written reports from 27 Belgian and Finnish teachers. Thematic qualitative analysis was used. The results revealed differences in what teachers learn from older and younger colleagues. Teachers reported learning innovative teaching methods and ICT skills from younger colleagues, whereas practical information, classroom management skills, self-regulation and community building were learned mainly from older colleagues. Attitudes regarding teaching and different ways of being a teacher were learned from both younger and older colleagues alike. Similarities were also found in how teachers learned from their older and younger colleagues. Informal activities and relationships, different forms of mentoring, and working in subject teams or seminars were important sources of learning. An intergenerational learning perspective is important with respect to demographic changes in school staff and in preventing knowledge loss and teacher dropout.     

Do parents’ and teachers’ views of children’s educational resilience matter?

This study set out to examine parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of children’s educational resilience. As expected, the parents attributed greater levels of educational resilience to their children than did the teachers. However, both the parents and teachers assessed the sixth graders’ educational resilience as higher than that of the third graders. The results suggest that perceptions of educational resilience may represent a different dimension from views relating to children’s achievement in school.     

Notions of intelligence and social-educational identity

This study examined whether notions of intelligence tend to maintain a group’s social-educational identity. A sample of academically and vocationally educated parents were asked to give their opinions of a statement proposing that a theoretical university education enables people to gain a deeper understanding of most matters. It was found that only among the academic parents, support for the statement tended to amplify endorsement of a general, individualised and essentialistic representation of intelligence.     

Professional competences of young psychologists: the dimensions of self-rated competence domains and their variation in the early years of the psychologist’s career

The study set out to explore an array of key competencies required by psychologists, along with a method for assessing them. The respondents (n?=?353) were a representative sample of young Finnish psychologists with professional experience of between 1 and 6 years. They were requested to rate 52 statements of competence. A set of explorative factor analyses was conducted separately for four predetermined competence domains: client management, personal/professional identity and autonomy, consciousness of professional limits and professional development. In total, the analysis generated 11 competence dimensions. It was found that the extent of work experience was related to the ratings of these competence domains. For instance, newly qualified psychologists tended to rate their competences higher than those of psychologists with a few more years of professional experience.     

Beijing in-service teachers' self-efficacy and attitudes towards inclusive education

Four-hundred-and-fifty-one in-service teachers from the Beijing municipality filled in a questionnaire containing a Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale. The aim was to examine the factor structure of the TEIP scale among mainland Chinese in-service teachers, and to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy for inclusive practices, respondents' background factors and attitude towards inclusive education. The TEIP scale and its three sub-scales had good reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis gave support to a structure of three self-efficacy factors, efficacy in using inclusive instructions, efficacy in collaboration, and efficacy in managing behaviour.     

Classroom behavioural climate in inclusive education – a study on secondary students’ perceptions

Previous studies pointed out that dealing with difficult behaviour is perceived by teachers as a major challenge in inclusive settings. However, research on the students' perception of the classroom behavioural climate (CBC) is rare. Therefore, this study aims to examine students’ perceptions of CBC and to identify predictors of CBC as well as associated variables. The sample consists of 650 German students from secondary schools (5th-9th grade) of whom 83 students are diagnosed with special educational needs (SEN). CBC was measured via four subscales (‘students’ possibilities to study and concentrating on teaching’, ‘disruptive behaviour’, ‘physical and psychological safety’ and ‘caring for the physical environment’). Results show significant differences in students’ perceptions of CBC between students from different school tracks. Furthermore, gender (being male) and SEN (having a) predict the perception of ‘physical and psychological safety’. Additionally, social inclusion, emotional experience as well as teacher support and care are associated with CBC. Accordingly, a positive CBC is important for the successful implementation of inclusive education: while diversity in classrooms is a challenge for behavioural climate, poor behavioural climate may also pose specific barriers to learning for some students with SEN and thus is a general challenge for equity in inclusive classrooms.     

Future-oriented eGovernance: The sustainability concept in eGov research,and ways forward

eGov (eGovernment/eGovernance) is a complex endeavor involving many actors, ambitions, and perspectives. The field has, in research and in practice, over the years expanded its focus from service orientation to a comprehensive perspective with the ambition to integrate all of government in coherent action. Comprehensive integration requires a future-oriented perspective so investment is made in robust and flexible solutions meeting not only today's demands but also sustainable to meet those of the future. This paper addresses the use of the sustainability concept in eGov research. We discuss definitions and elements of sustainability and conduct a structured review of eGov literature investigating how various sustainability areas (social, economic, environmental and technical) are addressed. We find 21 overall themes in 94 papers, with the highest number in the “social” category. Two cross-cutting themes to which 21 overall themes relate are also identified; Decision-making and Infrastructure. Findings show that sustainability is mainly addressed narrowly, focusing on projects rather than general issues, and shallowly with a focus on single factors rather than the complex interaction among them, and with little foundation in sustainability theory. The paper contributes with an overview of themes in previous research as well as theory-based input for future research efforts on eGov sustainability, from a dynamic and sociotechnical sustainability perspective.