Peer mentoring in higher education: issues of power and control

This article has been removed at the request of the author     

Managing support for newly qualified teachers in primary schools

This article considers some of the management issues involved in effective induction, drawing on data collected during evaluation of a project concerned with the induction of NQTs in primary schools.     

The Relationship Between Personality Temperament,Communication Reticence,and Fear of Negative Evaluation

This study examined the influence and relationships of the Big Five personality variables of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability (neuroticism), and openness to experience on communication reticence and fear of negative evaluation (FNE). Undergraduates from (N = 336) basic communication or psychology courses completed self-report measures for these variables. Structural equation modeling indicated that only one personality dimension, extraversion, directly predicted reticence, whereas neuroticism was positively related to FNE, and openness was a negatively associated predictor of FNE. The model also showed a strong relationship between FNE and reticence, indicating that FNE moderated the relationship between two of the five personality variables (i.e., openness and neuroticism) and reticence.     

Strengthening and sustaining professional learning in the second year of teaching

The data discussed in this paper derive from post‐lesson and end‐of‐year interviews with 17 teachers in their second year of teaching. They form part of a longitudinal study which first tracked these teachers through their initial postgraduate teacher education programme and induction year. In the light of earlier analysis, which had highlighted both the enduring importance of individuals’ dispositions towards their own learning and the profound sense of professional isolation that some teachers experience once the support of their induction year is withdrawn, this paper focuses specifically on the interplay between teachers’ orientations towards their own professional learning and the nature of the learning environments in which they are working. The complex interrelationships between these two dimensions are illuminated by six case studies, which offer strong support to those who have challenged exclusive conceptualisations of ‘learning’ as either ‘construction’ or ‘participation’. The findings have important implications for all those responsible for the professional education of beginning and early career teachers, especially as they respond to the government launch in England of a new ‘national framework’ intended (eventually) to offer opportunities for Masters level professional learning to all newly qualified teachers.     

Textual Authority in Bram Stoker's Dracula; or,What's Really at Stake in Action Research?

In a previous issue of Educational Action Research, Jean‐Claude Couture revisited his involvement in a university action research project with particular reference to his complicity in – and, eventually, resistance to – working for the interests of the university. In his essay, entitled ‘Dracula as action researcher’. Couture uses the 1992 movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula, as a source of metaphors and analogies for rewriting the story of his involvement in the project. In this response to Couture. I suggest that the movie offers fewer textual resources for the deconstruction he attempts than does Bram Stoker's original novel and, more importantly, that Couture may have thus overlooked important resources for resisting his positioning as an accomplice of the university. I also suggest that juxtaposing Couture's story of action research with Bram Stoker's version of the Dracula legend highlights crucial questions about the mobilisation of textual authority in educational action research.     

An exploration of the perceived health,life skill and academic benefits of dinghy sailing for 9–13-year-old school children

Research evidence suggests that outdoor education offers significant potential in priming healthy physical activity behaviors, developing life skills, enhancing self-esteem and promoting improved academic performance. The aim of the current study was to explore from a cross-sectional perspective the perceived benefits of a dinghy sailing program on 9–13-year-old school children. Participants (n = 38) were drawn from a diverse range of relevant participation and stakeholder groups, including school children, teachers and sailing instructors. Semi-structured interviews (adults) and focus groups (children) were used to collect data, with inductive data analysis methods applied. Six superordinate themes arose from the data highlighting physical and mental health benefits as well as the potential to development key life skills, self-esteem and the possible interaction with other aspects of the school curriculum to enhance student learning.     

Developing a generic review framework to assure capstone quality

Within the higher education context, capstone units can be viewed as a significant means of assuring intended learning outcomes for programmes. They provide students with the opportunity to consolidate and apply prior and new disciplinary learning, as well as employability skills and graduate attributes. This paper describes the first stage of an initiative in a regional, Australian university to develop a capstone quality review framework that can be applied across disciplines. A deductive, thematic analysis of relevant literature, guides and institutional strategic documents using a constant comparison method was used to develop a collectively agreed upon set of capstone quality domains and related criteria. These would enable reviewers to assess whether capstone curricula were fit-for-purpose. Capstone domains and criteria were validated and revised using a multi-stage, moderated review of 10 capstone units. This validation process affirmed that to avoid issues with reviewer inter-rater reliability, future use of our framework should emphasise calibrating reviewer interpretation to ensure greater levels of shared understanding of underlying concepts. It further suggested the desirability of incorporating aspects of teacher self-assessment, teacher feedback and student results. Provided these findings are accounted for, we conclude that the proposed capstone review domains and criteria could be used for quality review and enhancement, or capstone benchmarking processes, regardless of discipline area.