Student teachers’ perceptions of feedback as an aid to reflection for developing effective practice in the classroom

Since Schön’s influential work on reflective practice, reflection has been prioritised in teacher education programmes internationally. The research described in this paper examined the development of postgraduate student teachers’ reflective processes in their first school placement. Twenty-five students were asked to write an account of their evolution in an area of their teaching, and how they were supported to evaluate lessons and reflect on their practice. Subsequently, a sample was interviewed to explore themes arising from the essays. In describing their development of a reflective perspective, the students identified useful feedback from three main sources: mentors, peers and pupils. Although the research took place within a Scottish context, the different roles that feedback played in the development of reflection should be of interest to teacher educators and student teachers internationally, as it could be argued that beginning teachers in every country face similar issues relating to reflection.     

PART I: PSYCHOLOGY

Testing the multidimensional, hierarchical structure of physical self-perceptions in British children.     

Is the National Numeracy Strategy Research-based?

The British Government has recently agreed proposals for a National Numeracy Strategy which claims to be based on evidence concerning 'hat works'. This article reviews the literature in each key area in which recommendations are made, and makes a judgement of whether the claim is justified. In some areas (e.g. calculators) the recommendations run counter to the evidence.     

Immediate External Feedback in the Learning of Golf Skills

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the effect of immediate external feedback on the learning of the golf drive and the 5-iron approach shot. The subjects were 80 university females who met the criterion of rank beginners in golf. They were randomly assigned to a control or an experimental group. The experimental factor was the graph-check-sequence camera used to photograph the movement patterns of each member of the experimental group. The photos were available for the student and instructor to observe performance strengths and weaknesses immediately. The criterion measure was a battery of three golf skill tests. Results were tabulated with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design to determine the main effect factors or interaction factors on learning achievement. The only significant F's were methods main effects. Therefore, it was concluded that immediate external feedback through use of the graph-check-sequence camera facilitates the learning of the golf drive and the 5-iron approach shot.     

Production and reception formats: an alternative participation framework for analysis of classroom discourse?

This article aims to offer an alternative to traditional participation frameworks used to analyse teacher/pupil talk in the classroom. Within curricular areas where learners are encouraged to articulate their own meaning and be creative in their use of language, a traditional participation framework, such as Intitation, Response, Follow‐up, may not be appropriate to capture the interaction that takes place between teachers and learners, nor how the learners' developing understanding may be tracked effectively. Examples from the modern languages classroom are used to illustrate the way Goffman's production format and Wadensjö's reception format can be employed effectively in the analysis of classroom discourse to track the way teachers scaffold pupils' learning through interactive processes leading to successful expression of understanding.     

The evolution of an editorial office in a small society

Outlines the development of the production of a small learned journal from the editor’s home through eighteen years.