Personalized learning through 1:1 technology initiatives: implications for teachers and teaching in neoliberal times

Situated within the broader context of neoliberalism, this article explores how personalized learning, as tied to 1:1 technology initiatives, prompts changes in teachers’ classrooms and practices. The article draws upon a case study of one novice teacher as a way to view how personalized learning is undergirded by tenets of neoliberalism that ultimately change the relationship between teachers, students, and knowledge. While this article does not dispute the positive effects that personalized learning through technology has offered to many students, it explores facets of how such a change has reoriented the role of the teacher and repositioned knowledge as it relates to classrooms and students.     

Structural and strategic approach to school phobia/school refusal

Different theoretical approaches to school phobia/school refusal are reviewed briefly. A structural and strategic approach is presented in which school phobia and school refusal are viewed as two ends of a continuum of progression from “involuntary” symptoms on one end to “willful” refusal on the other. In later stages of school phobia/school refusal, the symptom becomes no longer a fear response, but takes on a protective function for the entire family. A treatment case is reported to demonstrate the strategies of reestablishing the proper parent-child hierarchy, strengthening the sibling subsystem within the family and increasing the involvement of peripheral family members, and establishing positive links with the school system, as well as the principles of effective case management. A vigorous and intensive treatment of school phobia/school refusal is advocated.     

Mumford on aesthetic–moral interaction in sport

Stephen Mumford argues that aesthetic and moral values in sport are interdependent, focusing on cases where immorality taints beautiful performance. This interdependence thesis is insightful but, I argue, in need of refinement, as its normative implications are unclear and perhaps implausible (e.g. the Nazi aesthetics problem). I also challenge Mumford’s perspective on the infamous Dynamo Kiev death match. Whereas Mumford claims that the match’s morally oppressive circumstances detract from it so that ‘it was not something knowingly we should have admired aesthetically’, I argue that, on the contrary, and in light of what Mumford says about other cases, such circumstances actually enhance the game’s aesthetics such that it would be wrong not to appreciate it aesthetically.     

A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study

The overall purpose of this study was to create a model of positive youth development (PYD) through sport grounded in the extant qualitative literature. More specifically, the first objective was to review and evaluate qualitative studies of PYD in sport. The second objective was to analyze and synthesize findings from these studies. Following record identification and screening, 63 articles were retained for analysis. Meta-method analysis revealed strengths of studies were the use of multiple data collection and validity techniques, which produced high-quality data. Weaknesses were limited use of ‘named’ methodologies and inadequate reporting of sampling procedures. Philosophical perspectives were rarely reported, and theory was used sparingly. Results of an inductive meta-data analysis produced three categories: PYD climate (adult relationships, peer relationships, and parental involvement), life skills program focus (life skill building activities and transfer activities), and PYD outcomes (in personal, social, and physical domains). A model that distinguishes between implicit and explicit processes to PYD is presented.     

Supervision and evaluation: The Wyoming perspective

The intent of this study was to assess the perceptions and actions of Wyoming principals concerning their role in supervising and evaluating teachers. A survey was sent to all 286 principals in the state of Wyoming, of which, 143 returned surveys, a response rate of 50%. Findings suggested that principals utilized supervisory behaviors more often than evaluative behaviors. Elementary principals perceived their evaluative practices as significantly more prevalent than secondary principals. Furthermore, principals indicated that their greatest frustrations in supervising teachers were time, the evaluation instrument, and teachers’ unwillingness to change. Additionally, findings suggested that Wyoming principals utilized classroom walkthroughs because they provided a snapshot of teaching and provided a medium for providing feedback. In regards to developmental supervision, principals indicated that novice teachers received much more supervision than veteran teachers. However, their reported use of differentiated supervision only applied to teacher autonomy concerning professional development goals. Principals reported that teachers had little input concerning the methods by which they were supervised. Finally, a majority of the Wyoming principals felt that improvement plans were effective at changing mediocre teaching behaviors, but 40% were speculative that such plans truly remediated poor teachers.     

Promoting basic arithmetic competence in early school years–using a response to intervention model

This study investigated whether mathematics education based on a multi-tiered response to intervention (RTI) model can support students' arithmetic competence in primary schools in Sweden. The intent was to identify and support students at risk of failure. In this study, 113 students participated in the intervention, and 30 students participated in the control group. Both groups were followed from Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 and compared. During the first semester in Grade 1, all students were taught basic addition and subtraction with explicit instructions in Tier 1. Those who did not respond to Tier 1 after one semester were provided support within Tier 2 during the second semester. The same was repeated in grade 2 and the students that did not respond to Tier 2 were supported within Tier 3. At the end of Grade 2, students in the intervention group performed significantly higher on the basic arithmetic competence in the number range 1–9 than the control group. No significant difference was found in a test measuring basic arithmetic competence in the number range 10–19. This study shows that using multi-tiered RTI might be sufficient to identify and support students at risk in early arithmetic competence.     

Factors related to a college student's career optimism and their perception of career services

A student's expectation for a positive outcome for their future career development is referred to as career optimism. Career Services, a common university department, utilizes the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to understand how students form career interests and make educational and vocational choices. Then Career Services can assist students in finding a career that matches their interests. We hypothesize that students' perception of the assistance provided by the Career Services department when the SCCT is applied, impacts the student's career optimism. In addition, we hypothesize, and results support, that different factors, such as a student's chosen major, impact student perception of Career Services and career optimism.