Bullying behaviour, intentions and classroom ecology

Anti-bullying commitment across school communities is seen as crucial to the effectiveness of interventions. This exploratory study used a mixed-methods design to investigate bullying behaviour, intentions and aspects of the classroom ecology within the context of an anti-bullying initiative that was launched with a declaration of commitment. Across the sample of 14 primary school classes, containing 338 children aged 8–11 years, changes over time in peer-assessed and self-reported bullying and victimisation were found to be associated with changes in pupils’ sense of school belonging and perceptions of their classroom climate. Using a newly-developed theory of planned behaviour measure, changes in bullying were found to be associated with pupils’ intentions and perceived control with regard to engagement in bullying behaviour. No differences were found between intervention and comparison classes on any of the pupil outcome measures. However teachers of intervention classes reported a relative increase in perceived control over undertaking anti-bullying work with their class. The role of the class as a meaningful unit of analysis in the investigation of ecological-systemic bullying interventions in primary schools is highlighted.     

Berufliche Weiterbildung – Gelegenheits- und Teilnahmestrukturen

This contribution starts out from the assumption that participation in continuing professional education is realized in the context of different opportunity structures and an analysis of participation selectivity must take account of both self-selection and external selection processes. The different opportunity structures are described using approaches from segmentation and economic theory, which lead to the identification of three segments of continuing professional education. Participation structures in the three training segments are shown using logistic regressions, which take account of socio-demographic and individual characteristics of the social and employment environment. These predictors display segment-specific influences, which emphasizes the importance of differentiated perspectives on continuing professional education. Overall, participation is shown to be clearly influenced by external selection processes. The basis of the analyses is data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), cohort 2009/10.     

Teaching Through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbis and Teaching Adults

As educators, synagogue rabbis frequently devote a great deal of time to teaching adults. Yet little empirical research exists about what they do. This study describes and analyzes the teaching of three congregational rabbis who have excellent reputations as teachers of adults. In particular, it focuses on how these rabbis incorporate personal stories into their teaching and examines the ways that sharing such stories is integral to their teaching approaches. Rabbis who use stories in their teaching potentially occupy a crucial place in the Jewish identity development of their adult learners. This study offers rabbinical seminaries recommendations for how to incorporate the results of the research into their curriculum.     

A Review of: “Jewish Lives,Jewish Learning: Adult Jewish Learning in Theory and Practice by Diane Tickton Schuster (UAHC Press, 2003)”

This articles explores how a group of women in the Former Soviet Union grapple with questions of Jewish identity and Jewish “authenticity” as they participate in adult Jewish learning program that employs methods of feminist pedagogy and transformative learning. The study reflects on areas of dissonance between the transformational learning process and the tenacity of the women's world assumptions that are shaped by background, history, and worldview. While the learning process seems to be prompting these women to seriously and critically reflect on and reframe their self-understanding as learners and as Jews, their limited content-knowledge combined with a tentative sense of personal authority about Jewish life seems to impede their ability to harmonize their learning with a clear sense of what constitutes authentic practice of Judaism.     

Learning to teach writing through tutoring and journal writing

Structured reflection on practical teaching experiences may help pre‐service teachers to integrate their learning and analyze their actions to become more effective learners and teachers. This study reports on 12 pre‐service English as a second language (ESL) teachers’ individual tutoring of learners of English language writing. The data of the study are the writing journal entries that the pre‐service ESL teachers maintained during their tutoring experience. These journals had common elements: all were used by the pre‐service teachers to consider what funds of knowledge they bring to their teaching of ESL learners, to evaluate their roles as writers, learners and teachers and to reflect on the educational, social and cultural implications of teaching writing in English to speakers of other languages. This article describes ways in which both native and non‐native English speaking pre‐service teachers adapted their instruction to meet the particular needs of individual ESL writers and what they learned in the process. It provides insight regarding the value of using tutoring and reflection generally in teacher education and specifically in the preparation of teachers of ESL.     

Early education teachers’ conceptualizations and strategies for managing closeness with the class in child care

This study investigated teachers’ experiences of closeness during interactions with the group of children in child care. Structured interviews were conducted with 24 female teachers who were teaching children between the ages of three and five (mean age = 3.9) regarding their perceptions of closeness with the group of children in the class. Qualitative analyses of the interviews revealed a group solidarity domain of teacher–group relationships composed of three dimensions which comprise emotional solidarity, consensual solidarity, and functional solidarity, with emotional solidarity most dominant in the teachers’ perceptions. This group solidarity domain was interpreted as being consistent with qualities found in Grusec and Davidov’s group participation domain. The findings that, teachers’ closeness with the group of children in the class were dominated by the emotional dimension is similar to previous research results which report the predominance of personal and intimate interactions in relational closeness between teachers and individual children. Teachers described intentional strategies for managing close group relationships that made use of interactional histories between the teachers and children in the class. These discoveries provide a new perspective on teacher closeness with groups, an area of research not often investigated. It also provides insights into the importance teachers place on connecting emotionally with children when they are with the collective group in the classroom.     

Towards flexible learning for adult learners in professional contexts: an activity-focused course design

This article argues for a flexible model of learning for adults which allows them to make choices and contextualise their learning in a manner appropriate to their own professional practice whilst also developing as a member of a learning community. It presents a design based around online ‘learning activities’ which draws on ideas of constructivism, collaborative learning and reflective practice. The model was developed for adult learning in Higher Education, and has been adapted and extended to a number of different programmes. Implementation of the model for the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) has been the subject of an interpretative evaluation using a multiple methods approach. Learners' experiences of this programme together with issues associated with the application of the model to other programmes are discussed.     

MultiMap: An Interactive Tool for Mathematical Experimentation

Abstract

This article describes a computer program, “Multi‐Map,” designed to introduce experimentation and exploration in the precollege mathematics curriculum. The central activity in MultiMap involves the creation of planar maps which may be applied interactively to graphical objects. The maps may be affine or nonlinear; and (among other activities) they can easily be edited, composed, or applied iteratively. We outline MultiMap's interface and basic functionality, describe a wide variety of exploratory mathematical activities that can be undertaken with the program, and present some observations on the use of MultiMap in the classroom.     

Practicing Resistance: Teacher Responses to Intergroup Aggression in the Classroom

Teachers are frequently advised to respond when they hear remarks that reflect anger, contempt, or disgust towards members of historically marginalized communities. However, there is little research on how teachers respond to such remarks. Focusing specifically on classroom talk about sexual identity, this study investigates how teachers responded to students who overtly expressed anger, contempt, or disgust towards LGBQ people. Data were collected on three teachers’ classroom practice, including teacher interviews, daily logs, and classroom observations. Findings indicate that variations in teachers’ responses to overt student bias reflect variations in underlying theories of how people unlearn their biases. This study suggests that grounding research on teachers’ responses to students’ biases in knowledge about how people learn might reveal new directions for research on ways to counter bias in the classroom.