Sharing meanings in the music classroom

This work explores the study of interaction through discourse as a means for analysing and understanding the process of teaching and learning music. Over the course of a didactic sequence, we assess classroom conversations dealing with the analysis of a music score constituted as the reference for the process of creating a joint music composition. The group is made up of a teacher and second-year elementary pupils (aged 9–10 years) at a music school. Eight categories of discourse are identified that help to understand the strategies used to construct shared musical meanings. This knowledge is important for practitioners when reflecting on the teaching-learning process. It is also useful for teacher training.     

Teacher education and the choice to enter the teaching profession: A prospective study

This two-wave survey study aimed at testing a hypothetical model of teacher education graduates’ decisions about whether or not to take a teaching position upon graduation. The model focuses on the relationship between teacher education and graduates’ choice on job entrance. Using path analysis and logistic regression, this model was tested in a sample of student teachers (n = 436), subsequently graduates (n = 251) of teacher training for secondary education. The results validate the relationship between teacher education variables and nearly graduates’ intention to enter the teaching profession. Furthermore, this intention proves an imperative predictor of graduates’ actual entrance.     

What’s on your bucket list? Utility and importance of the retirement preferences of 40–70-year-old Filipino teachers using discrete choice estimation

ABSTRACT

The transition from a busy work life to a retired state entails a lot of adjustment, planning, and wise decision-making. While there have been numerous studies that elucidate retirement issues across the globe, the need to know about retirement preferences of middle-aged and older teachers remains a blank spot in the literature, hence this discrete choice estimation investigation. The overall purpose of this study is to explicate the utility and importance of retirement preferences of a select group of 40–70 year-old teachers (n = 152) from the northern part of the Philippines. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21, a set of 12 choice bundles with 4 holdouts were extracted from a pool 96 orthogonal array. Respondents were asked to sort and rank each card based on its importance and utility value using the Balanced Incomplete Block Design (BIBD). Results indicate that the most important attribute considered by Filipino teachers relative to their retirement preferences was investment. This was followed by pursuit of an old interest, travel, and part-time job as the least preferred. This utility study yielded empirical data that can be benchmarked by retirement planning policy makers in the academic setting to better address the uncertainty faced by aging teachers when it comes to their retirement decisions.     

Measuring the impact of inquiry-based learning on outcomes and student satisfaction

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of inquiry-based learning (IBL) on students’ academic performance and to assess their satisfaction with the process. Linear and logistic regression analyses show that examination grades are positively related to attendance at classes and tutorials; moreover, there is a positive significant relationship between academic performance and IBL, which is considered useful for better understanding of the subject. While students’ satisfaction is directly associated with class attendance and motivation and with the perceived usefulness of IBL, it is unaffected by attendance at tutorials. We conclude, therefore, that students become more involved in learning and acquire increased knowledge of the subject when an IBL-based method is followed.