Implications of academic literacies research for knowledge making and curriculum design

This article explores the issue of what academic literacies research can bring to the study of knowledge and curriculum in higher education from a theoretical perspective and by means of illustrations from a work in progress academic literacies research project in the natural sciences. It argues that reading and writing are central to the process of learning in any discipline and that discipline specialists need to take this into consideration when planning their curricula. It also considers what knowledge means in the context of academic literacies research and how this conception of knowledge may differ from the knowledge structures researchers’ concern with knowledge as an object with its own properties. It comes to the conclusion that academic literacies research with its ethnographic-type exploration of social practice and theorisations of knowledge in the knowledge structures research can complement one another because each field of enquiry brings a lens that the other lacks.     

Community and the myth of the ideal school: Circulation and appropriation of the Hamburg Gemeinschaftsschulen in Spain (1922–1933)

The progressive education movement was known in Spain from its very inception, and in fact many of its pedagogical theories and practices reached Spain before reaching other European countries. Yet traditional historiography has always maintained that Spain was never integrated in the progressive education movement, a misconception that helps explain the lack of research in the field. Recent historiographical research, however, has shown that numerous Spanish schools served as laboratories for the implementation of progressive education methods in the 1920s and 1930s. The Spanish educational system proved itself to be especially open to international innovation in general and Spain actually enjoyed a privileged position for the study of how innovative pedagogical ideas could be incorporated and appropriated. Proof of this affirmation can be found in the introduction and dissemination throughout Spain of the experimental public school movement of Hamburg known as Gemeinschaftsschulen.

This article will focus on the way this movement was received in Spain. We will examine the phenomenon from a double perspective, corresponding to the different positions that scholars found themselves in within the educational panorama of the time. On the one hand we will examine the role of the “grass-roots” educators who wished to change schools “from below”, starting with classroom practices. On the other hand we will take a look at the representatives of “high pedagogy”, who were intent on formulating a pedagogical theory on which to base a political–ideological model that would serve to change the school “from above”. Tensions arising among the different pedagogical groups, along with the ambiguity of the translation into Spanish of the term Gemeinschaftsschulen, led to the different groups appropriating the concept in different ways. The evolution of the term Gemeinschaftsschulen, from its original identification with a localised school experiment in Hamburg to its becoming a symbol for virtually all European school vanguards, will be addressed at the conclusion of the article.     

Are teachers’ approaches to teaching responsive to individual student variation? A two-level structural equation modeling

In the framework of teacher’s approaches to teaching, this study investigates the relationship between student-related variables (i.e., study time, class absence, domain knowledge, and homework completion), students’ approaches to learning, and teachers’ approaches to teaching using structural equation modeling (SEM) with two independent data samples. The participants were 61 biology teachers and their corresponding 1,518 high school students (12th grade). The first sample was used to fit the model, and the second sample was used to analyze the consistency of the data derived from the first sample. Using a two-level SEM analysis, we established whether the effects found at the individual level varied significantly at class level. The students’ approaches to learning were related to the teachers’ approaches to teaching as a function of the hypotheses established in the model, although the effect size was smaller than expected. However, approximately 48 % of the variance of the surface approach and 46 % of the deep approach sat at class level. At the individual level, the results of this study suggest that students’ approaches to learning significantly explain their teachers’ approaches to teaching and, thus, constitute important contextual variables. At the class level, the way students learn appears to be closely associated with class-related variables. Our data stresses the importance of promoting educational opportunities (e.g., school-based courses) for teachers to reflect upon the teaching methodologies used in class.     

Students at risk: perceptions of Serbian teachers and implications for teacher education

While legislation is in place for the promotion of inclusive education in Serbia, the adoption of teaching practices that support diversity in schools is still lacking. This study looks at teacher perceptions of students at risk (SaR), their relationships with peers and the teachers’ own roles as sources of support, using a sample of 94 interviews with teachers analysed using qualitative content analysis. The SaR from Roma population and poor backgrounds are found to be perceived positively by their teachers, but most teachers failed to perceive their influence on the improvement of academic performance and peer relationships. Perceptions of students with disabilities varied in tone across the dimension positive-depending on the type of disability-negative. Teachers who spoke affirmatively about them expressed readiness to cooperate with parents and colleagues, emphasising the importance of socialisation. Recommendations for teacher education are discussed, including diversity awareness and encouraging more flexible understanding of teacher roles.     

Performance in solving arithmetic problems: a comparison of children with different levels of achievement in mathematics and reading

The aim of the present study was to investigate the performance in arithmetic related to achievement levels in reading and mathematics. Basic arithmetical facts and multi‐step calculations were examined. The participants were 941 pupils aged 8 (N = 415), 10 (N = 274) and 13 (N = 252) years. The pupils were divided into four groups by standardized achievement tests. One group showed low achievement in both mathematics and reading (MLRL), a second group showed low achievement in mathematics only (ML‐only), a third group in reading only (RL‐only) and a fourth group showed normal achievement in both mathematics and reading (NA). The ML‐only and the MLRL groups did not differ significantly in basic arithmetical facts at any age level, but both groups performed below the RL‐only and NA groups. The two latter groups also performed similarly at all year levels. In multi‐step calculation all groups differed significantly at the lowest age level, with the NA as the group with the best achievement, followed by RL‐only, ML‐only and the MLRL group. At the two highest age levels the relations between the groups, in multi‐step calculation, were in accordance with the results regarding basic facts. The findings indicate, for both normal and low general mathematical ability, that low achievement in reading to a small extent interferes with the pupils’ development of arithmetic performance     

Second Chance Programmes: a response to educational needs in compulsory education

This paper asks whether the integrated training provision currently offered through the different Spanish Second Chance Programmes (SCPs) constitutes a valid response to the educational needs and deficits known to exist among those young people who do not satisfactorily complete the Compulsory Secondary Education stage (ESO). The objectives of the current Social Guarantee Programmes (SGPs) are examined, as are the characteristics of the young people who participate in them. The Programmes of Initial Vocational Qualification (PCPI) envisaged in the most recent educational legislation are also discussed. Having identified the key factors which the empirical studies suggest influence the effectiveness of these programmes in addressing the educational needs and training deficiencies of the young people involved, a number of proposals are presented in connection with the training needs of teaching staff. The paper concludes with a number of proposals for improving the educational response to the challenges that the new perspectives and expectations raise for the development of a system of inclusive education to overcome the education deficits of the young people concerned.     

Teaching and learning about human nutrition: a constructivist approach

The results of a constructivism‐based teaching programme on human nutrition for students in the second year of secondary education (13‐ and 14‐year‐olds) are analysed in light of the ideas held by the students before and after implementation of the programme. The results show how most of the students who participated in this programme reorganized their ideas concerning the nutritional process and achieved a fuller understanding of how nutrition comprises a series of related and integrated processes. Other students, who followed a more conventional method based on the teacher explanation and textbooks, tended to have erroneous or incomplete ideas concerning the nutritional process.     

Correlation between variables subject to an order restriction,with application to scientometric indices

Variables subject to an order restriction, for instance Y ≤ X, have a bivariate distribution over a non-rectangular joint domain that entails a non-null and potentially large structural relation even if the variables show no association (in the sense that particular ranges of values of X do not co-occur with particular ranges of values of Y). Order restrictions affect a number of scientometric indices (including the h index and its variants) that are routinely subjected to correlational analyses to assess whether they provide redundant information, but these correlations are contaminated by the structural relation. This paper proposes an alternative definition of association between variables subject to an order restriction that eliminates their structural relation and reverts to the conventional definition when applied to variables that are not subject to order restrictions. This alternative definition is illustrated in a number of theoretical cases and it is also applied to empirical data involving scientometric indices subject to an order restriction. A test statistic is also derived which allows testing for the significance of an association between variables subject to an order restriction.     

Learned Helplessness and Psychological Adjustment II: Effects of learning disabilities and low achievement

The present study, a continuation of Valås (2001), is concerned with two categories of low achieving students. The focus is particularly on the consequences of being diagnosed as having learning disabilities compared with not having such a diagnosis. The sample consisted of 1833 students with data collected in grades 4, 7 and 9. Multivariate analyses of variances and analyses of structural equation models showed that students with learning disabilities and low achieving students attributed success in mathematics and first language to ability to a greater extent than other students. They also expressed lower performance expectations in mathematics and verbal skills and showed more helplessness and reported inferior psychological adjustment compared with other students. Moreover, students that were diagnosed as having learning disabilities (LD) and received special education showed more helplessness than the other low achieving children. They also reported lower academic expectations and lower self-esteem. In addition, the results revealed that boys showed more helpless behaviour, as assessed by teachers, than girls. However, on the other hand, girls reported more psychological maladjustment. The conclusion and request is that the process of selection (diagnosing the student as LD) and the organization and implementation of special education should be reconsidered.     

Negotiating Cross-cultural Misunderstandings in Collaborative Therapeutic Conversations

In this article we discuss how clients who have immigrated to Canada and Canadian counsellors negotiate cross-cultural misunderstandings as opportunities to transcend reified assumptions about cultures. Cultural differences as well as discrepancies in translation need to be worked out for counsellors and clients to arrive at shared understandings useful for clients. Arriving at shared understandings requires conversational partners to recognize and overcome how cultural differences may influence personal interpretation of each other’s actions. Misunderstandings, in this sense, highlight affiliative or disaffiliative choices to speakers. We suggest that counsellors can benefit from inviting clients’ initiatives and preferences to inform how relationships develop.