The development of education for medical librarians

Formal education for medical library specialization was initiated only thirty-two years ago despite the fact that medical libraries received special treatment for many years before that time. The philosophy of specialized education was developed as early as 1925, and this theory was finally put into practice beginning with the medical reference and bibliography course given at Columbia in 1939. In the late 1940s the requisites for medical librarians were formalized into a certification code by the Medical Library Association, and since that time specialized education for medical librarians has grown stronger using this code as a guideline. This education consists basically of two types-formal library school courses and internship programs which offer a working-while-learning situation. Now that the established programs have a few years of history, there is a need for evaluation and restatement of goals and methods.     

International graduates’ cross-cultural adjustment: experiences,coping strategies,and suggested programmatic responses

The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of international graduates to find out how they perceived their new learning environment in Singapore, and to explore the strategies they employed to adjust to, manage and construct meaning out of their learning situation. A qualitative, critical incidents methodology was used in the research. It was found that adjustment for students was most difficult in the first 6 to 12 months from entry into the new cultural context, largely due to the influence of previous educational and cultural experiences on expectations. Four major themes were identified in the student experiences those of marginalisation: student/supervisory relationship, academic/organisational marginalisation, social marginalisation and advantaging. The coping strategies identified were those of self-determination, collegial support and examination strategies. The importance of collegial support as a key coping strategy for international student adjustment was confirmed in the study. Implications arising from the study may inform intervention programmes that are directed to the points of tension identified in students’ experiences.     

A Bourdieusian approach to academic reading: reflections on a South African teaching experience

As in many other parts of the world, ‘academic literacy’ has emerged as both a concern and a contested concept in South African universities. In this article we focus specifically on academic reading, which we argue is a relatively underemphasized aspect of academic literacy. This article is the product of reflections on academic reading during and subsequent to the development and presentation of a postgraduate module presented at Stellenbosch University. It briefly explores the literature on academic literacy; develops the Bourdieusian perspective on academic reading that we used to develop the module; and concludes with a discussion of the module. Our intention was to make ‘reading as social practice’ more visible to students. Bourdieu's concepts of ‘competence’, ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ set the scene for a discussion of the role of reading in different disciples and more generally within the social sciences and humanities.     

Co-teacher noticing: implications for professional development

ABSTRACT

Federal laws require schools to incorporate co-teaching environments, often comprised of an inclusion specialist and content specialist. Research shows individual teachers can make improvements to their practice by engaging in critical reflection through noticing. The authors present a research-based professional development model designed for teachers to improve and enhance their co-teaching practices. Findings included: teachers’ beliefs on teaching became more aligned; teachers’ beliefs on collaboration were inconsistent; teachers tended to focus on their teaching, not on student learning; and, teachers were non-cognizant of their beliefs toward teaching and co-teaching. We articulate ideas resulting from these findings for enhancing professional development experiences for co-teachers.     

School teachers' perception about distributed leadership practices for inclusive education in primary schools in Bangladesh

This article reports on the third phase of a larger study that explored the perceptions of teachers about distributed leadership practices for inclusive education (IE) in primary schools involved in IE reform in Bangladesh. The Distributed Leadership Practice for Inclusive Education scale was developed specifically for this study to collect data. Participants for the present study were head teachers and teachers from 308 public primary schools. The results of this study indicate that teachers perceived that distributed leadership practices for IE were present in primary schools in Bangladesh. The findings indicate that teachers' perceptions about distributed leadership practices for IE have a significant positive correlation with their satisfaction about the implementation of IE policy.     

In-service and pre-service teachers' perceptions of a web-based,case-based learning environment

Abstract

Understanding teachers' perceptions of a web-based, case-based learning environment provides insight into the effective development and deployment of such conditions for preparing educators. CaseNET–a web-based, case-method teaching environment for professional educators–serves as both a source of information as well as a space for inservice and preservice teachers to interact with one another and to contemplate current educational issues as they relate to real-world teaching. A qualitative analysis of over 400 participants was conducted and results provided. Participants perceived CaseNETas an opportunity to engage in professional development via exploration, reflection, collaboration, and hands-on interactions with authentic teaching tasks. Results suggest that the combination of cases and technology provides a valued opportunity to engage developing teachers in professional behaviors.     

Understanding changes in teachers' ICT practices: a longitudinal perspective

With the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into schools came the expectation that teachers would adopt ICT and change their practices in particular ways. Research indicates that teachers have not changed in the ways expected. Suggested in this paper is that limitations in current research methodologies documenting change in teachers' practices are restricting thorough examination of change in teachers' practices mediated by ICT. This paper reports on the design of a study aimed at investigating teachers' practices from an alternative position from the current research. The research design is a grounded, longitudinal, qualitative study using assorted analysis for the collection and interpretation of the data. This involves a combination of secondary analysis of archive data and collection and analysis of primary data. Participants were able to retrospectively describe and understand their own archived and new data, in interviews and observations. This paper focuses on ways this research design supported examining teachers' practices as including a number of dimensions and the way these dimensions were influenced by the context in which they were situated. Also, the ways this research design provided a means for examining the changes that developed from the teachers' own narratives. This gave some insight into the ways the teachers' understood the changes in their own practices. Examining change from this perspective supports understanding of how and why changes in teaching practices mediated by ICT occur or don't occur. It also contributes to examining the bigger phenomenon of ICT and the long‐term impact it is having on teaching practices.