Building student-teacher relationships and improving behaviour-management for classroom teachers

Teachers can at times view behavioural intervention procedures as time-consuming. Thus, socially-valid classroom-based interventions are a critical component to behavioural success. This study examined the effects of traditional behavioural interventions with two kindergarten students presenting with challenging behaviours, including aggression, tantrums and noncompliance. Notably, it was found that traditional behavioural procedures were not sufficient to substantially reduce the behaviours alone. Therefore, a relationship-building component was added to target positive student-teacher relationships. Student outcomes resulted in a significant reduction in challenging behaviour as well as teacher-reported behaviours showing a reduction across all measured periods. Ongoing teacher consultation, increased student-teacher relationships (STRs) and use of effective classroom management strategies are necessary for effective models of behaviour support.     

A New Student Learning Focus for the Academic Library: From Geographical Proximity of the Learning Commons to Organizational Proximity within the Library

In 2015, student learning programs at the University of Saskatchewan moved organizationally to the university library. While these services resided physically in the library as part of the Learning Commons partnership, this recent change presents the library with a new focus and responsibility for broader student learning support and academic skill development. Highlighting examples of organizational integration of student learning support, this article uses a proximity perspective, suggesting that geographical proximity of services in the learning commons does not go far enough to achieve the deeper collaboration and integration necessary for holistic and integrated learning, and that organizational proximity is needed.     

Investigating Students’ Learning Through Co-designing with Technology

Involving students in the co-design of educational curricula and practices can benefit both students and teachers. Students who participate in co-design may show better learning or increased agency or engagement. In the present study, we investigated what kind of science knowledge or practices can be learned by student co-designers while engaging in co-design practices and how that learning happens with six high school students. We created a model to guide the analysis of students’ learning with technology in co-designing processes. The results revealed that students learned engineering design process even if no explicit instruction on engineering learning was given. Also, our analysis suggested that co-designing with technology enabled learning of the engineering design process and potentially furthered learning of science because it promoted knowledge integration. The results have implications for understanding and enhancing engineering design and science learning through co-designing with technology.

     

Creating Connections: Using a Narrative Approach in Career Group Counseling With College Students From Diverse Cultural Backgrounds

Changes in the world of work as well as demographic shifts toward a more diverse college population and workforce require changes in the way career counseling is provided on college campuses. The authors propose using a narrative group counseling approach to serve college and university students from various cultural backgrounds. Through this approach, students develop their own career/life stories, incorporating their cultural values, family and community considerations, and life roles.     

Contextualizing instruction: Leveraging students' prior knowledge and experiences to foster understanding of middle school science

Contextualizing science instruction involves utilizing students' prior knowledge and everyday experiences as a catalyst for understanding challenging science concepts. This study of two middle school science classrooms examined how students utilized the contextualizing aspects of project‐based instruction and its relationship to their science learning. Observations of focus students' participation during instruction were described in terms of a contextualizing score for their use of the project features to support their learning. Pre/posttests were administered and students' final artifacts were collected and evaluated. The results of these assessments were compared with students' contextualizing scores, demonstrating a strong positive correlation between them. These findings provide evidence to support claims of contextualizing instruction as a means to facilitate student learning, and point toward future consideration of this instructional method in broader research studies and the design of science learning environments. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 79–100, 2008     

English language learning and education policy in Chile: can English really open doors for all?

To date, knowledge of English in Latin America has reflected existing political and economic power structures. It has remained the preserve of the elite with access to private schooling, and as such it demarcates and divides social groups by reinforcing an unequal distribution of wealth, resources, and knowledge. However, the number of people learning English as a foreign language is growing across the region. This article analyses the “English Opens Doors Programme” in Chile, which aims to improve national economic competitiveness and promote equitable access to English language learning in all publicly funded schools. The article examines this initiative within the context of Chilean education policy since 1990, thereby acknowledging the influence of different stakeholders in this process, and the tensions between education for economic growth and education for social justice in a highly segmented and marketised system.