Trajectories in teacher education: Recognising prior learning in practice

This article analyses the trajectories into teacher education of a group of child minders who are studying to become pre-school teachers. The specific focus is what impact their prior experiences and learning from pre-school have on their trajectories, and how these experiences and learning are recognised in the first year of teacher education. A situated learning perspective is applied, with a focus on participation and trajectories in the two communities of practice in which teacher education is situated – the university and the pre-school. The data consist of transcribed interviews with ten student teachers, and additional data are gathered from stakeholders in the program. The results show that prior experiences and learning are given implicit and indirect recognition. In the practice of the pre-school, the trajectory means a shift in identity, from child minder to student teacher and pre-school teacher. In the practice of the university, prior experiences and learning help students in their trajectories from peripheral to fuller participation.     

Associations between Profiles of Maternal Strengths and Positive Parenting Practices among Mothers Experiencing Adversity

SYNOPSIS

Objective . Few studies have explored associations between strength-based factors and positive parenting among mothers experiencing adversity. Adopting a person-centered statistical approach, we examined how patterns of maternal strengths relate to positive parenting practices. Design . Participants were 188 female primary caregivers (71% African American) who experienced intimate partner violence and/or were living with HIV. Women were recruited from community organizations in the Mid-Southern United States and completed measures of adaptability, spirituality, ethnic identity, social support, parent-child communication, community cohesion, and parenting practices. Latent profile analysis was used to generate classes of individual (adaptability, spirituality, education), relational (family support, friend support, parent-child communication about Substance Abuse, Violence, and AIDS/HIV), and contextual (ethnic identity, community cohesion) factors, in line with the social-ecological model of resilience. Associations between the classes and positive parenting practices were examined. Results . Three classes emerged: (1) Low Individual, Relational, & Contextual (LIRC; n = 18); (2) Low SAVA Communication (LSC; n = 30); and (3) High Individual, Relational, & Contextual (HIRC; n = 140). Mothers in the LIRC class reported lower parental involvement and less positive parenting practices than those in the HIRC class. Conclusions . Mothers who endorse increased individual, relational, and contextual factors utilize more positive parenting practices. Optimal clinical approaches to enhance parenting should target supports at multiple levels.     

Activity Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: A Meta-analysis

Educational Psychology Review - Achievement emotions are emotions linked to academic, work, or sports achievement activities (activity emotions) and their success and failure outcomes (outcome...     

“How do I remember when I got my dog?” The structure and development of children’s metamemory

Kreutzer et al.’s (Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 40(1):1–60, 1975) metamemory interview has been widely used in children’s metamemory literature, yet the psychometric properties of the measure have yet to be reported, and the format and language of some subtests may pose problems for young children. Researchers often combine subtests with other tests purported to measure metamemory, yet there is little empirical data regarding how these subtests relate. It has been proposed that metamemory is comprised of distinct procedural and declarative components, but this has not been empirically tested in young children. Therefore, the two studies reported here aimed to adapt Kreutzer et al.’s interview to increase its developmental appropriateness, to examine the relationship between the interview subtests, to add subtests that purport to test procedural metamemory, and then to examine the factor structure of the resulting scores and investigate how metamemory changes with age across the elementary school years. The results suggest that the adapted versions of the subtests are generally less contaminated by language ability, especially for the younger children. Factor analysis indicated the presence of two declarative metamemory factors and one procedural metamemory factor. Both declarative factors followed a similar developmental trajectory, increasing steadily from early to late elementary school age, whereas procedural metamemory increased significantly between Grades 1 and 3 only.