Community and conversation: tackling beginning teacher doubt and disillusion

Margaret Somerville has suggested that a new methodology of postmodern emergence might allow researchers to disrupt the taken-for-granted and provide fresh insight into familiar problems. One such familiar problem is the doubt and disillusion many early-career teachers experience, both during their teacher education and in their first years. Attrition rates are high. This paper, co-authored by two teacher educators and two early-career secondary teachers, draws on Somerville’s ideas by creating multiple modes of creative expression in order to allow fresh insight to emerge from the relationship between the multiple parts of the paper. Different readers will draw their own conclusions from the rich material presented, but for the authors the research reminds us of the regenerative potency of relationships and conversations in which doubts and disillusion can be expressed and heard. The implications for teacher education, at a time when direct face-to-face time with students is being eroded, are explored.     

Temporary migration and the institutionalization of strategy

This paper analyzes temporary migration, migration undertaken as a sojourn. Stressing migrant motivation, this paper shows that the institutionalization of intention, or what is here termed strategy, is an important aspect of all migrations. Using this perspective to distinguish between permanent and temporary migration, the author then analyzes the structural patterns and institutionalized sequence common to most temporary migrations. Four aspects of the sequence are discussed: (1) The structural conditions in societies in which temporary migration is most common, (2) Recruitment patterns and network formation linking home and host societies, (3) Patterns of settlement in host societies, and (4) Patternsof return migration. For each aspect, the paper shows that the institutionalization of motives is an important level of migration often left unanalyzed by theorists using social-psychological or macro-level push-pull theories of migration.     

Physiological responses to maximal intermittent exercise: differences between endurance-trained runners and games players.

Six games players (GP) and six endurance-trained runners (ET) completed a standardized multiple sprint test on a non-motorized treadmill consisting of ten 6-s all-out sprints with 30-s recovery periods. Running speed, power output and oxygen uptake were determined during the test and blood samples were taken for the determination of blood lactate and pH. Games players tended to produce a higher peak power output (GP vs ET: 839 +/- 114 vs 777 +/- 89 W, N.S.) and higher peak speed (GP vs ET: 7.03 +/- 0.3 vs 6.71 +/- 0.3 m s-1, N.S.), but had a greater decrement in mean power output than endurance-trained runners (GP vs ET: 29.3 +/- 8.1% vs 14.2 +/- 11.1%, P less than 0.05). Blood lactate after the test was higher for the games players (GP vs ET: 15.2 +/- 1.9 vs 12.4 +/- 1.7 mM, P less than 0.05), but the decrease in pH was similar for both groups (GP vs ET: 0.31 +/- 0.08 vs 0.28 +/- 0.08, N.S.). Strong correlations were found between peak blood lactate and peak speed (r = 0.90, P less than 0.01) and between peak blood lactate and peak power fatigue (r = 0.92, P less than 0.01). The average increase in oxygen uptake above pre-exercise levels during the sprint test was greater for endurance-trained athletes than for the games players (ET vs GP: 35.0 +/- 2.2 vs 29.6 +/- 3.0 ml kg-1 min-1, P less than 0.05), corresponding to an average oxygen uptake per sprint (6-s sprint and 24 s of subsequent recovery) of 67.5 +/- 2.9% and 63.0 +/- 4.5% VO2 max respectively (N.S.). A modest relationship existed between the average increase in oxygen uptake above pre-exercise values during the sprint test and mean speed fatigue (r = -0.68, P less than 0.05). Thus, the greater decrement in performance for the games players may be related to higher glycolytic rates as reflected by higher lactate concentrations and to their lower oxygen uptake during the course of the 10 sprints.     

Supporting Personalized Learning through Individualized Learning Plans

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), an effective strategy to promote students’ college and career readiness, are increasingly used in US school systems as a mechanism to encourage students’ career exploration and identification of career goals. After describing features of ILPs, we provide an example of the ILP process developed and implemented in the junior high schools in McLean County (Illinois) Unit District No. 5. Based upon this experience, we share important factors for school leaders that can affect successful implementation in their schools.     

Piloting autism intervention research with teachers in mainstream classrooms

Although there is a recognised need for effective practices to support students on the autism spectrum in mainstream schools, there is a research to practice gap in the area of autism and education, whereby evidence-based intervention may take decades to translate into mainstream classroom practice. Thus, current recommendations are that, rather than presenting mainstream school teachers with interventions developed and tested in clinical or special education settings, a participatory research process should be used to facilitate implementation in real-world mainstream classrooms. This article reports on a case study that aimed to refine a structured teaching intervention package for use in mainstream classrooms, while at the same time tailoring research methods for evaluating the package in these settings. The outcomes of the project are presented with respect to (a) the development and refinement of the intervention package in consultation with a mainstream classroom teacher and (b) the lessons learned during the process that other clinical researchers, teachers, and clinicians could apply when implementing educational interventions in mainstream settings.     

Developing creativity and problem-solving skills of engineering students: a comparison of web- and pen-and-paper-based approaches

Problem-solving is a key engineering skill, yet is an area in which engineering graduates underperform. This paper investigates the potential of using web-based tools to teach students problem-solving techniques without the need to make use of class time. An idea generation experiment involving 90 students was designed. Students were surveyed about their study habits and reported they use electronic-based materials more than paper-based materials while studying, suggesting students may engage with web-based tools. Students then generated solutions to a problem task using either a paper-based template or an equivalent web interface. Students who used the web-based approach performed as well as students who used the paper-based approach, suggesting the technique can be successfully adopted and taught online. Web-based tools may therefore be adopted as supplementary material in a range of engineering courses as a way to increase students’ options for enhancing problem-solving skills.     

The changing structure of teacher compensation, 1970–1994

This paper considers how the structures of teacher salaries in public school districts have changed over the last quarter century and whether salary increases have been allocated so as to achieve the greatest gain in educational quality. Using New York state data for the 1970–1994 period, we find that even though some districts appear to behave in ways consistent with the often expressed goal of recruiting and retaining the most able college graduates, most districts do not. The vast majority of districts have inefficiently allocated a disproportionately large share of resources to veteran teachers for whom job tenure is only marginally affected. This finding has important implications for the policy debate regarding whether increased spending on education will, or could, improve educational performance as well as the design of alternative compensation schemes.