Teacher morale: More complex than we think?

The literature suggests that teacher morale is at an all time low in Australia (Hicks 2003, Smyth 2001) with teachers feeling undervalued, frustrated, unappreciated and demoralized (Smyth 2001; Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee (SEETRC) 1998). In this paper the author utilizes the data gathered in a recent study into teaching excellence awards (Mackenzie 2004) as the medium to explore and discuss the issue of teacher morale and to provide some tentative suggestions for improving morale as proposed by the study participants. If we accept a reciprocal relationship between teacher morale and student learning (Ramsey 2000, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2000), students in some schools may not be getting the best possible value from teachers affected by low morale. Participants in the Mackenzie (2004) study agreed that morale was generally lower than in previous times, although many suggested that morale was positive in their own schools. This suggests that morale may be more complex than has been previously understood, with three levels of morale operating concurrently for teachers, a concept which is explored in this paper.     

‘I'm always up against a brick wall with them’: parents' experiences of accessing support for their child with a newly recognised developmental disorder

Three of the most prevalent developmental disorders (DDs) are autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). As part of a study screening for DDs in Greater Manchester, UK, a unique opportunity was taken to explore parents' experiences of receiving reports about their child's previously unrecognised DD. Six parents out of a possible 16 took part in interviews, which were analysed thematically. Findings drawn from parental responses revealed a number of barriers to accessing support for their child's additional needs, including perceived resistance from schools, particularly for quiet, well-behaved girls, and difficulty in accessing assessment or referrals. There needs to be greater awareness of additional needs in children without externalising behaviours, the presence of gender-specific differences in the presentation of DDs, and FASD as a commonly occurring DD. Ultimately, better support for children with DDs would reduce the burden of unmet needs for the children and their families, and for wider services.     

Brain Engagement During a Cognitive Flexibility Task Relates to Academic Performance in English Learners

English Learners (ELs), students from non-English-speaking backgrounds, are a fast-growing, understudied, group of students in the U.S. with unique learning challenges. Cognitive flexibility—the ability to switch between task demands with ease—may be an important factor in learning for ELs as they have to manage learning in their non-dominant language and access knowledge in multiple languages. We used functional MRI to measure cognitive flexibility brain activity in a group of Hispanic middle school ELs (N = 63) and related it to their academic skills. We found that brain engagement during the cognitive flexibility task was related to both out-of-scanner reading and math measures. These relationships were observed across the brain, including in cognitive control, attention, and default mode networks. This work suggests the real-world importance of cognitive flexibility for adolescent ELs, where individual differences in brain engagement were associated with educational outcomes.     

Interactive Influences of Perceived Social Contexts on the Reading Achievement of Urban Middle Schoolers with Learning Disabilities

This study examined the effects of social influences in the lives of an ethnically diverse sample of fifth through eighth grade students with and without learning disabilities (LD) using survey data and academic achievement scores collected in 19 Chicago public schools from 1993–1997. Similarities and differences in student perceptions of school, family, and peer group contexts were examined. In addition, longitudinal data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to identify contextual influences on changes in student reading achievement over time. Comparisons of student responses confirm and extend existing findings in the literature concerning the perceptions of students with LD of their social environments. In particular, having a learning disability was associated with consistent, mostly negative, effects on social relations across the contexts of students’ lives, regardless of gender, race, grade, and socioeconomic status. In addition, student perceptions of their friendship groups were found to have small, but significant, effects on their growth in reading achievement over the course of middle school. While students with and without LD had somewhat different views of their social contexts, the processes working within these environments appeared to affect their reading achievement in similar ways. The results suggest that careful attention should be paid to the social contexts of students’ lives when planning academic interventions.     

四个范式:欧洲档案学的观念和战略的变化——1840年以来西方档案观念与战略的变化

本报告首先梳理了西方档案理论与档案史,探讨了那些激发档案专业思想、战略及方法的概念,其次又着重阐述了档案鉴定这个由档案工作者从人类文献记录中挑选出很小比例作为档案长久保存的过程。19世纪至今的档案工作者对其工作、职能、活动及社会作用的认识经历了(或者说显示了)四个大的思想框架(或范式),探讨和了解这个背景可以让我们更好地认识和应对我们现在所处的这个数字时代的挑战。