Mediation of Consultee's Conceptual Development in New Teacher Groups: Using Questions to Improve Coherency

This qualitative study applied methods used in discourse analysis to investigate how a consultant's questioning supported the goal of group consultation to empower beginning teachers to become effective problem solvers in their work environment. The focus of the study was on the process of questioning and communicative coherency as the group evolved over the course of the school year. The participants in this study were 7 White elementary school teachers in their first year of teaching. There were 12 sessions held over an 8-month period. The investigators found evidence of a parallel process between the coordinate consultation process and coherency in consultative discourse, such that as the coordinate process developed and improved, so did the coherency of group discourse. Implications for practice, training, and future research are discussed.     

Inhabiting the ‘tragic gap’: pre-service teachers practicing racial literacy

Set in the context of a teacher education program, this study examined how three White pre-service teachers participate in book club discussions of children’s literature. We asked: When White pre-service teachers are in a context that enables talk about race, racism and anti-racism, what do they talk about? What conceptual and discursive tools do they use? We were guided by these questions, along with theoretical perspectives of racial literacy, multicultural discourses and a form of critical discourse analysis referred to as ‘positive discourse analysis’ or ‘reconstructive discourse analysis’. Our analysis illustrates that the participants held two questions, what constitutes racism and what makes a person a White ally, without firm resolution in the form and function of their talk. Their discourses illustrate that racial literacy involves what teachers say and also a willingness to stand in the space of indeterminacy, which may create space for new social positions. We argue for a continued theorization of critical discourse analysis alongside of racial literacy and multicultural discourses.     

Addressing the complexities of literacy and urban teaching in the USA: strategic professional development as intervention

This study was undertaken in order to get some sense of the role of life experiences in preservice and inservice teachers' conceptions of the purpose(s) and practices of education. Content analysis of narratives written by graduate students in education at one college was utilized to ascertain how they view the field and their (current or prospective) role as teachers. We found that the majority of students saw teaching as an opportunity to make a difference, and as reflective of who they were rather than as "just a job". This finding provided the opportunity to address the strengths and vulnerabilities of such an idealistic conception of teaching, and the corresponding possibilities vis-à-vis teacher educators' roles. We conclude by noting the study's limitations and making several recommendations for future action and research based on our findings.     

Gender Differences in Science: An Expertise Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach to research on gender differences in science that uses the work on expertise in science as a framework for understanding gender differences. Because gender differences in achievement and participation in the sciences are largest in physics, the focus of this review is on physics. The nature of expertise is first discussed and a framework that focuses on factors that influence the emergence of expertise in physics is presented. This is used to interpret what is known about gender differences in science, particularly physics. Next, the potential contributions of the research on gender differences to our understanding of expertise are discussed. Using what is learned from these two areas of research, recommendations are made for future research examining gender differences in physics. It is suggested that such an approach be used for other areas of science, such as chemistry, where large gender differences in achievement and participation also exist.     

Classroom Community and Peer Culture in Kindergarten

This study reflects a naturalistic, interpretive 5-month study in a public school morning kindergarten regarding the children’s social development and creation of a peer culture during the transitional months into public education. The main focus of the research was the children’s perspectives on these transitions and their evolving classroom community and peer culture in response to the teacher, classroom and school environment. This study captures the dynamic and complex flow of activity that occurs in classrooms, the give and take of relationships, and the agency that children take in developing peer culture as one piece of community. Elements of the peer culture that are foregrounded include secondary adjustments as realized in clean-up strategies, protecting play materials over time, and hypothetical competition with the afternoon kindergarten class.     

Finding Common Ground: A Synthesis of Science and Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Experiences with Professional Growth

The seven articles that comprise this Special Issue examine the professional growth of mathematics and science teacher educators across different contexts and different foci of who is the teacher educator being studied. Despite these differences, a common thread running throughout these seven articles is the need for learning to be situated in collaboration with others. In this final article, we examine the contribution of these articles through two perspectives: that of the collaborative contexts supporting the professional growth of mathematics and science teacher educators, and the role of disciplinary knowledge as part of the purpose for teacher educators’ professional growth. We notice that collaboration can take on very different structures in supporting teacher educators’ professional learning due to the different purposes and roles of the teacher educators in the studies. We also notice that while collaboration figures as an important component in all of the studies, the disciplinary specific aspects of collaboration, i.e., how collaboration might be negotiated differently by teacher educators in mathematics and science, is still not well understood. Overall, these articles provide important insights that help to shed new light on the complex and multifaceted nature of teacher educators’ learning and growth and provide productive avenues for future research.

     

Anatomy as a Model Environment for Acquiring Professional Competencies in Medicine: Experiences at Harvard Medical School

Anatomy education provides students with opportunities to learn structure and function of the human body, to acquire professional competencies such as teamwork, interpersonal skills, self-awareness, and to reflect on and practice medical ethics. The fulfillment of this wide potential can present challenges in courses that are part of an integrated curriculum and shorter than traditional courses. This new reality, together with students' increasing concern about the stresses within medical education, led to efforts at Harvard Medical School to implement practical steps toward an optimal learning environment in anatomy. These were based on core elements of ethical anatomy education and principles of trauma-informed care. Anatomy is conceptualized here as the “first clinical discipline,” with relational interactions between anatomical educators, medical students, and body donors/patients. Essential prerequisites for the implementation of this work were support by the medical school leadership, open partnership between engaged students and faculty, faculty coordination, and peer-teaching. Specific interventions included pre-course faculty development on course philosophy and invitations to students to share their thoughts on anatomy. Student responses were integrated in course introductions, combined with a pre-dissection laboratory visit, an introductory guide, and a module on the history and ethics of anatomy. During the course, team-building activities were scheduled, and self-reflection encouraged, for example, through written exercises, and elective life-body drawing. Students' responses to the interventions were overall positive, but need further evaluation. This first attempt of a systematic implementation of an optimal learning environment in anatomy led to the identification of areas in need of adjustment.     

USING CONSULTATION TO SUPPORT ENGLISH LEARNERS: THE EXPERIENCES OF BILINGUAL SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

Through semi‐structured interviews, this study explored 11 bilingual school psychologists’ (BSPs) consultation experiences with teachers of English learners (EL) to determine referral concerns, recommendations made, challenges encountered, preparation experiences, and skills most needed. The most common referral issue concerned students’ academic performance and teachers’ attempts to parse out language acquisition difficulties from learning problems. Principal consultation challenges included the scarcity of trained professionals, teacher bias, and the stress of competing school priorities. BSPs relied most on their interpersonal skills and relationship building skills, as well as their knowledge of EL‐focused interventions and their problem identification skills. Recommendations to their monolingual school psychology colleagues included the need to actively seek out a) language and culture resources, b) relevant professional development opportunities, and c) consultations with fellow BSPs. Study limitations and implications are discussed.     

Qualitative review synthesis: the relationship between inattention and academic achievement

Background: A body of literature has emerged that links inattentive symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to poor academic achievement. Major variation across studies renders conclusions about this relationship complex.

Purpose: This review will provide a qualitative synthesis of these studies that (1) use community samples and (2) examine inattention as a separate dimension from hyperactivity/impulsivity. The aim of this review is to ascertain whether the relationship documented between inattention and academic outcomes in ADHD also holds for the dimensional trait of inattention as manifest in non-clinical community samples of children and adolescents, taking into consideration both academic achievement and academic performance across age.

Design and methods: A comprehensive search was carried out using two databases. The PRISMA guidelines were used to report the search steps. The QUIPS tool was used to rate the quality of studies, followed by a best evidence synthesis to summarise these results.

Results: Out of 1748 citations found, 27 articles met the specific inclusion criteria. Results point to a strong effect according to the best evidence synthesis: 7 studies that have low risk of bias found that teacher-rated inattention is significantly predicative of poor academic achievement in community samples of children.

Conclusions: This review provides support for a consistent, negative relationship between classroom inattention as reported by teachers and both standardised academic test achievement and classroom performance outcomes for children in preschool (moderate evidence), elementary school and longitudinally from elementary to high school. The average relationship was stronger when classroom performance was measured, as compared to standardised achievement. However, the quantitative strength of relationship has not been confirmed with a meta-analysis due to heterogeneity and too few high-quality studies identified. Variance across the studies in terms of the strength of association suggests that other unexamined factors (e.g. cognitive function or motivation) may be contributing to this relationship. Implications for educators and clinicians who work within the school setting are discussed.