The danger of subverting students’ views in schools

This paper is firmly grounded in the position that engaging with students’ voices in schools is central to the development of inclusive practices. It explores the tensions that can be created when efforts are made to engage with students’ voices in relation to their experiences of learning and teaching. An example from a three-year research and development project, which worked alongside teachers to use students’ voices as a way of developing inclusive practices, is used to illustrate these tensions. This project, though showing that students’ voices can be a powerful means for understanding learning and teaching in schools, also encountered challenges with these processes. This paper focuses on the experiences of one secondary school which (possibly inadvertently) subverted and undermined students’ voice initiatives and explores the potential negative impacts of this on individual students, on students as a whole, and on teacher development. By doing this, suggestions as to how such tensions can be avoided in schools are offered, with the aim being to allow a genuine engagement with the views of students.     

Search tactics used in solving everyday how-to technical tasks: Repertoire,selection and tenacity

With greater access to computational resources, people use search to address many everyday challenges in their lives, including solving technology problems. Although there are now many useful ‘how-to’ resources online (especially videos on YouTube), it can still be difficult to identify, understand, and resolve certain kinds of technical problem. While research tasks have been studied for many years and we know the tactics people use, we know far less about searchers’ tactics for how-to technical tasks that involve actually being able to apply found information to resolve a problem. Crucial to our study was developing and studying a highly realistic, how-to technical task, for which there was no single guidance resource: making a phone safe for a child. After providing 39 participants with an actual phone to fix, and a search engine to perform the task, we analysed their search tactics using retrospective cued think aloud interviews. Our primary contribution is a set of 77 tactics used, in three categories, along with detail of how common they were. We conclude that people had a lot of tactics in their repertoire. Although it was not hard for participants to find relevant information, what was hard was for participants to find information they could use; indeed only 23% of participants successfully completed the entire task. Domain knowledge affected the choice of tactics used (although not necessarily towards better task success). We discuss these influences and make design recommendations for how future search systems can support those in resolving how-to technical tasks.     

Learning under conditions of hierarchy and discipline: the case of the German Army, 1939–1940

To survive in and adapt to dynamic, turbulent, and complex environments, organizations need to engage in learning. This truism is particularly relevant for army organizations in times of war and armed conflict. In this article a case of army operations during World War II is analyzed on the basis of ?rtenblad’s integrated model of the learning organization and Argyris and Schön’s theory of action approach. Among others, it is found that survival of and adaptation to combat conditions is possible through single-loop learning, provided that this learning takes place in an open and productive learning climate. This and other conclusions have important implications for theory and practice of organizational learning under conditions of hierarchy and discipline.     

Les enseignants du second degré français et leur conception sur les causes et la fatalité de la réussite (ou de l'échec) scolaire

Can school increase its productivity? Which is the attitude of teachers to this issue? INRP and University of Paris 5 made conducted survey on the issue, by questionnaire. Among more than 2000 answers to the questionnaire, a sample of 988 has been extracted to accurately represent the heterogeneous spectrum of French secondary school teachers. Individual qualities are considered essential spectrum among the conditions for success. The majority of teachers does not expect school to be able to counterbalance individual differences. Implications of these attitudes for teacher training are then discussed.     

Construct Validity of Self-Reported Metacognitive Learning Strategies

Despite their significant contributions to research on self-regulated learning, those favoring online and trace approaches have questioned the use of self-report to assess learners' use of learning strategies. An important rejoinder to such criticisms consists of examining the validity of self-report items. The present study was designed to assess the validity of items to assess 9th-grade students' use of planning, monitoring, and regulation when studying math. To establish response process evidence of construct validity, cognitive interviews were coded to determine whether students' interpretations of the items were consistent with their intended meaning and whether their response choices were congruent with those interpretations. Evidence supported the construct validity of monitoring and regulation items, but to a lesser degree those designed to assess planning. We discuss implications of the evidence for the self-report assessment of learners' use of metacognitive strategies.     

Efficiency of Targeted Multistage Calibration Designs Under Practical Constraints: A Simulation Study

Calibration of an item bank for computer adaptive testing requires substantial resources. In this study, we investigated whether the efficiency of calibration under the Rasch model could be enhanced by improving the match between item difficulty and student ability. We introduced targeted multistage calibration designs, a design type that considers ability‐related background variables and performance for assigning students to suitable items. Furthermore, we investigated whether uncertainty about item difficulty could impair the assembling of efficient designs. The results indicated that targeted multistage calibration designs were more efficient than ordinary targeted designs under optimal conditions. Limited knowledge about item difficulty reduced the efficiency of one of the two investigated targeted multistage calibration designs, whereas targeted designs were more robust.     

Support Teams in New Zealand Schools: A National Survey of Establishment and Practice

Two and a half years after the initial funding allocation for teacher release hours to establish Support Teacher positions in New Zealand schools, 63 (91%) of the schools with a Support Teacher funding allocation completed a questionnaire on the establishment of the position in the school. Information derived from the questionnaire included qualifications and experience of teachers appointed to the role of Support Teacher, and detail regarding the establishment, practice, and degree of adherence to the Support Team model of operation. Significant difficulties with Support Team establishment and program adherence are reported, notably in selection, training, organizational support, and form of service delivery. The results are discussed in terms of the speed of drift from the model, differences between primary and secondary schools in implementation of the program, the importance of training, and the presence of an active Support Team Management Committee in ensuring effective service delivery.