Narrative inquiry in physical education research: the story so far and its future promise

At a recent international education conference, current life history and narrative research within Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) was criticised for its seeming inability to ‘produce anything new’ and for lacking ‘rigour’. This paper aims to respond to the criticism and to reassert the strengths of narrative inquiry in the current moment. It maps out narrative and life history research (published in English) carried out in PETE, illuminating a spectrum of narrative approaches and a richness of theoretical perspectives. It underscores the need for PETE scholars to acknowledge the broad range of philosophical assumptions about knowledge and how we come to know as this underpins all research, whether carried out within a qualitative or quantitative research tradition, and to develop a climate of mutual respect for these various positions if we are to avoid stagnation, hegemony or blind spots in our research agendas.     

Modeling Sources of Teaching Self-Efficacy for Science,Technology, Engineering,and Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have a large impact on undergraduate instruction but are often poorly prepared to teach. Teaching self-efficacy, an instructor’s belief in his or her ability to teach specific student populations a specific subject, is an important predictor of teaching skill and student achievement. A model of sources of teaching self-efficacy is developed from the GTA literature. This model indicates that teaching experience, departmental teaching climate (including peer and supervisor relationships), and GTA professional development (PD) can act as sources of teaching self-efficacy. The model is pilot tested with 128 GTAs from nine different STEM departments at a midsized research university. Structural equation modeling reveals that K–12 teaching experience, hours and perceived quality of GTA PD, and perception of the departmental facilitating environment are significant factors that explain 32% of the variance in the teaching self-efficacy of STEM GTAs. This model highlights the important contributions of the departmental environment and GTA PD in the development of teaching self-efficacy for STEM GTAs.Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play a significant role in the learning environment of undergraduate students. They are heavily involved in the instruction of undergraduate students at master’s- and doctoral-granting universities (Nyquist et al., 1991 ; Johnson and McCarthy, 2000 ; Sundberg et al., 2005 ; Gardner and Jones, 2011 ). GTAs are commonly in charge of laboratory or recitation sections, in which they often have more contact and interaction with the students than the professor who is teaching the course (Abraham et al., 1997 ; Sundberg et al., 2005 ; Prieto and Scheel, 2008 ; Gardner and Jones, 2011 ).Despite the heavy reliance on GTAs for instruction and the large potential for them to influence student learning, there is evidence that many GTAs are completely unprepared or at best poorly prepared for their role as instructors (Abraham et al., 1997 ; Rushin et al., 1997 ; Shannon et al., 1998 ; Golde and Dore, 2001 ; Fagen and Wells, 2004 ; Luft et al., 2004 ; Sundberg et al., 2005 ; Prieto and Scheel, 2008 ). For example, in molecular biology, 71% of doctoral students are GTAs, but only 30% have had an opportunity to take a GTA professional development (PD) course that lasted at least one semester (Golde and Dore, 2001 ). GTAs often teach in a primarily directive manner and have intuitive notions about student learning, motivation, and abilities (Luft et al., 2004 ). For those who experience PD, university-wide PD is often too general (e.g., covering university policies and procedures, resources for students), and departmental PD does not address GTAs’ specific teaching needs; instead departmental PD repeats the university PD (Jones, 1993 ; Golde and Dore, 2001 ; Luft et al., 2004 ). Nor do graduate experiences prepare GTAs to become faculty and teach lecture courses (Golde and Dore, 2001 ).While there is ample evidence that many GTAs are poorly prepared, as well as studies of effective GTA PD programs (biology examples include Schussler et al., 2008 ; Miller et al., 2014 ; Wyse et al., 2014 ), the preparation of a graduate student as an instructor does not occur in a vacuum. GTAs are also integral members of their departments and are interacting with faculty and other GTAs in many different ways, including around teaching (Bomotti, 1994 ; Notarianni-Girard, 1999 ; Belnap, 2005 ; Calkins and Kelly, 2005 ). It is important to build good working relationships among the GTAs and between the GTAs and their supervisors (Gardner and Jones, 2011 ). However, there are few studies that examine the development of GTAs as integral members of their departments and determine how departmental teaching climate, GTA PD, and prior teaching experiences can impact GTAs.To guide our understanding of the development of GTAs as instructors, a theoretical framework is important. Social cognitive theory is a well-developed theoretical framework for describing behavior and can be applied specifically to teaching (Bandura, 1977 , 1986 , 1997 , 2001 ). A key concept in social cognitive theory is self-efficacy, which is a person’s belief in his or her ability to perform a specific task in a specific context (Bandura, 1997 ). High self-efficacy correlates with strong performance in a task such teaching (Bandura, 1997 ; Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, 2007 ). Teaching self-efficacy focuses on teachers’ perceptions of their ability to “organize and execute courses of action required to successfully accomplish a specific teaching task in a particular context” (Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998 , p. 233). High teaching self-efficacy has been shown to predict a variety of types of student achievement among K–12 teachers (Ashton and Webb, 1986 ; Anderson et al., 1988 ; Ross, 1992 ; Dellinger et al., 2008 ; Klassen et al., 2011 ). In GTAs, teaching self-efficacy has been shown to be related to persistence in academia (Elkins, 2005 ) and student achievement in mathematics (Johnson, 1998 ). High teaching self-efficacy is evidenced by classroom behaviors such as efficient classroom management, organization and planning, and enthusiasm (Guskey, 1984 ; Allinder, 1994 ; Dellinger et al., 2008 ). Instructors with high teaching self-efficacy work continually with students to help them in learning the material (Gibson and Dembo, 1984 ). These instructors are also willing to try a variety of teaching methods to improve their teaching (Stein and Wang, 1988 ; Allinder, 1994 ). Instructors with high teaching self-efficacy perform better as teachers, are persistent in difficult teaching tasks, and can positively affect their student’s achievement.These behaviors of successful instructors, which can contribute to student success, are important to foster in STEM GTAs. Understanding of what influences the development of teaching self-efficacy in STEM GTAs can be used to improve their teaching self-efficacy and ultimately their teaching. Therefore, it is important to understand what impacts teaching self-efficacy in STEM GTAs. Current research into factors that influence GTA teaching self-efficacy are generally limited to one or two factors in a study (Heppner, 1994 ; Prieto and Altmaier, 1994 ; Prieto and Meyers, 1999 ; Prieto et al., 2007 ; Liaw, 2004 ; Meyers et al., 2007 ). Studying these factors in isolation does not allow us to understand how they work together to influence GTA teaching self-efficacy. Additionally, most studies of GTA teaching self-efficacy are not conducted with STEM GTAs. STEM instructors teach in a different environment and with different responsibilities than instructors in the social sciences and liberal arts (Lindbloom-Ylanne et al., 2006 ). These differences could impact the development of teaching self-efficacy of STEM GTAs compared with social science and liberal arts GTAs. To further our understanding of the development of STEM GTA teaching self-efficacy, this paper aims to 1) describe a model of factors that could influence GTA teaching self-efficacy, and 2) pilot test the model using structural equation modeling (SEM) on data gathered from STEM GTAs. The model is developed from social cognitive theory and GTA teaching literature, with support from the K–12 teaching self-efficacy literature. This study is an essential first step in improving our understanding of the important factors impacting STEM GTA teaching self-efficacy, which can then be used to inform and support the preparation of effective STEM GTAs.     

Body dissatisfaction in women’s artistic gymnastics: A longitudinal study of psychosocial indicators

Body dissatisfaction is prevalent in women’s artistic gymnastics (WAG). Cross-sectional research points to social and individual risk factors, however it does not account for potential changes in body dissatisfaction during an athletic season. This study aimed to determine how gymnasts’ body dissatisfaction, risk factors for eating disorders, media internalisation, perfectionism and mood state change during pre-competition, competition and post-competition seasons and to identify how these psychosocial indicators impact on body dissatisfaction during the athletic year. The sample consisted of 20 Brazilian elite women’s artistic gymnasts aged 10–16 years. Data were obtained from a 9-month study using: Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ); Eating Attitude Test-26; Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3); Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS); Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) and triceps and subscapular skinfolds. Body dissatisfaction was higher during the competition season and disordered eating, perfectionism and vigour values were higher in the pre-competition season. Disordered eating has been found as the strongest predictor of body dissatisfaction during all seasons, and mood state partly contributed to body dissatisfaction in the competitive season. Stakeholders should understand that body dissatisfaction and the prevalence of disordered eating may change over time.     

Bringing Disability Into the Discussion: Examining Technology Accessibility as An Equity Concern in the Field of Instructional Technology

This article presents a review of the literature, pertaining to technology accessibility in K–12 schools in the United States, in order to bring technology accessibility into conversations about equity in instructional technology with the goal of ensuring that disabled learners have equal access to the technology-enhanced learning opportunities that are an increasingly integral part of K–12 education. The findings of the review indicate that despite long-standing federal and state accessibility mandates, inaccessible technologies abound in K–12, denying disabled learners equal access to education. We conclude that technology accessibility is an equity concern that must be prioritized in instructional technology discourse, research, and practice to begin addressing the inequality that disabled learners face in technology-enhanced K–12 learning environments. (Keywords: instructional technology, equity, disability, accessibility, K–12, education)     

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Children's shyness,popularity, school liking,cooperative participation,and internalizing problems in the early school years

Aims of the present study included understanding the manner in which shyness during the first year of formal schooling predicts early popularity in the peer group, as well as the manner in which children's shyness and popularity uniquely contribute to later school liking, cooperative participation, and internalizing problems. Structural equation modeling using parents’, teachers’, and children's reports suggested that children's (N = 291; 46% girls) kindergarten shyness predicted lower school liking and lower cooperative participation during second grade through its negative association with first grade popularity. Shyness during the first year of formal schooling may relate to difficulties in the classroom during later years due to problematic peer relations. The indirect relation of kindergarten shyness to second-grade internalizing problems through first-grade popularity was not statistically significant. Kindergarten shyness was also directly related to higher cooperative participation, which suggests that relations between early shyness and classroom engagement may be more complex than previously assumed.     

Why Might Distance Make the Heart Grow Fonder?: A Relational Turbulence Model Investigation of the Maintenance of Long Distance and Geographically Close Romantic Relationships

Following the relational turbulence model, we examined the extent to which relational uncertainty and partner interference mediate distance and relational maintenance, here assessed as relational continuity constructional units (RCCUs), as predictors of relational turbulence. Results were consistent with and extend the relational turbulence model, with relational uncertainty mediating RCCUs and partner interference mediating distance. In addition to highlighting RCCUs as a communicative buffer against relational uncertainty, the results reveal a complex picture of geographic distance. Addressing mixed findings in previous research, it appears distance may foster relational turbulence yet also predict reduced turbulence when accompanied by diminished partner interference.     

Using Wordless Picture Books to Support Emergent Literacy

Wordless books—picture books that rely entirely on illustrations to tell a story—are an excellent resource for educators of young children. This article provides a research-based rationale for using wordless books, offers a developmental sequence for introducing children to stories told through pictures, suggests a general strategy and wide array of early literacy activities based on books without texts, and recommends ways of communicating with parents/families about the value of wordless books. Outstanding wordless books and examples of children's responses to this growing genre of children's literature are also included.     

Peer coach during field experiences: cultivating teacher candidates’ peer feedback and reflective practices

ABSTRACT

Designing field embedded experiences for teacher candidates poses a unique challenge for large teacher education programs. Field experiences must include working with students, enhanced pedagogical coaching, and interaction within a professional community. Coursework coupled with field work should engage teacher candidates in a process of planning, implementing, analyzing and reflecting, and then modifying future teaching as evidence of reflective practice. Skilled coaching by the university based teacher educator or classroom mentor is one avenue for teaching novice educators how to analyze their classroom experiences. However, in large teacher education programs the ratio of candidates to UBTEs can make adequate coaching impossible. Thus, peer coaching can provide a feasible option for UBTE coaching. The purpose of this article is to describe the peer coaching experiences of teacher candidates and their university based teacher educators during junior level clinical block courses focused on developmentally appropriate practices for students in grades 1-3. Presented are a discussion of reflective practice, a rationale for peer coaching, and the application of peer coaching within three early childhood and elementary courses. Recommendations and challenges of peer coaching in a clinical pre-service teacher education program and implications for further studies are explored in the closing.     

Examining Differentiation and Utilization of iPads Across Content Areas in an Independent,PreK–4th Grade Elementary School

This mixed methods case study examined the implementation of a 1:1 iPad initiative in a suburban, co-educational, independent, preK–4th grade elementary school in the United States. This article focuses on how teachers used iPads to differentiate instruction and across multiple content areas. Findings show the processes by which teachers employed iPads demonstrated a myriad of teaching and learning opportunities. Overall, teachers integrated iPads into the existing curriculum to complement or enhance their lessons, provide different choices for students to engage with content, or for them to delve deeper into the content. Additionally, iPads were often used in interdisciplinary ways, involving a combination of at least two different content areas during one lesson.