School leaders’ dilemmas and measures to instigate changes for inclusive education in Hong Kong

The roles of principal leadership in change management have long been documented. The key concern to examine in this study was the dilemmas and measures confronting principals’ when they led changes to instigate inclusive education in Hong Kong. Thus, this paper aims to report sources of dilemmas and how principals tackled them in the change process. Ten principals of schools recognized for effective inclusive education practices were interviewed in a qualitative study. Findings suggested that the process of leading change was very complex. Two dilemmas were identified: (a) principals’ struggles between benefits and issues of participating in inclusive education and (b) autocratic initial decisions versus need for staff involvement. The second dilemma stemmed from not involving key staff while the implementation required their active participation. Thus, the existing organizational culture and personnel capacities became obstacles required for the success of inclusive education. The leadership measures to tackle the obstacles began by building a shared vision which in turn required both transactional and transformational leadership activities in order to increase teacher commitment to reforms. This study has contributed to change leadership theories in affirming the need to include socio-political contexts in examining leadership decisions toward school reforms.     

Shifting Challenges in Teacher-Education Research and Accreditation: Lessons Learned from Limitations on Studying Program Impact

ABSTRACT

A critical issue in educator preparation is how to ascertain if program graduates are sufficiently prepared to be effective through the acquisition of meaningful evidence of graduates’ impact on their students. Challenges to proving specific impact of educator-preparation programs on student learning include identifying and following program completers as they move into diverse teaching environments. Barriers include lack of access to measures such as students’ achievement scores and work samples. This article puts the research on educator-preparation-program accountability into perspective and provides a discussion about whether or not we have the capacity at this moment in time to access meaningful data about and proof of teacher impact.     

Data-based decision making for teacher and student learning: a psychological perspective on the role of the teacher

Data-based decision-making has the potential to increase student achievement results. Data-based decision-making can be defined as teachers’ systematic analysis of data sources in order to study and adapt their educational practices for the purpose of maximizing learning results. Teachers must apply the findings from their data use to their personal teaching activities. Therefore, data-based decision-making may be influenced by individual teachers' psychological characteristics. The present study aimed to explore which psychological factors contribute to teachers’ data use in a Dutch primary school context. A questionnaire-based quantitative methodology was employed. We included the following psychological constructs: affective and instrumental attitudes, perceived control, social norms, self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and intentions regarding data use. Results of the path analysis showed that perceived control, instrumental attitude, and intention regarding data use all significantly influenced data use. Additionally, intention was found to be a mediator of the relation between affective attitude and data use. Interventions aimed at data-based decision-making should take these psychological factors into account to increase teachers’ implementation of data-based decision-making for instruction and, consequently, educational quality.     

ICT/media uses and college entry for students from diverse backgrounds

This study examined the effects of two types of Information communication technology and media (ICT/media) use on college access using ICT/media to obtain college information as a mediator paying focused attention to English language learners. The study analyzed the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) from the US Department of Education, employing a survival analysis with structural equation modeling components. The results demonstrated that the frequent use of a computer for independent learning had significantly positive direct, indirect, and total effects on college entry for both English language learners and native English-speaking students. However, the digital gameplay had significantly negative effects. The study discusses the implications of using ICT/media.     

Effects of implementing an integrative drama-inquiry learning model in a science classroom

Abstract

This paper introduces ‘Integrative Drama-Inquiry Learning’ (IDI), merging drama-based learning with inquiry-based learning in order to exemplify teaching science through drama. The study also reports on the findings of a sequential mixed-methods procedure embedded in a quasi-experimental research design aimed to understand the effects of IDI on middle school students’ achievement in a biological unit. The initial quantitative phase revealed that IDI instruction had a significant effect on the experimental group’s achievement compared with traditional teaching. A follow-up qualitative phase showed that their achievement was affected by the enhancement of intrinsic motivation through IDI. Analysis suggested that students’ satisfaction of psychological needs of competency, relatedness, and autonomy positively affected learners’ motivation, as advocated by the self-determination theory.     

U.S. and Israeli young women’s future perceptions

The current study investigated the content of future perceptions among 47 U.S. women and 48 Israeli women. Thematic analysis was used to explore participants’ qualitative responses. Women’s responses covered a wide range of topics, and were categorized into ten key themes: (a) work, (b) family/relationships, (c) property, (d) residence, (e) education, (f) general quality of life, (g) leisure, (h) pro-social activities, (i) multiple role management, and (j) religion. Results demonstrated the role of nationality in the process of exploration and future perceptions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Mentoring and the Retention of Newly Qualified Language Teachers

Much of the recent literature on mentoring has focused on generic issues. This paper looks at subject-specific issues in mentoring from the perspective of newly qualified modern language teachers in their first year of teaching. While the majority of teachers in the sample expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the mentoring they received, most progressed successfully into their second year of teaching. The findings suggest that conventional conceptions of mentoring may only be a marginal factor in the survival of these teachers in their first year. Conflicts over language teaching methodology, in particular, emerge as a contributory factor in the breakdown of relationships between these teachers and their mentors. Equally, it is in terms of their own pedagogical skills and of a clearly established rationale for their practice in the language classroom that these newly qualified teachers express their confidence and their ability to survive without formal support. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the introduction of new requirements for induction of newly qualified teachers and in particular with reference to the selection of induction tutors in school.     

The developmental directions and tasks of the school based curriculum management system in Korea

The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the developmental directions and tasks of the School Based Curriculum Management(SBCM) system. The concept of the School Based Curriculum Management can be considered as a subsystem to School Based Management. The logics behind the SBCM system are autonomy, accountability, effectiveness, creativity, professionalism, and participation. The developmental directions of SBCM are to establish and implement the highly autonomous and participative SBCM, the diverse creative SBCM, the highly accountable SBCM, and the professional SBCM. The developmental tasks of SBCM suggested in this study are to establish the School Based Staff Development system, to practice the evaluation system that can control the quality of SBCM, to be managed by a strategic-layer management system, and to constitute the committee of school curriculum.