Pedagogy of Validation: Autobiographical Reading and Writing Courses for First-Year,Low-Income Students

Innovative Higher Education - This embedded case study leveraged Rendón’s (1994) validation theory as well as theories connecting self-reflection and transformative learning (e.g.,...     

What's in a number?: Implications for African American female faculty at predominantly White Colleges and Universities

This article presents an overview of issues and concerns associated with being the only African American female faculty member in an academic department and with being one of two or more African American faculty in a department at a predominantly White college or university. Positive and negative aspects of both situations are examined, and strategies for empowerment and professional development are discussed.Rosemary E. Phelps is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. She received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in guidance and counseling from Ohio State University at Columbus. Her professional and research interests include racial and gender aspects of verbal aggression, ethnic diversity, and multicultural training issues.     

Age and directed-participation variables influencing the effectiveness of televised instruction in concrete operational behaviors

Head Start preschoolers on an isolated Papago reservation in southern Arizona were subjects of two studies of the effects of televised instruction and directed participation on teaching enumeration and conservation skills. Television instruction was most effective when used with active, directed participation and corrective feedback, but this, as well as amount and skills learned, varied with age. The televised segments used linear sequencing rather than the fragmented approach of Sesame Street. This research was supported in part by grant OCD-CB-479 from the Children’s Bureau, Office of Child Development, U.S. Office of Education. The authors appreciate the cooperation and participation of the Papago Tribe and the staffs of Head Start centers at San Xavier, Sells, and Pisinimo, Arizona. Special thanks are extended to Thora Schultz, who facilitated liaison on the Papago Reservation, and Margie Francisco, Elizabeth Siqueros, Edith Manuel, Pat Mendez, Elaine Williams, and Irma Dean Edmund, who contributed to instructional development and data collection.     

Ethical Challenges for Student Design Projects in Health Care Settings in New Zealand

Student‐led design projects undertaken within healthcare settings raise considerable ethical challenges, primarily resulting from collaboration with service users. This article emerged out of the experiences of design from a New Zealand university undertaking real world projects in acute health care contexts. A human‐centred approach to design is underpinned by a requirement for students to immerse themselves in the user context to optimise design outcomes. Several issues exist in relation to the management of the ethical complexities arising from these projects. Multiple formal ethical review processes were triggered when students’ projects were defined as research. These processes were perceived as onerous and disproportionate to the scale of the projects, and students were ill equipped to identify ethical issues and engage with formal review processes. This resulted in either abandoned projects or the use of compromised methods. A review of codes of practice and design industry approaches identifies a gap in guidance for both students and qualified designers. Some designers describe their projects as service improvement, and not subject to formal ethical review. This article argues for embedding consideration of ethics in all design projects to enhance the process, to be true to the underpinning philosophy of human centred design and to produce ethically aware graduates. To achieve this, a multi‐pronged pedagogical approach which encompasses both hypothetical, class‐based and real‐world learning experiences is described, with the ultimate goal of normalising the consideration and development of ethical standards for students and best practice across the industry.     

Teaching assistants and class teachers: differing perceptions,role confusion and the benefits of skills-based training

Research has shown that teaching assistants (TAs) working in mainstream classrooms with special needs students in Australia are being required to perform quite complex tasks such as curriculum modification and differentiation yet they are not required to have any formal qualifications nor training in these tasks. In the United Kingdom, TAs are not required to have any formal qualifications, while TAs employed in the USA are required to hold a two-year post-secondary degree or have obtained an associate’s or higher degree. Initial research was undertaken in Stage 1 to identify the roles and responsibilities, skills and training needs of TAs working with special needs students in one school in Canberra, Australia. Information was obtained through separate focus group interviews conducted with class teachers and TAs. Stage 2 involved the design and implementation of five skills-based training modules developed to respond to needs identified in Stage 1. In Stage 3, interviews were conducted with the TAs to determine the effect the training had on their skills and their ability to assist both the class teachers and the students whom they support. Results from the study indicate that there exists role confusion as well as a different emphasis and perception by class teachers and TAs of the skills required to perform in the role of a TA. Results also indicated that specifically targeted skills-based training benefited the TAs and the TAs perceived that this benefit flowed through to the class teachers and the students they support.     

Performance Management for Teachers: Headteachers' perspectives

For the first time, the performance of teachers in England and Wales is being directly linked to their pay. This article traces the introduction and implementation of one strand of the UK government's performance-related pay strategy, Performance Management, from the perspective of 12 primary and secondary headteachers of schools located in three different regions of England. The empirical data gathered by the Teachers' Incentive Pay Project team, based at the University of Exeter, suggested while heads may not be against performance-related pay in principle, its practical application is seen as fraught with difficulties. The lack of guidance and clarification regarding funding arrangements, the absence of nationally agreed criteria for judging whether post-Threshold teachers should progress up the upper pay scale, and the potential divisiveness, if it is not effectively implemented, of the scheme in a culture that depends on co-operation and collaboration, meant that heads were anticipating the implementation of the link between pay and performance with some trepidation.     

Levels of use of Interactive Whiteboard technology in the primary mathematics classroom

Despite the availability of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) technology in a large number of Australian primary schools, many teachers focus only on technical issues as opposed to pedagogical engagement in an attempt to incorporate the technology. Previous research suggests that the technology is being used for sophisticated transmission-style teaching as opposed to constructivist approaches. This article presents findings of a project that considered the implementation of IWB technology in three Victorian primary mathematics classrooms (5 to 12 years of age). The study analysed the teaching strategies adopted by three teachers as they embarked on the use of IWB technology as an integral component of mathematical activities with the support of professional development. Teacher use of IWB technology in the primary mathematics classroom was aligned against Beauchamp’s generic transitional framework for viewing the development of teacher use of IWB technology. Through this alignment, a transitional framework emerged which is specific to the introduction of IWB technology in the mathematics classroom.