Preparing preservice teachers to use computers effectively in elementary schools

Abstract

Computers and computer software have become integral components of the elementary school curriculum. Classroom teachers often express concern about the inadequate training they receive in the use of technology in the classroom. To meet the needs of future teachers, three university professors added issues related to using technology with young children to existing courses for elementary education majors. In addition, they introduced criteria for evaluating software and gave students opportunities to select software for instruction. After completing the courses, students were more comfortable with using computers, felt more competent about reviewing software, and were more aware of the issues related to using technology for instruction.     

COMBINING SELF‐MONITORING AND AN INTERDEPENDENT GROUP CONTINGENCY TO IMPROVE THE BEHAVIOR OF SIXTH GRADERS WITH EBD

A withdrawal design was used to examine the influence of a self‐monitoring procedure on the overall effectiveness of an interdependent group contingency intervention implemented in a sixth‐grade classroom in an alternative school serving students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Dependent variables included student on‐task, off‐task, and disruptive behaviors exhibited during language arts. Following baseline, the classroom teacher implemented an interdependent group contingency using randomized criteria for reinforcement and randomized reinforcers. Next, a self‐monitoring intervention procedure was added to the existing interdependent group contingency intervention. The self‐monitoring procedure was then withdrawn and reinstated. Results indicated that though there were improvements in behavior from baseline upon intervention implementation, the self‐monitoring procedure did not increase the effectiveness of the interdependent group contingency intervention. Limitations and suggestions for future research investigating the influence of self‐monitoring on group contingency interventions are discussed.     

Changing views of teachers and teaching in Vietnam

In order for Vietnam to seek better international integration into an increasingly globalised world, the Vietnamese Government has launched educational reforms requiring teachers to adopt ‘Western’ constructivist pedagogies. This paper reports on an action research study in a Vietnamese teacher training institution which found that Vietnamese student teachers were willing to accommodate and accept change and were often very enthusiastic about the ‘Western ideas’ of teaching and learning, but that their unquestioning respect for the authority of their tutors remained firmly fixed. The data also showed that the students’ tutors had a relatively limited exposure to the ‘Western theories’ and their implications and therefore did not model or demonstrate the theories effectively. The paper draws on these findings to argue that the focus for transforming Vietnamese teachers’ practice should be on promoting the responsibility of teacher educators to introduce student teachers to new ideas about the processes of teaching and learning. This strategy is likely to be more supportive of student teachers’ development as it allows them to separate the processes of teaching from culturally dominant beliefs about roles which are part of their established identities.     

“Governing by templates” through new modes of school inspection in Norway

To date, few observational studies have addressed Scandinavian school inspectors in the field, specifically how inspectors use templates to monitor the formative assessment routines of schools and local school authorities. This paper investigates how the current inspection handbook is being adopted and enacted on the municipal level and the school level in Norwegian compulsory schools. Specifically, this study illuminates through observation two empirical examples of how one of the 17 County Governors’ Offices, as part of a larger study, conducted regular, state school inspection. Conceptually, the paper focuses on how inspection guides and steers though use of fixed templates. Analysis shows that inspectors and schools under scrutiny are struggling in combining the traditional focus on legal compliance with a more performative emphasis on formative assessment of students. In addition, the examples given highlight how combining field observation and the concept of “governing by templates” contributes to school inspection studies, in a dynamic policy context undergoing substantial change.