From diagrams to self-regulated learning: student teachers’ reflections on the construction of their PLE

This paper presents a study on the reflections on their PLEs by student teachers in an ICT subject of the fourth degree course in Teacher Education (Early Childhood Teacher Training) at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). There were four student teacher groups (n = 117) participating in this project, from the three Balearic Islands’ campuses (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza). The main research issues focused on in this study are: the topics highlighted from the reflections on the students’ PLEs and the reflection level achieved. To explore these issues, a content analysis technique has been used to interpret their final assignment of the students’ eportfolios, in which they had to carry out their reflections on their PLEs. For that purpose, two instruments have been designed: a system of categories and a rubric of assessment. Results show that the topics on which students reflect most are the conception of the PLE, its explicitness and its purpose. Although some improvement in students’ reflective skills was observed, conclusions lead us to the necessity of working further on the depth of reflections in order to adequately support self-regulated learning.     

Moral disengagement: A new lens with which to examine children’s justifications for lying

ABSTRACT

The development of children’s lie-telling abilities is considered to be a social and cognitive milestone. While occasional lying is developmentally appropriate, the use of frequent, antisocial lies as a maladaptive problem-solving mechanism can indicate behaviour problems. Since lying is often considered a moral transgression, researchers should examine lying from the perspective of moral theory to understand children’s reasons for lying, which may help to understand how chronic lying develops. A theoretical framework, namely the social cognitive process of moral disengagement (MD) could not only provide new insight into children’s justifications for telling common lies, but also atypical, antisocial lies. This paper aims to describe how MD may be applied to explain children’s justifications for lying, especially antisocial lies, and how adults can address MD by modelling the positive consequences of truth-telling, to promote honesty in children.     

Performing intelligible genders through violence: bullying as gender practice and heteronormative control

The purpose of the present study was to analyse adolescents’ perception of bullying and particularly of the ways intelligible masculinities and femininities are performed through violence in the framework of Queer Theory. We conducted a qualitative study using focus groups. The sample was composed of 93 Spanish adolescents (48 girls and 45 boys, mean age 13.7 years) who attended 4 compulsory secondary education schools in Spain and participated voluntarily in the study. Students’ statements revealed that bullying is a strongly gendered phenomenon and an additional way of ‘doing gender’, that is, of performing hegemonic femininities and masculinities at school, imitating and reproducing gender norms and punishing those who transgress them.     

Mastery Motivation in Deaf and Hearing Infants

The motivational characteristics of a small sample of normally developing deaf and hearing 12-month-old infants were assessed using procedures derived from Yarrow's work. The data supported the following conclusions: 1. Both deaf and hearing infants exhibit similar amounts of motivated behavior toward objects which suggests that auditory contact with their surroundings is not a determining factor in infants' attempts to master objects. 2. The deaf infants spent a longer period of time engaged in social behaviors than did the hearing infants and without any apparent sacrifice to the deployment of their task- and goal-directed activities. This finding implies that the deaf infants were more skillful at integrating the competing demands of social- and object-oriented endeavors than were their hearing peers. 3. The deaf infant engaged with the social environment and displayed a positive emotional response to the situation sooner than the hearing infants. Positive affect also was more likely to be followed by a social behavior for the deaf infants which indicates that the integration of social- and object-oriented activities serves either a different or more potent function in the early development of deaf infants. We believe that these data offer some preliminary, empirically based support for a developmental difference model when intervention strategies for deaf infants are contemplated. The policy implications for such a move may include a reduction in cognitively oriented activities and an increase in activities designed to capitalize on deaf infants' social and visual compensatory skills.     

The Changing Demographic Landscape of the Nation: Perspectives on College Opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Abstract

With the rapidly changing demography of the United States, there is a need for greater attention to expanding opportunities and reducing barriers to education for all. This article focuses on one of the nation's fastest-growing immigrant groups—Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). A case study of a program at a community college shows the importance of developing educational practices and policies that support the unique needs and challenges of low-income AAPI students.     

Young people learning about health: the role of apps and wearable devices

ABSTRACT

Young people’s engagement with digital health technologies is dominated by risk narratives. Yet, there are very limited understandings, from the perspectives of young people, about the health-related issues and opportunities generated by digital health technologies. This article presents new evidence on the types of health-related apps and devices young people find, select and use, and the reasons for their choices. Data were generated from a participatory mixed method design with 245 young people (age 13–18). The data were analysed using a content-led pedagogical framework. The data illustrate, vividly, young people’s agency in digital health contexts and the complexity and fluidity of young people’s decision-making. Schools, PE lessons and sport, as well as family members and peers, were powerful influencers on young people’s digital health-related knowledge and behaviours. It is argued that better understanding young people’s agency in digital health contexts offers important insights into developing effective health-related pedagogies.     

Priming of Perceived Control in Young Children as a Buffer against Fear-Inducing Events

Young children (aged 5 and 6) watched videotaped fairy tales that acted to prime child control versus adult control over frightening events. Subsequently, they watched an ambiguous videotape of a child having a medical exam; tapes were varied for presence or absence of fear cues (facial expressions shown by actors). We predicted that children primed for child control versus adult control would show information-processing error patterns that paralleled those previously found for children who were dispositionally high or low in perceived control. As expected, children primed for child control showed processing enhancement whereas those primed for adult control showed processing deficits after witnessing fear cues. Attentional disengagement was found to mediate processing errors. Perceived control—dispositional or temporary—was interpreted as an important organizer of attention to and processing of potentially threatening events.     

Lessons from black-thicket jungle: What is feasible in village schools of disadvantaged areas?

Comparative examination of the national goals of education as presented by various developing countries shows such goals to be often abstract and overly idealistic: a long way from the harsh reality of most rural village schools. Drawing on the results of a lengthy field study in a disadvantaged area of Sri Lanka, this article discusses the matter of feasibility in the shadow of too high expectations. It is concluded that ambitious goals should be operationalized at a practicable level, and recommendations are put forward for feasible action. As a rigidly ordered system of schooling may be an inevitable stage in a progressive evolution of schooling types, patience is needed before criticizing schools which lack creative teaching and problem-solving approaches. It is emphasised that the most important raw materials of the educational system are abundantly present, i.e., human resources. Children are eager to learn; parents are potentially supportive and want education for the sake of learning as well as for jobs. And most importantly for the success of the schools, dedicated principals and teachers are present in unexpectedly high numbers considering the constraints they face. The importance of such educators is stressed, along with implications for selection, training and remuneration.

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Zusammenfassung Vergleichende Studien der staatlichen Bildungsziele, wie sie von verschiedenen Entwicklungsländern vorgelegt wurden, zeigen, daß solche Ziele oft abstrakt und allzu idealistisch und von der rauhen Wirklichkeit der meisten ländlichen Dorfschulen weit entfernt sind. Die Autorin diskutiert, indem sie sich auf die Ergebnisse einer umfangreichen Feldstudie in einem benachteiligten Gebiet Sri Lankas bezieht, die Frage der Durchführbarkeit im Schatten überhöhter Erwartungen. Sie kommt dabei zu dem Schluß, daß die hochgesteckten Ziele auf eine gangbare Ebene zugeschnitten werden müßten, und gibt Empfehlungen für durchführbare Maßnahmen. Da ein straff organisiertes Unterrichtssystem ein unvermeidliches Stadium in einer fortschreitenden Entwicklung von Unterrichtstypen sein kann, ist Geduld angebracht, bevor man Schulen kritisiert, denen es an kreativem Lehren und Ansätzen zur Problemlösung mangelt. Betont wird, daß die wichtigsten Rohstoffe des Bildungssystems in Überfluß vorhanden sind, z.B. der Reichtum an Menschen. Kinder sind lernbegierig, Eltern unterstützen sie unter Umständen und wünschen eine Ausbildung sowohl um des Lernens willen als auch im Hinblick auf einen Arbeitsplatz. Und es gibt, was für den Erfolg der Schulen von größter Wichtigkeit ist, eine unerwartet hohe Zahl von engagierten Direktoren und Lehrern, wenn man die Widrigkeiten bedenkt, mit denen sie zu kämpfen haben. Die Bedeutung solcher Erzieher wird hervorgehoben unter Berücksichtigung der Konsequenzen für deren Auswahl, Ausbildung und Vergütung.

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Résumé L'examen comparé des objectifs éducatifs nationaux présentés par divers pays en développement révèle qu'ils sont souvent abstraits et excessivement idéalistes — et par conséquent bien éloignés de la dure réalité de la plupart des écoles rurales. En s'appuyant sur les résultats d'une étude très longue menée sur le terrain dans une région désavantagée du Sri Lanka, le présent article examine la question de faisabilité à l'ombre de ces exigences exagérées. On conclut que les objectifs ambitieux devraient être réalisés au niveau pratique et des recommandations sont faites pour l'action possible. Du fait qu'un système d'éducation agencé strictement peut devenir la phase inévitable de l'évolution progressive de divers types d'éducation, il convient d'être patient avant de procéder à la critique des écoles où un enseignement créatif et des approches orientées vers la solution de problèmes font défaut. On souligne que les matières premières les plus importantes d'un système éducatif, à savoir les ressources humaines, sont abondantes. Les enfants sont désireux d'apprendre, les parents constituent un soutien potentiel et souhaitent une éducation en vue d'acquérir des connaissances et de trouver un emploi. Et ce qui est capital pour le succès des écoles, il existe un nombre inopinément élevé de directeurs et d'enseignants dévoués, compte tenu des contraintes auxquelles ils doivent faire face. On met en lumière l'importance de ces éducateurs ainsi que les implications pour leur sélection, leur formation et leur rémunération.

     

Assessing the comparability of teacher-related constructs in TIMSS 2015 across 46 education systems: an alignment optimization approach

Research related to the “teacher characteristics” dimension of teacher quality has proven inconclusive and weakly related to student success, and addressing the teaching contexts may be crucial for furthering this line of inquiry. International large-scale assessments are well positioned to undertake such questions due to their systematic sampling of students, schools, and education systems. However, researchers are frequently prohibited from answering such questions due to measurement invariance related issues. This study uses the traditional multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) and an alignment optimization method to examine measurement invariance in several constructs from the teacher questionnaires in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 across 46 education systems. Constructs included mathematics teacher’s Job satisfaction, School emphasis on academic success, School condition and resources, Safe and orderly school, and teacher’s Self-efficacy. The MGCFA results show that just three constructs achieve invariance at the metric level. However, an alignment optimization method is applied, and results show that all five constructs fall within the threshold of acceptable measurement non-invariance. This study therefore presents an argument that they can be validly compared across education systems, and a subsequent comparison of latent factor means compares differences across the groups. Future research may utilize the estimated factor means from the aligned models in order to further investigate the role of teacher characteristics and contexts in student outcomes.

     

中国人VS亚裔美国人

A little girl was standing in a swarm of elementary school kids trying desperately not to draw attention to herself and trying to fit in.Fitting in is a state of mind that every single person goes through,because fitting in means that you are normal and that you are accepted.However,as I grew older,I threw the goal of fitting in out the window.To me,it became no longer important to fit my Asian face into the sea of Caucasian faces I see everyday.It became a thrill to be different and unique,and I flaunted my Chinese culture rather than hid it.……