Professional identities and emotions of teachers in the context of curriculum reform: a Chinese perspective

This study explores the changing professional identities of teachers and their emotional experiences during curriculum reform in Shenzhen in the southern part of China. A qualitative approach to research was adopted. Findings reveal that the informants display several teaching behaviours and diverse emotions ranging from pain and helplessness, fulfilment and anxiety, and other mixed emotions. The three types of influential factors that influence teachers' professional identities are also discussed in this study.     

Photographic Albums

Walter Herdeg Photographis 77: International Annual of Advertising and Editorial Photography (New York: Hastings House, 1977—$37.50)

Louis Stettner's Weegee (New York: Knopf, 1977—$15.00)

Shadow of Light: Photographs by Bill Brandt (New York: Da Capo Press, 1977—$14.50, paper)

Helmut Newton's White Women (New York: Stonehill, 1976—$25.00)

Roswell Angier's “...A Kind of Life,” Conversations in the Combat Zone (Danbury, N.H.: Addison House, 1976—$15.00)

Yvonne Kalmus, Rikki Ripp and Cheryl Wiesenfeld, eds. Women See Men (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1977.412.95/7.95)

Lew Thomas and Donna-Lee Phillips' Photography and Language (San Francisco: Camerawork Press, 1976—$6.95, paper)

Linda McCartney's Linda's Pictures: A Collection of Photographs (new York: Knopf, 1976-425.00, with a paperback edition now also available)     

Participant Perceptions of Exercise Programs for Overweight Women

Abstract

Eighteen women participated in a research project involving two phases: (a) an interview regarding weight history and exercise patterns, and (b) a series of exercise sessions followed by discussions of participants' reactions to them. The data were analyzed using inductive analysis techniques, and results of the analysis were discussed with participants for collaborative validation of the interpretation. Profiles of selected participants and themes that emerged are described. The participants varied in age and body size and had diverse backgrounds, interests, and abilities, but their shared experience of social disapproval based on body size was shown to affect their perceptions of exercise programs and their decisions about participation.     

Undergraduate Physical Education Majors' Perceptions of the Roles of Teacher and Coach

Abstract

This investigation examined undergraduate physical education majors' perceptions of the roles of teacher and coach. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 80 physical education majors at a large urban university. Subjects were asked to rate the importance of twelve characteristics or abilities for teachers and for coaches. Results indicated that the subjects viewed the abilities needed for each of the roles as similar. Subjects were asked to indicate their job preference, and to estimate their ability to perform each of the roles. Gender was significantly related to role preference, with males indicating a greater preference for the coaching role. Students indicating a preference for teaching only have less experience in athletics than the coaching only and the teaching/coaching groups.

A significant relationship was found for selected background variables with estimated role performance. The variables most highly related to confidence in one's ability to teach were positive role models and skill in a wide range of activities, and those most related to estimated ability to coach were positive role models and very high skill in at least one activity.     

Curriculum development for teacher education in the Southern Philippines: A simultaneous process of professional learning and syllabus enhancement

This paper reflects on the process of curriculum development in 21 tertiary education institutions in the Southern Philippines. Assisting capacity-building of the teaching profession is an ongoing need in developing countries, but rarely does it extend to pre-service education. In this study of one aspect of a three year AusAid-funded education development project, the process of developing syllabi for English, mathematics, science and practicum/pedagogy courses was an unfamiliar activity for the majority of the sixty Filipino teacher educators and their colleagues. These educators were used to following institution prescribed syllabi without question. The focus of this study was the educators’ participation in the intensive process of syllabus review, construction and enhancement which occurred concurrently with a series of regular professional development activities based on the needs and interests of the educators. The process was documented as it evolved and was evaluated at key stages. A major outcome was the enhancement, or construction, of more than 200 syllabi across the 21 tertiary institutions. However, an unexpected and significant outcome of the process was the development of strong cross-institutional and even cross-regional relationships and a level of collegiality not previously experienced by the participants. It is argued here that such an approach to curriculum development raises the potential for sustainable long-term outcomes in international development projects.     

TEACHER CANDIDATES' ACCURACY OF BELIEFS REGARDING CHILDHOOD INTERVENTIONS

The authors examined the beliefs of 351 teacher candidates, from various levels of training, regarding the effectiveness of potential interventions for childhood disorders. They were primarily interested in participants' responses to three categories of interventions: (a) evidence-based, (b) controversial, and (c) primarily anecdotal. They found that the participants' endorsement levels across three types of disorders (autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], and dyslexia) varied but not in a consistent manner, with only a few noticeable trends across interventions. Furthermore, respondents tended to endorse interventions, whether evidence-based or not, without admitted prior exposure to information about them. The results suggest that more attention should be paid to teaching critical evaluation skills as a part of preliminary training of future educators. The potential for practicing teachers, who often serve as a readily available consultant for parents of children with disabilities, to pass on misinformation poses a potential dilemma that should be addressed in teacher training programs.     

Investigating the Use of Integrated Instructions to Reduce the Cognitive Load Associated with Doing Practical Work in Secondary School Science

This study investigated the effects of integrated illustrations on understanding instructions for practical work in science. Ninety‐six secondary school students who were unfamiliar with the target content knowledge and practical equipment took part. The students were divided into two conditions: (1) modified instructions containing integrated text and illustrations, and (2) conventional instructions containing text only. Modified instructions produced significantly higher levels of performance on task, lower time to completion and perceived cognitive load and task difficulty, higher relative efficiency score, and higher post‐test scores than the conventional instructions. When learners are inexperienced and the information is complex, the results suggest that physically integrating mutually referring sources of information reduces cognitive load, and therefore makes practical work instructions easier to understand.     

Investigating teachers' ‘take-up’ of reflective practice from an In-service professional development teacher education programme in South Africa

One of the key phases in ‘the action research cycle’ is reflection (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988; McNiff, 1988). The extension of teachers' reflective capabilities is one of the stated goals of the University of the Witwatersrand's teacher education programmes. In this article aspects of the findings of a 3-year research project, which investigated teachers' ‘take-up’ from a mixed-mode, inservice professional development programme initiated by the university in 1996 are discussed. The research team has described the overall project as ‘a practice-based case study of cases’. Data sources included classroom observations, videotapes of some of the lessons observed, interviews with teachers, written teacher narratives and questionnaires, and samples of learners' work- all obtained from working with the same sample of primary and secondary school teachers of English, Mathematics and Science for each of the 3 years of the project. The authors engage with what counts as ‘evidence’ of the reflective practices of teachers and consider what factors might enable or constrain the development of reflective capability by teachers working in underresourced, multi-lingual contexts. They reflect on their practices as teacher educators and outline some changes to the programme that could assist teachers to become more reflective practitioners in their classrooms and schools.     

Colouring in the Blanks: Memory Drawings of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion

This study used drawing tasks to examine the similarities and differences between females and males who shared a collective traumatic event in early childhood. Could these childhood memories be recorded, measured, and compared for gender differences in drawings by young adults who had shared a similar experience as children? Exploration of this question drove this qualitative research project to examine drawings by young Kuwaiti men and women, who were residents in Kuwait during the 1990 Saddam‐Hussein‐led Iraqi invasion of their country. Visual results from this study show colour, image and symbol (CIS) patterns, and differences in gender images in drawings which represent a select population's response to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.