The recursive practice of research and teaching: reframing teacher education

As a field, Teacher Education has lived with continued criticism from governmental and research bodies on the quality of professional preparation and the lack of a strong research base. We respond to such criticisms by considering possibilities for further exploration of the research of practice and the practice of research in both initial and continuing teacher education. As both a theoretical and methodological challenge, this is tied recursively with research and practice in teacher education, for teacher educators, about teacher education. We draw on the theoretical resources of practice theories, to argue that teacher education practice must be informed by the study of the practice of teaching as well as research addressing the teaching of practice. In conclusion, we make a methodological case for reframing the roles of teacher and researcher within a “thirdspace” to consider the practice of researching teaching as recursive and always regenerative.     

Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs

In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.     

Developing Culturally Competent Preservice Teachers

An unfortunate, yet persistent, truth in U.S. public schools is the large achievement gap existing between children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their White, middle-class counterparts. The potential for cultural dissonance between contemporary teachers and their students necessitates that educators must persistently seek culturally responsive practices. Much has been written regarding strategies for culturally responsive pedagogy; therefore, this article moves beyond a review of culturally responsive pedagogy. Rather than providing teacher candidates with more suggestions for culturally responsive teaching activities, the authors provide teacher educators with specific resources for facilitating the development of cultural competence among preservice teachers.     

The Role of Storytelling in Understanding Children's Moral/Ethic Decision-Making

As students advance in their education, the use of stories and specifically the process of storytelling often wane from the central mode of learning to be replaced with more didactic methods and content-driven applications. However, the use of stories has remained a central component of moral/ethics education and continues to be used as a foundation for values instruction. The process of storytelling can be seen as a central component to understanding how students comprehend and reason out ethical ambiguities. This study examined the storytelling event as it related to the process of ethical deliberation for upper elementary students. The findings reveal how storytelling offers a distinct child-referenced perspective, presenting an opportunity for teachers to better understand the complexity of the particular child's ethical world. Likewise, data show youth challenging simplistic moral understandings, revealing the complexity of their daily ethical decision making.     

An Analysis of Playground Surface Injuries

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the development of skill competence and tactical sophistication during a games unit conducted following the features of sport education provided by Siedentop (1994). One team of six players was followed through a 30-lesson season of “Ultimate.” Using Gréhaigne, Godbout, and Bouthier's (1997) formula for an efficiency index, together with a number of other measures of skill and tactical competence, it was determined that these students made significant improvements in selection and execution dimensions of the game. Furthermore, lower skilled students did not feel marginalized within their teams and believed they had equal opportunities for improvement. The key reasons for developing competence in this setting were the sufficient length of the season to allow for significant practice opportunities and the consistent team membership throughout season, which allowed all players to develop a sense of usefulness. This curriculum model provides one way students can develop skills through a system of game playing, provided sport education units are structured to prevent the more skillful players from dominating the games.     

Observations of youth football training: How do coaches structure training sessions for player development?

We used systematic observation tools to explore the structure (i.e., activity and inactivity) and sequencing (i.e., the types of activities used) of football coaching sessions in Australia following the implementation of a new National Curriculum. Youth soccer coaches (n = 34), coaching within the Skill Acquisition (U11–U13 n = 19) and Game Training (U14–U17 n = 15) phases of the Football Federation Australia National Curriculum participated. Participants were filmed during a regular coaching session, with systematic observation of the session undertaken to provide a detailed analysis of the practice activities and coach behaviours. Findings indicated a session comprised of Playing Form activities (40.9%), Training Form activities (22.3%), inactivity (31%), and transitions between activities (5.8%). Coaches prescribed more Training Form activities (e.g., individual (5.4%) and drills (15.1%)) early in the session and progressed to Playing Form activities (i.e., small-sided games (15.3%) then larger games (24.8%)) later in the session. Most inactivity reflected the players listening to the coach – either in a team huddle (9.9%) or frozen on the spot during an activity (16.5%). In addition, coaches generally spent over 3 min communicating to players prior to explaining and introducing an activity regardless of when in the session the activity was scheduled.     

Notes on Contributors

The study reported herein aimed to identify and discuss the nature and pattern of the uses of new media through a notable YouTube phenomenon. It analyzed 132 online videos centered on ‘Bus Uncle,’ a YouTube celebrity who rose into fame in Hong Kong during April 2006. Most of the videos drew references from local popular culture texts. They were mostly playful and sarcastic in their undertones. The collective behaviors in YouTube suggest that this hugely popular video-sharing site takes on the roles as public space, a playground and a cultural public sphere.