Building a whole school approach to professional experience: Collaboration and community

This paper explores one implementation of an extended, structured, collaborative professional experience program. Its context is a new partnership between a university and a professional experience school. The program draws on elements of Instructional Rounds and Lesson Study, framed around a learning community model of professional experience for peer collaboration, observations, reflections and discussions across disciplines by pre-service teachers. Results show that pre-service teachers experienced a sense of belonging, developed professional relationships and dialogue with staff and peers, linked theory with practice, and developed dispositions for on-going improvement of teaching quality, all factors likely to improve their readiness for teaching. On the other hand, participants faced challenges in terms of logistics and communication, time pressure and anxiety and power relations between novice and expert.     

Delayed Disaster Impacts on Academic Performance of Primary School Children

Social disruption caused by natural disasters often interrupts educational opportunities for children. However, little is known about children's learning in the following years. This study examined change in academic scores for children variably exposed to a major bushfire in Australia. Comparisons were made between children attending high, medium, and low disaster-affected primary schools 2–4 years after the disaster (n = 24,642; 9–12 years). The results showed that in reading and numeracy expected gains from Year 3 to Year 5 scores were reduced in schools with higher levels of bushfire impact. The findings highlight the extended period of academic impact and identify important opportunities for intervention in the education system to enable children to achieve their academic potential.     

Why go to school? Student,parent and teacher beliefs about the purposes of schooling

This qualitative study explored the beliefs of students, parents and teachers on the purposes of schooling in order to provide a context for understanding beliefs and attitudes to school learning and achievement. Focus groups were conducted with Year 9 and 10 students (aged 13–15 years) and parents and teachers in three secondary schools in different socio-economic areas in an urban district. Four categories were identified in relation to beliefs about the purposes of schooling: (1) to learn and gain self-knowledge; (2) to develop life and social skills; (3) to optimize life chances and quality of life; (4) to enable future employment and economic wellbeing. Comparisons revealed that students, parents and teachers all believed in the learning purpose of schooling, but did not all endorse an economic purpose. Students had the broadest views on school purposes. The greatest alignment between views was found for students and parents. The greatest difference between groups was found for students and teachers from high socio-economic area schools. Findings were considered in relation to national curriculum aims and external pressures from globalization. Overall, findings are conducive to a lifelong learning approach, pointing to belief in the intrinsic value of school learning independent of any economic function it may serve.     

Complicating moral messages through multimodal composition: wrestling with revenge and racism

This study is an exploratory analysis of the multimodal composition practices of adolescents and young adults in a free after-school drop-in programme called the Workshop, and the moral development opportunities afforded by these practices. Pasupathi and Wainryb’s [(2010). “Developing Moral Agency Through Narrative.” Human Development 53: 55–80. doi:10.1159/000288208] theory of narrative moral agency is invoked to interpret participants’ compositions. Through a process of multimodal design, participants illustrated the cognitive process of reconciling one’s moral beliefs with actions in the real world. Switching between modes of expression allowed the focal participants to showcase their nuanced moral positions on justice-related issues, such as complicating a desire for revenge with advocating for peace. The literary, technological, and performance opportunities of the Workshop serve as an example for how social, aesthetic, and moral goals can be achieved in classrooms and contribute to students’ moral agency.     

Self-massage prior to stretching improves flexibility in young and middle-aged adults

We examined the influence of stretching alone (SS) or combined with self-massage (SM) on maximal ankle dorsiflexion angle, maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque and calf muscle activity, and subcutaneous tissue thickness in 15 young (25 ± 3 years) and 15 middle-aged (45 ± 5 years) adults. Participants performed two sessions of calf muscle stretches (3x 30-s stretches, 30-s rest): stretch after a 60-s control condition (SS) and stretch after 60 s of self-massage with therapy balls (SM). Evaluations were performed before and 5 min after the intervention. Linear mixed effects model revealed no main effect for age on ROM or MVC and significant main effects for treatment and time. Change in ankle angle was greater after SM: SS = 3.1 ± 2°, SM = 6.2 ± 3.3° (Hedges’ g = 0.98, p < 0.001). Similar results were observed for MVC torque: SS = ?4 ± 16%, SM = 12 ± 16% (Hedges’ g = 0.97, p = 0.0001). Changes in MVC torque and absolute EMG amplitude were correlated, but subcutaneous tissue thickness was not altered by treatment. The gains in ROM were more pronounced in less flexible middle-aged adults, underscoring the need to include flexibility exercises in their training.     

Ovens,Peter et al (2012) Developing inquiry for learning Routledge (New York & London) isbn 978‐0‐415‐59877‐4 226 pp £24.99 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415598774/

The authors provide some useful ideas and a bridge from face‐to‐face into blended learning contexts which teachers interested in an inquiry pedagogy may find useful. There are various scaffolds and exemplars as well as exploration of appropriate digital tools which can be used for critical inquiry. If the content of this book is likely to be relevant to you, I advise that you will probably find only parts of it of interest or use. Robyn Smyth     

‘I Hate Maths: Why Do We Need to Do Maths?’ Using iPad Video Diaries to Investigate Attitudes and Emotions Towards Mathematics in Year 3 and Year 6 Students

Accessing children’s feelings and attitudes towards mathematics is a challenging proposition since methods for data collection may be fraught in terms of bias and power relations. This article explores a method of collecting information from young students about their attitudes towards mathematics using iPads, and a video diary technique not dissimilar to the ‘Big Brother’ room, with which many children are familiar. We describe the development of the tool and process when implemented in a primary school setting. We allude to both the enabling prospects of the technique as well as some of the limitations we found when implementing the method. We then discuss the implications of the largely negative attitudes and emotions that the students recorded and suggest that these negative attitudes are well formed by the end of the early years of schooling.     

Total quality management: Some implications for the management of distance education

Total quality management, which was initially developed as a strategic option for manufacturing industries, means adopting a philosophy of continuous improvement and of putting the customer first. However, the concept is now being widely and successfully implemented in service industries. If translated into educational terms, the philosophy is consistent with a learner‐centred approach and the pursuit of excellence, and offers a constructive and positive method for dealing with the changes occurring in the education sector. This paper examines the concept of total quality management and explores possible implications of distance education institutions adopting the approach.