Using Learning Theory to Guide Reflection during School Experience

Reflection has been considered a key aspect that should be included in teacher‐education programmes. There have also been recent calls to base teacher education on constructivist principles of learning. In this study, a reflective‐school‐experience component was integrated into a curriculum subject, using constructivist learning theory as a guide. It shows how these two constructs may be brought together in practice. The learning theory used is explained, and relationships to teaching are explored. Teacher interventions derived from the learning theory provided guidelines for the placement and operation of the school experience, and for encouraging reflection about both the school experience and classwork. An evaluation of the subject was conducted using a variety of data. Selected findings are discussed, and the success of the subject in influencing cognitive and affective outcomes are explored. The role of the school experience and indications of the occurrence of reflection by students are also examined.     

New Assistant Professors of Counselor Education: Their Preparation and Their Induction

The literature documents that there has been a limited number of qualified applicants to fill counselor education positions. This article features a profile of assistant professors who accepted their first counselor education positions in 1999 as well as their comments regarding their experiences as applicants. Recommendations derived from the data are included for counselor educators, professors‐in‐training, and search committees.     

关于绘画技巧的思考

绘画技巧是每个画家终生研究的课题。绘画技巧的难度,在于绘画的专业性极强。画家看一幅画时,有意无意地总想到如果他自己来画这幅画,应该采用哪些步骤。真正意义的绘画技巧,并不在于怎么去"画",而在于你的观点,没有观点就画不下去,各种绘画技巧无从谈起。     

Post-Modernizing Education on the Periphery and in the Core

The political economics of educational change are central to understanding reform in developing countries because of the role that education plays in relationship to economic and social policies. Given the uncertain association between the expansion of education and economic development, this paper explores the role which modernization policies of the State play in promoting contemporary conflicts between private and public interests in education. By first introducing Best's concept of the "New Competition" this paper examines the economic consequences for education in the larger context of the global market. Through case examples of Mexico and the US state of Oregon the effects of modernization policies are examined to understand how modernization policies are inappropriate to meet the social, political, and economic needs of both the periphery and core countries. The paper concludes by addressing the potential consequences for the public good of modernization efforts that promote the privatization of education on the basis of human capital theory rather than on that of a more comprehensive and humanistic approach to the development of social capital.     

Developing Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge Through Mentoring Elementary Teachers

Elementary teachers are typically hesitant to teach science. While a limited knowledge of science content is a reason for this, limited science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has emerged as another reason in recent research. This study constitutes two case studies of a professional development program for elementary teachers involving mentoring by a university professor. The mentor took the role of a critical friend in joint planning and teaching of science. The study examines the nature of the mentoring relationship and reports the type of teacher learning that occurred, with a particular focus on the teachers’ development of science PCK.

Infant temperament moderates relations between maternal parenting in early childhood and children's adjustment in first grade

A differential susceptibility hypothesis proposes that children may differ in the degree to which parenting qualities affect aspects of child development. Infants with difficult temperaments may be more susceptible to the effects of parenting than infants with less difficult temperaments. Using latent change curve analyses to analyze data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care, the current study found that temperament moderated associations between maternal parenting styles during early childhood and children's first-grade academic competence, social skills, and relationships with teachers and peers. Relations between parenting and first-grade outcomes were stronger for difficult than for less difficult infants. Infants with difficult temperaments had better adjustment than less difficult infants when parenting quality was high and poorer adjustment when parenting quality was lower.     

Assessing reflection in English enhancement courses: teachers’ views and development of a holistic framework

The debate about whether and how reflection should/can be assessed has so far yielded inconclusive findings. This paper intends to revisit and further this controversial issue within a specific disciplinary context: the assessment of reflection in English enhancement courses within a second-language environment. Students across majors taking the language enhancement courses in question are often required to provide written or verbal evidence to demonstrate their abilities to reflect, and in turn enhance their linguistic repertoires. However, a potential problem arises when the assessment of ‘reflection’ at times may become the assessment of learners’ English language proficiency, thus casting doubts about the validity and reliability of incorporating reflection as an assessment tool in our context. Drawing on analyses of seven English enhancement courses with a reflection component, and semi-structured interviews with 22 faculty members who had had the experience of assessing reflection, and/or developing assessment criteria for evaluating the quality of students’ reflection, their perceptions of assessing reflection fairly and the challenges encountered during the assessment process were brought to the surface. A holistic framework is proposed to address the challenges encountered, particularly with respect to the differences in emphasis that faculty members place on content vs. language.     

Creating synergy through collaboration: Safe schools/ healthy students in salinas,california

In Salinas, a city of 150,000 on the Central Coast of California, an $8 million federal grant program is helping children and their families grapple with issues pertaining to violence, substance abuse, mental health, and academic success. In just two years, the program has helped educators and service providers deter school crime, provide on‐campus therapy to troubled youth, increase participation in parenting programs, and decrease truancy at several schools. Most importantly, the Salinas initiative has helped providers coordinate services to children and families who need them most. Project directors say that approach will be crucial as they search for new ways to sustain Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS)‐funded programs. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 503–513, 2003.