Lexical Elaboration in Children's Locative Action Expressions

The spatial locative words used in multiword locative action expressions were tracked longitudinally for 4 children. Children ranged in age from 1–5 to 3–0. Although certain words emerged before others, as previous research has shown, the children were selective about which lexical categories were used to talk about movement events, and their selections changed systematically with age. Source and path words were used most frequently at the earliest ages, and goal words predominated at the oldest ages. The children also increased the specificity with which they talked about locative movement events by combining goal words with source and path words as they got older. The observed developmental shifts in lexical use suggest that lexical acquisition is influenced not only by the meaning of the individual locative words but also by the verb relational roles that such words play when embedded in semantic/syntactic contexts.     

Pedagogical renewal: Improving the quality of classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools

This study reports on an investigation of classroom interaction and discourse practices in Nigerian primary schools. Its purpose was to identify key issues affecting patterns of teacher–pupil interaction and discourse as research suggests managing the quality of classroom interaction will play a central role in improving the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in contexts where learning resources and teacher training are limited. The study was based on the interaction and discourse analysis of video recordings of 42 lessons and 59 teacher questionnaires from 10 States, drawn mainly from the north of Nigeria. The findings revealed the prevalence of teacher explanation, recitation and rote in the classroom discourse with little attention being paid to securing pupil understanding. The wider implications of the findings for improving the quality of classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools through more effective school-based training are considered.     

Interactive fiction: An experience of the ‘Writers in education’ scheme

The idea of bringing children, students, and teachers into contact with living writers was initially implemented by the Literature Panel of the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1969, but since 1980 the scheme had devolved upon the Regional Arts Associations, embracing single visits, workshop sessions, talks, readings, and short-term and long-term residences and attachments of various kinds, with the Regional Arts Association generally bearing half the cost of fees, plus travel. The scheme now operates in a wide range of venues in addition to schools and colleges, incorporates in-service and residential courses, and includes illustrators, storytellers, dramatists, and performance poets alongside novelists, poets, and short-story writers.Fay Sampson is the author of 16 books for young people. For many years she has combined teaching and writing in England, winning awards from the South West Arts regional council for her work. She is currently a full-time writer and an adult education tutor in writing.     

Explaining long-term exercise adherence in women who complete a structured exercise program

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine factors related to physical activity adherence to understand why women continue to participate in long-term exercise after completing a structured exercise program. Data were collected from focus groups, interviews, and e-mails, and analysis used grounded theory. The central category related to physical activity adherence was self-worth. Motivation, activity enjoyment, priorities, body image, ability to access support, and self-regulation skills had an impact on the self-worth of nonadherers and adherers. Women must value themselves enough to continue to participate in physical activity once they start. Exercise and fitness professionals are encouraged to use strategies to increase self-worth and long-term adherence to physical activity. Some recommended strategies include (a) increasing motivation and enjoyment relative to activity, (b) making activity a high priority in a woman's life, (c) improving or deemphasizing body image, (d) increasing a woman's ability to access support, and (e) facilitating the use of self-regulation strategies. This study is the first to examine qualitative perspectives of exercise adherence among women who completed a structured exercise program. Several concepts related to adherence presented in the quantitative literature are confirmed and enhanced in this study.     

A resourcification manifesto: Understanding the social process of resources becoming resources

In times of major global interconnectedness and environmental change, the pressure to identify, create, and exploit new resources is certain to intensify. Given that there are unavoidable trade-offs, conflicts, and arenas for violence involved when increasingly more material and immaterial things are turned into resources, we call for explicit research on the very process – a process that we label resourcification. The concept of resourcification shifts attention from essentialist queries about the nature of resources to a focus on the social processes through which things are turned into resources. In search of a better understanding of resources in the Anthropocene and, in particular, an understanding about the way resources emerge and are used, resourcification offers a new conceptual framework that allows for a systematic search for knowledge about the diversity of contexts, conditions, modes, and temporalities of resourcification. This Resourcification Manifesto offers a theoretical and empirical framework for a radical and disruptive approach to innovation, sustainability, and management studies and policies.     

Student learning approaches in the UAE: the case for the achieving domain

The deep versus surface learning approach dichotomy has dominated recent research in student learning approach dimensions. However, the achievement dimension may differ in importance in non-Western and vocational tertiary settings. The aim was to assess how Emirati tertiary students could be characterized in terms of their learning approaches. The study looked into emergent learning factors that may be important in Emirati students. The students were Emirati men in a first-year English for academic purposes programme at a tertiary college (N?=?252). The students completed the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) to determine learning orientation along the deep and surface approach dimensions. A factor analysis was carried out to assess emergent dimensions in the data. The results on the deep and surface dimensions were inconclusive. However, the factor analysis suggested a disposition towards a construct that we characterize as ‘attainment of satisfaction from learning’. In addition, the factor analysis suggested the possibility of the achieving domain emerging as a separate construct from the surface domain in this context, contrasting with previous research employing the R-SPQ-2F. The results suggest that the deep versus surface learning approach model may not sufficiently represent the complexity of student motivations and strategies in the current context. In addition, student affect tied to outcomes is discussed as an important though perhaps overlooked dimension in non-Western contexts. The implications of the results to future research are considered.     

Job satisfaction of Jamaican elementary school teachers

This study investigated correlates of job satisfaction among public (N=190) and private (N=100) Jamaican elementary school teachers. Emphasis was on the identification of factors that could be affected through administrative intervention. Results indicated that the quality of school working conditions and respondents' relationships with other teachers were significantly related to satisfaction for both public and private school teachers. School prestige and parental encouragement were also significant predictors for public school teachers; leadership style, organizational structure, and teacher-parent relationships predicted job satisfaction for private school teachers. Implications of these findings for Jamaican education are discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Diese Studie untersuchte Gründe für Zufriedenheit im Beruf unter Lehrern an öffentlichen (N=190) und privaten (N=100) Schulen in Jamaica. Besonderer Wert wurde auf die Herausarbeitung von Faktoren gelegt, die durch das Einwirken des Verwaltungsapparates beeinflußt werden könnten. Die Ergebnisse wiesen darauf hin, daß die Qualität der Arbeitsbedingungen in der Schule und die Beziehungen zu anderen Lehrern sowohl bei den Lehrern an öffentlichen als auch bei den Lehrkräften an privaten Schulen in besonderem Maße auf die Zufriedenheit im Beruf einwirkten. Für Lehrer im öffentlichen Bereich waren zudem Prestige der Schule und elterliche Anerkennung von großer Wichtigkeit; bei Lehrern im Privatschulbereich lassen Führungsstil, organisatorische Struktur und Lehrer-Eltern Beziehung Zufriedenheit im Beruf erwarten. Die Auswirkungen dieser Ergebnisse auf das Erziehungswesen in Jamaika werden betrachtet.

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Résumé Cette étude présente une comparaison de la satisfaction professionnelle des enseignants des écoles élémentaires publiques (N=190) et privées (N=100) à la Jamaque. L'accent a été mis sur la détermination des facteurs qui peuvent être touchés par une intervention administrative. Les résultats obtenus ont indiqué que la qualité des conditions de travail à l'école et les rapports des personnes interrogées avec les autres enseignants dépendaient en grande partie de la satisfaction des enseignants des écoles publiques et privées. Le prestige de l'école et le soutien des parents étaient également jugés comme des indices importants pour les enseignants des écoles publiques; le mode de direction, la structure organisationnelle, les relations entre enseignants et parents accusaient la satisfaction professionnelle des enseignants du privé. On examine ensuite les implications de ces résultats pour l'enseignement jamaïcain.

     

Strategic Teaching Frameworks: an Australian perspective

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the concern that much educational multimedia is currently based upon technology rather than sound educational principles. The Strategic Teaching Frameworks (STFs) is a constructivist instructional strategy informed by two theories: anchored instruction and cognitive flexibility. This was deployed in the development of a CD‐ROM in an Australian University. The paper describes the development of a STF prototype and provides the reasoning behind decisions that had to be made. The authors outline some of the problems involved in their study and suggest implications for the use of STFs for teacher education and in the production of multimedia.     

UNESCO Training-the-Trainers “Information Literacy Workshop,Montego Bay,Jamaica, June 1–6, 2008”

This is a brief report highlighting the key elements of an information literacy training workshop jointly organized by UNESCO and the University of the West Indies in Montego Bay, June 1–6, 2008, providing information giving the background of why the workshop was mounted and what the expected results and outcomes were, how it was organized and structured, including the programme/agenda, who the expert-presenters were, a list of participants, and some conclusions, and some recommendations.