Teacher–Student Relationship Quality and Children's Bullying Experiences With Peers: Reflecting on the Mesosystem

Drawing from social–ecological systems theory, the authors argue that -current research on childhood bullying would benefit from analyses that consider the -mesosystem—specifically, how teacher–student relationships can influence -children's bullying experiences. The authors provide two theoretical conceptions for how children's peer interactions are implicitly shaped by teacher–student relationship quality: attachment and social referral. Implications for practice, with an emphasis on developing teachers' social–emotional competencies to strengthen positive teacher–student relationships, are proposed.     

Navigating the neoliberal university: reflecting on teaching practice as a teacher-researcher-trade unionist

Abstract

This article reflects upon the neoliberalisation of higher education and its effects on teaching practice. It is argued that a neoliberal discourse of teaching excellence has the effect of working against, and potentially undermining, the emancipatory potential of higher education. The article reflects upon attempts to navigate disciplinary power in the neoliberal university and considers whether critical, emancipatory praxis is possible or if complicity in, and co-option by, neoliberalism is inevitable. Ultimately, it is concluded that individual teachers have some scope to pursue approaches which counter neoliberal dominance but that this is heavily constrained. A broader, collective, project will therefore be necessary if alternative (critical, emancipatory) visions of teaching and learning in higher education are to successfully challenge neoliberal hegemony and the negative effects of this in the academy.     

Monitors and moralists: the Lancasterian system of mutual education and the vision of a new moral order in Spanish America, 1818–1831

ABSTRACT

Spanish American independence leaders acted as both monitors and moralists for their emerging nations. Their adoption of the Lancasterian monitorial school system, along with their efforts to legislate new republican moral codes, revealed the contradictions that led to the failure of so many of that idealistic generation’s dreams. They could not broaden literacy without opening avenues of expression to those new voices and thereby relinquishing some measure of control. They could not make a place for lower classes, women or indigenous people in their programmes and rhetoric, without jeopardising their own privileged position. They could not quite determine how to encourage individual freedom while maintaining public order. The widespread introduction of the Lancasterian monitorial school system along with new moral codes for behaviour suggests that these elites had a revolutionary plan to refashion their society, but were also deeply conservative in their desire to make the rest of the citizenry more like themselves.     

Literacy Pedagogies that may 'make a difference'

In this paper we analyse literacy pedagogies in a state-designated disadvantaged secondary school. The specific purpose of the analysis is to identify modes of pedagogy that may make a difference in the overall literacy outcomes of students attending these schools in general, and targeted 'at risk' groups including Samoan students. Interview data collected from Samoan paraprofessionals working in low socio-economic schools, in addition to the research literature on Pacific Islander students, are used to identify salient features of effective pedagogies. This information is used to orient the analysis of classroom data collected from one case study secondary school. The analytic focus is on the accomplishment of disruptive student behaviour within the enactment of everyday classroom interaction; specifically, the transition between whole class spoken preparatory discourse and individual seatwork. The analytic framework consists of concepts from Basil Bernstein's sociological theory of pedagogy that give purchase on the explicitness of teacher control of 'the what' of instruction (content or subject matter) and 'the how' (interactive forms of teacher–student relations). The general finding of the study is that less explicit teacher control of the selection and organisation of knowledge is associated with the disruptive student behaviours identified as sources of disadvantage by the Samoan paraprofessionals. In addition, some general features of literacy pedagogies that may 'make a difference' in educational outcomes for students enrolled in the designated disadvantaged secondary school are identified.     

Crawling versus Walking Infants' Perception of Affordances for Locomotion over Sloping Surfaces

14-month-old toddlers vs. 8.5-month-old crawling infants were encouraged to ascend and descend a sloping walkway (10°, 20°, 30°, and 40°). Infants in both locomotor groups overestimated their ability to ascend slopes. However, on descending trials where falling was more aversive, most toddlers switched from walking to sliding positions for safe descent, but crawlers plunged down headfirst and many fell at each increment. Toddlers touched and hesitated most before descending 10° and 20° slopes, and they explored alternative means for descent by testing out different sliding positions before leaving the starting platform. In contrast, crawlers touched and hesitated most before descending 30° and 40° slopes, and they never explored alternative sliding positions. In addition, we analyzed measures of locomotor skill and experience in relation to children's ability to perceive affordances. Findings indicate that children must learn to perceive affordances for locomotion over slopes and that learning may begin by fine-tuning of exploratory activity.     

Wellbeing in school gardens – the case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program

The article explores the role of the outdoor environment in the Gardens for Bellies Danish school garden program in relation to student wellbeing. It is based on exploratory multiple case study research. The study indicates that the school garden program promotes students’ wellbeing through their positive emotions about being outside in the outdoor environment. Garden activities and their relations with peers, garden educators, and teachers seemed to positively affect students’ self-esteem. Over and above the positive social environment, students’ relations with the natural environment seem also to affect their wellbeing as they develop empathy for animals, insects, and plants. Whether this influences their wellbeing, interpersonal relations, and planetary care in the long run after the program is not, however, documented. Not all students thrive in the open, free, and sometimes chaotic space of the garden. However, the majority of students in the program seem to experience a sense of wellbeing.     

Reflections on international comparative education survey methodology: a case study of the European Survey on Language Competences

This paper reflects on the methodology used in international comparative education surveys by conducting a systematic review of the European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC). The ESLC was administered from February to March 2011, with final results released in June 2012. The survey tested approximately 55,000 students across 14 European countries with the goals of (1) providing comparative data on foreign language competence and (2) informing policy on language learning and teaching. The paper argues that there is a gap between the purpose of international comparative education surveys such as the ESLC and the methodology used, and thus also the ability of the data to feed into and inform policy. It is suggested that further methodological advances and improvements are needed if surveys are to produce data that give a clearer and more in-depth understanding of what actually goes on in classrooms and positively impact on learning and teaching.     

Medical student retention of embryonic development: Impact of the dimensions added by multimedia tutorials

The purpose of this project was to develop Web‐based learning modules that combine (1) animated 3D graphics; (2) 3D models that a student can manipulate independently; (3) passage of time in embryonic development; and (4) animated 2D graphics, including 2D cross‐sections that represent different “slices” of the embryo, and animate in parallel. These elements were presented in two tutorials, one depicting embryonic folding and the other showing development of the nervous system after neural tube formation. The goal was to enhance the traditional teaching format—lecture combined with printed diagrams, text, and existing computer animations—with customized, guided, Web‐based learning modules that surpassed existing resources. To assess module effectiveness, we compared quiz performance of control groups who attended lecture and did not use a supporting module, with study groups who used a module in addition to attending lecture. We also assessed our students' long‐term retention of the material, comparing classes who had used the module with students from a previous year that had not seen the module. Our data analysis suggests that students who used a module performed better than those given only traditional resources if they used the module after they were already somewhat familiar with the material. The findings suggest that our modules—and possibly computer‐assisted‐instruction modules in general—are more useful if used toward the later stages of learning, rather than as an initial resource. Furthermore, our data suggest that the animation aids in long‐term retention. Both medical students at the University of Cincinnati and medical faculty from across the country commented favorably on their experiences with the embryonic development modules. Anat Sci Ed 1:252–257, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.