Teacher job satisfaction: lessons from the TSW Pathfinder Project

Government policy assumes that modernization and remodelling will be effective as external intervention mechanisms to improve job satisfaction. Based on data collected as part of the evaluation of the ‘Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project’, an argument is presented here which suggests that internal management models may be more effective in improving teacher job satisfaction. By comparing the responses of teachers within primary and special schools with those from secondary schools, internal factors are identified which may be more relevant than externally imposed measures.     

The passion of successful leadership

This paper reports multiperspective research on 10 successful, experienced headteachers working in a range of urban and suburban schools of different sizes (with different school populations and free school meals indices of between 20% and 62%). All had raised the levels of measurable pupil attainments in their schools and all were highly regarded by their peers. A key characteristic among the heads was that, regardless of styles and strategies, all revealed a passion for education, for pupils and for the communities in which they worked. The research revealed that the 10 headteachers sustained their success by the application of the a combination of 10 essential leadership qualities, skills and principles and that these enabled them to manage a number of tensions and dilemmas associated with the management of change. Fundamental to the achievement of success, however, was their passion for students, school and community. This paper explores the nature of this passion in relation in particular to six factors which are fundamental to success; achievement, care, collaboration, commitment, trust and inclusivity.1 This research is part of a longitudinal, international, eight country study (ISSLP) which is seeking to establish cross‐country, cross‐cultural comparisons of successful headship in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Norway, Sweden and the USA. For details of this project see: www.oise.utoronto.ca/～schoolleadership/ssl.html. The English study on which this research is based was financially supported by N.C.S.L., NAHT and S.H.A.      

The Challenge to be the Best: Reckless curiosity and mischievous motivation

In recent years, 'being the best' as a teacher has become less of a moral imperative based on a sense of integrity and trust, and more of a dictat from governments intent on imposing their performativity agendas on teachers in the name of raising standards. One consequence of the rise of the so-called school reform agenda is that there has been a demise of teacher renewal. Each of the papers in the present issue has addressed this paradox in one way or another. The present paper suggests that the models of teacher development adopted by policy-makers do not adequately address teachers' learning needs over a career or contribute to enhancing motivation and commitment essential to raising standards in the classroom. It concludes by suggesting that universities themselves have a moral commitment to develop further new kinds of sustained knowledge, creating roles with schools and teachers through which teachers' active professionalism will be enriched.     

Spatial localization in infancy: position constancy in a square and circular room with and without a landmark

The ability of 8-month-old infants to localize an event from a new direction of facing was tested in a square and a circular room with and without a landmark. Subjects were trained to anticipate the site from 2 directions of facing and then tested in a new direction of facing. The number of trials to a criterion of learning, the number of subjects looking first at the event site after reorientation, and the time spent in doing so were recorded. Taken together, the results show that at 8 months ability to identify the site of an event after reorientation is based on the spatial relationship between the event and environmental features. The latter include features associated with room shape as well as a landmark at the site of the event.     

Do Infants Use Their Own Images to Locate Objects Reflected in a Mirror?

The ability of infants to locate a toy from a mirror reflection was investigated in 3 experiments. In the first, it was found that a minority of 22-month-old infants turned to locate the toy that was the source of the reflection, and that localization of the toy occurred regardless of whether the infants' own image was visible in the mirror. The results of 2 further experiments indicated that younger infants aged 14 and 18 months rarely use mirror information to locate a toy. When they do so, they also turn whether or not images of themselves are visible. It is concluded that tasks involving the localization of objects or events from mirror images are not direct indices of self-recognition. Rather, they indicate the skill of infants in using the mirror as a perceptual tool.     

Regression Models with Errors in the Predictor Variable

In this article Simon Day describes a computer simulation exploring one of the fundamental assumptions of regression analysis which causes students difficulties.