The well‐being of teachers in Flanders: the importance of a supportive school culture

Research on the well‐being of teachers was conducted at the request of the Department of Education in Flanders, Belgium. The goals were: (1) to construct an instrument for the Education Inspectorate; and (2) to conduct a survey in order to identify school‐related conditions relevant for teachers’ professional well‐being. Based on literature and panel discussions with teachers and principals, a questionnaire was constructed, tested and subdivided in subscales following a factor analysis. The questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of elementary (covering both nursery and primary schools, children aged 3–12) and secondary school teachers. A multilevel analysis reveals how differences in scores can be explained at school level.     

Promoting resiliency in adolescent girls through adventure programming

This study examined whether participation in an adventure program increased the resiliency of adolescent girls. Eighty-seven girls who participated in Dirt Divas, a non-profit, adventure program, completed the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents^® before and after their experience. Means-comparison tests for within-subjects designs were conducted and revealed that participants reported significantly higher levels of resilience after completing the Dirt Divas program, compared with their pre-program reports. Mixed-model repeated-measures analyses of variance showed that the changes in the girls’ resiliency were not affected by their socioeconomic status. Lastly, the long-term impact results (one month post participation) indicate that observed increases in resilience persist over time.     

The Influence of Additional Educational Support on Poverty-Stricken Adolescents’ Resilience and Academic Performance

Abstract

Resilience can be viewed as successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances (e.g. poverty). This article reports on an investigation of which the primary aim was to establish how additional educational support enhances adolescents’ resilience and academic performance. A quantitative approach was followed using two schools. One was a poverty-stricken school where additional educational support was officially offered, while the other school offered normal required tuition and was located in a middle class suburb. In total, 117 Grade 9 and 10 learners participated in the research. The results indicated that resilience related positively to academic performance and to other factors which are associated with academic performance such as teacher-learner relationships, parental involvement and study methods. Additional educational support to poverty-stricken learners resulted in higher resilience and academic achievement. Amongst the variables used in the investigation, additional educational support explained the largest proportion of the variance in academic achievement, followed by resilience and cognitive development.     

Can more become less? Effects of an intensive assessment environment on students’ learning performance

Online interactive systems offer the beguiling prospect of an improved environment for learning at minimum extra cost. We have developed online interactive tutorials that adapt the learning environment to the current learning status of each individual student. These Adaptive Tutorials (ATs) modify the tasks given to each student according to their previous responses. Feedback, assessment and remediation are also adapted. Over a three-year period we progressively blended ATs into notoriously challenging courses in introductory Engineering Mechanics. We assessed the impact of this initiative by reviewing three lines of data: (i) the built-in diagnostics of the system, (ii) changes in student grades from year-to-year and (iii) supplementary surveys. Generally, students liked the new blended system and grades improved. Detailed analysis revealed nuances in the measures of student learning, such as differences between high-performing and low-performing students. With these insights we are able to further adapt the system to meet the learning needs of our students.     

Integrating self-regulation in whole-class reciprocal teaching: A moderator–mediator analysis of incremental effects on fifth graders’ reading comprehension

In this classroom intervention study, reciprocal teaching (RT) of reading strategies was combined with explicit instruction in self-regulated learning (SRL) to promote the reading comprehension of fifth-grade students (N = 306). Twelve intact classes were randomly assigned either to an RT + SRL condition or to an RT condition without explicit instruction in self-regulation. Three additional classes served as a no-treatment comparison group. Strategies instruction was delivered by trained assistants in conventional German language lessons. Students practiced the application of these strategies in small groups. Both at posttest and at maintenance (8 weeks after the intervention), students in the two intervention conditions (RT and RT + SRL) outperformed comparison students in measures of reading comprehension, strategy-related task performance, and self-efficacy for reading. Relative to RT students, students in the RT + SRL condition were better able to maintain training-induced performance gains over the follow-up interval. A moderated mediation analysis revealed that this difference in the sustainability of the two treatments was (a) mediated by the successful mastery of the learned strategies and (b) most evident among students with poor reading fluency skills.     

The Relationship of Supervisory Experience, Counseling Experience, and Training in Supervision to Supervisory Identity Development

The relationship between supervisory identity development and supervisory experience, counseling experience, and training in supervision was examined for Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) members. Analyses indicated that supervisory experience and training were related to supervisory identity development, whilst counseling experience was not. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the importance of supervisor credentials.     

Complexity thinking mentorship: an emergent pedagogy of graduate research development

In this article we articulate a view of mentoring that extends into interactive and relational forms, fostering a redefinition of traditional roles and practices within mentor‐protégé models. From the perspectives of a senior administrator and two assistant professors, we revisit the mentoring spaces and relations within which we were engaged while working in an approach to arts‐based educational research known as a/r/tography during dissertation research projects. From our interconnected experiences, we propose a framing of the intersections between a/r/tographic research and mentorship informed by complexity thinking. We analyzed our work together while deconstructing the ways in which we have supported and unsettled each other. Through narrative inquiry we share reflections from dissertation research experiences, while also describing patterns of an emerging pedagogy of mentoring within higher education that we term complexity thinking mentorship. Borrowing from complexity theory, this conception of mentorship attends to the specific conditions of redundancy, decentralized control and diversity as being facilitative of evolving change and insight within graduate student research development.