I felt so guilty: emotions and subjectivity in school‐based teacher education

Research in the field of emotions in relation to teaching is relatively new, but expanding. However, studies addressing the emotional dimension of preservice teacher education, particularly with respect to the role of school‐based teacher educators are currently under‐represented in the literature. This paper reports findings from a study focussed on the emotional dimension of the practicum for school‐based teacher educators as they support preservice teacher colleagues. It adopts a qualitative method informed by feminist post‐structural theory in an attempt to give meaning to teachers’ narratives of their personal responses to supporting a less than successful preservice teacher. The study investigates teachers’ shifting sense of agency throughout the experience as they work within apparently intersecting discursive frames. The case study reveals the depth of emotions experienced by teachers and examines the impact of the emotions on teacher identity. It appears that the tertiary sector has failed to recognise the emotional costs of such experiences and the associated needs of school‐based teacher educators. Finally, the paper asks in what ways can staff in universities work collaboratively with teachers to address the concerns being raised by a study such as this, as there appears to be a genuine need to assist teachers copes with the emotional outcomes of working with problematic preservice teachers.     

Attitude items and low ability students: the need for a cautious approach to interpretation

The results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2001) were published in 2003. In addition to data about the reading achievements of 10‐year‐olds in 35 countries, PIRLS 2001 also collected questionnaire information from children, their teachers, headteachers and parents. The results showed not just how well students can perform in various reading tasks, but also the relationship between reading abilities and other characteristics, including the characteristics of their homes and schools, the students' attitudes to reading, reading enjoyment, self‐confidence, engagement and perceptions of their reading abilities. Surprisingly enough, children in England were reported as having poor attitudes to reading, compared to children in many other countries, despite high achievement on the reading tests. This paper raises some concerns about the interpretation of results from the study, suggesting a more complex picture than that presented in the summary index published in 2003. Our secondary analysis of the attitude and achievement data from PIRLS shows that pupils with low ability levels have misunderstood the questions which tested their attitudes towards reading. The authors point out that caution is needed when making cross‐country comparisons to avoid naïve approaches to interpretation.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE RETENTION: DIFFERENTIATING AMONG STOPOUTS,DROPOUTS, AND OPTOUTS

One fact often overlooked in discussing the retention issue is that not everyone who fails to return to school is a dropout. Some persons return after an absence of a semester or more; they can be called stopouts. Some intended to take only a few classes and stop attending when they accomplish their educational goals; they can be called optouts. The only persons who should be labeled dropouts are those who failed to accomplish their educational goal and have no definite plans to accomplish it later.

During the 1990‐91 school year, Del Mar College (DMC) and the Texas A&M Adult and Extension Education program developed and executed a plan to identify, count, and interview nonreturnees at DMC. The purposes of the study were toprovide DMC with baseline data on its nonreturnees and to test the feasibility of gathering interview information by telephone.

Stopouts far outnumbered dropouts and optouts among respondents, with 303 of 399 nonreturnees identifying themselves as such.

In this article, we define relevant terms, outline the data‐gathering process and describe the findings of the present study, and present recommendations regarding data gathering and the focus of retention efforts.     

Expert Workshop Assesses the Significance of Birth Location on Maternal and Infant Outcomes

On March 6–7, 2013, some of the greatest minds in research and the provision of maternity care came together for a workshop on “Research Issues in the Assessment of Birth Settings,” hosted by the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) and sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.     

A longitudinal evaluative study of student difficulties with engineering graphics

We have previously reported in this journal that spatial ability influences academic performance in engineering. We have also reported that spatial ability is trainable, and can be increased through instruction focused on using perception and mental imagery in three-dimensional representation. In this article, we present the results of a longitudinal evaluative study of student difficulties with engineering graphics at our university, involving research over a 24-year period. Prior to our intervention, the first-year engineering graphics course at our university had a failure rate of 36% for all engineering students, and failure rates of 80% for African students studying at our university. In terms of outcomes, our study indicates that changed teaching practices have been associated with increased pass rates, which currently average 88% for all students. There is clear evidence that African students no longer experience major difficulties in passing the course. This can be attributed both to changes in teaching methodology, as well as broader contextual changes occurring in South Africa over the period reviewed.

Despite evidence of increased pass rates, our data suggest that there is a continuing relationship between three-dimensional spatial perception and academic performance in engineering graphics, as well as with aggregated first-year engineering marks. For this reason, many students still require academic support. There is also evidence that female students experience difficulties with engineering graphics due to lack of previous technical experience, and use a variety of strategies to overcome their study problems. The most effective appear to be use of peers and friends, and in particular students who had previously taken the course, as mediators of the course content and materials. Those female students who have not taken technical drawing at school level, and female students who do not network with other engineering students, are those at greatest disadvantage.     

What to Teach?

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education discusses why Lamaze International conducts a comprehensive job analysis of what childbirth educators are teaching and their beliefs of what is important for pregnant women and their partners to learn. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote, support, and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth.     

Research and the ambiguity of reflexivity and ethical practice

This paper examines the methodological dilemmas associated with analytical framing as an aspect of the research process. Doing qualitative research potentially changes a researcher – changes their sense of self, who they think they are, who they want to become. The paper examines the ethical dilemma of what that change might mean – for the project, the researcher and the participants. Would respondents be so open if they were that aware the research(er) potentially could change during the performance of the research project? What are the implications, if any, of engaging respondents with the intention of telling their story as a narrative inquiry, then analysing the data through a feminist post-structuralist lens? How does a researcher honour the perspectives of the participants, while simultaneously bringing to bear the critique and understanding provided by employing a post-structuralist lens? The paper pays particular attention to the interactive interview, as it generated possibilities for a researcher to establish a level of trust and rapport such that (emotional) stories could be heard and then later, represented as interpretations of the researcher.     

Delivering NEET policy packages? A decade of NEET policy in England

This article explores the way in which government policy shapes the lives of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). In particular it examines how the concept of NEETs is set within a specific infrastructure and discourse for managing and supporting young people. The article provides a brief history of the NEET concept and NEET initiatives, before moving on to scrutinise the policies of the Coalition Government. A key distinction is made between those policies and practices that seek to prevent young people becoming NEET from those that seek to re-engage those who are NEET. It is argued that the Coalition has drawn on a similar active labour market toolkit to the previous Labour administration, but that this has been implemented with fewer resources and less co-ordination. It concludes that there is little reason to believe that Coalition policy will be any more successful than that of the previous government, and some reason to be concerned that it will lead to young people becoming more entrenched within NEET.     

Hearing Matters More Than Seeing: A Cross-Modality Study of Statistical Learning and Reading Ability

ABSTRACT

There is growing interest in the link between implicit statistical learning (SL) and reading ability. Although learning to read involves both auditory and visual modalities, it is not known whether reading skills might be more strongly associated with auditory SL or visual SL. Here we assessed SL across both modalities in 36 typically developing children and 36 healthy adults using the classic triplet-learning paradigm. Auditory SL was significantly associated with sentence reading fluency (Woodcock Johnson III Test of Achievement) in the combined sample of children and adults after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. In further analysis of the child data, auditory SL was significantly associated with nonword reading accuracy (Woodcock Reading Mastery Test), a relationship which appeared to be mediated by phonological processing abilities (Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing). These findings suggest that auditory SL might contribute more strongly to certain aspects of reading development compared to visual SL.     

Television Violence and Its Effects on Young Children

This article examines research on television violence and links violence to specific programs commonly watched by young children. Although there are some who try to disprove any connection between television and aggresive behavior, there is evidence to suggest that such linkages do exist.