Elementary school teachers' perception of desirable learning activities: a Singaporean perspective

A total 209 teachers (103 initial and 106 experienced) of various elementary schools in Singapore rated the perceived children's desirable learning activities on a five-point Likert scale. Four factors emerged (50.5 per cent variance): conventional learning activities; motivational activities; student-directed activities that foster independence and collaboration; and teacher-directed group activities. Two clusters were formed: motivational learning activities, and all kinds of learning activities. About half of the initial teachers belonged to each of the clusters, while the majority of experienced teachers (83 per cent) belonged to the latter cluster. Multivariate analysis of variance on the items yielded a main significant effect for initial and experienced teachers. Implications of the study for Singaporean classroom learning are presented.     

Getting Off to a Bad Start: The Relationship Between Communication During an Initial Episode of a Serial Argument and Argument Frequency

This study explores the relationships between features of an initial serial argumentative episode and the number of subsequent episodes. Initiators of the initial episode report a self-demand/partner-withdraw pattern occurs and this pattern is positively related to the number of subsequent episodes. Also, targets of the initial episode report that in the first episode they engaged in partner-demand/self-withdraw, and this pattern was positively related to their perception of constructive outcomes, but these constructive outcomes are not related to the number of subsequent episodes. Participants report that mutual hostility often results in partner-demand/self-withdraw, which is positively related to constructive outcomes. This model is produced in a sample of individuals in intact relationships and replicated in a sample of participants in terminated relationships.     

现阶段我国体育教育的缺陷

采用文献资料法对现阶段我国体育教育存在的缺陷进行了探索。主要论点 :现阶段我国体育教育主要存在 :(1)未完全遵循认识论的客观规律 ;(2 )没有体现“以人为本” ;(3)创新能力培养不够 ;(4)体育美育教育欠缺。     

试论运动教育模式的历史渊源

运动教育模式是由美国著名体育学者西登托普先生提出的一种新型的、有良好教学效果的课程与教学模 式。本文对运动教育模式的历史发展过程进行了分析,结果表明运动教育模式的发展经历了萌发期、建立期和成熟 发展期,为我国学校体育界更加深刻了理解运动教育思想提供参照。     

解放初期武汉市蔬菜摊贩的社会主义改造

在国民经济恢复时期治理与整顿的基础上,武汉市政府对蔬菜摊贩进行了社会主义改造。虽然改造过程中,问题层出不穷,但武汉市政府及各部门根据国家政策指示和本市蔬菜行业地具体情况及时采取措施加以解决,在探索中求经验,充分体现了新中国地方政府在解放初期为稳定、发展社会经济做出的不懈努力。     

Rate your course! Student teachers’ perceptions of a primary pre-service mathematics education programme

Although research suggests that many pre-service mathematics education programmes are weak interventions having a negligible effect on student teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, there is consensus that programmes that model and engage student teachers in reform teaching and learning approaches have the potential to effect positive change in attitudes and knowledge of mathematics. This paper focuses on the perceptions of 345 student teachers regarding their mathematics education programme. The authors consider that in order to further our understanding of the characteristics of an effective pre-service mathematics education programme, the opinions of participating student teachers are fundamental. Participants reported improved mathematical subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in addition to greater confidence and decreased anxiety towards mathematics. Programme features such as small group tutorials and interactive engagement were identified as impacting this positive change.     

Identity development: what I notice about myself as a teacher

Teacher identity has been recognised as critical to the practice and development of teachers. However, there remains a paucity of scholarship capturing the voice of pre-service teachers’ meaning making of their own development as teachers during initial teacher education. This paper sets out to explore seven pre-service teachers’ meaning making of becoming a teacher. Reflections gathered using autobiographical narratives and teaching metaphors, were prompted by video clips of practice during School Placement. Results suggest that pre-service teachers’ were initially drawn to the physical depiction of what a teacher looks like. Their meaning making then turned towards instances of dissonance between their prior meanings of what it is to be a teacher and their lived experiences of School Placement. These sources of dissonance challenged the pre-service teachers’ ongoing construction of their teacher identity. The findings of this paper are discussed in terms of relevant literature.     

A role for practising teachers in initial teacher education

This paper discusses the problems which can arise from the location of initial teacher education in two contexts, namely higher education and schools. An attempt to reduce the resulting dissonance by deploying practising teachers on an initial teacher education programme within higher education is described and the views of those teachers are presented. It is suggested that the use of practising teachers in higher education has a number of advantages, such as the presentation to students of situated and practical knowledge of teaching and the opportunity for more consistent quality assurance of professional inputs to the programme. But questions are raised about access to the craft knowledge of the teachers and the relationship between theoretical and practical components of the course. It is concluded that bringing practising teachers into the higher education contexts could act as a basis for the development of a more effective initial teacher education and for professional development of both teachers and lecturers working on initial teacher education programmes.