Beacons of light,rays, or sun catchers? A case study of the positioning of literacy teachers and their knowledge in neoliberal times

This paper reports on a case study of a “lead literacy teacher” initiative in one Canadian province. This initiative is related to a “minority world” trend in teacher in-service that seeks to develop “experts” in a field with the intent that such experts can help other teachers to raise student achievement for the betterment of the economy. Using a post-colonial theoretical framework that advocates for professional development premised on teacher knowledge production, the study finds that the initiative instead forwards a “train-the-trainer” model of information transmission that negates teachers' prior knowledge, experience, and practices. The study argues that for teachers to become critically reflective in their practice, they need material supports (e.g., time) to share with one another and knowledge must be allowed to flow in all directions within the educational hierarchy.     

Co-constructors of data,co-constructors of meaning: Teacher professional development in an age of accountability

This research examines how engaging teachers in collaboratively constructing situated assessments enhances teacher professional development, fosters meaningful shifts to practice, and supports productive conceptions of accountability. We conducted case studies of six teachers engaged as partners in investigating new approaches to assessing and fostering literacy. Findings suggested that supporting teachers to generate, interpret, and act upon assessment data within instructional change cycles assisted them in monitoring student performance, grounding instructional decisions in data, and enacting changes to practice. We also document how collaboratively constructing assessments with teachers supported conceptions of accountability considered meaningful by individuals adopting differing socio-political perspectives.     

Untangling the effects of shared book reading: Multiple factors and their associations with preschool literacy outcomes

Evidence strongly suggests that shared book reading at home and in preschool is important for young children's development of the foundational skills required for the eventual mastery of decoding and comprehension. Yet the nuances of how learning from book reading might vary across these contexts and with children's skills are not well understood. One hundred and thirty children participating in a longitudinal investigation of literacy development were videotaped reading a storybook with a parent. Children were also videotaped in their 33 preschool classrooms during the instructional book-reading portion of the day. Readings were coded for adult and child contextualized and decontextualized language relating to both decoding and meaning-making skills, and relations between this talk and emergent literacy outcomes were analyzed. Results demonstrate that parents and teachers overwhelmingly focus their book-related talk on meaning-related rather than code-related information, and that the relations between outcomes and talk depend in part on children's initial levels of vocabulary skills. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Assessment,and the literacy practices of trainee PCET teachers

Drawing on concepts of learning as socially situated within communities of practice and of literacy as social practice (the New Literacy Studies), this paper seeks to explore the assessment practices of a part-time teacher training course for teachers working in the post-compulsory education and training sector. This paper argues that the ways in which student teachers make sense of the assessment requirements of their course is not related to their prior experiences as students or as teachers, contradicting notions of transferable study skills. This paper also posits a conceptual framework for exploring the assessment process that seeks to reconcile assessment and pedagogy with the community of practice model.     

例谈小学语文识字教学中渗透中华传统文化

汉字是中华文化传承与发展的载体,识字教学就是中国一切文化教育的基石与起点。通过识字教学了解中国传统文化,通过传统文化帮助学生学习汉字,既丰富了汉字教学内容,又发展了学生语文素养和传承中华民族传统文化。本文基于低年级识字教学经验,对识字教学如何渗透传统文化进行有效探讨。     

小学语文识字教学中趣味化教学的探究

识字教学是小学语文教学的重点内容,特别是低龄学段的学生更是需要打好识字基础。学生对生字词的掌握程度不仅影响学生语文学科的学习效果,而且也同样影响学生在数学等其他学科的学习效果。新课标要求在小学阶段学生要认识3000个常用字,其中要会写2500个汉字,而要达到这一要求就需要语文教师保证识字教学的效果,基于此,笔者研究了识字教学中的趣味化教学策略,希望能够提高学生的识字能力。     

让故事伴小学生健康成长

好的故事能激励学生坚毅、快乐和勇敢,让学生创造性思维得到发展。本文分析了当前小学生成长过程现状及存在的问题,揭示了用故事对学生进行品德教育的重要性,论述了故事育人所采取的策略,将故事与各学科教学有机融合,营造讲故事、听故事、演故事、编故事的氛围,从而使学生在故事中受到启迪,获得成长。     

基于核心素养的小学科学高效课堂的构建

新一轮基础教育课程改革特别强调学生科学核心素养的获得。《小学科学课程标准》也明确提出了培养学生以科学探究精神为核心的核心素养。作为一名小学科学教师,在教学的过程中要持续关注基础科学知识的讲解和传授,也需要通过基础理论引导帮助学生形成一定的科学探究意识,引导他们在实验操作的过程中能够认真思考,提高实践能力。本文就以构建小学科学高效课堂,培养学生科学核心素养为基础性内容,进一步探讨培养策略问题。     

论STEM教师的专业素养

专业素养是专业能力所蕴含的专业知识、思维方式和价值观。教师核心专业能力是一种被称为基于设计的行动力的综合能力,并非PACK的运用能力,因为PACK不是知识论意义上的知识。基于设计的行动力所蕴含的教师专业素养可以区分为学科素养和设计素养。学科素养蕴含在课程之中,通过课程分析可以使之清晰化;设计素养蕴含在技术性教学设计理论之中。以STEM课程“抓住风:设计风车”为例,STEM教师的学科素养包括掌握课程包含的S.T.E.M.学科知识、能利用课程提供的材料制定一款特定功能的风车、能独立完成不同材料捕捉风能的单因素实验、身体力行地传递科学精神。以“以学习活动为中心的教学设计理论”为例,STEM教师的设计素养包括能基于教学设计的基本观念思考教学设计;能运用知识建模进行学习内容分析,并用“(知识点,学习水平)”方式陈述学习目标;能结合实情和知识建模图组块确立任务类型,并将它们具体化为师生交互过程;拥有足够的FC知识(Facts and Cases),并能够设计新的FC知识;能结合实情和动力设计模型提升教学方案的质量水平;能结合经验设计探究学习的学习支架。     

学习成果在资历框架中的应用——基于国际比较

无论是在博洛尼亚进程还是在哥本哈根进程中,学习成果都被视为将各种政策与实践举措融合的“粘合剂”,并被各国运用以构建本国资历框架。当前越来越多的国家正在致力于建立国家资历框架,但由于文化传统等方面的不同,各国在运用学习成果的实践过程中也存在诸多差异,例如欧洲、德国、澳大利亚、爱尔兰这几个区域和国家的资历框架在成果框架、概念理解、维度划分与描述、资格类型、等级数量上均有不同并各具自身特色,尤其对于资历框架的维度划分与描述,各国在“知识”“技能”“能力”的基础上,根据本国国情,融入自身特色并进行合理化描述,从而制定了符合自身发展的资历框架。通过对这几个区域和国家的成果框架及其描述维度的分析与比较,可得出资历框架构建与发展一般规律,并希望借鉴其相关经验最终为我国未来建立资历框架提供思想导向及应用规律方面的启示。