Developing cohesion and building positive relationships through storytelling in a culturally diverse New Zealand classroom

Educational research highlights the importance of positive teacher student relationships and recommends teachers adopt teaching strategies that are more culturally inclusive, and allow for reciprocal teaching and learning where student prior knowledge is legitimized. Participants in this study experienced such an approach. Through a storytelling process they fostered empathy, compassion, tolerance and respect for difference. This paper introduces four interrelated factors that enhanced participant understanding of themselves, others and cultural perspectives: developing the ways of working, establishing a caring supportive environment, privileging student voice through personal stories, and enhancing participant connectedness and relationship change. These results have potential relevance for teachers and teacher educators who face the challenge of catering for the learning needs of culturally diverse students in their classrooms.     

Fostering meaning-oriented learning and deliberate practice in teacher education

Meaning-oriented learning and deliberate practice may be expected to promote student teachers’ continuous professional development. We interviewed twelve expert teacher educators to explore their understanding of these concepts, as well as pedagogies to stimulate them in teacher education. The experts understood deliberate practice in two ways: an enactment conceptualization focusing on pupil learning, and a regulation conceptualization focusing on teacher learning. Pedagogies were operationalized in twelve design principles, which integrated ideas previously scattered in the literature, and added to it with respect to anticipatory reflection, diverse ways of “modeling”, and student teacher agency in creating a powerful learning environment.     

Influence of curriculum reform: An analysis of student mathematics achievement in Mainland China

This study investigated curriculum influences on student mathematics achievement by following two groups of students from fifth to sixth grade that were taught either the reformed curriculum or the conventional curriculum. Analyses with three-level modeling were conducted to examine learning outcomes of the students who were assessed three times over a period of 18 months. Achievement was measured with regard to computation, routine problem solving, and complex problem solving. Affective aspects included self-reported interest in learning mathematics, classroom participation, views of the nature of mathematics, and views of learning mathematics. The results showed overall improved performance among all the students over the time on computation, routine problem solving, and complex problem solving but not on the affective measures. There were differentiated patterns of performance between the groups. On the initial assessment, the reform group performed better than the non-reform group on calculation, complex problem solving, and indicated higher interest in learning mathematics. The two groups did not differ on the other achievement and affective measures at the first time of assessment. There was no significant difference in growth rate between the groups on the cognitive and affective measures except that the non-reform group progressed at a faster pace on calculation. Therefore, the non-reform group outperformed the reform group on computation at the third (last) assessment. These results are discussed with respect to the possible influence of the curriculum on student learning.     

Conceptualising student voice in UK higher education: four theoretical lenses

The ‘student voice’ is highly profiled in UK higher education, yet highly under-theorised. Over the past 20 years UK universities have gone from a taxpayer-funded, free at the point of use model, to one supported through tuition fees via Government-backed loans. Subsequently, there is a growth of discourse about universities as businesses and students as paying customers/consumers whose opinions and demands must be considered. This article outlines four possible theoretical lenses (or frameworks) through which student voice can be analysed, enabling an exploration of the vested interests and power relations entailed. These lenses draw on (1) research on student voice and power in compulsory education; (2) regulatory capture from Economics; (3) the notion of students voice as part of an incomplete whole and (4) non-representational theory, developed in Human Geography by Nigel Thrift.     

The potential of student narratives to enhance quality in higher education

University policies are increasingly developed with reference to students’ learning experiences, with a focus on the concept of the ‘student voice’. Yet the ‘student voice’ is difficult to define and emphasis is often placed on numerical performance indicators. A diverse student population has wide-ranging educational experiences, which may not be easily captured within the broad categories provided by traditional survey tools, which can drown out the rich, varied and gradual processes of individual development. There is no single tool that can be used to measure students’ experiences. This paper draws on findings from four narrative inquiry studies, carried out in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, to illustrate how a narrative approach could be used to complement performance indicators. This provides a richer context for educators’ understanding of students’ experiences and for supporting and setting institutional agendas.     

Factors affecting student engagement in HEIs - it is all about good teaching

The passive role of students in their learning and education and the absence of student engagement in higher education institutions (HEIs) are quite common in many higher education institutions in developing countries. The main objective of the research presented in this paper is to explore the influential factors on student engagement in HEIs in the situational frame where student engagement and active learning and teaching do not have a long tradition. To answer our research questions, we conducted a survey with 279 undergraduate students from four universities in Libya. Our findings show that the availability and active usage of the university’s ICTs resources, the university’s reputation and teachers’ activating influence on students most efficiently predict student engagement in HEIs. The role of teachers and their competencies to use active learning techniques are perceived to be very influential in promoting student engagement.     

Student support for reproductive health education in middle schools: findings from Lebanon

Reproductive health education (RHE) programmes in schools are a well-recognised means of helping young people make informed decisions relating to their sexual health and well-being. Very little research however has investigated attitudes towards such programmes among students in the Arab world. A national HIV education curriculum was developed in Lebanon in 2005. However, in the context of competing priorities and mixed levels of social resistance, curriculum implementation to date is far from universal. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of support for school-based RHE and the main factors associated with such support among young people aged 11–16 years in Lebanon. A secondary analysis of data from the 2011 Global school-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) was conducted. Students who supported RHE (58.1%) were more likely to be of higher grade level (adjusted OR [Odds Ratio]?=?1.78, p-value = 0.005), to have ever drunk alcohol (adjusted OR = 1.52, p-value = 0.012), to prefer mixed classes for RHE (adjusted OR = 3.19, p-value < 0.0001), to say RHE should start before or at puberty (adjusted OR = 3.57, p-value < 0.0001), and to be exposed to more health education topics in school (adjusted OR = 1.2, p-value < 0.0001). Identifying such sub-groups in the student body should inform the equitable implementation of RHE in culturally diverse settings like Lebanon.     

当前成人高等教育学生管理的难点及对策

成人高等教育在提倡终身学习、创建学习型社会中发挥着越来越重要的作用。当前,成人高等教育机构的学生管理工作面临诸多问题和困难,有效解决这些问题必须实行人本化的教育管理理念,大力深化教育教学改革,提高教育管理者的素质,才能不断提高综合管理质量和工作实效。     

高校师范生教育信仰的功能探析

高校师范生的教育信仰有多种功能。从教育方面看,能有效提高教育教学质量,活化高校校园氛围,坚定教师的职业信念;从个体角度看,有定向与导航,个体享用和超越的功能;从社会的视角看,可以优化人才素质,提高教师的社会形象,彰显教育的社会价值等。     

Profiles of Chilean students according to academic performance in mathematics: An exploratory study using classification trees and random forests

Attempting to deepen the understanding of factors that explain student performance, this study seeks to identify and characterize profiles of Chilean students based on academic performance in mathematics. As analytical method, statistical techniques known as random forest (RF) and classification and regression tree (CART) were used to identify groups of eighth-grade elementary students according to their performance in 2011 test, using features related to individual and family behavior. The analysis was performed with a database provided by the Education Quality Measurement System of Chile. Results show that “parents’ educational expectations” (42.7%) is key factor to obtain the best children's performances. Additionally, the analysis showed that the “type of school” (26.6%) and the “index of mathematical abilities” (26.1%) influence good performance.