Beliefs of teachers in Italian schools concerning the inclusion of disabled students: a Q‐sort analysis

This paper presents a course of research into the beliefs of class teachers concerning the scholastic integration of children with disabilities. In the current situation in Italy, due to limited specialist training, the attitudes that teachers develop can constitute an obstacle to the full realization of scholastic integration. Of the 23 teachers who took part in the study, conducted using the Q‐sort methodology, some had direct experience with scholastic integration (with opinions both positive and negative); and others had no direct experience (but also had both positive and negative opinions). Using the Q‐sort system, the paper sets out to verify whether effectively the simple manifestation of positive or negative beliefs in relation to inclusion on the part of the teachers (whether they had direct experience or not) could be confirmed, and whether it lent itself to being developed in reference to specific areas of scholastic experience. From the factorial analysis of the Q‐data, four factors emerged that confirm our hypothesis regarding the existence of different beliefs among teachers.     

Using inquiry-based instruction to encourage teachers' historical thinking at historic sites

This study explores the use of inquiry-based instruction for constructing historical understanding in historic site-based teacher professional development programs. In an historic site-based professional development workshop, fifteen teachers of grades 5 through 12 engaged in guided inquiry with documents drawn from said historic site. Participants showed significantly increased curiosity about the site and use of problem-solving strategies in interactions with the site and staff, but no improvement in other elements related to historical thinking at historic sites. Improvements correlated to neither length of teaching experience nor testing group characteristics, indicating broad applicability for improving historic site-based professional development programs.     

Teachers' perspectives on environmental education in multicultural contexts: Towards culturally-responsive environmental education

This inquiry explores teachers' perspectives on enacting environmental education in a Québec urban locale with high student diversity. Participating in focus groups and interviews, teachers from three schools discussed their experiences incorporating environmental education into their multiculturally-diverse classrooms. Challenges included value clashes, a lack of common lived experiences, and reconciling contradictory educational perspectives and political policies, which often placed teachers in paradoxical positions. Findings suggest moving toward practices of culturally-responsive environmental education that demand more than awareness but include interactive dialogue. Teachers need support from beyond the classroom and the capacity to develop curriculum facilitating the inclusion of students' culture.     

以能力为本位提高高职英语教师素质研究

高职英语教育的人才培养过程中教师的角色举足轻重,教师的素质是影响教学质量的关键因素。本文从能力为本位的教育理念,提出发展英语教师＂双师型＂素质,全面提高英语教师素质。     

We make the road by walking together: New teachers and the collaborative and context-specific appropriation of shared social justice-oriented practices and concepts

This study examined the work of a collaborative group of six new United States-based social studies teachers from the same social justice-oriented teacher education program (SJOTEP). Shared practices and concepts introduced previously in the SJOTEP were developed and appropriated to their classrooms and schools in consideration of the local context, through the collaborative problem-solving process of the group. It is argued that SJOTEPs and TEPs committed to issues of diversity, democracy, inclusion, and/or equity should be collaboration-based, teach a coherent and consistent social justice-focused curriculum, and provide post-graduation collaborative support and research it.     

Incentives for teacher relocation: Evidence from the Gambian hardship allowance

We evaluate the impact of the Gambian hardship allowance, which provides a salary premium of 30–40% to primary school teachers in remote locations, on the distribution and characteristics of teachers across schools. A geographic discontinuity in the policy's implementation and the presence of common pre-treatment trends between hardship and non-hardship schools provide sources of identifying variation. We find that the hardship allowance increased the share of qualified (certified) teachers by 10 percentage points. The policy also reduced the pupil–qualified teacher ratio by 27, or 61% of the mean, in recipient schools close to the distance threshold. Further analysis suggests that these gains were not merely the result of teachers switching from non-hardship to hardship schools. With similar policies in place in more than two dozen other developing countries, our study provides an important piece of evidence on their effectiveness.     

Reflective peer coaching: Crafting collaborative self-assessment in teaching

Reflective peer coaching is a formative model for improving teaching and learning by examining intentions prior to teaching, then reflecting upon the experience. The goal of reflective peer coaching is to promote self-assessment and collaboration for better teaching and ultimately better learning. There are obvious benefits to colleagues collaborating and sharing ideas, thoughts, and observations. However, many models of assessing teaching effectiveness focus on summative evaluation in which colleagues observe each other once or twice a year and fill out institutional evaluation forms. Rarely do colleagues engage in formative conversations about teaching that are guided by the instructor's personal goals and objectives. Reflective peer coaching necessitates a ten-minute planning conversation prior to the actual lesson and a ten-minute reflective conversation after the lesson. These conversations happen regularly and frequently to build self-awareness and self-assessment of the personal craft of teaching. The following article outlines the dynamics of the reflective peer coaching process as a formative assessment model that leads to better learning through improved teaching.     

Cognitive load of critical thinking strategies

Argument–counterargument integration (Nussbaum, 2008) refers to the process of evaluating, refuting, and synthesizing arguments on two sides of an issue when creating justification for an overall conclusion. This study compared the cognitive load of two critical thinking strategies related to argument–counterargument integration: (a) constructing design claims that minimize disadvantages of an alternative, and (b) weighing refutations (which weaken an argument by arguing that there are more important values at stake). College students (N = 285) first completed the Need for Cognition (NFC) scale and were then presented with materials summarizing arguments and counterarguments on the topic of grading class participation. Participants completed a small, integrative essay justifying a stand on the issue, and completed the Mental Effort Rating Scale (Paas, 1992). Participants who generated complex weighing refutations reported more mental effort than those constructing complex design claims (and the control group), with a stronger relationship with those high in NFC. The need to coordinate disparate elements in working memory may explain the higher load associated with constructing weighing refutations. Students may need more (and different types of) scaffolding in using this strategy than when constructing a design claim, which is a more sequential process.     

企业家生产性与分配性努力的激励机制探讨

企业家既存在生产性努力,也存在分配性努力,委托人设计最优激励合同时必须考虑这二方面的因素,努力使企业家的生产性努力最大,分配性努力最小。本文给出了这种合同的理论模型。