Conditions for collaborative learning and constructive competition in school

Background:?Teacher-organised group work, in which pupils work together in groups or pairs, is one of many learning situations pupils may encounter at school. Research (Williams, P. and Sheridan, S., Collaboration as one aspect of quality: a perspective of collaboration and pedagogical quality in educational settings. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 50, no. 1: 89–93, 2006) shows that even though pupils are aware of the benefits that working in groups can generate, they tend to avoid structured group work at school.

Purpose:?The aim of this study is to gain knowledge about necessary conditions for collaborative learning and constructive competition to develop among pupils at school. What conditions are necessary for collaboration and constructive competition to develop in learning situations among pupils at school?

Sample:?The study was carried out in Sweden and involved a total of 66 children, 6–18 years of age, and 25 teachers. Both sexes were equally represented among the pupils. The participating schools and teachers were selected by means of a stratified sample involving different geographical and socioeconomic areas and different educational programmes. Twelve children were selected from each of school grades 1, 5 and 9, whilst a total of 30 students were selected from five different upper secondary school programmes.

Design and methods:?To study the conditions under which constructive competition could develop in school, the methodology used involved individual interviews. The analysis was qualitative and focused on the phenomenon of constructive competition and situations in which pupils and teachers compete. The process of analysis was interplay between empirical data and interactionistic theory, an analytical process of abduction, which consists of interpreting data and devising a theory to explain them. The intentions were to highlight perspectives of constructive competition in a variety of ways. The analyses converge, as well as generating information and knowledge about how pupils and teachers understand constructive competition.

Conclusions:?Several factors emerged as important for collaboration and constructive competition to develop among pupils in school. These were categorised into three conditions: attitudes, organisation and the meaning of learning. Competition between pupils and teachers does occur in school but it is not often explicitly articulated. The ways in which competition develops, either in destructive or constructive directions, becomes more a question of chance or coincidence than as evolving out of a conscious choice. To compete constructively in a conscious manner requires knowledge of how to be able to control the situation in a positive manner, about the characteristics of this kind of competition and of how – that is to say under what kind of conditions – it will develop constructively between people in school contexts. Content and conditions are thus seen as inseparable in the development of constructive competition.     

United in Protest: From ‘Living and Dying with Our Colours’ to ‘Let All the Colours of the World Unite’

Istanbul's ‘Big Three’ football clubs, Be?ikta?, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, dominate the Turkish Super League. The matches between these fiercely rival teams, also known as ‘derbies’, are often intense and culminate in the eruption of violence, which has even been fatal on occasion. To many people's surprise, the anti-government protests which were sparked by outrage over police action against environmental protestors in May 2013 brought these eternal rivals together. Thousands of Be?ikta?, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray supporters marched arm-in-arm to Taksim Square and demanded justice and freedom. Out of this solidarity is born Istanbul United, a seemingly new fan group with a new logo that combines the three rival logos. Çar??, the legendary fan group of Be?ikta?, also played an important role in the protests and received the support of all football fans as well. This paper will focus on the politicisation of football in Turkey during the second half of 2013. By looking at both the political role of football fans of the ‘Big Three’ during and after the Gezi protests, and the ways in which mutual respect and solidarity is born among diverse protesters, this paper discusses the possibilities of translating this positive genre to a peaceful spectatorship in Turkish football.     

Competency level of Nigerian Primary 4 pupils in life skills achievement test

One of the goals of education in Nigeria is to develop in children the ability to adapt to their changing environment. This goal could be achieved through competency in life skills. Therefore, this study examines the competency level of Nigerian Primary 4 pupils in the life skills achievement test. The test was administered on a sample of 22,638 pupils. The results show that the competency level of the majority of the pupils in life skills is below the national benchmark (50%). Boys are more competent than girls. Pupils in urban areas are more competent than the pupils in rural.     

Deconstructing immigrant girls’ identities through the production of visual narratives in a Catalan urban primary school

In this article, the research findings of a deconstructive visual ethnography focused on the production of immigrant girls’ identities will be analysed. This collaborative research project involved experimentation with a dialogic curriculum aimed at creating diverse identity narratives with immigrant girls at an urban primary school in Barcelona. Using a theory of subjectivity based on feminist post‐structuralism and subaltern studies, I will deconstruct: (1) the role of ‘subjugated knowledges’ when the curriculum is used to rewrite children’s cross‐cultural narratives; (2) the production of local/global children’s identities through the interaction between ethnic, racial, gender, age and social class subjective and learning positions; and (3) the creation of new curricular spaces and times in which differences are empowered and distance is transformed between schools and families, public and private knowledge, official and subaltern identities, as well as between teaching and research.     

Opening schools to all (women): efforts to overcome gender violence in Spain

This article shows how the dialogic approach adopted by some schools in Spain generates a shift in approaches to gender violence, an issue still not explored in the literature. The shift is from an approach determined mainly by female experts to a dialogic one in which all women, including teachers, mothers, students, sisters, stepsisters, friends, and volunteers, are involved in designing and implementing programmes to prevent gender violence. An analysis of data obtained from six primary schools in Spain shows how the voices of all women are relevant to identify situations of gender violence that girl pupils are experiencing, as well as in the design of school‐based processes to prevent violence that affects these girls.     

刍议小学生英语学习评价方式审美化

国家基础教育课程改革为包括学习评价在内的教学过程的审美化提供了必要的条件.小学生英语学习评价方式的审美化对于素质教育中的审美教育具有极为重要的意义,是时代的需要,是小学生终身发展和全面发展的需要,也是提高小学英语教学质量的一个有效途径.小学生英语学习评价方式审美化,既是必要的,也是可行的.     

12周乒乓球练习对7-9岁小学生动作协调能力影响的研究

通过系统的乒乓球练习,对7-9岁小学生经过12周的观察发现,乒乓球练习能够提高7-9岁小学生动作协调能力,尤其对于精细动作协调能力和平衡能力的改善效果显著。     

小学生英语自主学习能力的有效习得

传统的学习方式已成为影响基础教育课程改革的一大障碍。帮助学生改变单一、被动的学习方式为多样化的、合作的、体验的、探究式的学习方式应成为小学英语课程教学实践的教研重点。小学生英语学习的过程应该是由学生亲自参与的、丰富生动的思维活动,在教师帮助下,学生经历一个理解、实践和主动建构的学习过程。     

Validity and reliability of the Very Short form of the Physical Self-Inventory among Turkish adolescents

The study aimed to test the validity and reliability of the Very Short form of the Physical Self-Inventory (PSI-VS) among a sample of 635 Turkish adolescents. These adolescents have completed the 12 original items of the PSI-VS, plus a positively worded reformulation of the single reverse-keyed item of the physical attractiveness subscale. A series of confirmatory factor analyses was used to examine the psychometric properties of the original and modified versions of the PSI-VS. Findings revealed superior psychometric properties with the modified version than with the original set of items. The modified version was thus subsequently used to examine its factor structure invariance across sexes, age groups and sport practice involvement. Results not only report that this version was fully invariant across, but also that latent means were significantly different across sexes and sport practice involvement. In sum, the Turkish modified version of the PSI-VS presents acceptable psychometric properties and may be used to repeatedly and/or intensively assess participants’ physical self-perceptions in the context of sport and exercise interventions.     

广州市小学生书包负荷的调查与分析

通过对广州市小学生书包运动负荷的初步调查与分析，发现广州部分小学生书包负荷欠合理并可能造成脊柱缺陷，提出广州市小学生要减轻书包负荷的建议。