Predicting teachers' intentions to implement school-based assessment using the theory of planned behaviour

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to explore the Hong Kong teachers' intentions to implement school-based assessment (SBA) and the predictors of those intentions. A total of 280 teachers from Hong Kong secondary schools who had been involved in SBA were surveyed. Rasch-calibrated teacher measures were calculated for each of the 6 variables – affective and instrumental attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, knowledge, and intention – regarding SBA. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that instrumental attitude and self-efficacy made significant contributions to predicting intentions to implement SBA. These 2 predictors explained 55.2% of the variance in intentions. The other 3 variables, that is, affective attitude, subject norm, and knowledge, did not have significant predictive power on the formation of intentions to implement SBA. Possible explanations and implications of the findings are discussed.     

Pedagogical shift in the twenty-first century: Preparing teachers to teach with new technologies

ABSTRACT

The expectation in education today is that pre-service teachers should graduate from teacher education adequately prepared to teach with Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) that have potential to enhance curriculum delivery, hence improving quality of education. However, research shows that pre-service teachers are graduating from teacher education underequipped to teach with ICTs. The aim of this study is to understand why, given the deployment of ICTs for teaching and learning in teacher education, the new teachers remain underprepared to teach with ICTs. Qualitative research approach was employed in this study, whereby randomly selected pre-service teachers were interview respondents. Written reflections on their preparation to teach with ICTs also formed part of the data collected. Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) theory was embraced to guide the study. Analysis of the data shows that the main contributing factor of the new teachers’ under-preparedness to teach using ICTs is the quality of instruction they receive during their training.     

Student teachers’ perceptions of their mentors as internal triggers for learning

This study used responses of 20 student teachers to describe the different ways in which student teachers perceive the practice of their mentors as internal triggers for learning in their practicum experiences in the schools. Reported observations from pedagogical journals of student teachers were described according to various kinds of teaching knowledge and skills and were further categorized as providing either support or challenge to student teachers’ perceptions of learning to teach. The student teachers identified support and challenge in each one of the categories of teaching knowledge and skills, thereby supplying evidence for different kinds of emotional and cognitive triggers for learning. Based on the findings, we make some recommendations for supervision of mentoring relationships.     

‘Children at our school are integrated. No one sticks out’: Greek‐Cypriot teachers’ perceptions of integration of immigrant children in Cyprus

Increasingly social scientists, including education theorists, find themselves having to fight an almost invisible racism that is masked by the racist undertones of the dominant discourse and practice of colorblindness. A continuous emphasis on colorblindness gives precedence to the role of race, diverting attention away from other forms of discrimination which can become the basis for exclusion. I would argue that for such acts of marginalization, difference‐blindness may have more explanatory power. This paper discusses Greek‐Cypriot teachers’ perceptions of the integration of immigrant children in a Greek‐Cypriot public primary school through the framework of difference‐blindness. The discussion shows that despite their good intentions, teachers utilized a difference‐blind ideology to rationalize practices of social exclusion of non‐Cypriot students in what was considered an ‘integrated’ school environment.     

Reflection on their first five years of teaching: understanding staying and impact power

Teacher turnover in urban schools is occurring at a breakneck pace; thus, it is important for us to understand the characteristics of teachers who stay and succeed in these settings. In order to address this need, this study examines the preparation and induction experiences of teachers who completed a Transition to Teaching – a funded urban apprenticeship program. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How do participants describe the characteristics that influence their five-year retention? (2) How do participants describe their success as teachers? and (3) How do participants describe the professional support they received in their preparation program and during the subsequent four years after completing the program? Quantitative and qualitative data via interviews, focus group, and an examination of teachers’ district performance scores were utilized, as a means of understanding teachers’ staying and impact power. Staying power refers to the ability to endure or last within challenging contexts by possessing strength enough to persevere. Impact power refers to their ability to influence student learning. Four assertions describe the factors influencing developing teachers who stay and have impact as they teach in challenging urban schools, suggesting that these teachers possess a strong work ethic, seek specific resources to improve pedagogy, have the knowledge and skills necessary to differentiate instruction, and seek teacher leadership opportunities in their schools. This study suggests several implications for teacher educators, educational leaders, administrators, and researchers working with new teachers in urban schools or with populations that are predominantly children of color.     

“三位一体”社区教育队伍建设的研究

社区教育队伍是决定社区教育质量的关键要素。在明确社区教育队伍的构成和社区教育特点的基础上,指出对社区教育师资的特殊要求。通过实证研究,对目前师资队伍在组建、运行、管理方面存在的主要问题进行分析梳理,并尝试提出建立"三位一体"社区教育队伍的构想,对其在构建、运行与管理方面提出了建议,以期为社区教育队伍建设,提高社区教育质量,实现社区教育绩效最优化起到一定的指导与借鉴作用。     

关于构建高校青年教师培养体系的探索

青年教师是推动高等教育事业发展的重要力量,是实现高等学校持续、协调、快速发展的重要保证。本文针对高校青年教师培养研究中存在的共性问题,结合天津科技大学实际情况,对高校青年教师培养体系的构建进行了有益的探索实践。     

谈网络时代教师角色的四个转变

网络时代的教育不同于传统的常规教育,教学和学习都呈现出新的规律和特征。做为现代教育实践者的教师角色的变化是网络时代教育发展的必然需要,为适应网络时代教育发展,教师角色应从教育观、知识素养、教学方法、教学研究等四个方面进行转变。     

师源性心理因素对外语学习者语言焦虑的影响

语言焦虑是影响学生外语学习效果的一个重要情感因素。通过对师源性心理因素引起的语言焦虑的判断与分析,我们不难发现语言学习中的情感因素不可忽视,教师对语言焦虑的觉察和调控在组织教学中不可或缺。事实上教师的行为既可以造就“焦虑诱导情境”,也可以以良性的情感信息刺激学生,对已经存在的语言焦虑进行有效的调控。