Facilitating growth in prospective teachers’ knowledge : teaching geometry in primary schools

This paper reports on a study that focused on growth of understanding about teaching geometry by a group of prospective teachers engaged in lesson plan study within a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. Participation in the activity was found to facilitate considerable growth in the participants’ pedagogical-content knowledge (PCK). Factors that influenced growth in PCK included the nature of the lesson planning task, the cognitive scaffolds inserted into the CSCL virtual space, the meta-language scaffolds provided to the participants, and the provision of both private and public discourse spaces. The paper concludes with recommendations for enhancing effective knowledge-building discourse about mathematics PCK within prospective teacher education CSCL environments.

Teachers' recognition and referral of anxiety disorders in primary school children

This study investigated the ability of primary school teachers to recognise and refer children with anxiety symptoms. Two hundred and ninety-nine primary school teachers completed a questionnaire exploring their recognition and referral responses to five hypothetical vignettes that described boys and girls with varying severity of anxiety symptoms. Results revealed that teachers were generally able to recognise and make the decision to refer children with severe levels of anxiety. However, they had difficulty distinguishing between children with moderate anxiety symptoms and a severe anxiety disorder. Female teachers were more likely to refer children than were male teachers. The implications and future research are discussed.

Exceptional teachers for disadvantaged schools

This article reports on the first year of the Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools project, a teacher education approach designed to prepare high quality teachers for low socio-economic schools. The Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools (ETDS) project is an innovative way to prepare high-quality teachers for employment in low-SES schools. The program, based at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), offers a specialised curriculum, designed to equip high-achieving pre-service teachers for work in the schools that need them most. Selected pre-service teachers at QUT are invited to take part in the trial course, based on their academic performance over the first two years of their four-year Bachelor of Education degree, and on a demonstrated commitment to social justice. These participants undertake a modified version of QUT's B Ed on-campus curriculum. They have their practicum/field experience at one of a range of disadvantaged schools throughout Queensland which have agreed to partner with QUT in the program. In the past, teacher education for disadvantaged schools has been described as applying a 'missionary' or deficit model (Larabee, 2010; Comber and Kamler, 2004; Flessa, 2007). The principals of schools participating in the ETDS react strongly against such an approach, and have explicitly asked project staff not to send them anyone who 'thinks they can save the world'. The ETDS project has moved well away from such a model, towards a position that is explicitly centred on notions of academic excellence. The project is now at the end of its first trial year.

Exceptional teachers for disadvantaged schools

A major issue facing Australia is addressing an education system that OECD’s data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show is of high quality, but low equity. In other words, while Australian schools score relatively high in terms of international benchmarks related to quality, the same cannot be said in relation to indicators of social background or socioeconomic status (SES). The federal and state responses to this dilemma can be found in a coordinated national agenda targeting social inclusion. Two key policy areas within this agenda relate directly to the Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools Project (ETDS). These are the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) and the National Partnership Agreements on Low Socio-economic Status School Communities and Improving Teacher Quality.

The ascendancy of oracy in university courses: Implications for teachers and second language users

This chapter reports on a study of oracy in a first-year university Business course, with particular interest in the oracy demands for second language-using international students. The research is relevant at a time when Higher Education is characterised by the confluence of increased international enrolments, more dialogic teaching and learning, and imperatives for teamwork and collaboration. Data sources for the study included videotaped lectures and tutorials, course documents, student surveys, and an interview with the lecturer. The findings pointed to a complex, oracy-laden environment where interactive talk fulfilled high-stakes functions related to social inclusion, the co-construction of knowledge, and the accomplishment of assessment tasks. The salience of talk posed significant challenges for students negotiating these core functions in their second language. The study highlights the oracy demands in university courses and foregrounds the need for university teachers, curriculum writers and speaking test developers to recognise these demands and explicate them for the benefit of all students.

Teachers' conceptions of how to engage students through inquiry learning : foundations for STEM

The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the teacher. That students should be able to discover answers themselves through active engagement with new experiences was central to the thinking of eminent educators such as Pestalozzi, Dewey and Montessori. However, even after many years of research and practice, inquiry learning as a referent for teaching still struggles to find expression in the average teachers' pedagogy. This study drew on interview data from 20 primary teachers. A phenomenographic analysis revealed three conceptions of teaching that support inquiry learning in science in the primary years of schooling: (a) The Experience-centred conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centred conception where teachers focused on challenging students with engaging problems; and (c) The Question-centred conception where teachers focused on helping students to ask and answer their own questions. Understanding teachers' conceptions of teaching has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviours during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in STEM.

Moral and social development: teachers’ knowledge of children’s learning and teaching strategies in the early years

The intention of the analysis in this paper was to determine, from interviews with 11 early years’ teachers, what informed their knowledge of children’s learning and teaching strategies regarding moral development. Overall, the analysis revealed four main categories: definitions of moral behaviour, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy for moral learning, and the source of knowledge for moral pedagogy. Children’s learning was attributed by five of the teachers to incidental/contextual issues. Nine of the teachers reported using pedagogies that involved discussion of issues, in various contexts, as a way of teaching about social and moral issues. The majority of the teachers (n = 7) described the source of their knowledge of pedagogy as practical/observed as opposed to being theoretically informed. There was no clear relationship between teachers’ definitions, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy or source of knowledge. These results suggests a strong need for the teaching of moral development to be given more prominence and addressed directly in in-service courses so that teachers are clear about their intentions and the most effective ways of achieving them.

From barrier elimination to barrier negotiation : a qualitative study of parents' attitudes about active travel for elementary school trips

This paper examines parents' responses to key factors associated with mode choices for school trips. The research was conducted with parents of elementary school students in Denver Colorado as part of a larger investigation of school travel. School-based active travel programs aim to encourage students to walk or bike to school more frequently. To that end, planning research has identified an array of factors associated with parents' decisions to drive children to school. Many findings are interpreted as ‘barriers’ to active travel, implying that parents have similar objectives with respect to travel mode choices and that parents respond similarly and consistently to external conditions. While the conclusions are appropriate in forecasting demand and mode share with large populations, they are generally too coarse for programs that aim to influence travel behavior with individuals and small groups. This research uses content analysis of interview transcripts to examine the contexts of factors associated with parents' mode choices for trips to and from elementary school. Short, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 parents from 12 Denver Public Elementary Schools that had been selected to receive 2007–08 Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure grants. Transcripts were analyzed using Nvivo 8.0 to find out how parents respond to selected factors that are often described in planning literature as ‘barriers’ to active travel. Two contrasting themes emerged from the analysis: barrier elimination and barrier negotiation. Regular active travel appears to diminish parents' perceptions of barriers so that negotiation becomes second nature. Findings from this study suggest that intervention should build capacity and inclination in order to increase rates of active travel.

Commentary on Spence et al. : "Problem solving programme implemented by teachers may prevent depression in the short term, but longer term benefits are unclear"

This is a methodologically exemplary trial of a population based (universal) approach to preventing depression in young people. The programme used teachers in a classroom setting to deliver cognitive behavioural problem solving skills to a cohort of students. We have little knowledge about “best practice” to prevent depression in adolescence. Classroom-based universal approaches appear to offer advantages in recruitment rates and lack of stigmatisation over approaches that target specific groups of at risk students. Earlier research on a universal school-based approach to preventing depression in adolescents showed promise, but employed mental health professionals to teach cognitive behavioural coping skills in small groups.1 Using such an approach routinely would be economically unsustainable. Spence’s trial, with teachers as facilitators, therefore represents a “real world” intervention that could be routinely disseminated.

Investigating pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their preparedness to teach

The experiences of transition to the teaching profession have a significant impact on a teachers’ potential length of career, feelings of professional efficacy and the quality of performance in the classroom (Gore & Thomas, 2003). While the transition to practice is characterized by much expectation and excitement, it also a time of stress and uncertainty for many beginning teachers. As such, it is important to investigate this period of transition for beginning teachers. This paper explores graduate teachers perceptions of their personal ‘preparedness to teach’. The group is graduating from one Australian university, and the data is captured at the end of their teacher preparation programs,before they take up positions in schools. These graduating pre-service teachers are from one year graduate entry programs that include individual programs of early years, middle years and senior years. The key findings indicate that this group of graduating pre-service teachers are already engaged in some level of reflective practice and are actively seeking further professional learning to improve the practical aspects of their classroom teaching.

Error correction in second language writing : teachers’ beliefs, practices, and students’ preferences

Error correction is perhaps the most widely used method for responding to student writing. While various studies have investigated the effectiveness of providing error correction, there has been relatively little research incorporating teachers' beliefs, practices, and students' preferences in written error correction. The current study adopted features of an ethnographic research design in order to explore the beliefs and practices of ESL teachers, and investigate the preferences of L2 students regarding written error correction in the context of a language institute situated in the Brisbane metropolitan district. In this study, two ESL teachers and two groups of adult intermediate L2 students were interviewed and observed. The beliefs and practices of the teachers were elicited through interviews and classroom observations. The preferences of L2 students were elicited through focus group interviews. Responses of the participants were encoded and analysed. Results of the teacher interviews showed that teachers believe that providing written error correction has advantages and disadvantages. Teachers believe that providing written error correction helps students improve their proof-reading skills in order to revise their writing more efficiently. However, results also indicate that providing written error correction is very time consuming. Furthermore, teachers prefer to provide explicit written feedback strategies during the early stages of the language course, and move to a more implicit strategy of providing written error correction in order to facilitate language learning. On the other hand, results of the focus group interviews suggest that students regard their teachers' practice of written error correction as important in helping them locate their errors and revise their writing. However, students also feel that the process of providing written error correction is time consuming. Nevertheless, students want and expect their teachers to provide written feedback because they believe that the benefits they gain from receiving feedback on their writing outweigh the apparent disadvantages of their teachers' written error correction strategies.

Preparing general technology teachers in China for new roles and responsibilities

This paper discusses the conceptualization, implementation and initial findings of a professional learning program (PLP) which used LEGO® robotics as one of the tools for teaching general technology (GT)in China’s secondary schools. The program encouraged teachers to design learning environments that can be realistic, authentic, engaging and fun. 100 general technology teachers from high schools in 30 provinces of China participated. The program aimed to transform teacher classroom practice, change their beliefs and attitudes, allow teachers to reflect deeply on what they do and in turn to provide their students with meaningful learning. Preliminary findings indicate that these teachers had a huge capacity for change. They were open-minded and absorbed new ways of learning and teaching. They became designers who developed innovative models of learning which incorporated learning processes that effectively used LEGO® robotics as one of the more creative tools for teaching GT.

The incorporation of web 2.0 into learning design : an implementation model from the perspectives of teachers and students

This paper summarises some of the recent studies on various types of learning approaches that have utilised some form of Web 2.0 services in curriculum design to enhance learning. A generic implementation model of this integration will then be presented to illustrate the overall learning implementation process. Recently, the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into learning curriculum has begun to get a wide acceptance among teaching instructors across various higher learning institutions. This is evidenced by numerous studies which indicate the implementation of a range of Web 2.0 technologies into their learning design to improve learning delivery. Moreover, recent studies also have shown that the ability of current students to embrace Web 2.0 technologies is better than students using existing learning technology. Despite various attempts made by teachers in relation to the integration, researchers have noted a lack of integration standard to help in curriculum design. The absence of this standard will restrict the capacity of Web 2.0 adaptation into learning and adding more the complexity to provide meaningful learning. Therefore, this paper will attempt to draw a conceptual integration model which is being generated to reflect how learning activities with some facilitation of Web 2.0 is currently being implemented. The design of this model is based on shared experiences by many scholars as well as feedback gathered from two separate surveys conducted on teachers and a group of 180 students. Furthermore, this paper also recognizes some key components that generally engage in the design of a Web 2.0 teaching and learning which need to be addressed accordingly. Overall, the content of this paper will be organised as follows. The first part of the paper will introduce the importance of Web 2.0 implementation in teaching and learning from the perspective of higher education institutions and those challenges surrounding this area. The second part summarizes related works done in this field and brings forward the concept of designing learning with the incorporation of Web 2.0 technology. The next part presents the results of analysis derived from the two student and teachers surveys on using Web 2.0 during learning activities. This paper concludes by presenting a model that reflects several key entities that may be involved during the learning design.

Let them bloom : Growing colourful citizens with caring classroom teachers

This paper examines the essential qualities of a good classroom teacher. The analogy of a caring gardener who understands the individual growing needs of a vast variety of plants is used. The paper argues for the freedom to have differing non-sectarian curricula and for trust to be placed in the teaching profession.

Resourceful Adolescent Program for Teachers (RAP-T) : a program for teachers to promote school connectedness in teenagers

Recent research has shown that school connectedness is one of the most important protective factors against teenage depression. RAP-T aims to increase teachers’ recognition of the importance of school connectedness and to develop strategies to promote four key elements of school connectedness.