Causes of tension in post-observation feedback in pre-service teacher training: an alternative view

A central component in pre-service teacher training is teaching practice and feedback. In some cases, feedback results in disquiet and tension (Brandt, 2008). Many researchers attribute this tension to the incompatibility of the assessment and development roles that the trainer must perform. The research reported on here, however, suggests that tension may also be rooted in a difference in expectation amongst trainers and trainees about the purpose and performance of feedback. This can result in trainees not playing by the rules of the game (Roberts & Sarangi, 2001) either because they do not understand them or because they wish to challenge them.

Trainer talk:structures of interaction in teacher training classrooms

The subject of this research is interaction and language use in an institutional context, the teacher training classroom. Trainer talk is an interactional accomplishment and the research question is: what structures of talk-in-interaction characterise trainer talk in this institutional setting? While there has been research into other kinds of classroom and into other kinds of institutional talk, this study is the first on trainer discourse. The study takes a Conversation Analysis approach to studying institutional interaction and aims to identify the main structures of sequential organization that characterize teacher trainer talk as well as the tasks and identities that are accomplished in it. The research identifies three main interactional contexts in which trainer talk is done: expository, exploratory and experiential. It describes the main characteristics of each and how they relate to each other. Expository sequences are the predominant interactional contexts for trainer talk. But the research findings show that these contexts are flexible and open to the embedding of the other two contexts. All three contexts contribute to the main institutional goal of teaching teachers how to teach. Trainer identity is related to the different sequential contexts. Three main forms of identity in interaction are evidenced in the interactional contexts: the trainer as trainer, the trainer as teacher and the trainer as colleague. Each of them play an important role in teacher trainer pedagogy. The main features of trainer talk as a form of institutional talk are characterised by the following interactional properties: 1. Professional discourse is both the vehicle and object of instruction - the articulation of reflection on experience. 2. There is a reflexive relationship between pedagogy and interaction. 3. The professional discourse that is produced by trainees is not evaluated by trainers but, rather, reformulated to give it relevant precision in terms of accuracy and appropriacy.

Teacher participation in school management : an analysis of some major issues, background factors, and the use of an attitude scale to study and compare teacher attitudes to participation

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Advanced education and training in bioenergy in Europe

The paper explains how bioenergy education and training is growing in Europe. Employment estimates are included for renewable energy in general, and bioenergy in particular, to highlight the need for a broadly based education and training programme that is essential to build a knowledgeable workforce that can drive Europe's growing bioenergy sector. The paper reviews current provisions in bioenergy at Masters and PhD levels across the 27 members of the EU (EU27) plus Norway and Switzerland. This identifies a very active and expanding bioenergy education provision. 65 English-language Masters Courses in bioenergy (either focussing completely on bioenergy or with significant bioenergy content or specialisation) were identified. 231 providers of PhD studies in bioenergy were found.Masters Course offerings have grown rapidly across Europe during the last five years, but where data is available, enrolment has been quite low suggesting that there is an oversupply of courses and that course organisers are being optimistic in their projections. Existing provisions in Europe at Masters and PhD levels are clearly more than sufficient for short term needs, but further work is needed to evaluate the take-up rate and the content and focus of the provisions. To ensure talented graduates are attracted to these programmes, better promotion, stronger links with the research community and industry, and increased collaboration among course providers are needed. Short Courses of two to five days are an excellent way of meeting post-experience training needs but require further growth and development to serve the needs of the bioenergy community. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Do foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness explain the disparity in ICT diffusion between Asia-Pacific and the Islamic Middle Eastern countries?

This study investigates the impact of FDI and trade openness on ICT diffusion in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions from 1996-2005. The results indicate that while dissimilarities exist between the economies included in this study in terms of their level of socio-economic and political development, education and the growth of GDP have had a positive impact on ICT diffusion in both regions. However, while FDI has generally had a positive and significant impact on ICT diffusion in Asia-Pacific economies, its impact on Middle Eastern economies has been detrimental. The results of this study also show that trade-openness has had, in general, a positive and significant impact on ICT diffusion. Copyright © 2010, IGI Global.

Survey of teacher stress in secondary schools in the local authority

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Work placements in doctoral research training in the humanities:eight cases from translation studies

Research cooperation between academic and nonacademic institutions tends not to concern the humanities, where mutual financial rewards are mostly not in evidence. The study of eight nonacademic placements of doctoral researchers working on interlingual translation nevertheless indicates some degree of success. It is found that the placements lead to ongoing cooperation when the following conditions are met: 1) the nature of the placement is understood and relations of trust are established; 2) mutual benefits are envisaged; and 3) there are prior arrangements for receiving visiting researchers. A placement can be successful even when one of the last two factors is missing. Further, the measure of success for placements in the humanities should concern social and symbolic benefits, in addition to financial profits.

English-for-teaching:rethinking teacher proficiency in the classroom

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers 'teach English in English'. We argue for a reconceptualization of teacher language proficiency, not as general English proficiency but as a specialized subset of language skills required to prepare and teach lessons. This concept of English-for-Teaching as a bounded form of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for the classroom builds on what teachers know about teaching, while introducing and confirming specific classroom language. This article describes how the construct was developed and then describes sample classroom tasks and the language needed to enact them in three major areas: managing the classroom, understanding and communicating lesson content, and assessing students and giving feedback.

The use of ICT by logistics service providers and implications for training needs:a cross-country perspective

Changes in the international economic scenario in recent years have made it necessary for both industrial and service firms to reformulate their strategies, with a strong focus on the resources required for successful implementation. In this scenario, information and communication technologies (ICT) has a potentially vital role to play both as a key resource for re-engineering business processes within a framework of direct connection between suppliers and customers, and as a source of cost optimisation. There have also been innovations in the logistics and freight transport industry in relation to ICT diffusion. The implementation of such systems by third party logistics providers (3PL) allows the real-time exchange of information between supply chain partners, thereby improving planning capability and customer service. Unlike other industries, the logistics and freight transport industry is lagging somewhat behind other sectors in ICT diffusion. This situation is to be attributed to a series of both industry-specific and other factors, such as: (a) traditional resistance to change on the part of transport and logistics service providers; (b) the small size of firms that places considerable constraints upon investment in ICT; (c) the relative shortage of user-friendly applications; (d) the diffusion of internal standards on the part of the main providers in the industry whose aim is to protect company information, preventing its dissemination among customers and suppliers; (e) the insufficient degree of professional skills for using such technologies on the part of staff in such firms. The latter point is of critical importance insofar as the adoption of ICT is making it increasingly necessary both to develop new technical skills to use different hardware and new software tools, and to be able to plan processes of communication so as to allow the optimal use of ICT. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of ICT on transport and logistics industry and to highlight how the use of such new technologies is affecting providers' training needs. The first part will provide a conceptual framework of the impact of ICT on the transport and logistics industry. In the second part the state of ICT dissemination in the Italian and Irish third party logistics industry will be outlined. In the third part, the impact of ICT on the training needs of transport and logistics service providers - based on case studies in both countries - are discussed. The implications of the foregoing for the development of appropriate training policies are considered. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.