Changing perceptions of preservice teachers : innovations in middle schooling teacher education

For the past twenty years, the disengagement of early adolescents has been the focus of much of the literature related to middle schooling. In response, some universities in Australia have introduced teacher education programs that focus upon graduating specialised middle schooling teachers. Constructing such programs is at the centre of much debate and discussion, however, it is advocated that positive futures for early adolescents can be enhanced through quality middle schooling teacher education programs (Education Queensland, 2004). At a Queensland university campus, middle schooling elective units were introduced as part of the Bachelor of Education (primary) degree. The design of the units was to support preservice teachers to gain the theoretical and pedagogical knowledge to engage and promote early adolescent learning. An innovative approach to the delivery of the units was promoted by a partnership agreement between local schools and the campus. The partnership allowed preservice teachers to combine university classes with opportunities to visit exemplary classrooms to observe, participate and reflect upon middle school teaching practices. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the 38 first-year preservice teachers’ perceptions of their first middle schooling elective unit and to ascertain whether the combination of university classes and school-based experiences assisted their development of middle schooling concepts and approaches. Data were gathered using pre-test and post-test questionnaires combined with guided written reflections to record their views before, after and during the unit delivery. Results indicated that initially 34 preservice teachers had little understanding of middle schooling concepts and pedagogical practices, however, 11 participants recognised that bullying and peer pressure were issues experienced by early adolescents. The collation of the written reflections supported the combined delivery of the middle years unit further supporting the inclusion of school experiences with university delivered units.

Get Into Vocational Education (GIVE) : motivating underperforming students

This study explores the effects of a vocational education-based program on academic motivation and engagement of primary school aged children. The Get Into Vocational Education (GIVE) program integrated ‘construction’ and the mathematics, English and science lessons of a Year 4 primary classroom. This paper focuses on investigating the components of the GIVE program that led to student changes in mathematical academic motivation and engagement resulting in outstanding gains in NAPLAN Numeracy results. The components proposed to have contributed to effectiveness of the GIVE program are: teacher and trainer expectations, task mastery and classroom relationships. These findings may be useful to researchers and educators who are interested in enhancing students’ mathematical academic motivation.

Seeing it differently: physical education, teacher education and the possibilities of personal construct theory

The celebrated work of Lortie (1975) alerted teacher educators to the extended period of 'apprenticeship' that student teachers have been through before they arrive at teacher education programmes. The subjective implicit theories (Marland, 1992) developed by prospective teachers are shaped by their lifeworld experiences at school and in the case of physical education teachers, their experiences in sport. The biography of physical education teacher education (PETE) students tends to be characterised by ecto-mesomorphic individuals who have been socialised by the rigours of highly competitive sport (Gore, 1990; Macdonald, 1992; Rossi, 1996). We can add to this, the requirements of teacher preparation in physical education which for the most part are dominated by the traditions and rhetoric of the 'natural' bio-physical sciences; largely a legacy of Henry's (1964) work on physical education as an academic discipline, as well as that of Abernathy and Waltz the same year (Abernathy & Waltz, 1964). In the United Kingdom, Curl (1973) further advanced the argument in an attempt to justify human movement as an independent field of study with its own corpus of knowledge. It is little wonder then, that the dominant pedagogical discourse in physical education is, as Tinning (1991) discusses, one of performance pedagogy (see also Hendry, 1986 for an earlier discussion). The knowledge required to support such a discourse could be described as 'official' (Apple, 1993) and it assumes such status by virtue of the power appropriated by and bestowed upon the scientific community in PETE (Macdonald & Tinning, 1995; Sparkes, 1989, 1993). However, there are social reifiers too, and these tend to relate to the social construction of the body (Kirk, 1993; Kirk & Spiller, 1994; Gilroy, 1994) and what Tinning (1985) has termed the Cult of Slenderness. Furthermore the 'slender image' has become a signifier of 'good health'. This is inextricably linked to what might be considered as a health triplex—'exercise = fitness = health' (see Kirk & Colquhoun, 1989; Tinning & Kirk, 1991) which in Australia, underpins curriculum packages such as Daily Physical Education which teachers (often including physical education primary...

Climate change, sustainability and science education

The world and its peoples are facing multiple, complex challenges and we cannot continue as we are (Moss, 2010). Earth‘s “natural capital” - nature‘s ability to provide essential ecosystem services to stabilize world climate systems, maintain water quality, support secure food production, supply energy needs, moderate environmental impacts, and ensure social harmony and equity – is seriously compromised (Gough, 2005; Hawkins, Lovins & Lovins, 1999). To further summarize, current rates of resource consumption by the global human population are unsustainable (Kitzes, Peller, Goldfinger & Wackernagel, 2007) for human and non-human species, and for future generations. Further, continuing growth in world population and global political commitment to growth economics compounds these demands. Despite growing recognition of the serious consequences for people and planet, little consideration is given, within most nations, to the social and environmental issues that economic growth brings. For example, Australia is recognised as one of the developed countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Yet, to date, responses (such as carbon pricing) have been small-scale, fragmented, and their worth disputed, even ridiculed. This is at a time referred to as ‘the critical decade’ (Hughes & McMichael, 2011) when the world’s peoples must make strong choices if we are to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

The elimination of the tutoring group-hour in Secondary Education. An exploratory study about teachers thoughts.

The Tutoring Group-hour in Compulsory Secondary Education and Post-Compulsory Schooling has been eliminated in a number of autonomous communities. Given the importance of the tutorial act as one of the fundamental pillars in students overall development, its disappearance has created considerable disturbance in the educational institutions, sparking a debate regarding the role of the tutor and the impact and effectiveness of their actions. In this survey, teachers from two different schools in the Community of Madrid maintain that they are properly trained to perform the various duties required for a tutor, show strong disagreement to the elimination of the Tutoring Group-hour in secondary schools, advocate incorporating it at a primary school level, and consider one of the main consequences of its disappearance to be less personalized attention for students. In short, an educational response that is less effective.

Primary science teacher confidence revisited: ten years on

Background

Primary Reflex Persistence in Children With Partial Hearing

Persistence of the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR) was examined in children with partial hearing (aged 6–12 years). Core literacy skills were also assessed. Three groups of children were selected from three schools with special units for children with partial hearing. All children completed an upright ATNR test protocol and standardized tests of reading and spelling. Children with partial hearing had significant levels of ATNR persistence, and significant reading and spelling difficulties. The findings suggest that persistence of an early sub-cortical reflex system may be associated with some of the motor and cognitive difficulties experienced by children with partial hearing.

Communication in Smoking Cessation and Self-management : a study at Nurse-led COPD-clinics in Primary Health Care

ABSTRACTThe general aim of this thesis was to investigate behavioral change communication at nurse-led chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) clinics in primary health care, focusing on communication in self-management and smoking cessation for patients with COPD.Designs: Observational, prospective observational and experimental designs were used.Methods: To explore and describe the structure and content of self-management education and smoking cessation communication, consultations between patients (n=30) and nurses (n=7) were videotaped and analyzed with three instruments: Consulting Map (CM), the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) scale and the Client Language Assessment in Motivational Interviewing (CLAMI). To examine the effects of structured self-management education, patients with COPD (n=52) were randomized in an intervention and a control group. Patients’ quality of life (QoL), knowledge about COPD and smoking cessation were examined with a questionnaire on knowledge about COPD and smoking habits and with St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, addressing QoL. Results: The findings from the videotaped consultations showed that communication about the reasons for consultation mainly concerned medical and physical problems and (to a certain extent) patients´ perceptions. Two consultations ended with shared understanding, but none of the patients received an individual treatment-plan. In the smoking cessation communication the nurses did only to a small extent evoke patients’ reasons for change, fostered collaboration and supported patients’ autonomy. The nurses provided a lot of information (42%), asked closed (21%) rather than open questions (3%), made simpler (14%) rather than complex (2%) reflections and used MI non-adherent (16%) rather than MI-adherent (5%) behavior. Most of the patients’ utterances in the communication were neutral either toward or away from smoking cessation (59%), utterances about reason (desire, ability and need) were 40%, taking steps 1% and commitment to stop smoking 0%. The number of patients who stopped smoking, and patients’ knowledge about the disease and their QoL, was increased by structured self-management education and smoking cessation in collaboration between the patient, nurse and physician and, when necessary, a physiotherapist, a dietician, an occupational therapist and/or a medical social worker.Conclusion The communication at nurse-led COPD clinics rarely involved the patients in shared understanding and responsibility and concerned patients’ fears, worries and problems only to a limited extent. The results also showed that nurses had difficulties in attaining proficiency in behavioral change communication. Structured self-management education showed positive effects on patients’ perceived QoL, on the number of patients who quit smoking and on patients’ knowledge about COPD.

School courses : principal subjects of the common primary course ... 1917.

Text in English and Dutch.

Early childhood education policy study : an overview /

"April, 1985."

Becoming media literate? Media Education in Slovenia after Ten Years

The system of education in Slovenia includes pre-school education; primary education; secondary education (vocational education, technical education, general education [grammar schools]); higher education (university [undergraduate and postgraduate education] and professional type). In this course students develop the ability to analyze and evaluate media messages and to identify for themselves issues of concern, as well as... to discuss, understand, explain and with production through cooperation with student's media their own communication (ZaIa, age 34, media education professor at University of Maribor).

Middle Schooling Teacher Education: Where are we at in Australia?

Commonwealth and State bodies have made substantial investments into curriculum initiatives, research, and reform with a focus on middle schooling. To a considerable degree, the success of middle schooling is dependent upon teachers' preparedness to enact and embrace initiatives and research. Research has shown that the success of school improvement and reform initiatives hinges, in large part, on the qualifications and effectiveness of teachers (Killion, 1999; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001). While some research and professional development in Australia has targeted the school site, pre-service teacher education is clearly a vital yet under-researched area due to its relatively recent introduction. Recent research that includes middle years teacher education (MYTE) (Killion, 1999; Mertens & Flowers, 2004; NCES 2001; NMSA, 2003) and reports from a system that has been working with middle schooling for some time indicates that teachers need specific teacher preparation before they enter the middle level classroom and continuous professional development as they pursue their careers. In Turning Points 2000, one of the seven recommendations is to staff middle grades schools with teachers who are expert at teaching young people in their middle years, and engage teachers in ongoing, targeted professional development opportunities (Jackson & Davis, 2000). Given there are now two dedicated programs towards MYTE (Edith Cowan University and The University of Queensland), other institutions containing elements of MYTE, and others considering MYTE this symposium will summarise current initiatives and research in MYTE, critique the state and place of MYTE in Australia and begin discussions towards teacher education programs that improve the efficacy of middle schooling.