Identity, Well-being and Effectiveness: the Emotional Contexts of Teaching

This paper draws on findings from a four‐year longitudinal research project, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), which investigated Variations in Teachers’ Work, Lives and Effectiveness (VITAE). Drawing on data gathered from 300 teachers working in 100 primary and secondary schools in England, the research identified associations between commitment and effectiveness (perceived and in terms of pupil attainment) and found that there were more, and less, effective teachers in each of six professional life phases. It found that teachers in each of these phases experienced a number of different scenarios that challenged their abilities to sustain their commitment (i.e. remain resilient). This paper discusses how these impact, positively and negatively, on teachers’ capacities for sustaining their initial commitment and associations between identity, well‐being and effectiveness. It finds that teacher identities are neither intrinsically stable nor intrinsically fragmented, but that they can be more, or less, stable and more or less fragmented at different times and in different ways according to the influence of the interaction of a number of personal, professional and situated factors. The extent to which teachers are able to and are supported in managing the scenarios they experience will determine their sense of effectiveness.

Conceptualizing and Researching the Professionalization of Religious Education Teachers: Historical and International Perspectives

Current discussions on Religious Education (RE), both in Germany and England, focus on the quality of teaching and the professionality of teachers, but neglect the historical and institutional process of professionalization upon which conceptions of teaching quality and teacher professionality hinge. This article seeks to provide definitional clarity by differentiating between individual and collective professionalization; exploring teacher professionalization in general and in the special case of RE; and operationalizing the concept of RE teacher professionalization for the purposes of planned historical and international comparative research. A three-fold conceptualization of professionalization is proposed, consisting of the following inter-related levels: (1) initial and continuing professional development; (2) professional self-organization and professional politics; and (3) professional knowledge. The breadth, complexity and significance of the historical and institutional processes associated with the professionalization of RE teachers at each of these levels is described and discussed. It is argued that further historical and international comparative research on these lines would contribute a broader and deeper understanding of the presuppositions of RE teacher professionality beyond current debates.

Engendering a culture of quality enhancement in teaching and learning: lessons learned

Enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in higher education has been on the English national agenda for more than a decade. The Government and funding organisations have enabled universities to focus on creating a culture of excellence in learning and teaching and continuing academic and professional development. This paper describes some of the strategies that have promoted a culture of quality teaching in higher education in England and how one organisation, the University of Westminster has implemented those strategies to engender a culture of quality enhancement and continuing professional development.

Feminist epistemology meets the masculinity of marketing and consumer knowledge: a contemporary rendering of a decade-long debate

In this paper I outline possibilities for, and issues arising from, opposition towards the dominant ideologies and practices of marketing knowledge (Hirschman 1993) through an engagement with feminist epistemology (Longino 1991, Harding 1987). Feminist epistemology is a political branch of naturalised epistemology (Quine 1969) primarily concerned with critique of constructions of gender, gender norms and gendered interests within the production of knowledge (Anderson 1995) and with theorising, grounding and legitimating feminist knowledge making practices (Harding 1987). It is most often associated with the feminist critique of science, and with feminist science and technology studies (Haraway 1987, Wajman 1997). Feminist epistemology asks the question, ‘what is the nature of the feminist critical project as a way of knowing?’ (McLennan 1995:392). This paper outlines the basis of the feminist critique of knowledge generally, and as applied to marketing knowledge, offers description of the three main epistemological approaches to this question and suggestions for their application in practice. The paper progresses important work by consumer behaviour theorists (Bristor and Fischer 1993, Hirschman 1993) on the potentials of feminist ways of knowing for marketing and consumer behaviour by moving beyond the tripartite of feminist approaches outlined, and extending the discussion to take into account the development of situated knowledges theory (Haraway 1989, 1997), which has become so important in the decade since these papers were written. It joins ongoing conversations in consumer behaviour and marketing that share similar feminist concerns (Catterall et al 1997, 2000, 2005, Bettany and Woodruffe Burton 1999, 2005, and Hogg et al 1999, 2000) but in this contribution it takes a slightly tangential approach, seeing marketing knowledge in terms of its epistemic culture by using a model of masculinity in academic cultures from feminist theory (Wagner 1994) to help conceptualise it as such. The dominant masculine ideology of marketing knowledge both in execution (Penaloza 1994, Bristor and Fischer 1994, Fischer and Bristor 1993, Woodruffe 1996), and values (Hirschman 1993, Brown 2000, Desmond 1997) has been well documented over the past fifteen years. However, although the basis of this, how is it manifested and how a feminist informed marketing knowledge could be achieved, have been addressed somewhat in the literature (Bristor and Fischer 1993, Hogg, Bettany and Long 2000) an updated rendering is necessary which focuses specifically on epistemology and situates this discussion within a cultural framework. To do this I use the notions of cultural masculinity in academic disciplines developed by Wagner (1994) of ‘organisational egocentrism’, ‘fake collectivity’ and ‘de realisation’. With these, I raise important and specific issues around the notion of the masculinity of marketing knowledge, and then present an outline of feminist epistemologies to illustrate how different feminist approaches to knowledge would address these concerns.

The European challenge of KMN and innovation: a skills and competence portfolio for knowledge worker in SME's

Versão editor: http://www.isegi.unl.pt/docentes/acorreia/documentos/European_Challenge_KM_Innovation_2004.pdf

Relatório de Estágio

O presente relatório surge no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada, requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de mestre em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, e remete para a ação desenvolvida nos dois contextos de estágio: em Pré- Escolar e no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, do Mestrado em Educação Pré- Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Este integra uma análise reflexiva da ação em contexto de estágio, exercida pela formanda, numa turma de terceiro ano, com idades compreendidas entre os 8 e 11 anos, na Escola Básica de Santegãos do Agrupamento de Escolas de Pedrouços e uma breve referência à prática pedagógica supervisionada em Educação Pré-Escolar. A análise reflexiva integra aspetos específicos de situações pedagógicas vivenciadas, como ilustração da formação pedagógica desenvolvida pela mestranda, e da aquisição e construção das competências gerais e específicas exigidas pelo perfil duplo do mestrado em questão, em consonância com práticas de supervisão que tinham como função a orientação da formanda durante o tempo de formação prática em contexto. Este documento visa demonstrar a utilização da metodologia de investigação-ação presente no percurso de estágio da formanda, onde a busca e análise de informações e a atitude indagativa e reflexiva sistemáticas foram estratégias para a progressão do percurso profissional da mesma, sem descorar também do percurso educativo das crianças. Espelha-se, assim, também a perspetiva de coconstrução de saberes na qual as crianças são o centro dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem

Relatório de estágio em Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Relatório EPE - Relatório de estágio em Educação Pré-Escolar: O presente relatório foi realizado no âmbito da unidade curricular Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada, inserida no Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, da Escola Superior de Educação do Porto, durante o ano letivo 2013/2014, atribuindo qualificação profissional no contexto de pré-escolar. Este documento pretende descrever e analisar o percurso formativo desenvolvido pela mestranda ao longo da sua prática pedagógica supervisionada, numa perspetiva reflexiva sobre a construção dos saberes profissionais para a Educação. Este percurso formativo comprometeu uma atitude investigativa, bem como a mobilização de saberes científicos e legais por forma a articular as vertentes de teoria e prática, perspetivando uma construção integrada dos saberes. A prática pedagógica foi sustentada numa perspetiva construtivista, atribuindo um papel ativo à criança na construção das suas aprendizagens. Esta baseou-se num trabalho de equipa cooperativo, o qual se concretiza através do debate e da partilha de ideias, entre os vários intervenientes da ação, como meio para a transformação da realidade educativa. Ao longo da prática foi, ainda, atribuído um papel fundamental à observação do contexto, sendo esta essencial para a compreensão e conhecimento pleno da criança. Em suma, todo o percurso formativo no qual está englobado a prática pedagógica, levou a uma problematização das questões emergentes da prática, desenvolvendo uma atitude indagadora e reflexiva. Apesar da significante contribuição para a aquisição de competências pessoais e profissionais, o percurso formativo deve ser assumido como uma construção contínua, fundamentado num princípio da aprendizagem ao longo da vida.

Construction of bovine adenovirus type 3 E1 and E3, substitution plasmids and the sequencing analysis of DNA pol and pTP /

The relative ease to concentrate and purify adenoviruses, their well characterized mid-sized genome, and the ability to delete non-essential regions from their genome to accommodate foreign gene, made adenoviruses a suitable candidate for the construction of vectors. The use of adenoviral vectors in gene therapy, vaccination, and as a general vector system for expressing foreign genes have been documented for some time. In this study, the objective was to rescue a BAV3 E1 or E3 recombinant vector carrying the kanamycin resistant gene, a dominant selectable marker with useful applications in studying vectored gene expression in mammalian cells. To accomplish the objective of this study, more information about BAV3 DNA sequences was required in order to make the manipulation of the virus genome accessible. Therefore, sequencing of the BAV3 genome from 1 1 .7% to 30.8% was carried out. Analysis of the determined sequences revealed the primary structure of important viral gene products coded by E2 including BAV3 DNA pol and precursor to terminal protein. Comparative analysis of these proteins with their counterparts from human and non human adenoviruses revealed important insights as to the evolutionary lineage of BAV3. In order to insert the kanamycin resistance gene in either E1 or E3, it was necessary to delete BAV3 sequences to accommodate the foreign gene so as not to exceed the limit of the packaging capacity of the virus. To construct a recombinant BAV3 in which a foreign gene was inserted in the deleted E1 region, an E1 shuttle vector was constructed. This involved the deletion from the viral sequences a region between 1.3% to 9% and inserting the kanamycin resistance gene to replace the deletion. The E1 shuttle vector contained the left (0%- 53.9%) segment of the genome and was expected to generate BAV3 recombinants that can be grown and propagated in cells that can complement the missing E1 functions. To construct a similar shuttle vector for E3 deletion, DNA sequences extending from 78.9% to 82.5% (1281 bp) were deleted from within the E3 region that had been cloned into a plasmid vector. The deleted region corresponds to those that have been shown to be non-essential for viral replication in cell culture. The resulting plasmid was used to construct another recombinant plasmid with BAV3 DNA sequences extending from 37.1% to 100% and with a deletion of E3 sequences that were replaced by kanamycin resistance gene. This shuttle plasmid was used in cotransfections with digested viral DNA in an attempt to rescue a recombinant BAV3 carrying the kanamycin resistance gene to replace the deleted E3. In spite of repeated attempts of transfection, El or E3 recombinant BAV3 were not isolated. It seems that other approaches should be applied to make a final conclusion on BAV3 infectivity.

The association of faculty's teaching philosophy and teaching behaviour, and critical thinking and self- direction in learning

The intent in this study was to investigate in what ways teachers· beliefs about education and teaching are expressed in the specific teaching behaviours they employ, and whether teaching behaviours, as perceived by their students, are correlated with students· critical thinking and self-directed learning. To this end the relationships studied were: among faCUlty members· philosophy of teaching, locus of control orientation, psychological type, and observed teaching behaviour; and among students· psychological type, perceptions of teaching behaviour, self-directed learning readiness, and critical thinking. The overall purpose of the study was to investigate whether the implicit goals of higher education, critical thinking and self-direction, were actually accounted for in the university classroom. The research was set within the context of path-goal theory, adapted from the leadership literature. Within this framework, Mezirow·s work on transformative learning, including the influences of Habermas· writings, was integrated to develop a theoretical perspective upon which to base the research methodology. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were incorporated. Four faCUlty and a total of 142 students participated in the study. Philosophy of teaching was described through faCUlty interviews and completion of a repertory grid. Faculty completed a descriptive locus of control scale, and a psychological type test. Observations of their teaching behaviour were conducted. Students completed a Teaching Behaviour Assessment Scale, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, a psychological type test, and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. A small sample of students were interviewed. Follow-up discussions with faculty were used to validate the interview, observation, teaching behaviour, and repertory grid data. Results indicated that some discrepancies existed between faculty's espoused philosophy of teaching and their observed teaching behaviour. Instructors' teaching behaviour, however, was a function of their personal theory of practice. Relationships were found between perceived teaching behaviour and students· self-directed learning and critical thinking, but these varied across situations, as would be predicted from path-goal theory. Psychological type of students and instructor also accounted for some of the variability in the relationships studied. Student psychological type could be shown as a partial predictor of self-directed learning readiness. The results were discussed in terms of theory development and implications for further research and practice.

The evaluation of a predialysis class on client knowledge and attitude toward compliant behaviours

In this quasi-experimental study, the theory of reasoned action was used as a conceptual framework to assess the outcome effect of a predialysis class. A pretest, posttest design was used to determine changes in client knowledge about their condition and its treatment, and their intention, attitudes and social norm towards compliant behaviours. The related compliant behaviours were following a low-salt diet and taking medications as proscribed. Thirty-eight End Stage Renal Diseases (ESRD) clients were self-selected into the treatment or control groups. Both groups received the standard predialysis education from members of the multidisciplinary renal team. In addition, the treatment group also attended the predialysis class. Subjects' health locus of control, anxiety and demographic variables were measured as possible extraneous variables. Study subjects from both groups demonstrated a high internal and powerful others health locus of control and a normal range of anxiety. Although not statistically significant ill = .64), the experimental group demonstrated higher knowledge level and greater intention to follow a low salt diet UL= .73). They developed more significantly positive attitudes towards following a low salt diet and increased subjective norm influence after attending the predialysis class. Attending the predialysis class did not have an effect on subjects' intentions, attitudes or subjective norm towards taking medications as prescribed. Conclusion: The predialysis class was only marginally effective in increasing client knowledge, but influenced clients' attitudes towards following a low-salt diet. Based on the results, recommendations for improvements to the class have been suggested.

Enhancing teaching and learning speech acts: action research of Japanese as a foreign language /

This action research observes a second year Japanese class at a university where foreign language courses are elective for undergraduate students. In this study, using the six strategies to teach Japanese speech acts that Ishihara and Cohen (2006) suggested, I conducted three classes and analyzed my teaching practice with a critical friend. These strategies assist learners toward the development of their understanding of the following Japanese speech acts and also keep the learners to use them in a manner appropriate to the context: (I) invitation and refusal; (2) compliments; and (3) asking for a permission. The aim of this research is not only to improve my instruction in relation to second language (L2) pragmatic development, but also to raise further questions and to develop future research. The findings are analyzed and the data derived from my journals, artifacts, students' work, observation sheets, interviews with my critical friend, and pretests and posttests are coded and presented. The analysis shows that (I) after my critical friend encouraged my study and my students gave me some positive comments after each lesson, I gained confidence in teaching the suggested speech acts; (2) teaching involved explaining concepts and strategies, creating the visual material (a video) showing the strategies, and explaining the relationship between the strategy and grammatical forms and samples of misusing the forms; (3) students' background and learning styles influenced lessons; and (4) pretest and posttests showed that the students' Icvel of their L2 appropriate pragmatics dramatically improved after each instruction. However, after careful observation, it was noted that some factors prevented students from producing the correct output even though they understood the speech act differences.

Educator Evaluation of Academic and Social Competence in Students with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Relative to Assessed Performance and Sense of Belonging

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is the leading cause of death and disability amongst children and adolescents andpresents itself with challenges associated in cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioural domains. These changes may interfere with academic performance and social inclusion, influencing self-esteem and personal success. The current study examined a subset of data to capture the sense of academic and social belonging for students with ABI as a function of the classroom teachers’ subjective perception of ability, their ABI knowledge, and student identification. Overall, a discrepancy was found between educators’ subjective ratings of student performance and students’ neurocognitive capacity. Educator knowledge and identification of ABI influenced student success in academic and social domains independent of teaching approach. This research has implications for the identification of ABI in the classroom and related challenges students experience. Educators are underprepared for the reintegration of students returning to school and lack appropriate knowledge and strategies to accommodate individual needs.

Papers and Practical Illustrations of Public Works of Recent Construction, both British and American (1856)

Memoirs of the late Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentham, with an account of his inventions -- The Paddock Viaduct / by John Hawkshaw -- Lockwood Viaduct / by John Hawkshaw -- Denby Dale Viaduct / by John Hawkshaw -- Tithebarn Street Viaduct, Liverpool / by John Hawkshaw -- Newark Dyke Bridge on the Great Northern Railway / by Joseph Cubitt -- Mountain top track in the state of Virginia / by Charles Ellet -- Preliminaries to good building / by Edward Lacy Garbett / Suggestions for increasing the circulating medium in aid of commerce and mechanical enterprise