Teachers’ perception of visual deficiencies and their impact on students

The sense of vision is people’s main source of information acquisition, hence the importance of a right diagnosis and correction, if necessary, of any faults for proper learning, especially in the early years of schooling. This article discusses the results of a survey of teachers in Andalusian schools that aimed at highlighting their knowledge of their students’ possible visual deficiencies, and its possible impact on school performance. The results indicate that such knowledge is generally limited to the type of refractive anomalies, and that they think that such anomalies are well treated in their students. Despite the importance they attach to these deficiencies on school learning, they think that other factors may have a greater role. They also consider that better training on this topic is necessary.

Grade nine teachers' perception of how teachers, parents, peers, administrators, and community members affect the development of the grade nine student /

The purpose of this study was to examine grade nine teachers' perception of how teachers, parents, peers, administrators, and community members influence the overall development of grade nine students. Ten grade nine teachers (four male and six female) participated in the study which consisted of the completion of a one hour, tape-recorded interview. The central findings were as follows: 1) the grade nine student has evolved; 2) peers have an important impact on the four developmental areas (physical, emotional, social, and academic) of the grade nine student; and 3) the role of the grade nine teacher appears to have dramatically changed over the last seventeen years. Suggestions and recommendations for future research in this field are based on findings related to the enhancement of the secondary school experience for the grade nine adolescent.

Teachers??? perception of disruptive behaviour in the classrooms

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Teachers’ perception of the concept of intercultural competence in teaching English

Intercultural competence (IC) as an essential part of conceptualization of the cultural dimension in FLT has been promoted by educationalists as the most preferred type of competence. One of the challenges of incorporating IC into FLT is to move from the recognition of IC as a model of teaching (Byram, Nichols and Stevens, 2001) to the development of practical applications. This can be due to the fact that teachers do not have sufficient knowledge of the theory behind the concept and consequently, have difficulties to implement the curriculum requirements with regards to IC into their teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers of English in upper secondary schools in Sweden interpret the concept of IC and, accordingly, what is their view of culture in English language teaching. In order to answer the research question, I used an exploratory investigation by adopting a qualitative research method in form of semi-structured interviews. The results are similar to the previous studies (Lundgren, 2002; Larzén, 2005) and suggest that teachers lack theoretical background and central guidance with regards to IC and do not always integrate language and culture into an intercultural model of the English language pedagogy.

Secondary school support teachers' perception of speech-language pathology services to adolescents

A survey was conducted to investigate secondary school support teachers' perceptions of speech-language pathology services to students experiencing language difficulties. Information was sought regarding support teachers' understanding of language disorder, their experience with students who have language difficulties and their involvement with speech-language pathologists with regard to these students. Support teachers' views on supporting adolescents who are experiencing language difficulties were also sought as well as information regarding their satisfaction with speech-language pathology services to adolescents. Findings indicated variations in support teachers' perceptions, including mixed views regarding how speech-language pathologists should offer assistance to students. The need for support teachers and speech-language pathologists to offer each other professional training was indicated.

A Comparative Study on the Homeroom Teachers’ Perception of the School guidance in Korea and Finland

This study has four major purposes. First, it compares school guidance of homeroom teachers in Korea and Finland, in order to understand the reality of education, based on the teachers’ perceptions. Secondly, it also considers the topic within its historical, social, and cultural backgrounds, from a critical standpoint. Thirdly, it investigates the direction of the improvement of school guidance, based on the analysis of similarities and differences between Korea and Finland, with regards to the meaning, practice, and environmental factors of the school guidance. Lastly, the influential factors surrounding the school guidance are noted by analysing empirical data from a microscopic approach, and extending the understanding of it into a social context. As for the methods, it employs thematic analysis approach through 10 homeroom teacher interviews in the lower secondary schools. As a result, firstly, the teachers in both countries assumed similarly, that the role of the teacher was not only to teach the subject, but also to care about every aspects of the students’ development in their school life. In addition, they accepted the fact that school guidance became more significant. However, the school guidance became the top priority for the Korean teachers, while teaching subject is the main task for the Finnish teachers. Secondly, the homeroom teachers in both countries hoped to have a better working environment, to perform school guidance concerning education budget for the resources of school guidance, tight curriculum, and increasing the teachers’ tasks. Thirdly, the school guidance in Korea seemed to be influenced by social expectation and government demand, whereas, the Finnish teachers considered school guidance in more aspects of adjustment and academic motivation, rather than resolving the social problems. Fourthly, the Korean teachers perceived that the trust and respect from the society and home became weakened, also expressing doubts about the educational policies and the attitude of the government with regards to school guidance. On the other hand, the Finnish teachers believed that they were trusted and respected by the society. However, blurred lines in the roles and accountability between the homeroom teachers, home, and the society were also controversial among the teachers in both countries. To sum up, Finland needs to ameliorate the system and conditions for school guidance of the homeroom teachers. The consensus on the role and tasks of Finnish homeroom teachers for school guidance seem to be also necessary. Meanwhile, Korea should improve the social system and social consciousness of the teacher, school guidance, and schooling, preceding the reform of the education system or conditions.

Do teacher stereotypes about school tracks function as expectations at the collective level and do they relate to the perception of obstacles in the classroom and to teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs?

The effects of individual teacher expectations have been the subject of intensive research. Results indicate that teachers use their expectations to adapt their interactions with their students to some degree (as summarized in a review by Jussim & Harber, 2005). This can in turn lead to expectancy-confirming student developments. While there are studies on the Pygmalion effect on individual students, there is only little research on teacher judgements of whole classes and schools. Our study aims to extend the perspective of teacher judgements at the collective level to stereotypes within the context of school tracking. The content and structure of teachers’ school track stereotypes are investigated as well as the question of whether these stereotypical judgements are related to teachers’ perception of obstacles to their teaching and their teaching self-efficacy beliefs. Cross-sectional data on 341 teachers at two different school types from the Panel Study at the Research School „Education and Capabilities“ in North Rhine-Westphalia (PARS) (see Bos et al., 2016) were used for two purposes: First, the structure of teachers’ stereotypes was identified via an exploratory factor analysis. Second, in follow-up regression analyses, the stereotype dimensions extracted were used to predict teachers’ perceptions of obstacles to their classroom work and their individual and collective teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed that – after controlling for the average cognitive abilities and the average cultural capital of the students – teacher stereotypes were indeed related to perceived obstacles concerning their classroom work and their self-efficacy beliefs. After a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the present research, the article closes with a short proposal of a future research framework for collective Pygmalion effects. (DIPF/Orig.)

Students' academic stress and welfare as perceived by the teachers

The objective of the present study was to understand the teachers' perception about students' academic stress and other welfare related issues. A group of 125 secondary and higher secondary school teachers (43 male and 82 female) from five schools located in Kolkata were covered in the study following convenience sampling technique. Data were collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire developed by the first author. Findings revealed that more than half of the teachers (55.8% male and 54.9% female) felt that today's students are not brought up in child friendly environment while an overwhelming number of teachers stated that students face some social problems (88.4% male and 96.3% female) which affects their mental health and causes stress (90.7% male and 92.7% female). However, majority of them (79.1% male and 78% female teachers), irrespective of gender, denied the fact that teaching method followed in schools could cause academic stress. Vast majority of the teachers felt that New Education System in India i.e., making Grade X examination (popularly known as secondary examination) optional will not be beneficial for students. So far as motivation of the students is concerned, introducing innovative teaching methods like project work, field visit, using audio-visual aids in the schools has been suggested by more than 95% of the teachers. This apart, most of the teachers suggested reward system in the schools in addition to taking classes seriously by the teachers and punctuality. Reduction of load of home work was also suggested by more than two-fifth teachers. Although corporal punishment has gone down, it is still practiced by some of the teachers' especially male teachers in Kolkata. Male and female teachers differed significantly with respect to two issues only (p < .05) i.e., applying corporal punishment and impact of sexual health education. Male teachers apply more corporal punishment compared to female teachers and secondly, male teachers do not forsee any negative influence of sexual health education.

Formação continuada em educação física e inclusão do deficiente no ensino regular sob a ótica de professores =: The ongoing graduation in physical education studies and the inclusion of disable people in regular schools under the teacher's perception

Pós-graduação em Ciências da Motricidade - IBRC

Inclusive education in Spain: how do skills, resources, and supports affect regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion?

This study examined regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion in elementary and secondary schools in Spain and how these perceptions may differ depending on teaching experience, skills, and the availability of resources and supports. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to draw a representative sample of 336 general education teachers (68 kindergarten, 133 elementary, and 135 secondary teachers) from the province of Alicante. The results indicated the acceptance of the principles of inclusion, although teacher skills, time, material resources, and personal supports for inclusion were deemed insufficient. Kindergarten and elementary teachers showed more positive perceptions of inclusion than secondary education teachers, and so did teachers with more personal supports and material resources than those with less supports and resources. The results are discussed in terms of its implications for practice in order to promote more inclusive classrooms in Spain.

Teachers' experiences in and perceptions of their 12th-grade British literature classrooms

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and perceptions of 12th-grade literature teachers about curriculum, Post-Colonial literature, and students. Theories posed by Piaget (1995), Vygotsky (1995), and Rosenblatt (1995) formed the framework for this micro-ethnographic study. Seven teachers from public and private schools in South Florida participated in this two-phase study; three teachers in Phase I and four in Phase II. All participants completed individual semi-structured interviews and demographic surveys. In addition, four of the teachers were observed teaching. The analysis yielded three themes and two sub-themes: (a) knowledge concerned teachers' knowledge of British literature content and Post-Colonial authors and their literature; (b) freedom described teachers' freedom to choose how to teach their content. Included in this theme was dilemmas associated with 12th-grade classrooms which described issues that were pertinent to the 12th-grade teacher and classroom that were revealed by the study; and (c) thoughts about students described teachers' perceptions about students and how literature might affect the students. Two subthemes of knowledge were as follows:(1) text complexity described teacher responses to a Post-Colonial text's complexity and (2) student desirability/teachability described teachers' perception about how desirable Post-Colonial texts would be to students and whether teachers would be willing to teach these texts. The researcher offers recommendations for understanding factors associated with 12th-grade teachers perceptions and implications for enhancing the 12th-grade experience for teachers and curriculum, based on this study: (a) build teacher morale and capacity, (b) treat all students as integral components of the teaching and learning process; teachers in this study thought teaching disenfranchised learners was a form of punishment meted out by the administration, and (c) include more Post-Colonial authors in school curricula in colleges and schools as most teachers in this study did not study this type of literature nor knew how to teach it.

Management of Routine in Two Chinese Kindergartens - An Ethnographic Study

Based on a one-month long ethnographic study conducted in two Chinese kindergartens, this study aims to understand the issue of discipline in the Chinese preschool setting through an examination of practices teachers use to manage everyday routines in the kindergarten. It also seeks to understand teachers’ values behind their choices of practices. Data of this study are comprised of three parts - notes of participant observation in eight classrooms with a focus on teacher-child interaction; interviews with nine teachers and directors of the two kindergartens; and written accounts of four teachers collected after the fieldwork in order to understand the particular practices of teachers’ praising and criticizing children. A grounded theory approach is applied to code and analyze data. Results of analysis are structured as followed. First the concept of routine is clarified based on teachers’ definition of it and observation notes on its main components, namely the timetable of everyday activities; general behavioral rules in the kindergarten; and detailed rules and procedures for various activities in the kindergarten. Then practices for managing routines are examined – how teachers organize children in activities, enforce routines, and restore routines when they are not followed well. After that, the matter of self-control is examined in relation with external control. Then teachers’ perception of their roles as the manager, director and executor of routines is presented in a discourse of control in which the values behind practices are found to be embedded. The next section of analysis examines the role of routine in relation with other activities in the kindergarten. Results indicate that routine which is supposed to be the foundation of other activities is in conflict with other activities. The last section of analysis provides some reflections on the rational of routine management in Chinese kindergartens in relation with the overall goals of Chinese preschool education. It also provides some reflections on the effect current mode of teacher-child interactions may have on children's self construction and their understanding of self in relation with the society. As a conclusion, this study suggests that the current mode of routine management in Chinese kindergartens relies heavily on teachers' control, leaving great room for better acknowledging children's agency.

Sinalização das dificuldades de aprendizagem e/ou deficiência mental em crianças da pré-escola e do 1º ciclo, através de dois instrumentos de Victória de la Cruz

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde.

Metacognição em práticas colaborativas numa comunidade de b-learning: um estudo de caso

Nesta tese apresenta-se um estudo sobre a metacognição em práticas colaborativas numa comunidade de b-learning no ensino superior. O referencial teórico adotado desenvolveu-se com o intuito de reunir as discussões sobre a metacognição, o b-learning, a comunidade de aprendizagem colaborativa e as comunidades de práticas no ensino superior. Com base nesse referencial teórico desenvolveu-se um estudo empírico sobre a metacognição analisada numa comunidade de b-learning tendo como estudo de caso o Programa Doutoral em Multimédia em Educação da Universidade de Aveiro (edições 2009 e 2010). O estudo, que envolveu 7 docentes e 17 alunos das referidas edições do programa doutoral, teve como uma das suas finalidades verificar a perspetiva do aluno sobre o processo de aprendizagem vivido, das posturas que assume, das estratégias a que recorre para interagir nas comunidades de aprendizagem no âmbito do Programa Doutoral em Multimédia em Educação (PDMMEDU), que funciona na modalidade blearning. Os dados foram obtidos através de inquérito por questionário realizado com os alunos e de sessões de focus group com alunos e docentes. A partir da análise dos resultados obtidos sob o referencial teórico que lhes serviu de enquadramento, procurou dar-se resposta às questões orientadoras do estudo: i) Encontramos evidências de pensamento ou processos metacognitivos nas comunidades de b-learning que se instalaram nas Unidades Curriculares (UC) do PDMMEDU? ii) Que perceções da aprendizagem nas comunidades de b-learning têm os estudantes? iii) Que sentimentos afluem da interação com o grupo de trabalho e com toda a turma? Qual a perceção que os docentes têm sobre a temática e que evidências poderão fornecer sobre a possibilidade de desenvolvimento de processos metacognitivos no âmbito das respetivas UCs? iv) Que relação pode ser observada entre os elementos motivadores da aprendizagem dos alunos e a participação nas UC? Do resultado da análise dos dados obtidos através do inquérito por questionário realizado com os alunos e das sessões de focus group com alunos e docentes identificou-se o perfil metacognitivo dos alunos, uma avaliação da experiência no programa doutoral, as novas posturas assumidas e alterações nos cenários profissionais. Por fim, são feitas sugestões para investigação futura com a proposta de sessões de trabalho onde se desenvolvem competências metacognitivas por parte de alunos envolvidos em cursos de pós-graduação em ambientes online.

Teaching Adolescents to Think and Act Responsibly Through Narrative Film-making: A Qualitative Study

The current qualitative study examined an adapted version of the psychoeducational program, Teaching Adolescents to Think and Act Responsibly: The EQUIP Approach (DiBiase, Gibbs, Potter, & Blount, 2012). The adapted version, referred to as the EQUIP – Narrative Filmmaking Program, was implemented as a means of character education. The purpose of this study was three-fold: 1) to examine how the EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program influenced student’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours; 2) to explore the students’ and the teacher’s perception of their experience with the program; and 3) to assess whether or not the integrated EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program addressed the goals of Ontario’s character education initiative. Purposive sampling was used to select one typical Grade 9 Exploring Technologies class, consisting of 15 boys from a Catholic board of education in the southern Ontario region. The EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program required students to create moral narrative films that first portrayed a set of self-centered cognitive distortions, with follow-up portrayals of behavioural modifications. Before, during, and after intervention questionnaires were administered to the students and teacher. The student questionnaires invited responses to a set of cognitive distortion vignettes. In addition, data was collected through student and teacher interviews, and researcher observation protocol reports. Initially the data was coded according to an a priori set of themes that were further analyzed according to emotion and values coding methods. The results indicated that while each student was unique in his thoughts, feelings, and behavioural responses to the cognitive distortion vignettes after completing the EQUIP program, the overall trends showed students had a more positive attitude, with a decreased proclivity for antisocial behaviour and self-serving cognitive distortion portrayed in the vignettes. Overall, the teacher and students’ learning experiences were mainly positive and the program met the learning expectations of Ontario’s character education initiative. Based on these results of the present study, it is recommended that the EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program be further evaluated through quantitative research and longitudinal study.