This study focuses on 22 former students looking for a job or newly entered into the teaching profession. Based on their autobiographical writings, this longitudinal research identifies nine variables influencing their integration. Their weights differ as well as the polarity of their influences. For example, while the steps to get a stable job are often seen as an obstacle, relational skills are an asset for integration into the profession. Moreover, this research suggests, in order to understand these integration processes, that (...) variables beyond classroom work should also be included. (shrink)

While teachers' knowledge is widely viewed as a key aspect of professional development in the new era, little research attention has been paid to one of its key components: teacher data literacy. Accordingly, this study aimed to combine teacher data literacy with TPACK, a widely-used framework for understanding and assessing teachers' knowledge. We first used qualitative methods to develop this integrated framework, then distributed a quantitative self-report survey based on the framework to teachers, and analyzed the resulting data. (...) The qualitative phase highlighted five types of teachers' knowledge required in an integrated core knowledge system incorporating data literacy and provided insights for reflecting on teaching and learning in smart learning environments. The quantitative analysis of data from the TDL-TPACK questionnaire indicated that most teachers were competent practitioners but had some areas for improvement. Experienced teachers in their 30s and 40s performed at higher levels, while some of those aged over 50 displayed incremental decreases in performance. Other factors such as the age, experience, academic qualifications, and role of teachers may affect different aspects of their knowledge, including their data literacy. The research findings provide useful insights for additional teacher training and development programs in the context of smart education. (shrink)

Change is one of the central aims of professional development for information and communication technologies integration in education. Studies on the use of ICT in education highlights the large investments in infrastructure and professional development, and the limited results in students learning. Teachers’ professional development for ICT integration in education has evolved from the development of technical skills to pedagogical skills and content-related knowledge. The gold standard and design-based approaches have dominated TDP-ICT. This study presents the Change (...) Laboratory method as a formative intervention to motivate teachers to identify and overcome the barriers to ICT integration. The results showed that a professional development intervention based on CL stimulates transformative agency in the participants. Six forms of transformative agency, namely resisting, criticizing, explicating, envisioning, committing to actions, and taking actions, were found during the CL. The transformative agency was essential to motivate teachers to identify and propose a model solution to overcome both first-order and second-order contextual barriers. (shrink)

As a sub-realm of Language Teacher Psychology, teachers’ professional agency has gained significant attention from educational practitioners and teachers. The aim is to better discern teachers’ professional development and teaching effectiveness with a view to ensuring the quality of language teaching. International literature concerning teachers’ professional agency has noted a shift from knowledge training to vocational development in relation to teachers’ experience in decision making. Yet, little research so far has scrutinized this specific issue in Chinese university (...) settings, and the real picture of teacher agency needs further exploration. Besides, the multidimensional and complex nature of agency identifies the overwhelming research work in understanding its contents in detail based on the previous perspectives from individuals, society, and time. To this end, the ecological understanding of professional agency reframed the theoretical basis of this study, prone to explore how teachers’ experience could be examined in relation to individual capacity, resources, and structural and contextual variables. The study was conducted in Chinese university settings in response to the research gap related to understanding professional agency. Quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations with 116 university teachers in China demonstrated that the enactment of professional agency rested on the interplay between temporal contexts, teacher capacity, and beliefs, especially in the instructional community. The findings revealed that university teachers at different stages of career development manifested variability in exercising their professional agency in relation to adapting or adopting existing teaching concepts, methods, or approaches. Mounting evidence revealed some enablers and constraints in relation to formative assessment, time impact, classroom interaction, and school culture. Emphasizing the interaction between individuals’ ability and their engagement with the professional environment, the findings provide insights into theoretical implications associated with ecological theory and enhance the practical discussion about promoting professional development for novice, mid-career, and veteran English teachers at the university level. (shrink)

It is vital that social studies be an integral part of the elementary (Kindergarten-6) curriculum to prepare all children to participate in increasingly diverse democracies. This study's purpose was to investigate how nine planned and implemented social studies professional development activities, outside traditional classrooms, could impact five volunteer K-6 pre-service teachers’ beliefs about their emergent professional identities as social studies educators. This case study explored research questions primarily through qualitative methods. Research implications contribute to possible solutions for (...) (1) helping pre-service teachers understand how professional educators, outside their local areas, create and learn public scholarship to educate diverse democracies, (2) helping pre-service teachers recognize relationships between high quality professional development, networking, organization membership, and professional identity, and (3) sense of belonging as one treatment for U.S. novice teacher attrition rates. (shrink)

This book adopted a qualitative research methodology to explore novice teachers' professional development (TPD) under the background of the New Curriculum Reform in mainland China. With a purposeful sampling strategy, in-depth semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data from twelve novice primary school teachers. As the specific design of the qualitative method and research procedures have been demonstrated, this book could be the reading material for the courses such as Qualitative Research Methodology. Undergraduate and (...) postgraduate students who would learn qualitative research could be targeted as the audiences. Additionally, this book provides suggestions for pre-service and novice teachers. The study found that although TPD programs and better welfare are desirable, collegial support from seniors, internet resources and online courses, and self-reflection were more direct and effective in enhancing professional growth and reducing negative emotions developed from challenges in classroom management, workload, and accountability. This book also suggests three directions for the future development of TPD to school leaders and policymakers. First, more training on classroom management and time management is helpful as poor classroom management and excessive workload were the causes of teacher burnout. Second, more school-level mentoring is wanted because it is considered more effective than the state and individual-level opportunities of TPD. More development opportunities for teachers in rural areas are required to improve their professional competence and narrow their gap with their urban counterparts. (shrink)

This book offers a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the recent professional developments of teachers of English in the western region of China in the context of English language teaching reform and teacher education reform. It discusses a wealth of theories, frameworks, qualitative case studies and quantitative investigations, while also covering a range of key practices that are indispensable. It equips readers with an in-depth understanding of the impact of the current curriculum reform on the promotion of teachers' cognition, (...) emotions, attitudes and awareness of their self-development, as well as teachers' corresponding efforts to update their educational concepts, reassess their teacher roles, enhance their teaching skills, and implement new approaches to their professional development. It is a valuable resource for anyone pursuing research in this field as well as in-service teachers, teacher educators and education administrators. And as it offers practical help for the potential difficulties and challenges they might encounter, it is also a must-read for the student teachers of English. (shrink)

What and how to teach religious moderation at the undergraduate level still concerns academics. This study aims to explore the perceptions of lecturers and students about the objectives, content, and strategies used in learning religious moderation. This study uses a multiple-case exploratory design with a qualitative approach. Data were collected through interviews with eight lecturers and 15 students from public and Islamic universities in Indonesia. Data analysis in this study used conventional content analysis methods with an inductive (...) coding process. The first two authors analysed data, and their agreement was calculated using Cohen’s kappa of 0.90. As a result, participants said that the ultimate goal of learning moderation in religion is to teach students about aligning views on religion and non-religion. The content that needs to be taught early and as a firm root of religious moderation is the internal harmony of religious communities. Finally, the development of campus culture can be an alternative model to internalise the values of religious moderation. Contribution: Overall, this research helps us to understand what kind of religious moderation learning we want to introduce in Indonesian universities. (shrink)

This article considers the motivations of teachers to pursue ongoing professional learning. During recent decades, the international policy context has been characterised by high-stakes accountability, but the implications of this agenda for teachers’ motivations toward professional learning remains under-explored. In this mixed methods study, combining a large teacher survey and in-depth teacher interviews, a new and significant concept of ‘instrumental motivation’ is generated to capture how high-stakes performance management policies damage the motivation of teachers to learn professionally. This (...) innovative approach, employing ordinal factor analysis and inductive/deductive hybrid thematic analysis inclusive of self-determination theory, reveals how the ‘instrumental motivation’ of teachers should be constrained and argues for the adoption of alternative motivational strategies to support effective professional learning in schools. (shrink)

The study identified the level of competencies and the extent of professional development needs of kindergarten teachers in the Sultan Kudarat Division, during the school year 2019 - 2020. The study employed a descriptive method. The study involved 54 kindergarten teachers in the division in accomplishing the 12-item self-assessment instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that kindergarten teachers have a high level of competencies in content knowledge and pedagogy, learning environment and diversity of learners, curriculum (...) and planning, and assessment and reporting. These indicate that they possess almost all of the competencies of efficient teachers. Results further revealed a very high extent of professional needs in content knowledge and pedagogy and the learning environment and diversity of learners, while they had a high extent of professional needs in the remaining domains. Since they reported very high priorities in content knowledge and pedagogy and the learning environment and diversity of learners, these areas would be the main considerations in the crafting of a professional development plan. (shrink)

This book explores a value-based research methodology, Living Educational Theory Research (LETR), which aligns a values-based approach with key tenets of professional development to inform and inspire future educators' practice. Written by the world-leading scholars in the field of LETR, chapters are global in reach and promote the evolving and dynamic nature of the methodology and its application with real-world professional training within higher education. Through discussion and dialogue on the evolution of Living Educational Theory Research, chapters (...) explore topics such as professional development and community-based contexts, supporting academics wishing to improve their practice by placing the theory within a scholarly paradigm to legitimise its use for scholarly learning. Demonstrating how insights from disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, and psychology are integrated within the generation of living-educational-theories, this outwardly looking volume will appeal to postgraduate students, scholars, and researchers involved with educational theory, action research and other forms of practitioner research, and education research methods more broadly. (shrink)

The study identified the level of competencies and the extent of professional development needs of kindergarten teachers in the Sultan Kudarat Division, during the school year 2019 - 2020. The study employed a descriptive method. The study involved 54 kindergarten teachers in the division in accomplishing the 12-item self-assessment instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that kindergarten teachers have a high level of competencies in content knowledge and pedagogy, learning environment and diversity of learners, curriculum (...) and planning, and assessment and reporting. These indicate that they possess almost all of the competencies of efficient teachers. Results further revealed a very high extent of professional needs in content knowledge and pedagogy and the learning environment and diversity of learners, while they had a high extent of professional needs in the remaining domains. Since they reported very high priorities in content knowledge and pedagogy and the learning environment and diversity of learners, these areas would be the main considerations in the crafting of a professional development plan. (shrink)

This paper describes three social studies teachers’ participation in an approximately 50-h, 13-month, Lesson Study-type professional development program called Beyond Words. The program centered around promoting teachers’ understanding of historical domain knowledge through experiences with innovative visual curriculum materials and sustained collaboration. This qualitative investigation answers: To what degree can Beyond Words help in-service geography teachers design and implement powerful instruction centered around historical photographs? Throughout Beyond Words the teachers demonstrated a spirit of open-mindedness and a willingness to (...) experiment with unfamiliar ideas; they planned and implemented a lesson that featured engaging historical photographs, thinking critically about the past, and making claims about a public issue. At the end of the program, however, they demonstrated conventional approaches toward social studies instruction, especially regarding curriculum and assessment. The work shared here suggests that helping teachers craft high-quality questions to anchor student-inquiry and scaffolding teachers’ sensemaking of student-outcome data should be high priorities for professional development providers. (shrink)

El artículo tiene como objetivo describir las competencias informacionales a desarrollar durante la formación profesional. Se presenta los referentes teóricos a partir del empleo de un enfoque de sistema que supone el análisis y la síntesis, la inducción y la deducción como métodos de investigación, con el propósito de dar conocer los hitos en las universidades y organizaciones internacionales relacionadas. La modelación fue empleada para la construcción de un nuevo proyecto de desarrollo de competencias informacionales desde la perspectiva de la (...) formación profesional universitaria ajustada a las necesidades de la educación superior en Cuba. El nuevo proyecto se configura en tres unidades básicas, con sus respectivos elementos de competencia, saberes esenciales e indicadores para la evaluación del desempeño. El artículo fundamenta la tesis de que el desarrollo de competencias informacionales debe ser sistemáticamente estructurado, planificado y ejecutado como parte integral de la formación curricular en interacción con los contenidos de las disciplinas docentes, bajo la dirección del profesor y la participación protagónica de los profesionales en formación. The article aims at describing the competence to be developed during professional training. It presents the theoretical referents by means of an approach system that includes synthesis and analysis, induction and deduction as research methods in order to reveal the milestones of information skills development in universities and related international organizations. Modeling was used for the construction of a new skills development project from the perspective of university professional training according to the needs of Higher Education in Cuba. The new project is composed of three basic units, with their respective competence elements, essential knowledge and indicators for the evaluation of the performance. The article supports the theory that information development skills must be systematically structured, planned and implemented as an integral part of the curricular training in interaction with the contents of subjects, under the teacher´s guidance and the active participation of profesionals in training. (shrink)

This methodological article provides a Mixed Method approach to analyze how the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) Model is feasible to enhance student’s autonomy. The objective is to detect how teachers’ behavior-oriented patterns shift in response to continuing professional development to reinforce TPSR strategies. We compared the application of TPSR by three teachers who had previously attended a training course for this model, with that of an expert in the model. A total of 44 sessions of primary (...) and secondary school semesters in various subjects, taught by all four teachers and comprising 120 students. A mixed-method approach followed in the study involved: a) the Observational System of Teaching Oriented Responsibility (OSTOR), which revealed how the teachers’ behavior patterns shifted over their interventions, and b) the Tool for Assessing Responsibility-Based Education (TARE 2.0.), which focused on perceived behaviors by teachers and student behaviors. Data analysis was conducted for a) the T-pattern detection technique, b) polar coordinate analysis to obtain detailed sequences of instruction, and c) descriptive and correlational analysis from the TARE. The mixed-method analysis of data confirms how the TPSR improved the teaching behaviors of the three teachers in training compared with the expert teacher. (shrink)

In this article, Lauren Gatti and Paula McAvoy explain the interdisciplinary methods that they used for developing a theory of professional judgment for teachers that they call the Ethical Long View. In developing the theory, they engaged in empirical inquiry through the solicitation of dilemmas from practicing teachers using an online survey (N = 127) and follow-up interviews with a subset of survey participants (N = 11). The interviews were developed into qualitative normative cases, which are richly described (...) vignettes of a teacher's dilemma and thinking. In between analyzing the survey data and developing the cases was a philosophically oriented recursive process that was both iterative and interdisciplinary. The qualitative work helped the authors develop the conceptual framework for the Ethical Long View and, at the same time, positioned participants as co-constructors of the ethical theory. This research draws on the tools of both applied philosophy and social science, but it belongs exclusively to neither. (shrink)

The teaching of ethics in teacher education programs is crucial for fostering the moral and ethical development of prospective teachers and shaping them into ethical role models for future students. This study, employing qualitative case study research, gathered data from undergraduates in teacher education programs to explore the best approaches for ethics education. It found that combining digital and case-based pedagogical methods, fostering an open-minded attitude among lecturers, and implementing a blend of Socratic and active learning techniques leads to (...) the most favorable outcomes. Additionally, continuous formative assessment throughout the academic year is essential. To cultivate a teaching workforce with strong ethical and moral values, undergraduate courses in ethics and morality should be thought-provoking, integrating real-life cases with a mix of digital and tangible resources. The ethics course lecturer should not only serve as a role model and exhibit a caring disposition but also use effective teaching methodologies. The paper details key themes and categories for successful ethics instruction and offers specific recommendations. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this study, the learning experiences of four elementary school teachers who were basketball coaches were explored. Specifically, the learning experiences gained through observing professional basketball coaches’ sessions were examined by employing van Manen’s hermeneutic-phenomenological approach, which focuses on the thematic analysis of lived experiences. Previous coaching studies that have focused on the professional development of coaches have revealed that observing elite coaching sessions could be a major source of practical coaching knowledge because coaches could learn (...) from experienced coaches. Quantitative studies of this learning effect have revealed that observers learn new coaching methods from a general perspective. However, this study revealed that teachers give specific meaning and value to observed phenomena from the perspective of personal interest based on their coaching or teaching beliefs. This learning was interpreted from a multifaceted perspective, which was evident from their coaching interests and questions. This study disclosed that teachers reflect on their coaching philosophy, methods and attitude. Furthermore, even if teachers generally tend to highlight their coaching methods, this has a qualitatively complex nature because the meaning and value given to coaching methods varied in each teacher’s reflection. The perspective of problem-solving highlighted how to answer their personal questions based on practical coaching problems by observing a coaching session. Discovering the methodological differences between the observation session and the daily coaching session were highlighted. (shrink)

For anyone concerned about students’ moral development, academic dishonesty presents a pervasive problem but also a promising possibility. The present paper describes the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of process-oriented, four-component model approach to promoting students’ “moral functioning” related to academic integrity, and the research project currently underway that is providing Web-based professional development to teachers for using the model in their high school classrooms. In doing so, we hope to develop a scalable approach that offers teachers an (...) opportunity to be the primary agents of change in transforming the problem of academic dishonesty into a possibility for positive youth development. (shrink)

Recent empirical evidence has demonstrated that research misconduct occurs to a substantial degree in biomedical research. It has been suggested that scientific integrity is also of concern in China, but this seems to be based largely on anecdotal evidence. We, therefore, sought to explore the Chinese situation, by making a systematic review of published empirical studies on biomedical research integrity in China. One of our purposes was also to summarize the existing body of research published in Chinese. We searched the (...) China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, PubMed and Web of Science for potentially relevant studies, and included studies meeting our inclusion criteria, i.e. mainly those presenting empirically obtained data about the practice of research in China. All the data was extracted and synthesized using an inductive approach. Twenty-one studies were included for review. Two studies used qualitative methods and nineteen studies used quantitative methods. Studies involved mainly medical postgraduates and nurses and they investigated awareness, attitudes, perceptions and experiences of research integrity and misconduct. Most of the participants in these 21 studies reported that research integrity is of great importance and that they obey academic norms during their research. Nevertheless, the occurrence of research misbehaviors, such as fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, improper authorship and duplicate submission was also reported. Strengthening research integrity training, developing the governance system and improving the scientific evaluation system were areas of particular attention in several studies. Our review demonstrates that a substantial number of articles have been devoted to research integrity in China, but only a few studies provide empirical evidence. With more safeguard measures of research integrity being taken in China, it would be crucial to conduct more research to explore researchers’ in-depth perceptions and evaluate the changes. (shrink)

The present study specifically focuses on science teachers’ views about scientific inquiry and their use of scientific inquiry in their lesson plans, which were prepared at a professional development workshop designed for better utilization of science centers (SCs). As an impact evaluation research, qualitative data was collected from 41 purposively selected volunteer science teachers. The project team provided the participants with intense instruction in inquiry, and fostered them to learn nature of science and nature of scientific inquiry explicitly. (...) The participants designed lesson plans that integrate school science curricula with exhibits at SCs before and after the workshop. An open-ended questionnaire about the views about scientific inquiry (VASI) was administered before and after the workshop, and teachers’ post-lesson plans were analyzed to detect the presence of scientific inquiry aspects. The majority of teachers exhibited improved views about scientific inquiry based on the VASI instrument. Also, lesson plan analyses indicated that teachers, who showed more improvement in VASI, included more scientific inquiry (SI) elements in their post-lesson plans. It was observed that science teachers’ lesson plans are limited in terms of teaching science in line with real scientific inquiries in SCs to make students learn about the nature of scientific inquiry while learning science. Only two groups embedded SI properly in the SC-oriented lesson plans, and teachers rather used inquiry-based methods of teaching (e.g., argumentation, predict-observe-explain) and process skills (e.g., questioning, explanations). Accordingly, further studies are suggested to develop a specific pedagogical content knowledge framework for teaching with/in SCs. (shrink)

The development of children must be an integral part of their educational environment, focusing on strengthening their learning and social skills. The research is framed in the design of didactic material, under the perspective of product design. As a discipline of study, it focuses on the needs andparticularities of the rural educational environment and attempts to support the integral development that Ecuadorian education has been pursued. In this context, with a qualitative approach, the characteristics of the environment are (...) collected, as well as the perspectives of basic general education teachers, inrelation to the integral education and the existing materials in formal education. In a comparative analysis, we analyzed data obtained with similar training projects, which show the importance of working on social skills in children. The results determine parameters and requirements to develop didactic products that complement education, based on concepts of design, pedagogy, and didactics as knowledge-building tools. Keywords: Product Design, Teaching Material, Comprehensive Training, Social Skills. (shrink)

“Integrative Social Robotics” (ISR) is a new approach or general method for generating social robotics applications in a responsible and “culturally sustainable” fashion. Currently social robotics is caught in a basic difficulty we call the “triple gridlock of description, evaluation, and regulation”. We briefly recapitulate this problem and then present the core ideas of ISR in the form of five principles that should guide the development of applications in social robotics. Characteristic of ISR is to intertwine a mixed method (...) approach (i.e., conducting experimental, quantitative, qualitative, and phenomenological research for the same envisaged application) with conceptual and axiological analysis as required in professional studies in applied ethics; moreover, ISR is value-driven and abides by the “Non-Replacement Principle”: Social robots may only do what humans should but cannot do. We briefly compare ISR to other value-sensitive or value-directed design models, with a view to the task of overcoming the triple gridlock. Finally, working from an advanced classification of pluridiscplinary research, we argue that ISR establishes a research format that can turn social robotics into a new transdiscipline. (shrink)

The arts provide openings for symbolic expression by engaging the sensory experience in the body they become a source of insight through embodied cognition and emotion, enabling meaning-making, and acting as a catalyst for change. This synthesis of sensation and enactive, embodied expression through movement and the arts is capitalized on in The BodyMind Approach®. It is integral to this biopsychosocial, innovative, unique intervention for people suffering medically unexplained symptoms applied in primary healthcare. The relevance of embodiment and arts (...) practices in TBMA are discussed in relation to the views of participants in the pursuit of self-management. If widely employed TBMA could have an enormous impact, reach, and significance for patients and global health services. This original pre-clinical trial of qualitative research reports on the perceptions of participant patients with generic MUS, a world-wide issue usually treated by either psychological therapy or physiotherapy. TBMA is not a therapy but a health education program founded upon the concept of an integration of psychological elements with physiological, bodily, and sensory experiences. Thematic analysis of qualitative data sets from open-ended questions in semi-structured interviews and a written questionnaire post intervention is presented. Five aspects which appear to be key to learning self-management were derived from analyzing the data: body with mind connections; importance of facilitation; potential benefits; preparedness for change; self-acceptance/compassion. This article advances the discourse on the nature of self-management for MUS through changing the mind-set and the relationship participants have with their bodily symptom/s through employing embodied methods and arts practices, challenging current, and solely verbal, psychological conceptual frameworks. Rigor lies in the method of data analysis using cross verification of credibility between reported findings and scrutiny by stakeholders. We conclude that facilitated TBMA groups employing embodied methods and arts practices can act as a method for developing the self-management of MUS and improving wellbeing. (shrink)

This paper responds to the concern that many novice Philosophy for Children facilitators have about how to ensure that students’ discussion is philosophical. Two ways of addressing this concern are outlined, and the second of these is identified as the approach my method builds upon. In particular, I focus on those agenda-setting questions students pose that might be called ”psychological speculation” questions and offer a range of moves for proceeding from those into more centrally philosophical discussion. The (...) class='Hi'>approach draws on familiarity with traditional areas of philosophy, and shows the practical everyday use for facilitators of such familiarity. Those who offer professional development in Philosophy for Children may find this approach a useful one to introduce in introductory or follow-up workshops, and novice facilitators will find enough guidance here to be able to apply these moves in their practice. A discussion of the distinction and the relationship between philosophical and empirical questions is undertaken, in passing, and a suggestion put forward for assisting novice P4C facilitators to discover their own abilities to find groups of related philosophical questions. Practical examples of the moves in my approach are provided, and a guide for building on them is offered. Finally, a connection is drawn between the questions that flow from traditional academic areas of philosophy and the idea of philosophy as ‘love of wisdom’. (shrink)

A causal-comparative, mixed methods design was used to study a partnership between a university and school district formed with the goal of improving history teachers’ United States history content knowledge to raise student engagement and achievement. Data were collected from middle and high school history teachers including teacher interviews, classroom observations, and student work. Student engagement surveys and academic performance data were also collected. Student academic performance was positively impacted and changes in classroom practice were found in the treatment group. (...) However, differences in student engagement between groups were not found to be statistically significant. (shrink)

Sporadic efforts have been made to introduce computational thinking methods into K-12 education in Palestine, but these have been held back by the challenging educational environment. However, a recent in-service training initiative, funded and organized by the Ministry or Education of Palestine, constitutes a significant effort to embed computational thinking in K-12 practice. The middle school teachers who participated in the training course were invited to participate in the present study, and 38 did so. A qualitative approach involving (...) both interviews with teachers and classroom observations was used in data collection. All the teachers agreed to be observed in their classrooms, while 20 of the 38 also agreed to participate in the interviews. The findings showed that teachers of a range of topics, including social sciences and languages, employed computational thinking skills in teaching their students, but they were confronted by a number of challenges, including technical infrastructure and support, and a lack of time to prepare CT classes and space in the curriculum to deliver them. The results indicate that the most appropriate action to support teachers’ delivery of CT would be to provide peer exchanges and expert coaching in the integration of CT in the curriculum. (shrink)

The concept of a comprehensive language curriculum provides an important basis for the development of student's plurilingual competence. It ensures the inclusion of all students' language skills in language education, the creation of cross-linguistic connections, and the development of language awareness and awareness of language learning. Factors that influence the implementation of this concept at the school level are, amongst others: school leadership, collaboration among school staff, appropriate teaching methods, and beliefs and attitudes of all members of the school as (...) an educational community. To determine possibilities for the implementation of comprehensive language curricula in Croatian primary schools, qualitative methods were used to investigate beliefs of language teachers, professional associates, and school principals about the development of students' plurilingual competence, as well as language teachers' teaching practice and the ways plurilingual education is supported at school level. Data analysis shows that the participants mostly have monolingual beliefs when it comes to the development of students' plurilingual competence. Also, although most teachers state that they make comparisons between languages in their teaching, a systematic cross-linguistic comparison and cooperation in the planning and implementation of language education are almost completely absent. (shrink)

Teaching research activities in China are practical and reflective research of teachers on teaching. These required activities are meant to ensure quality education and facilitate the professional development of teachers. However, in TRA, teachers encounter many challenges such as low efficiency and weak team collaboration. These problems make it hard to achieve the expected outcomes. W Primary School reformed its activities using Change Laboratory, a formative intervention approach to workplace learning and development based on activity theory. The data (...) collected included seven recorded meetings in the Change Laboratory. The conversations in the meetings were then transcribed into texts. A deductive method of content analysis was used to code the data, focusing on categorizing comments of teachers about the transformative agency. The findings showed the following: There were five types of transformative agencies, namely, resisting, criticizing, explicating, envisioning, and committing to actions. Resisting and criticizing were represented less frequently, and taking action did not emerge as a type of transformative agency. The comments about transformative agency about tools were more frequent than comments about other elements in the activity system. There were some differences in the expression of transformative agency across participants. At the end of this study, the implications for the development of TRA are discussed. (shrink)

The South African government’s COVID-19 pandemic risk mitigation strategies significantly limited social contact, which necessitated a novel approach to existing face-to-face career guidance practices. The Grade 9 Career Guidance Project, originally developed as a group-based career development intervention, required radical adaptation into a self-directed, manualized format to offer career guidance to Grade 9 learners from low-income communities amid a global pandemic. The adaptation and continuation of the project was deemed essential as secondary school learners in low-income communities have limited (...) career guidance support. Furthermore, a close collaboration with the teachers at eight resource-constrained South African secondary schools was vital for successful implementation. To assess the success of the adaptation to a self-directed format, a mixed-methods design was employed, and Life Orientation teachers’ evaluative feedback was solicited. Favorable quantitative results were obtained; majority of teachers agreed that learners enjoyed the booklet and that it was deemed an adequate substitute to the previous contact-based format of the Career Guidance Project. This was also confirmed by the qualitative findings revealing teachers’ satisfaction with the booklet’s content, specifically that the booklet is complementary to the Life Orientation curriculum. Qualitative findings identified specific contextual barriers that contributed to some learners struggling to use the booklet optimally. The results suggest that it is feasible and acceptable to implement a self-directed career guidance intervention among secondary school learners amid a global pandemic. Teachers recommended ways to integrate the booklet, resources, and contact sessions as a preferred way forward. These findings have important implications for similar resource-constrained settings that may not have readily access to in-person career guidance and counseling human development. (shrink)

This paper offers a novel, qualitative approach to evaluating the outcomes of integrating humanities and ethics into a newly revised pre-clerkship medical education curriculum. The authors set out to evaluate medical students’ perceptions, learning outcomes, and growth in identity development. Led by a team of interdisciplinary scholars, this qualitative project examines multiple sources of student experience and perception data, including student essays, end-of-year surveys, and semi-structured interviews with students. Data were analyzed using deductive and inductive processes (...) to identify key categories and recurring themes. Results suggest that students not only engaged with the curricular content and met the stated learning objectives but also acknowledged their experience in the humanities and ethics curriculum as an opportunity to reflect, expand their perceptions of medicine (and what it means to be “in” medicine), connect with their classmates, and further cultivate their personal and professional identities. Results of this qualitative study show how and in what ways the ethics and humanities curriculum motivates students past surface-level memorization of factual knowledge and encourages thoughtful analysis and evaluation about how the course material relates to and influences their thinking and how they see themselves as future doctors. The comprehensive qualitative approach reflects a holistic model for evaluating the integration of humanities and ethics into the pre-clerkship medical education curriculum. Future research should examine if this approach provides a protective factor against the demonstrated ethical erosion and empathy decrease during clinical training. (shrink)

This study investigated the beliefs that formed teachers’ intentions to integrate STEM content into their social studies instruction. Participants were 60 elementary, middle, and high school in-service teachers who attended a summer history workshop on Abraham Lincoln. Data were collected by qualitative and quantitative instruments. Beliefs about likely outcomes of integrating STEM, and beliefs about persons who would approve, or disapprove, of STEM integration were elicited from teachers, and content analyzed. The resulting outcome and normative beliefs were used as (...) stems for items in the quantitative instrument. Quantitative data were analyzed primarily by correlation and multiple regression. This study found that attitude toward the behavior, integrating STEM, was formed by 15 outcome beliefs, subjective norm was formed by five normative beliefs, and that attitude and norm predicted behavioral intention. The theory we used enabled us to calculate the numerical contribution of each of the beliefs that were important in forming teachers’ intentions. The results have implications for theory, research, and practice in social studies education. In the realm of practice, these implications are for the initial preparation of, and the subsequent professional development of social studies teachers, both at the elementary and secondary levels. (shrink)

Although Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training is common in the sciences, the effectiveness of RCR training is open to question. Three key factors appear to be particularly important in ensuring the effectiveness of ethics education programs: (1) educational efforts should be tied to day-to-day practices in the field, (2) educational efforts should provide strategies for working through the ethical problems people are likely to encounter in day-to-day practice, and (3) educational efforts should be embedded in a broader program of (...) on-going career development efforts. This article discusses a complex qualitative approach to RCR training development, based on a sensemaking model, which strives to address the afore-mentioned training concerns. Ethnographic observations and prior RCR training served the purpose of collecting information specific to a multi-disciplinary and multi-university research center with the goal of identifying metacognitive reasoning strategies that would facilitate ethical decision-making. The extensive qualitative analyses resulted in the identification of nine metacognitive reasoning strategies on which future RCR training will be developed. The implications of the findings for RCR training in the sciences are discussed. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Somatic Knowledge and Qualitative Reasoning:From Theory to PracticeRichard Siegesmund"Elliot Eisner is a writer to be reckoned with" is how my undergraduate student, Cheyenne, opened her final essay on The Arts and the Creation of Mind. After a semester of using his text in my art education methods class, reckoned seemed an apt word. The dictionary gives the definitions of reckoned as to settle accounts, make calculation, judge, and (...) take into consideration.1 The ideas in The Arts and the Creation of Mind are challenging on multiple levels, and Eisner does not provide any easy answers. There are no pithy how-to-do-it bullet points in the text. The issues he addresses are complex: nonlinguistic meaning, somatic knowledge, qualitative reasoning, the arts as habits of mind that guide experience and inquiry into the world — just to name a few. Nevertheless, in this text he brings these ideas into a format that is accessible to undergraduates entering the profession of teaching and experienced professionals, who wish to reflect on their own practice.The lucidity of Eisner's text can belie the complexity of the issues he addresses. Regrettably, some students only saw the outer shell of the content: the discussion of conceptual approaches to arts education or the delineation of the developmental stages of children's drawing. Yet for these aspects alone, they considered the text to be valuable; however, I was disappointed that they did not go deeper. Some just could not synthesize the big point: that the arts are not simply about mastery of technical skills, but that technical skills are merely a gateway into non-linguistic thinking. Educational objectives that are limited to content and skills are mundane.However, for more thoughtful and reflective students like Cheyenne, who was in her last semester of course work before student teaching in Guadalajara, the book was an inspiration. It provided a more robust conception of arts education that spoke to her feelings that compelled her to be a teacher. She reflected on what she read in The Arts and the Creation of Mind, and saw how an arts educator was more than an activities manager. She discovered she was embarking on a calling that could change minds — and [End Page 80] by changing minds, transform lives. For a young idealist, Eisner articulated her passion to serve. He said what up until that moment she had only felt. She discovered what she had previously sensed — known in her bones — but had not articulated. Eisner was a voice she wanted to take for her own. He provided a vision of the teacher she hoped to be. Indeed, Elliot Eisner is a writer to be reckoned with.Two ideas that my art students want to discuss when they first encounter The Arts and the Creation of Mind are the concepts of somatic knowing and qualitative reasoning. Somatic knowledge is a felt reaction of rightness within an experience. Qualitative reasoning is the ordering of relationships of qualities. Qualitative reasoning produces somatic knowledge. Using my students' questions and classroom discussions as inspiration, I want to explore these ideas for I believe they represent the essence of what is distinctive about learning in the arts. Furthermore, I share Eisner's belief that they provide the foundation on which to make an enduring case for the importance of the arts in education. These ideas reside at the heart of the process of education, which is, as he states, "learning to create ourselves."2It is immensely satisfying as a teacher to see the ah-ha moments in class discussion when students begin to integrate Eisner's ideas into their own experience. It is an even greater satisfaction to work with teachers who find these ideas illuminating for their educational aims and objectives and to see them played out in real classrooms where students flourish. In this essay, I want to try to build on my own experience with these moments to more deeply explore the significance of Eisner's work.To begin, I will briefly revisit the work of John Dewey. I will then discuss how Eisner's previous thinking sets a foundation for The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Finally, on a... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Somatic Knowledge and Qualitative Reasoning:From Theory to PracticeRichard Siegesmund"Elliot Eisner is a writer to be reckoned with" is how my undergraduate student, Cheyenne, opened her final essay on The Arts and the Creation of Mind. After a semester of using his text in my art education methods class, reckoned seemed an apt word. The dictionary gives the definitions of reckoned as to settle accounts, make calculation, judge, and (...) take into consideration.1 The ideas in The Arts and the Creation of Mind are challenging on multiple levels, and Eisner does not provide any easy answers. There are no pithy how-to-do-it bullet points in the text. The issues he addresses are complex: nonlinguistic meaning, somatic knowledge, qualitative reasoning, the arts as habits of mind that guide experience and inquiry into the world — just to name a few. Nevertheless, in this text he brings these ideas into a format that is accessible to undergraduates entering the profession of teaching and experienced professionals, who wish to reflect on their own practice.The lucidity of Eisner's text can belie the complexity of the issues he addresses. Regrettably, some students only saw the outer shell of the content: the discussion of conceptual approaches to arts education or the delineation of the developmental stages of children's drawing. Yet for these aspects alone, they considered the text to be valuable; however, I was disappointed that they did not go deeper. Some just could not synthesize the big point: that the arts are not simply about mastery of technical skills, but that technical skills are merely a gateway into non-linguistic thinking. Educational objectives that are limited to content and skills are mundane.However, for more thoughtful and reflective students like Cheyenne, who was in her last semester of course work before student teaching in Guadalajara, the book was an inspiration. It provided a more robust conception of arts education that spoke to her feelings that compelled her to be a teacher. She reflected on what she read in The Arts and the Creation of Mind, and saw how an arts educator was more than an activities manager. She discovered she was embarking on a calling that could change minds — and [End Page 80] by changing minds, transform lives. For a young idealist, Eisner articulated her passion to serve. He said what up until that moment she had only felt. She discovered what she had previously sensed — known in her bones — but had not articulated. Eisner was a voice she wanted to take for her own. He provided a vision of the teacher she hoped to be. Indeed, Elliot Eisner is a writer to be reckoned with.Two ideas that my art students want to discuss when they first encounter The Arts and the Creation of Mind are the concepts of somatic knowing and qualitative reasoning. Somatic knowledge is a felt reaction of rightness within an experience. Qualitative reasoning is the ordering of relationships of qualities. Qualitative reasoning produces somatic knowledge. Using my students' questions and classroom discussions as inspiration, I want to explore these ideas for I believe they represent the essence of what is distinctive about learning in the arts. Furthermore, I share Eisner's belief that they provide the foundation on which to make an enduring case for the importance of the arts in education. These ideas reside at the heart of the process of education, which is, as he states, "learning to create ourselves."2It is immensely satisfying as a teacher to see the ah-ha moments in class discussion when students begin to integrate Eisner's ideas into their own experience. It is an even greater satisfaction to work with teachers who find these ideas illuminating for their educational aims and objectives and to see them played out in real classrooms where students flourish. In this essay, I want to try to build on my own experience with these moments to more deeply explore the significance of Eisner's work.To begin, I will briefly revisit the work of John Dewey. I will then discuss how Eisner's previous thinking sets a foundation for The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Finally, on a... (shrink)

Background Encounters of moral distress have long-term consequences on healthcare workers’ physical and mental health, leading to job dissatisfaction, reduced patient care, and high levels of burnout, exhaustion, and intentions to quit. Yet, research on approaches to ameliorate moral distress across the health workforce is limited. Research Objective The aim of our study was to qualitatively explore multi-professional perspectives of healthcare social workers, chaplains, and patient liaisons on ways to reduce moral distress and heighten well-being at a southern U.S. (...) academic medical center. Participants & Research Context Purposive sampling and chain-referral methods assisted with recruitment through hospital listservs, staff meetings, and newsletters. Interested participants contacted the principal investigator and all interviews were conducted in-person. Consent was attained prior to interviews. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Research Design Directed content analysis was used to deductively organize codes and to develop themes in conjunction with the National Academy of Medicine’s National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being. Rigor was attained through peer-debriefing, data triangulation methods, and frequent research team meetings. Ethical Considerations Ethics approval was obtained from the university and medical center institutional review boards. Findings Themes demonstrate that rather than offering interventions in the aftermath of moral distress, multilevel daily practices ought to be considered that pre-emptively identify and reduce morally distressing encounters through (1) the care team, (2) management and leadership, and (3) the health care industry. Strategies include interdisciplinary decision-making, trusting managerial relationships, and organizational policies and practices that explicitly invest in mental health promotion and diverse leadership opportunities. Conclusion Moral distress interventions ought to target short-term stress reactions while also addressing the long-term impacts of moral residue. Health systems must financially commit to an ethical workplace culture that explicitly values mental health and well-being. (shrink)

This article identifies an integrated teaching strategy that was originally developed for engineers, the so-called ‘micro-insertion’ approach, as a practical and effective means to teach ethics at business schools. It is argued that instructors can incorporate not only generic or thematic learning objectives for students into this method (i.e., the intended content of what is being taught: in our case, an underlying ethical base for doing business), but also do so via a strategically integrated approach regarding the appropriate (...) mix and timing of these micro-insertions. With this in mind, we propose a qualitative and example-based approach that endeavors to provide a versatile way for business teachers to incorporate ethics into their general business classes. We also present a conceptual and theoretical framework that underpins this method, and we further provide a set of specific examples and a practical table that show how business instructors might integrate ethics-oriented micro-insertions into their teaching. (shrink)

Background On a daily basis, healthcare professionals deal with various ethical issues and it can be difficult to determine how to act best. Clinical ethics support (CES) has been developed to provide support for healthcare professionals dealing with complex ethical issues. A long-term perspective of participating in inter-professional dialogue and reflective-based CES sessions is seemingly sparse in the literature. Research aim The aim was to describe experiences of impact of Inter-professional Ethics Communication in groups (IEC) based on Habermas’ (...) theory of communicative actions, after 6 months from the perspective of an inter-professional team. Research design A qualitative inductive approach was chosen, and individual interviews ( n = 13) were conducted. Interview data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Participants The participants, 10 females and two males, represented assistant nurses, registered nurses, physicians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, welfare officers and psychologists. Each had attended at least four IEC sessions. Ethical considerations The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Umeå, Sweden, and it has been undertaken in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Findings Overall, the descriptions expressed a perceived achievement of a deepened and integrated ethical awareness that increased the participants’ awareness of ethically difficult situations as well as their own ethical thinking, actions and approaches in daily work. Perspectives were shared and the team become more welded. They carried the memories of the reflections within them, which was perceived as supportive when encountered new ethically situations. Discussion Putting words to unarticulated thoughts may stimulate repeated reflections, leading to new insights and alternative thoughts. Conclusion The outcome of IEC sessions 6 months following the last session can be described as an incorporated knowledge that enables actions in ethically difficult situations based on an ethical awareness both at a ‘We-level’ and an ‘I-level’. (shrink)

Background Structured training in research integrity, research ethics and responsible conduct of research is one strategy to reduce research misconduct and strengthen reliability of and trust in scientific evidence. However, how researchers develop their sense of integrity is not fully understood. We examined the factors and circumstances that shape researchers’ understanding of research integrity. Methods This study draws insights from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 33 researchers in the life sciences and medicine, representing three seniority levels across five research universities in (...) Switzerland. Results The results of this study indicate that early education, moral values inculcated by the family and participation in team sports were the earliest influences on notions of honesty, integrity and fairness among researchers. Researchers’ personality traits, including degree of ambition and internal moral compass, were perceived as critical in determining the importance they attributed to conducting research with high ethical standards. Positive and negative experiences in early research life also had a significant impact on their views regarding research integrity. Two thirds of the study participants had not received any formal training in research integrity. Their awareness of training opportunities at their institutions was also limited. Conclusion Age-appropriate development of honesty and integrity starts as early as primary education. Research integrity training should be offered from the bachelors level and continue throughout the entire professional life of researchers. Although these courses may not imbue researchers with integrity itself, they are essential to improving the research culture, reinforcing integrity norms, and discouraging researchers who lack personal integrity from engaging in research misconduct. (shrink)

Case Learning for Teachers: Strategic Knowledge for Professional Experience is a unique resource for Australian pre-service educators that draws on the author's experiences as an education researcher, lecturer and classroom teacher. This textbook uses a case stories approach to support pre-service teachers in developing the skills of observation and reflective practice necessary for professional experience placements and the transition to the classroom. Part 1 introduces the case learning approach and outlines strategies for reading and writing case (...) stories. Part 2 is structured by the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. The text includes case stories addressing topics like knowing your students, knowing content, planning for teaching, managing behaviour, diverse learners, assessment, and developing professional relationships in the school setting. Integrating threshold concepts and the case-learning model, the innovative approach taken by Case Learning for Teachers makes it an invaluable tool for pre-service teachers. (shrink)

The Irish Teaching Council introduced a new model of school-based and National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) called Droichead (meaning ‘bridge’ in Gaelic) in 2013/14. The Droichead process is an integrated professional induction framework for newly qualified teachers. It was designed to provide whole-school support for teacher induction in both primary and post-primary schools. This study explores the implementation of Droichead in a post-primary school, and to gain insights as to its effectiveness and the potential to bring about improvements. (...) The study found that NQTs are un-prepared to assume full teaching duties after initial teacher education (ITE), and can benefit greatly from having mentors from within the school to guide them through their first year of teaching. The benefits of the process include emotional support for NQTs, practical help in terms of learning new teaching strategies, the promotion of reflective practice and assisting the professional development of teachers. Droichead was found to promote peer observation and can help leaders change the culture of an organisation to better embrace and support peer observation and review. The programme also promoted and developed leadership skills among the mentors, who cited a renewed enthusiasm for teaching from their involvement in Droichead. There were conflicting views on the involvement of the senior leadership team in the programme, and it would seem that the success of their inclusion depends largely on the individual style of leadership. The negative aspects of the Droichead process related to the ‘Cluster meetings’ which are compulsory for NQTs and were seen as being too similar to their initial teacher education. (shrink)

This article focuses on academics’ conceptions of teaching research ethics and integrity. Seventeen academics from a Finnish research intensive university participated in this qualitative study. The data were collected using a qualitative multi-method approach, including think-aloud and interview data. The material was scrutinized using thematic analysis, with both deductive and inductive approaches. The results revealed variation in academics’ views on the responsibility for teaching research integrity, the methods employed to teach it and the necessity of intervening (...) when misconduct occurs. The academics emphasized the responsibility of the individual teacher and the student to foster integrity as well as the shared responsibility of all members of the academic community. However, many academics felt that they themselves needed pedagogical training. Most shared the view that practices of responsible conduct in research can be explicitly and intentionally taught through demonstration, explanation, and practice. However, the academics also noted that learning research integrity and ethics takes place implicitly. A few questioned the need for and the utility of training in the form of courses or through an explicitly addressed topic included in, for instance, methods courses. Their views on the question of how to deal with alleged cases of misconduct varied. While many academics considered a proactive approach the best way to prevent misconduct, some trusted more in a reactive approach. The results show that, while in general academics agree on the importance of research ethics, their conceptions of teaching it vary. The teaching conception bears consequences for the teaching methods chosen, assignment of responsibility for both teaching and students learning, and for the way in which teachers believe that misconduct should be responded to. (shrink)

ABET 2000 Criteria encourages development of proficiency in professional responsibility in engineering as part of the undergraduate curriculum. This paper discusses the use of industrially sponsored capstone design projects to encourage active discussion of professional responsibility in engineering that naturally occurs during the engineering design process. The paper also discusses student participation in designing responses and approaches to issues such as engineering ethics. The paper includes specific examples of topics addressed by students and the approaches developed (by students) (...) in addressing these issues. (shrink)

BackgroundMoral Case Deliberation is a specific form of bioethics education fostering professionals’ moral competence in order to deal with their moral questions. So far, few studies focus in detail on Moral Case Deliberation methodologies and their didactic principles. The dilemma method is a structured and frequently used method in Moral Case Deliberation that stimulates methodological reflection and reasoning through a systematic dialogue on an ethical issue experienced in practice.MethodsIn this paper we present a case-study of a Moral Case Deliberation with (...) the dilemma method in a health care institution for people with an intellectual disability, describing the theoretical background and the practical application of the dilemma method. The dilemma method focuses on moral experiences of participants concerning a concrete dilemma in practice. By an in-depth description of each of the steps of the deliberation process, we elucidate the educational value and didactics of this specific method.ResultsThe didactics and methodical steps of the dilemma method both supported and structured the dialogical reflection process of the participants. The process shows that the participants learned to recognize the moral dimension of the issue at stake and were able to distinguish various perspectives and reasons in a systematic manner. The facilitator played an important role in the learning process of the participants, by assisting them in focusing on and exploring moral aspects of the case.DiscussionThe reflection and learning process, experienced by the participants, shows competency-based characteristics. The role of the facilitator is that of a Socratic teacher with specific knowledge and skills, fostering reflection, inquiry and dialogue.ConclusionThe specific didactics of the dilemma method is well suited for teaching bioethics in clinical settings. The dilemma method follows an inductive learning approach through a dialogical moral inquiry in which participants develop not only knowledge but also skills, attitude and character. The role of a trained facilitator and a specific view on teaching and practicing ethics are essential when using the dilemma method in teaching health care professionals how to reflect on their own moral issues in practice. (shrink)

Examining the nature of teachers’ emotions and how they are managed and regulated in the act of teaching is crucial to assess the quality of teacher’s instructions. Despite the essential role emotions play in teachers’ lives and instruction, research on teachers’ emotions has not paid much attention on teachers’ state emotions in the context of daily teaching. Significant portion of literature has described teachers’ emotions by foregrounding trait emotions through deductive methodological approaches. This paper explored elementary teachers’ state and trait (...) emotions while preparing for teaching and during teaching, reasons that underlie these emotions, and the relationship between their emotions and the quality of their mathematics instruction. Participants were seven elementary teachers working in the U.S. who participated in Holistic Individualized Coaching (HIC) professional development that consisted of 5 cycles of coaching over an year. For each coaching cycle pre-coaching conversation and post-coaching conversation data were collected regarding state emotions teachers felt in anticipation of teaching and during teaching retrospectively. Also, teachers responded adapted Teaching Emotion Scale (TES) that was aimed to measure trait emotions. In order to compare teachers’ emotions with instructional quality, coaching session were video recorded and analyzed to determine the quality of instruction. Findings of this study showed that teachers reported 6 categories of emotions (positive, negative, neutral, mixed-positive, mixed-negative, and mixed-complex), and often in non-typical ways (e.g., “not nervous”, “anxious but in a positive way”), and mixed emotions were the most dominant category. Also, teachers had more positive emotions anticipating teaching, than actually teaching the lesson, and there was no noticeable change of emotions across the 5 coaching cycles. The reason teachers felt mixed emotions reflected complex and context-specific nature of teaching, which was not articulated in the literature. There were no clear relationships between emotional experiences and instructional quality. This study allowed participants to freely describe their authentic, complex, overlapping, and ambiguous emotions in the context of active teaching, which contributes opening up the possibilities of diversifying teacher emotion research and shows the significance and usefulness of understanding teachers’ state emotions. (shrink)

Research in the field of Chinese as a foreign language education has been increasing in the past decades. However, the number of studies on CFL teacher identity is limited. To bridge the gap, this study employed a qualitative method to explore Chinese CFL teachers’ identity formation and reformation in Australian contexts. A Chinese-Australian language program was studied to examine the challenges, struggles and developments of Chinese CFL teachers who came to Australia to pursue professional growth. Five Master’s theses (...) and three interview participants were included to paint a picture of how Chinese CFL teachers interact internally and externally with a new environment. Guided by Mead’s theory of self and other, we found that Chinese CFL teachers’ identity formation and reformation in Australian classrooms are deeply influenced by their self-identification and their integration with others in the community. Cultural connectedness is a key for organizational attitudes in the relationship of self and other. Chinese CFL teachers were found lacking the wholeness of self in Australian contexts, which led to obstacles in teacher identity construction. Insufficient communication between self and other resulted in their positioning crisis. (shrink)

The task of teaching students how to think well rests formally with schools and the classroom teachers who work within them. The education system has a responsibility to fulfil the need for relevance in the school curriculum. A corollary is that the teaching profession, through collective efforts, needs to transform the ways in which curriculum and teaching are conceived. This is not to say that teachers cannot or should not work with existing curriculum, but rather that we need to reconceptualise (...) the ways in which we approach curriculum, teaching and learning. Professional development for teachers to teach philosophically needs to move away from an in-service model that relies on ‘skilling-up’ to one of an ‘apprenticeship’ in self-correction which allows teachers to help themselves. Teachers, as professionals, need to keep abreast of new ideas and insights; to extend their professional development to joining professional associations, attending and presenting at conferences, undertaking further study, and engaging in ‘collaborative negotiation’ with universities, consultants, teacher educators, professional bodies, and in-service providers in the development of deliberative and reflective capabilities, pedagogical practices, and classroom materials as ways of assessing their own philosophical progress. (shrink)

Musical performance is a multimodal experience, for performers and listeners alike. This paper reports on a pilot study which constitutes the first step toward a comprehensive approach to the experience of music as performed. We aim at bridging the gap between qualitative and quantitative approaches, by combining methods for data collection. The purpose is to build a data corpus containing multimodal measures linked to high-level subjective observations. This will allow for a systematic inclusion of the knowledge of music (...) professionals in an analytic framework, which synthesizes methods across established research disciplines. We outline the methods we are currently developing for the creation of a multimodal data corpus dedicated to the analysis and exploration of instrumental music performance from the perspective of embodied music cognition. This will enable the study of the multiple facets of instrumental music performance in great detail, as well as lead to the development of music creation techniques that take advantage of the cross-modal relationships and higher-level qualities emerging from the analysis of this multi-layered, multimodal corpus. The results of the pilot project suggest that qualitative analysis through stimulated recall is an efficient method for generating higher-level understandings of musical performance. Furthermore, the results indicate several directions for further development, regarding observational movement analysis, and computational analysis of coarticulation, chunking, and movement qualities in musical performance. We argue that the development of methods for combining qualitative and quantitative data are required to fully understand expressive musical performance, especially in a broader scenario in which arts, humanities, and science are increasingly entangled. The future work in the project will therefore entail an increasingly multimodal analysis, aiming to become as holistic as is music in performance. (shrink)