Parents and professionals working together: turning the rhetoric into reality     

Gillian Morrow  Nigel Malin 《Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development》2004,24(2):163-177

Parental involvement and participation, partnership with parents, and community‐focused development are important features of government initiatives such as the Sure Start project for children under four years of age and their families. A common feature of the rhetoric is ‘empowerment’ as a means of achieving this. This article describes the activity and development of the Parents Committee in one Sure Start programme and uses this to tease out different dimensions of empowerment. In particular, it highlights issues regarding developing empowerment and the dynamic tension between the growth of personal power and the changing symmetry of power relationships. A tentative model of the trajectory of developing empowerment is presented. This may raise challenges for professionals seeking to fulfill their professional role in a complex context and questions as to whether, or how, it might be possible to better prepare professionals for this dimension of their work.  相似文献   

The related effects of item characteristics in measures of epistemological beliefs     

Kathryn J. Pope  Gillian A. Mooney 《Africa Education Review》2016,13(2):1-16

Personal epistemology is concerned with people’s beliefs or assumptions about the nature of knowledge and knowing. Whilst contributions in this field can be traced back to the 1970s, fundamental questions about the ontology and epistemology of the construct still remain. The current study explored the effects of three characteristics of questions aimed at eliciting epistemological assumptions on our interpretations of an individual’s assumptions, namely the level of directness with which questions targeted assumptions, the domainspecificity of the question, and whether the questions were open or closed-ended. A paper-and-pencil measure was designed to manipulate these variables, and the interpretations made about the assumptions of 35 postgraduate Psychology students were compared. The results suggested that the characteristics do exert an influence and caution is raised regarding the validity of methodologies that are used in the study of personal epistemology.  相似文献   

Increased Implementation of Emergent Literacy Screening in Pre-Kindergarten     

Marcia Invernizzi  Timothy J. Landrum  Avery Teichman  Monika Townsend 《Early Childhood Education Journal》2010,37(6):437-446

The recent emphasis on universal prekindergarten programs, coupled with ongoing concern about children’s’ early literacy development in the first years of school, carry significant implications for how preschool educators program for literacy and assess literacy growth. We discuss the evolving role of literacy development in expanded preschool, examine key features of literacy assessments with particular attention to the content that might be assessed in preschool, and provide as an example one preschool literacy assessment tool that is in widespread use in the United States. We discuss the policy and practice implications of the growing emphasis on literacy assessment in preschoolers.  相似文献   

An Analysis of Knowledge Structure, Diversity and Diagnostic Abilities Among Pre-Service Science Teachers Within the Domain of Oxidation and Reduction Chemistry     

Paul J. Bischoff  Leanne Avery  Constance Feldt Golden  Paul French 《Journal of Science Teacher Education》2010,21(4):411-429

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of preservice science teachers’ knowledge structures in the domain of oxidation and reduction chemistry. Knowledge structures were elicited through video-recorded semi-structured interviews before and after the unit of instruction, and analyzed using a visual flow map representation. Paralleling these interviews, the preservice teachers were tasked with diagnosing middle school students’ scientific understandings. Data analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively showed large variation in knowledge structure complexity across the preservice teachers, strong correlations between measures of knowledge structure and diversity (as defined by the Shannon Wiener diversity index), and the development of more balanced knowledge structure representations. For most preservice teachers, their diagnostic scores of the middle school students showed a small increase.  相似文献   

Philosophy with children,self-regulation and engaged participation for children with emotional-behavioural and social communication needs     

Claire Cassidy  Helen Marwick  Lynn Deeney  Gillian McLean 《Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties》2018,23(1):81-96

This study examined the effectiveness of Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) as an inclusive pedagogical approach by which to support the communicative interaction and opportunities for collaborative dialogue for children with social, emotional and behavioural needs in two mainstream classes. There is currently no empirical work that considers children with these particular needs participating in practical philosophy, particularly in CoPI. Two groups of children, aged between nine and twelve, engaged in CoPI over a period of 10 weeks. The philosophy sessions were conducted as part of the regular class work. The results show that the children were able to engage in collaborative, philosophical dialogue with their peers without being any more disruptive than their classmates. The findings of this study lead to the assertion that it is the structure of CoPI that supported the children’s engaged participation and self-regulation and that this might usefully be considered in creating classroom activities for all children.  相似文献   

DEVELOPING CREATIVE PRODUCTIVITY IN THE “STREETWISE” DISADVANTAGED GIFTED CHILD: THE THIRD WORLD CHALLENGE     

Gillian I. Eriksson 《High Ability Studies》1993,4(1):86-94

This paper presents an insight into the productive abilities of the disadvantaged gifted child that forms the foundation for a transition curriculum. A model for maximizing the inner and outer world of the child is presented, integrated into this transition from “streetwise” abilities which are contextually relevant. Despite political turmoil, the Third World challenge is to provide a curriculum to develop both a positive self and a constructive view of the future. Programmes in action for disadvantaged children in South Africa are reviewed.  相似文献   

Beyond the doorstep. Arabian (k)nights and personal nightmares: a working life in Oman     

Gillian Plummer Corresponding author 《Changing English: An International Journal of English Teaching》2005,12(1):63-72

Working in a country where the work culture is unknown to you—Oman in the Middle East—you are faced with yourself. What you need is a profound knowledge of the cultural, social and educational surroundings you are working in, which I did not have. Coming from a working‐class background, I was not unfamiliar with adjusting to cultural differences, but here I was the ‘advantaged’. I was the ‘expert’, with western knowledge: highly valued by some, feared by others. Living up to your expert role in unknown territory is a daunting process, as this article highlights.  相似文献   

Lesson study for accessible science: Building expertise to improve practice in inclusive science classrooms     

Karen Mutch‐Jones  Gillian Puttick  Daphne Minner 《科学教学研究杂志》2012,49(8):1012-1034

The Lesson Study for Accessible Science (LSAS) project created middle school teams comprised of both science and special education teachers who engaged in collaborative work to improve instruction in inclusive classrooms. The intervention is based on Lesson Study, a professional development approach that originated in Japan, which supports the systematic examination of practice and student understanding. Using an experimental design, teams of teachers were randomly assigned to the LSAS intervention or to a wait‐list comparison group. The results of this study suggest that science and special educators in the LSAS intervention were able to generate more accommodations for students with learning disabilities, and they increased their ability to set an instructional context and adapt an instructional plan to meet science learning goals for all students in an inclusive classroom. They did not, however, show significant increases in their knowledge of science content or learning disabilities. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1012–1034, 2012  相似文献   

Capturing essential understandings of the urban science learning environment     

Gillian U. Bayne 《Learning Environments Research》2012,15(2):231-250

This research is distinctive in that a mixed-methods approach, employing both cogenerative dialogues and student responses from the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), was used to help to understand 9th grade urban students?? experiences in their biochemistry class in New York City. Factor analyses of student responses demonstrated that empirically there were four robust scales rather than five. Qualitative analyses, using cogenerative dialogues and informal interviewing, demonstrated that more adaptable forms of teaching, learning and assessing could support a variety of students. Shared with students, the contents of the CLES and cogenerative dialogues created opportunities for understanding ontologies and helped to create, access and appropriate resources that assist in bringing about success in the science classroom.  相似文献   

EVALUATION OF A TRUANCY DIVERSION PROGRAM AT NINE AT‐RISK MIDDLE SCHOOLS     

Courtney M. Haight  Gillian V. Chapman  Marisa Hendron  Rachel Loftis  Christopher A. Kearney 《Psychology in the schools》2014,51(7):779-787

Many schools are faced with the prospect of soaring absenteeism rates, despite the use of traditional truancy courts and other legal interventions. A recent trend in the literature has been to explore alternative, hybrid, and multidisciplinary approaches to address the underlying obstacles to school attendance. These programs are often integrated into schools to reduce stigma and transportation burdens on families. The present study involved an evaluation of a truancy diversion program in nine at‐risk middle schools in an ethnically diverse sample. Graduates from the program demonstrated significant declines in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. In addition, participants and their parents expressed high levels of perceived improvement in academic performance. Academic tutoring was found to differentiate program graduates from nongraduates. Results are preliminary but discussed within the context of the role of school attachment in truancy diversion programs.  相似文献