Facilitating a culture of relational trust in school-based action research: recognising the role of middle leaders     

Christine Edwards-Groves  Peter Grootenboer  Karin Ronnerman 《Educational Action Research》2016,24(3):369-386

Abstract

Practices such as formal focused professional dialogue groups, coaching conversations, mentoring conversations and professional learning staff meetings have been taken up in schools and pre-schools as part of long-term action research and development activities to improve the learning and teaching practices. The development of relational trust has long been described in the literature as pivotal for the ongoing ‘success’ of such research and development in sites. In this article, we attempt to re-characterise relational trust as it is accounted for by participants in action research. We present data from a cross-nation study of middle leaders from Australian primary schools and Swedish pre-schools. Middle leaders are those teachers who ‘lead across’; they have both an acknowledged position of leadership or responsibility for the practice development of colleagues and a significant teaching role. The larger study examined the practices of middle leaders; and in this article we draw on interview data from one of the case-study sites that illustrate how colleagues in schools recognise the role middle leaders have for facilitating action research and teaching development. This article specifically presents excerpts from semi-structured interviews with 25 teachers, three principals, three executive teachers and three district consultants. Interviewees described how nourishing a culture of relational trust and mutual respect are critical features in the change endeavour. For them, the practices of the middle leader who facilitated the action research were instrumental in developing trust for teacher development. Analysis of participant accounts revealed five dimensions of trust: interpersonal trust, interactional trust, intersubjective trust, intellectual trust, and pragmatic trust.  相似文献   

Attachment Patterns at Age Six in South Germany: Predictability from Infancy and Implications for Preschool Behavior     

Ulrike G. Wartner  Karin Grossmann  Elisabeth Fremmer-Bombik  Gerhard Suess 《Child development》1994,65(4):1014-1027

A cross-cultural replication of concordance between attachment patterns to mother in infancy and patterns of reunion responses to mother at age 6 was tested for 40 children in Regensburg, South Germany. Concordance between the 4 types of attachment status (A, B, C, D) in infancy and at age 6 was 82%. When observed in preschool at age 5, children classified securely attached (B) at age 6 were more competent in their play quality and conflict resolution, showed fewer behavior problems, and attributed less hostility in a social perception picture test compared to the insecurely attached (A, D) children. Children classified disorganized (D) at age 6 were found almost as often in the incompetent preschool behavior groups as the avoidantly attached (A) children, independent of best-fitting alternative attachment pattern. Thus, disorganization at age 6 may be considered as an insecure attachment.  相似文献   

“What’s in it for Me?” A Study on Students’ Accommodation or Resistance during Group Work     

Karin Forslund Frykedal  Marcus Samuelsson 《Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research》2016,60(5):500-514

This article explores students’ accommodation and resistance while participating in group work. The data collected are from fieldwork observations in several classrooms over the course of four terms in different secondary school classes in Sweden, and also from interviews with the students. Through this data analysis, we report that the students accommodated for such reasons as amusement, compliance, fulfilling expectations, and striving for high marks. The reasons for students’ resistance were blending, inability, stage fright, and vagueness. Macro-sociological concepts from Ziehe's cultural theory were used to capture explanations for students’ behaviour in order to understand why students, on a micro-sociological level, accommodate or resist when using group work as a learning mode. On the basis of results, three models of interpretation were developed, namely, individual, institutional, and structural.  相似文献   

Computer Conferencing: An Environment for Collaborative Project-Based Learning in Distance Education     

Robert M. Bernard  Karin Lundgren-Cayrol 《Educational Research and Evaluation》2013,19(2-3):241-261

In this experimental study two independent variables were manipulated. Each was associated with online collaborative learning in a distance education context. One of these (group formation strategy) addresses one of the early decisions that must be made in forming groups for collaborative project work. The second (levels of tutor intervention) relates to the on-going process of group management in a computer-mediated environment. An additional independent variable (type of collaborative project) served as a within-group factor in the design. Two measures of individual achievement (final exam scores and idea units) and a measure of group dynamics served as dependent variables. Prior academic achievement (current grade point average) served as a covariate in the analysis of the achievement data. There were no differences across the two types of projects, but two slightly different interaction patterns emerged from the analysis of the achievement data. In general, however, these results favored the random assignment of students to collaborative groups (as contrasted with allowing students to pick their own partners) and the introduction of low tutor intervention during the course of project work. Two main effects emerged from an analysis of the group dynamics data, one of which supports the random assignment strategy. Because of these findings, it is difficult to suggest a totally unambiguous strategy for formulating and managing online collaborative project work. However, some tentative suggestions are advanced. Some guidelines for online collaborative learning are provided.  相似文献   

Mediating terrorism: text and protest in interpretations of The Siege     

Karin Wilkins  John Downing 《Critical Studies in Media Communication》2013,30(4):419-437

In this study we focus on the film The Siege (1998), as an illustration of how mediated representations of terrorism serve as a vehicle for Orientalist discourse. This text serves as a specific location of struggle and negotiation over interpretations of media characterizations of Arabs, Arab Americans, Muslims, and Islam. First, we focus on how the film represents these communities and the religion textually. Second, we consider news discourse offering critiques of the film by protesting organizations, and the defenses articulated by some of the film's makers. Third, we explore the interpretations of young U.S. viewers as they resonate with competing facets of the text and with public perspectives. Despite the varied possibilities within the text, these interpretations privileged rather than challenged an underlying Orientalist ideology. Still, news media did acknowledge the contestation of dominant discourse, a potential step toward improved portrayals.  相似文献   

Reciprocal Effects between Reading Achievement and Intrinsic and Extrinsic Reading Motivation     

Karin Hebbecker  Natalie Förster  Elmar Souvignier 《Scientific Studies of Reading》2013,17(5):419-436

ABSTRACT

Research on reading achievement and reading motivation has rarely addressed the question if and how they affect each other over time. In our study, we investigate the reciprocal effects between reading achievement and both intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation during elementary school. We measured reading achievement and intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation in 966 students at 3 points of measurement during 3rd and 4th grade. Consistent with previous research, cross-lagged panel analyses revealed positive reciprocal effects between reading achievement and intrinsic reading motivation. Effects of reading achievement on intrinsic reading motivation were found during Grades 3 and 4, whereas effects of intrinsic motivation were limited to Grade 3. No reciprocal effects between reading achievement and extrinsic reading motivation were found. We discuss the implications of our results for daily teaching practices and effective reading instruction.  相似文献   

Combined metabolic gas analyser and dGPS analysis of performance in cross-country skiing     

Peter Larsson  Karin Henriksson-Larsén 《Journal of sports sciences》2013,31(8):861-870

The purpose of this study was to provide a more detailed analysis of performance in cross-country skiing by combining findings from a differential global positioning system (dGPS), metabolic gas measurements, speed in different sections of a ski-course and treadmill threshold data. Ten male skiers participated in a freestyle skiing field test (5.6?km), which was performed with dGPS and metabolic gas measurements. A treadmill running threshold test was also performed and the following parameters were derived: anaerobic threshold, threshold of decompensated metabolic acidosis, respiratory exchange ratio = 1, onset of blood lactate accumulation and peak oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O_2peak). The combined dGPS and metabolic gas measurements made detailed analysis of performance possible. The strongest correlations between the treadmill data and final skiing field test time were for [Vdot]O_2peak (l?·?min^?1), respiratory exchange ratio = 1 (l?·?min^?1) and onset of blood lactate accumulation (l?·?min^?1) (r = ?0.644 to ??0.750). However, all treadmill test data displayed stronger associations with speed in different stretches of the course than with final time, which stresses the value of a detailed analysis of performance in cross-country skiing. Mean oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O₂) in a particular stretch in relation to speed in the same stretch displayed its strongest correlation coefficients in most stretches when [Vdot]O₂ was presented in units litres per minute, rather than when [Vdot]O₂ was normalized to body mass (ml?·?kg^?1?·?min^?1 and ml?·?min^?1?·?kg^?2/3). This suggests that heavy cross-country skiers have an advantage over their lighter counterparts. In one steep uphill stretch, however, [Vdot]O₂ (ml?·?min^?1?·?kg^?2/3) displayed the strongest association with speed, suggesting that in steep uphill sections light skiers could have an advantage over heavier skiers.  相似文献   

Do honors students have more potential for excellence in their professional lives?     

Karin Scager  Sanne F. Akkerman  Fried Keesen  M. Tim Mainhard  Albert Pilot  Theo Wubbels 《Higher Education》2012,64(1):19-39

Universities in many countries increasingly value talent, and do so by developing special honors programs for their top students. The selection process for these programs often relies on the students’ prior achievements in school. Research has shown, however, that school grades do not sufficiently predict academic success. According to Renzulli’s (1986) three-ring model, student characteristics relating to intelligence, motivation and creativity are the most important predictors of excellent achievements in professional life. In this paper, we will investigate whether honors students differ from non-honors students in terms of these characteristics. By means of a questionnaire, more than 1,100 honors and non-honors students at Utrecht University were asked to assess themselves on six characteristics: intelligence, creative thinking, openness to experience, the desire to learn, persistence, and the drive to excel. The results showed that the honors students differed significantly from the non-honors students in terms of the combined variables as well as for the separate variables, with the exception of ‘persistence’. The strongest distinguishing factors between honors and non-honors students appeared to be the desire to learn, the drive to excel and creativity, whilst there was little difference in terms of intelligence and persistence. However, the profiles of these differences varied according to the study program. While Law and Humanities honors students differed from their non-honors peers in terms of their drive to excel, Physics honors students were primarily more eager to learn than their non-honors peers, while the LA&S honors students scored higher on creative thinking than non-honors students.  相似文献   

Opportunities for and obstacles to science in preschools: views from a community perspective     

Bodil Sundberg  Sofie Areljung  Karin Due  Kenneth Ekström  Christina Ottander  Britt Tellgren 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(17):2061-2077

ABSTRACT

In this study, Activity Theory (AT) is used to analyse general patterns for how cultural and historical factors interact with the shaping of science activities in preschools. Data was produced from field notes, video observations, video stimulated recall group discussions and individual interviews with preschool teachers at fourteen preschool units, where science activities were described as a common feature of the practice. Two factors were found to be particularly important for how and whether science learning opportunities were afforded the children: the structure of the preschool community and the type of educational culture within it. In communities characterised by weak mutual commitment and without joint understanding of the purpose of the activities, the science learning objects of the activity often became fragmented and thereby elusive. This was also true for strong communities, with a shared approach and a joint understanding of the purpose of the science activities, but with educational cultures where science learning was not actively supported. In contrast, a strong community combined with an educational culture that allowed teachers to lead and intentionally frame the science content, offered child-centred science activities with clear science learning objects.  相似文献   

Drawings as Representations of Children's Conceptions     

Karin Ehrlén 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(1):41-57

Drawings are often used to obtain an idea of children's conceptions. Doing so takes for granted an unambiguous relation between conceptions and their representations in drawings. This study was undertaken to gain knowledge of the relation between children's conceptions and their representation of these conceptions in drawings. A theory of contextualization was the basis for finding out how children related their contextualization of conceptions in conceptual frameworks to their contextualization of drawings in pictorial convention. Eighteen children were interviewed in a semi‐structured method while they were drawing the Earth. Audio‐recorded interviews, drawings, and notes were analysed to find the cognitive and cultural intentions behind the drawings. Also, even children who demonstrated alternative conceptions of the Earth in the interviews still followed cultural conventions in their drawings. Thus, these alternative conceptions could not be deduced from the drawings. The results indicate that children's drawings can be used to grasp children's conceptions only by considering the meaning the children themselves give to their own drawings.  相似文献