The Child Labor Amendment in the Social Studies Class

As part of a geography-based minority recruiting program (MRP), teachers were asked to serve as mentors for teams of high school students interested in both postsecondary education and geography as a major discipline or career path. The goal was to determine whether teacher participation in MRP programs was an effective tool to mentor underrepresented populations in geography. One component of the program evaluation examined the impact of teacher participation in a MRP by analyzing participating teachers’ classroom strategies and students’ performance in the school year following the summer program. Teachers were surveyed and participated in follow-up interviews during the school year following their participation in the MRP to determine the effects of the program's professional development components. The research hoped to reveal: (a) the participant-teachers’ function and role as mentors for students and the changes of participant-teachers’ behaviors, and (b) how any changes in their classrooms have affected their students’ understanding of geography. Data collection, reduction and analysis followed a grounded-theory approach to qualitative research. The research confirmed that participants leave professional development with an increased enthusiasm for and a better understanding of geography that they shared with their colleagues and students. Furthermore, teachers reported overcoming campus and district barriers in order to implement strategies and technologies provided during the MRP. More promising findings validate the prevailing thought that the positive energy of the MRP continues to reach into the classrooms in the following years. By understanding the impacts of professional development on participating teachers, the discipline may better recruit and retain high-achieving minority students.     

Changes in professional vision in the context of practice

In initial teacher education, it is a challenge to foster the development of teaching skills proximal to classroom action. In this study, the impact of a combined practical and theoretical university-based term on preservice teachers’ professional vision is investigated by a video-based approach to supervising their knowledge acquisition and assessing their learning outcomes. Participants were N = 109 preservice teachers attending a 5-month theory practice term guided through video-based courses about effective teaching and learning. We measured their changes in professional vision using the video-based tool Observer. Our results show that preservice teachers positively change their professional vision during the theory practice term, especially if they show low entry levels at the beginning. Their notes on the observed teaching lessons illustrate these changes.     

Variables affecting teachers’ intentions to include students with disabilities in regular primary schools in Bangladesh

This paper presents an overview of a study conducted to examine the influence of teacher attitudes, teacher efficacy and perceived school support on teachers’ intentions to include students with disabilities in government primary schools in a region of Bangladesh. All of the variables were conceptualized within the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The participants in the study were 1387 in-service teachers drawn from government primary schools located in urban, semi-urban and rural sectors of Dhaka. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that all three Theory of Planned Behaviour variables (teacher attitudes, teacher efficacy and perceived school support) explained 40% of the variance in teachers’ intentions to include students with a disability in regular classrooms. This paper describes the process for conceptualizing the variables, discusses the methodology and presents the outcomes concluding with implications for educational policy reform and practices in Bangladesh. Areas for further research are also identified.     

Immigrant students and their teachers – exploring various constellations of acculturation orientations and their impact on school adjustment

ABSTRACT

The present study examined what impact various constellations of acculturation orientations of immigrant students and their teachers have on the students’ school adjustment. For this purpose, the study analysed the acculturation orientations of 1106 5th graders and their class teachers in Switzerland. Using multiple regression analysis, we found that immigrant students were more satisfied at school if their teachers had similar attitudes about cultural assimilation and cultural diversity and could, thus, be said to have congruent acculturation orientations. With respect to students’ academic self-concept, immigrant students with a minority orientation whose teachers value cultural diversity including the heritage culture of their students showed a lower academic self-concept despite matching acculturation orientations. We interpret this result as a dilemma of teachers between the endeavour to develop culturally sensitive attitudes and behaviours and the risk to create stereotype threat and its negative effects through addressing cultural differences. Furthermore, a mismatch between the students’ (bi-)national identification at school and the teacher’s perception of the student as an immigrant or a native-born student could be shown to have adverse effects on the academic self-concept in the group of students with older teachers (50+ years).     

COMPETITION AND TEACHER PAY

Competition‐based school reform could have a significant impact on teacher earnings. If school districts behave as typical oligopsonists, then increased competition could lead to higher salaries. However, if teachers receive a share of the economic rents generated by the monopoly power of school districts, then increased competition could lower teacher salaries. This study uses panel data from 670 Texas school districts and more than 335,000 teachers to examine the relationship between school competition and teacher pay. The analysis suggests that an increase in competition results in higher wages for most teachers but lower wages for teachers in relatively concentrated markets. (JEL I2, J3)     

Elementary Preservice Teachers’ and Teacher Educators’ Perceptions of Financial Literacy Education

The authors conducted an online survey of elementary teacher education programs within a large midwestern state to assess preservice teachers’ and teacher educators’ beliefs about and preparedness to teach financial literacy. Very few preservice teachers had meaningful experiences with personal finance in high school, college, or personal decision making. No teacher educators reported ever teaching financial literacy in their higher education roles. Only 13% of teacher educators and 25% of preservice teachers thought that it was very important to teach financial literacy in elementary education. Most teacher education faculty and preservice teachers reported that they were not well qualified to use state economics standards or the JumpStart standards for financial literacy. Preservice teachers were more confident in meeting financial literacy standards than teacher educators. Both preservice teachers and teacher educators expressed openness to collaborating with other faculty members, members of the financial service industry, and parents to teach financial literacy. Follow-up phone interviews affirmed that elementary preservice teachers and teacher educators value social studies education (and financial literacy) less than reading and mathematics education. Qualitative results also suggest that elementary preservice teachers and teacher educators would like more easily accessible resources for teaching financial literacy.     

The Social Studies Curriculum at West Point

This article illustrates the challenges of teaching curriculum within the guidelines of No Child Left Behind. Nine school teachers write and speak about their experiences, what influences their curriculum choices, and how they attempt to incorporate social studies in the elementary classroom. The teachers completed a background survey, wrote about their experiences, and talked about what they went through during a focus group discussion. Teachers believed that accountability measures taken at their schools had affected the amount of instructional time dedicated to social studies and that students’ access to civic knowledge and participatory education have been diminished along with the resources and professional development necessary to teach the subject competently.     

Exploring new ways of inservice teacher education: an action research project

The starting point of the paper is that there is a need to develop new ways of in service teacher education and to examine the nature of the university ‐ school partnerships in school development. In service teacher education needs to be participatory, based on a long‐term commitment to work together, moving from traditional teacher isolation towards a new, collaborative school culture. An essential idea in school development is that teachers take charge of curriculum development through an action research orientation. The process can be facilitated by university researchers in a relationship that is based on an equal status of the participants and mutual trust. These possibilities are explored in the OK school development project (1994‐98), conducted in collaboration with the University of Tampere and six schools in the Tampere region. The paper discusses the design of the project with reference to supporting the teacher's professional development towards interactive professionalism.     

'They are not like us and neither should they be': issues of teacher identity for teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties

This article analyses notions of teacher identity for a group of teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Teacher identity is analysed from the perspective of the role it plays in supporting the teachers' ideas of being separate and different from their teaching colleagues in mainstream education. For some of the teachers this is manifested in an identity to a cause, which is deep rooted and complex. It is argued that teacher educators need to be aware of the potential influence of teacher identity when planning and delivering initial teacher training and continued professional development. This is particularly pertinent in a context of supporting greater shared professional identity between teachers who work in segregated and mainstream contexts. It is also argued that the development of the discourses of inclusion needs to take account of the complexities of these issues. Whilst engaged in a doctoral research project exploring teachers' views of how pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities learn, issues of teacher identity emerged as an important element in the teachers' discussions about their work. This article focuses upon these issues, particularly in relation to professional development and a changing school culture that explicitly expects greater inclusive practice. It appears that the discourse relating to identity is about continua, tensions and boundaries that continually interplay. In my own developing understanding of issues of identity, I found the sociological paradigm helpful in offering an appreciation of identity that acknowledges the interplay between the individual and society. Notions of social identity, embracement and distancing offer a conceptual framework for appreciating the teachers' views in this study. Bakehurst and Sypnowich (1995) discuss the synergy of individual and societal influences on the development of identity: 'We are participants in our own construction and exercise some autonomy in the face of the forces of socialization. But conversely, the human mind is not just shaped by society, it is made by society' (Bakehurst and Sypnowich, 1995, p. 5, italics my addition). Jenkins (1996) suggests that changing understandings of identities coupled with changes and developments in society have created a tension and mismatch of identities in a social context:

The popular concern about identity is, in the large part perhaps, a reflection of the uncertainty produced by rapid change and cultural contact: our social maps no longer fit our social landscapes. (Jenkins, 1996, p. 9)

     

Southward migration season: new Arab teachers from north move to southern Israel1

This study addresses intercultural differences among novice teachers (K-12) who graduated Arab academic teachers’ colleges and lived in northern and central Israel before moving south to teach in Israel’s Bedouin diaspora. The source material consists of stories they entered in a contest, describing the personal and professional aspects of their experiences. These stories are assumed to represent a type of information that reflects human awareness, highlighting the professional elements concerning all new teachers. Content analysis revealed the principal theme of the stories, namely the three stages of coping with the move from north to south: seeking and finding a job; starting work as a teacher and encountering the realities of a different place; and retrospection at the end of the first year. These three stages are assessed in the encounter with disparity over time from: a personal perspective – leaving one’s home and family, encounter with a different landscape and culture, isolation and feelings of both satisfaction and frustration on returning home; and a professional perspective – encounter with the educational environment and cultural-professional disparities. Assessment of the processes involved in teachers’ southward migration may facilitate teacher intake in the educational system.     

Preservice Teachers’ Sources of Information on Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse

Teachers in many countries are mandated by law, professional codes, or education authorities to report child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. However, teachers may not receive adequate preparation for such sensitive interventions, as preservice teacher education degrees provide very few or no compulsory courses on child protection and crucially related, lifelong health and well-being issues. So, where do preservice teachers source their information regarding the mandatory reporting of such abuse? This research examines preservice teachers’ professional university education for their sources of information about mandatory reporting and child sexual abuse. A sample cohort of 56 final 4th-year university bachelor of education (primary school) student teachers in Australia identified the sources they used regarding 10 important aspects of child protection. The results suggest that most did not learn about mandatory reporting or child sexual abuse, and others cited sparse and sporadic public media as their primary information source. These findings, building on previous evidence about inadequate or nonexistent preservice mandatory intervention courses in primary teacher education, may guide the design of appropriate training responses enhancing educational professionals’ knowledge, competencies, skills, and efficacies as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse.     

Patterns of sociolinguistic variation in teacher classroom speech

This study investigates sociolinguistic variation in teacher classroom speech. Based on a spoken‐French corpus produced by 59 teachers while teaching secondary school students (aged approximately 14–17 years) in four Ontario localities, it examines five cases of variant alternations. First, the study uses two comparative corpora to establish the social marking of the variants in the wider community. Second, it examines the teachers’ repertoire and frequency of use of variants in light of their social markedness. The study shows that the teachers use the standard variants at rates above even those found in the speech of the highest social strata within the wider community. Despite this normalizing impact of the classroom, the teachers also use all the non‐standard variants found in the wider community. Further, the study examines the impact on the teachers’ variant choice exerted by their socio‐professional characteristics and the communicative functions they perform in the classroom. It shows that the teachers’ use of variants is influenced by their gender, the subject taught, and the communicative functions performed in the classroom in ways that are in line with the social markedness of the variants in the wider community.     

Children's rights in schools: what do teachers know?

The human rights of children are fundamental international human rights that protect all children against abuse by adults and caregivers as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This study examines teachers' and teacher trainees' knowledge of children's rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations General Assembly, 1989), the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations (Statutory Instrument 65 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 1992) and the Secretary of Education and Culture Circular P35 of 3 May 1993 on the administration of corporal punishment by teachers in Zimbabwean primary schools. Data were collected using the Teacher and the Teacher Trainees Questionnaires on 300 primary school teachers and 150 teacher trainees, respectively, in Masvingo Province. Teacher trainees used in this study were attached to experienced primary school teachers during their teaching practice. The study found that the majority of teachers (76.3%) were exposed to the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations during their teacher education training. On the other hand, the majority of teacher trainees (60.0%) were not exposed to these Regulations during their training. The Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations are used to charge teachers who violate children's rights within the school. The majority of teachers (59.3%) feel they are useful, while the majority of teacher trainees (60.0%) feel they are outdated and need to be changed. On the other hand, the majority of teacher trainees (55.3%) indicated that they were exposed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child or the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49, 1990), while the majority of teachers (56.7%) were not exposed to either of these during their teacher education training. The study also found that the majority of teacher trainees (63.3%) were not exposed to the Secretary of Education and Culture Circular P35 on corporal punishment by teachers within schools during their teaching practice. It is clear from the ?ndings that the teacher education curriculum needs to be revised to take account of current trends and contemporary issues in education in the new millennium. Therefore, there is a need for the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture to conduct in‐service programmes for teachers who are not familiar with local and international laws concerning the protection of children against child abuse within the school. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Survival of the Fittest: Russian Immigrant Teachers Speak about Their Professional Adjustment in Israel

This qualitative study explores the determinants of occupational integration among recent immigrants whose profession is culturally and linguistically dependent. It compares personal accounts of 36 former Soviet school teachers of math and physics, of whom 20 succeeded in regaining their occupation in Israel and 16 left teaching for different reasons. Analysis of the interviews shows that, even in a society committed to the goal of professional integration of the immigrants, cultural barriers to successful work performance are rather high. Beyond instrumental skills to master (the Hebrew language and new curriculum), immigrant teachers have to adjust to the new school culture and student‐teacher relationship. They also have to face competition with their local colleagues, threatened by the influx of the better‐educated peers. The study points to a number of external conditions and personal characteristics that are conducive to successful adjustment to the new school system. The reported findings may be applicable to immigrant education workers in other national contexts.     

Complexity of change in ethnic tolerance following use of a Complex Instruction unit on the Holocaust in Latvia

Implementation of the first Complex Instruction (CI) based unit developed especially for Latvia focused on the Holocaust. It has provided an opportunity to examine issues of ethnic tolerance among Latvian high school students and teachers. Two independent studies were conducted by the first author to measure the impact of the unit. The first study compared the level of ethnic intolerance among students before and after participation in the CI-based unit activities. Results showed reduced prejudice among this group, but also a decrease within the control group. Analysis of these results pointed to the influence of the history teacher. This teacher taught both groups of students. During interviews, teachers indicated that they had changed as a result of participation in CI seminars and through the use of the CI unit. The teachers stated that they felt an increase in self-esteem, empathy and ethnic tolerance. The aim of the second study was to measure attitude change among a larger group of teachers before and after participation in CI training seminars. Results showed an increase in civic responsibility attitudes. Further analysis indicates that the degree of change is influenced by the amount of exposure to and experience with the new teaching methods.     

Professional Socialization as Embedded Elaborations: Experience,Institutions, and Professional Culture Throughout Teacher Careers

Across a wide range of studies on professional socialization, there is a shared assumption that people carry forward what they learn in formal training experiences and somehow bring it to bear on the subsequent organizational settings they enter. Yet we actually know very little about whether, and exactly how, people carry forward the meanings they develop as part of their professional socialization experience. We address this gap in the literature by examining professional socialization that unfolds over the teaching career. Combining interview data with public and private school teachers across career stages with ethnographic data of a university‐based teacher education program, we examine how the meanings people develop about their work are shaped concomitantly by accumulated experience and institutional settings. We develop a conceptualization of professional socialization that we call embedded elaborations, which attends to the ways that people's ongoing meaning making (or elaborations) is situated (or embedded) institutionally and temporally. We also show how embedded elaborations act as meaning‐making processes through which people in local settings actively produce and reproduce elements of a wider professional culture.     

“I am a Worker-Professional”: Teachers and their Classes in Puerto Rico

This article examines economic and cultural capital in the lives of public school teachers in Puerto Rico across the last half of the twentieth century to examine the processes through which their class relations have formed and reformed with shifts in Puerto Rican political and economic conditions from the early days of United States rule through neoliberal school reforms of the 1990s. It traces the historical development of the “teacher class” as a female-identified, poorly paid, professional workforce, and examines the impact of class and gender ideologies in this process.     

‘If you're a male primary teacher,there's a big “why are you doing that? What is wrong with you?”’ Gendered expectations of male primary teachers: The ‘double bind’

The underrepresentation of men in non-traditional fields of work is often attributed to essentialist gendered beliefs that associate such roles exclusively with women. This phenomenon is not limited to any specific country but is observed worldwide. Moreover, male teacher drop-out rates remain a consistent issue. This article examines the detrimental impact of gendered expectations of masculinity on male primary teachers through interviews conducted with both male and female teachers in the UK. It argues that men in this occupation face a ‘double bind,’ being judged for conforming to hegemonic masculine norms while also facing judgement for deviating from them. All male teachers interviewed expressed feeling the pressure of gendered expectations, which primarily stem from one central misconception fuelled by traditional conceptions of gender; that the occupation is unsuitable for men. As a result, men who enter the profession encounter challenges not only related to their gender but also their sexuality and their sense of professional identity as teachers. Addressing the damaging role of gender beliefs is crucial in promoting the numerical representation of men in the teaching profession.     

Making sense of collective identity and trauma through drawing: the case study of a Palestinian refugee student

Abstract

Identity construction can be very complex for refugee children, especially for Palestinian refugee children. For refugee children, organised violence and immigration are important parts of their life experience that can lead to trauma, which in turn influences how they construct their collective identity. Schools have to consider this specific experience as the development of a meaningful identity is an important factor in refugee students’ well-being and school adjustment. School-based activities centred on creative expression can help refugee students in expressing trauma and in making sense of their identity and migration experience. This paper presents the case study of a 9-year-old Palestinian refugee boy in Canada and explores how he expressed and made sense of his multiple identities in his drawings. Many features of the boy’s drawings evoked a wounded identity, especially spatial disorganisation and enmeshment. Data analysis revealed that the boy might have been experiencing collective identity trauma and that he used drawing and a peer as props to heal his wounded identity. Both drawing and the space offered by his teacher to safely explore and experiment with different identities contributed to the integration of his multiple identities into a meaningful whole, which contributed to his school adjustment.