Professional development laboratory: center for literacy and community services

We developed three Professional Development Laboratories: Centers for Literacy and Community Services that addressed four pressing needs in the current urban school crisis: the preparation of in-service teachers to be literacy specialists, the dire need for qualified teachers in urban settings, the professional development of uncertified urban teachers, and the literacy needs of the children and families these teachers serve. These centers were housed in three inner-city schools rather than at the university and thus were able to serve larger numbers of children. Since many of the teachers in these schools are novice or uncertified teachers, we offered on-site in-service courses in order to enhance their ability to help their students. By housing the Centers for Literacy and Community Services on site in the schools, we sought to reach students and families who might otherwise not be able to avail themselves of these services. Unique to this project was that our graduate literacy education students tutored students on site in schools, the university faculty worked alongside the graduate students, and both students and faculty provided services to enhance the professional development of teachers and administrators in the area of literacy. Additionally, this project was distinguished by the inclusion of a component designed to provide literacy education services to the families and caregivers of the children.     

Study of musculoskeletal risks of the office-based surgeries

Due to the cost and time benefits associated with patients and physicians, outpatient surgeries continue to become more and more popular over time. With the increase in the number of office-based surgical procedures, the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) associated with office-based surgeries has been reported. The purpose of this pilot study is to ergonomically evaluate the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of physicians/surgeons performing office-based surgery (OBS). Ergonomic assessment tools included Questionnaire, the BodyMap and the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment for measuring potential ergonomic concerns. The findings have shown that the ergonomic issues of greatest concerns were the discomforts in the neck, shoulders, arms/wrists, and back. Some additional comments were provided by the participants regarding the duration of discomfort or clarification on the frequency of their body discomfort. This study suggests that there is a considerable risk of musculoskeletal injuries of physicians/surgeons performing the OBS tasks. By properly using the ergonomic assessment techniques, valuable information on ergonomic OBS workplace design and selection could assist in the early interventions of WMSD prevention.     

Teaching Note—An Exploration of Team-Based Learning and Social Work Education: A Natural Fit

The literature on team-based learning (TBL) as a pedagogical methodology in social work education is limited; however, TBL, which was developed as a model for business, has been successfully used as a teaching methodology in nursing, business, engineering, medical school, and many other disciplines in academia. This project examines the use of TBL in a Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) class and how a convenience sample (n?=?44) of undergraduate students responds to this method of learning. The project addresses the implications for this pedagogical style as an innovative way for teaching the social work curriculum and preparing a future generation of social workers to be productive members of work-related and professional groups.     

Developing intercultural competence of teachers of English as a foreign language through an international project

This paper reports an international project which took place at Nicolaus Copernicus University, where students and teachers from four European universities met for a two-week summer school. The main objective was to develop intercultural competence of teachers of English as a foreign language and their ability to demonstrate this skill during an English lesson. The paper depicts the tools implemented in the project and shows how they affected the learning outcomes by presenting the students’ and teachers’ perspectives.     

Ein Ansatz zur Förderung von Reflexionskompetenz: Fallarbeit in 7 Schritten

This article describes a didactical model for higher education purposes focusing on the development of theory driven and self driven ‘case reflection competence’. We (Telse Iwers-Stelljes and Renate Luca) have developed this procedure in the last 6 years and formative evaluated it in different investigations. Starting point of this project were the actual results on studies of antinomical conditions of professional teachers and students in the classroom environment and the intention to find a humanistic psychologically-oriented access to handle them. In the following, we are going to describe 1) the theoretical foundations of our researches to explain the context of our model, 2) its methodical implementation and 3) a case reconstruction based on an example reflected by one of our students.     

Etherapy: A Training Program for Development of Clinical Skills in Distance Psychotherapy

ABSTRACT

This article describes a project by the Virtual Teaching and Cyberpsychology Laboratory of the National Autonomous University of Mexico developed to (1) implement a teaching program for clinical psychology students to learn therapeutic skills in providing online psychological services; (2) evaluate the students' acquisition of knowledge and skills in diagnosis via the Internet, case formulation of treatment, and adherence to treatment protocols; and (3) incorporate technologies for creating training settings and online professional services in order to develop the students' clinical competency in this treatment modality. A pilot study was conducted with 17 clinical psychology students in the first phase of the teaching program and 6 students during the second phase. Preliminary results indicate that students increased knowledge of Internet-based clinical interventions and improved in clinical skills. It is necessary to continue the evaluation of the teaching program with larger samples, and further research is suggested.     

He,she, it: gender bias in teacher–student interaction at university

Starting from an intercultural education framework, this paper examines whether students at two Zagreb universities perceive interactions with their teachers to be gender influenced. In the first part of the paper, we outline the context of the research and the two theoretical constructs which correspond to traditionally male and female teachers’ performances at university. In the second part of the paper, we present the results of the survey we conducted. The results show that the students recognized some aspects of gender bias in interaction with their teachers and that gendered cultures reflected in the dominantly female or male teachers’ performances were indeed present at the universities included in the survey.     

Physical and postural aspects of teachers during work activity

Studies indicate that teachers constitute a professional segment, in which the work characteristics and the demands originating from the act of teaching, favor the emergence of sickness, concerning physical or emotional aspects. The present work aimed to describe physical and postural aspects during the working activity of teachers. A total of 120 elementary school teachers (1st to 8th grade) took part in the survey. For data collection, a questionnaire was applied: it included personal and occupational information, perception of discomfort and being off work; physical strength activities; posture at work and physical conditioning activities. The average age of teachers of the present sample corresponds to 35,8 years. In relation to activities which generate more physical strength, the answer none of the activities was predominant with 30 answers; followed by writing on the board, standing up during the period of classes, explanation of the subjects, class elaboration, correction of homework and others. The area of the body with higher amount of occurrences and prevalent discomfort referred to the lower limbs and spinal cord. These data inform the necessity of investing in prevention programs for the teachers, in order to develop strategies into the organizational context and interventions at the work environment.     

School-Based Intergenerational Programs

Abstract

This paper focuses on experiences learned from being involved in the development of a sustainable school-based intergenerational program that simultaneously incorporated lifespan education into a Grade 2-3-4 curriculum. The program operated in an Australian primary school. A model was developed through this initiative that involved a tripartite collaborative partnership between school, university educators, and the primary school community (in particular its older adults). Older adult volunteers from the school's community were invited to teach students. Program monitoring consisted of contextual and observational analysis ensuring the program was sensitive to school culture and took account of participants' experiences. This monitoring process occurred throughout the planning, development, and implementation stages. Although school educators were always pressed for time, all participants actively contributed to the program. All of the educators saw purpose and worth in having the program. Ongoing support from teachers, the principal, and university personnel plus the provision of additional resources contributed to high student involvement and the overall success of the initiative. Having a school-based coordinator was found to be necessary, yet, for school educators, problematic because of constraints on their time. The findings from this project indicate that the older adult volunteers were enriched by their involvement in the program and able to provide meaningful learning experiences for students. As well, the study suggests that educators would be better prepared for implementing this area of learning opportunities if lifespan education were provided in their undergraduate and post-graduate courses as well as in professional development initiatives.     

Mismatch of school desks and chairs by ethnicity and grade level in middle school

The purpose of this article is to introduce the cross-disciplinary competency standards for work-related assessments, why they are needed and how they have been developed in New South Wales (NSW). Cross-disciplinary competency standards communicate the benchmarks for effective performance of work-related assessments. They outline what is expected of rehabilitation professionals, including the ability to apply and transfer competence across different conditions and workplace contexts. Outcomes in occupational rehabilitation are affected by the efficacy of the work-related assessments performed, which is dependent upon competent, clinical decision-making by rehabilitation professionals. However, in Australia, work-related assessment practice is not governed by universally accepted competency standards or by any competency-based training/education and assessment system. To enhance professional practice, WorkCover NSW has developed cross-disciplinary competency standards for work-related a ssessments. The competencies provide (i) quality standards for professional workplace training and development, (ii) benchmarks for assessing the competence of rehabilitation professionals, (iii) a framework for evidence-based practice, (iv) benchmarks for measuring service quality and (v) "real world" learning outcomes and assessment criteria for professional education programs.     

Multi-ethnic school environment from the school leader’s perspective: challenges and approaches to improve multi-cultural competency among teachers in Malaysia

This study aims to identify the challenges and approaches to improve a multicultural competency among teachers in multi-ethnic schools environment based on school leaders’ perspective. Data collection method used in this study is qualitative method. A total of nine school leaders from the states of Kedah, Penang, and Perak were included in the interview session. The results of this study show that the challenges faced by teachers in practicing the multicultural competency are lack of experience toward cultural diversity. A late exposure to cultural diversity makes it difficult for teachers to accept and adapt in a multi-ethnic school environment. The approaches suggested by school leaders to improve the multicultural competency are as follows: (1) Courses on cultural diversity should be organized to enhance the knowledge about cultural diversity; (2) the development of more open and better policy for education system in Malaysia in order to prepare teachers with a higher multicultural competency for teaching students from diverse ethnic and cultural groups; (3) an early exposure to cultural diversity in order to increase the multicultural competency, especially during teaching practicum.     

Social Studies in the Modern Era: A Case Study of Effective Teachers' Use of Literacy and Technology

The purpose of this research project was to highlight the practices and philosophies of two effective—but different—social studies teachers who balance the demands of teaching in the modern era while honoring their own philosophies for teaching social studies. This project was ground in the theoretical framework provided by TPACK and used a case study methodology for its research design. While the pedagogical content knowledge of the participants was strong and technology was used abundantly for instructional purposes, this research raised questions regarding how teachers can most effectively use technology to enhance instruction by helping students conceptualize content knowledge and apply their learning in new ways.     

Reflective Teaching in Social Work Education: Findings from a Participatory Action Research Study

This article describes a feminist-informed reflective teaching project enacted by a group of social work faculty at Texas State University–San Marcos. Utilizing Schon's notion of reflection-in-action, faculty formed a participatory action research group to implement reflective techniques to further their professional development as new teachers and better prepare social work students for practice in the social work profession. This project guided the participants in establishing academic identity through the creation of a supportive academic setting and peer collegiality. The group met monthly to share reflective teaching journals (RTJs), participate in intergroup dialogue, and engage in contemplative practices, such as meditation and visualization. Methods of data collection and analysis included content analysis of the intergroup dialogue sessions. Findings from the project reinforced Kolb's experiential learning cycle, in which new insights gained from reflection were integrated back into the classroom. This article presents these important insights and suggests replication of this project to promote reflective teaching in social work education and to help prepare new social work faculty for success in academia.     

Teachers' and School Children's Stereotypic Perception of the Child of Divorce: 20 Years Later

ABSTRACT

This is a replica of a study carried out in 1988. Its main objective is to reexamine after 20 years how teachers' and 8th-grade students' evaluations of a child's academic, social, and emotional functioning are affected by the knowledge that the child's parents are divorced. One hundred and twenty junior high school students and 115 female teachers watched a specially produced film of a child engaged in various activities. The child's gender and family structure were experimentally manipulated. The main results show that whereas in the earlier study both teachers and the students rated the child of divorce more negatively than the child of an intact family, in this study this was true only for the teachers. These and other results are discussed in the context of cultural attitudes, the more extensive contact teachers have with children of divorce, and the risk that they and their students become trapped in the Pygmalion cycle.     

Books and Citizenship

This article takes up the question of world history teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge by reporting on two separate but related projects. In the first, we briefly discuss an empirical investigation one of the authors conducted into the ways that pre- and in-service world history teachers think about, organize, and make meaning of separate and discrete world historical events, first for themselves and then for their students. It demonstrates the value of world history teachers making multiple connections among world historical events from the biggest to the smallest ones to construct dynamic and coherent pictures of the past for themselves and their students. In the second project, we discuss our innovative history lab, a course designed to help undergraduates enrolled in a world history course “see” the pedagogical moves their world history instructors make. We designed this pedagogical history lab to foster future teachers’ understandings of the content knowledge needed to teach world history while they are learning world history as students.     

An evaluation of a social norms marketing project for tobacco prevention with middle, high, and college students; use of funds from the Tobacco Master Settlement (Virginia)

The Anti-Tobacco Media Blitz (ATMB), a social-norms marketing program, was utilized for tobacco prevention with middle and high school students. University students assisted middle and high school students with the implementation of this campaign, which included a variety of media. Students worked in teams to design, develop, and evaluate tobacco-free messages through posters, radio, television, and peer-led activities. Evaluation of the campaign was constant and included assessment of message retention and demonstration of positive behaviors. This article discusses the procedures of this project, the five-step social norms marketing model, with emphasis on the student-centered evaluation and results.     

Culturally responsive teaching in China: instructional strategy and teachers’ attitudes

The aim of this study was to investigate the manner in which teachers facilitate the pedagogical process within a culturally diverse student population. The study focused on two primary schools in China; one located in a more fully developed city in eastern China (Case A), while the other was in a less developed city in rural western China (Case B). This allowed the researchers to compare and analyse the different instructional practices by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The findings indicate that: the teachers in Case A demonstrated overall affirmative attitudes towards ethnic minority cultures, as well as towards the students belonging to those cultures. However, the teachers also chose not to mention the specific ethnic identities and cultural differences of the students during the course of their instruction in order to ensure equal treatment for everyone. This leads to a kind of ‘cultural blindness’ in the classroom. In Case B, opinions regarding minority cultures were more varied. Compared with the teachers in Case A, more teachers in Case B found minority cultures to be inferior to the dominant Han culture. Some teachers also, counter intuitively, were of the opinion that the minority cultures were even superior. At the instructional level, school leadership developed courses on local culture and ethnicity for the teaching staff. This was done for a variety of reasons. The strongest evidence to support culturally responsive teaching in Case A does not stem from teaching and learning demands but from the necessity to pursue characteristics that make them distinctive from other schools at the same time, Case B’s practice of culturally responsive teaching was strongly supported by the government and UNICEF. Teachers in both schools indicated that they had integrated their knowledge of ethnic minority groups into the subject matter when it was necessary.     

Theory-based evaluation of a comprehensive Latino education initiative: an interactive evaluation approach

Latino student access to higher education has received significant national attention in recent years. This article describes a theory-based evaluation approach used with ENLACE of Hillsborough, a 5-year project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the purpose of increasing Latino student graduation from high school and college. Theory-based evaluation guided planning, implementation as well as evaluation through the process of developing consensus on the Latino population of focus, adoption of culturally appropriate principles and values to guide the project, and identification of strategies to reach, engage, and impact outcomes for Latino students and their families. The approach included interactive development of logic models that focused the scope of interventions and guided evaluation designs for addressing three stages of the initiative. Challenges and opportunities created by the approach are discussed, as well as ways in which the initiative impacted Latino students and collaborating educational institutions.     

Associations between psychosocial risk factors and musculoskeletal disorders: application to the IT profession in India

The exponential growth of the information technology (IT) industry in India has been accompanied with a substantial increase in the reporting of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). The purpose of the current study was to identify and assess the contributions of prevalent psychosocial factors on perceived WMSD outcomes among IT professionals from India. About 77 IT professionals from India completed a survey set consisting of 26 question items from the Job Content Questionnaire and 3 separate question items pertaining to WMSD outcomes (pain/discomfort and psychological stress scores). The findings suggest prevalence of existing pain (shoulder/neck and low back) in more than one-fourth of the respondents. Additionally two-thirds of the respondents had never had any ergonomics awareness training. Co-worker support and psychological work demands were found to be the strongest contributors of psychosocial risk factors towards pain/discomfort and psychological stress outcomes. Findings from this study highlight the influence of certain psychosocial traits of the Indian IT workplace on perceived WMSD outcomes. There is a need to develop and implement intervention strategies to address these factors that may help lower the risk of work-related musculoskeletal pain.     

Examples of best practice: ‘All together we are the city’: a workshop developed by the Muslim Minority Education Project in Greece

There is a significant population of Muslim citizens in Greece, sometimes referred to as the Muslim minority, who live in the geographical region of Thrace. For many years, little attention was devoted to the educational needs of this group, and there was consequently a high percentage of school failure and early school leaving. The poorly functioning collaboration between the teachers of the majority and the teachers of the minority, weak communication between minority schools and mainstream schools and the lack of teacher‐training in intercultural education were key reasons for this. Recently, significant educational initiatives have taken place in the field of Muslim minority education within the framework of a broad educational project, entitled ‘The Muslim Minority Education Project’. The aims of the project are to improve the educational provision for students from this Muslim minority and to promote the principles and philosophy of intercultural education.