Action and language: Contextual action theory in counselling

Contextual action theory is presented as a conceptual framework useful for grounding the recent work in counselling and career development called Life Design. Based on the premise of the goal-directed nature of human action, this approach has links to language in theories of naive action and attribution, and theory of mind. Contextual action theory has an associated research method that has been used to generate a range of research studies that have described actions and projects in the career development and counselling domains. The link that contextual action theory provides between research and practice allows the identification of five tasks for the counselling practitioner informed by this approach.     

Ethics and practices of re‐presentation: Witnessing self and other

Context: The challenge of producing ethical representational practices is of critical interest to both practitioner‐researchers and research theorists. For practitioners becoming researchers a central ethical question may be how to manage a relational presence in writing their research, in ways that acknowledge participants, the research relationship, and a researcher's own subjectivity. Focus: The article offers examples from practitioner research to illustrate and theorise how researcher subjectivity is managed through the use of witnessing practices as a representational strategy. Witnessing practices – translated into counselling research from narrative therapy – offer researchers a strategy to take up a reflexive, relational presence in research reports. Discussion: Researcher witnessing honours the contributions of research participants as well as making visible the shaping effects of the research on a researcher's life. Through witnessing self and other, and thus declaring presence, privilege and partiality, re‐presentational ethics are made transparent.     

Using video-supported reflection in peer groups to increase instructional effectiveness

This article reports upon the findings of research that explored change in teachers’ reflective thought and practice on a core set of complex teaching practices after the teachers participated in video-supported reflection model. Five 4th–7th grade teachers participated in the model that paired video-supported collaborative reflection with a research-based observation instrument, Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Classroom observation data was collected by video and scored to determine change in teaching practice. All video-supported collaborative dialogue sessions between peers were videotaped and transcribed. Findings point to the developmental process necessary when learning to critically reflect upon and enact complex instructional practices that are not already prominent in practice. Individual development of practice progressed as the collaborative dialogue group expanded their capacity for describing, understanding, and evaluating practice based upon a new schema of effective practice, intentionally enacting change resulting in significant increases in teacher performance.     

‘It’s OK to feel totally confused’: reflection without practice by preservice teachers in an introductory education course

In the following article, we describe our research with preservice teachers (PSTs) engaged in an introductory course in curriculum, instruction, and technology. Typically, efforts to engage PSTs in reflection focus on the student-teaching experience. We assert there is potential for PSTs to think deeply about their identities prior to actual classroom experience. Our research concerns the development of reflective pedagogical thinking by PSTs, stimulated by a variety of curricular, instructional, and technological learning experiences. We will highlight the pedagogical innovations we employed to stimulate PSTs to engage in meaningful reflection prior to their student-teaching experiences. We will describe our learning experiences and nontraditional grading scheme in the course, and examine the impact of those practices on PST reflective writing.     

Action Research As Professional Development for Zoo Educators

ABSTRACT

Zoo education department staff members engaged in a professional development program on action research that resulted in increased self-efficacy in their ability to formally or informally assess their own instructional and other job-related practices. Resolution of contradictions between professional development goals and participant perceptions, between discordant research ideologies of the participants and of action research paradigms, and between the professional development objectives and the existing tools held by participants were important in facilitating participants' ability to engage in action research. The role of mentors was of particular significance in the resolution of contradictions. This program of reflective practice simultaneously provided development for zoo professionals and yielded visitor studies data that the staff members could directly apply to their practices, thus bridging the gap between research and practice.     

Through the looking-glass: on the other side of ‘un’conclusive reflections

This qualitative study explored the practices of a Technology Instructional Specialist (TIS) from the reflective vantage point of the specialist herself and multiple data sets collected from classroom teachers she mentored. The study examined the actions and impact of the TIS in assisting individual teachers with technology implementation through a reflective, circular process (i.e. action, reflection, modification, additional action). Data sources were comprised of: (1) survey on teachers’ comfort levels for technology integration in an elementary classroom; (2) teacher interviews; (3) self and teacher reflective assessments of the TIS’s mentoring; and (4) reflective journal notes of the TIS’s experiences. Findings suggest that reflections on and development of differentiated technology mentoring processes and actions conducted within participating teachers’ classrooms impacted their awareness of technology uses and pedagogical application. Most notably, reflections indicate that relational aspects of the TIS and teachers’ interactions impacted the process of technology implementation in participating teachers’ instructional practices. Practical suggestions for practitioners are provided.     

SOMETHING BORROWED,SOMETHING NEW: TEACHING IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENTAL SPELLING RESEARCH

Traditional spelling theory and practice are contrasted with the instructional implications derived from recent research in developmental spelling. After a brief historical explication of previous views of spelling, the nature of the developmental spelling continuum is described. Then, the common instructional concerns of word selection, yearly and weekly routines, and organizing to meet the needs of poor spellers are considered against the developmental backdrop. This paper hinges on the premise that the last fifteen years of spelling research have irrevocably set us on a new path in our understanding of spelling development. Consequently new understandings about instruction are not only timely, but necessary.     

Continuous assessment in a new Testament survey course: Empirically informed reflections on an Australian trial

This article reports on a practitioner action research project focused on developing, trialing, and reflecting upon a continuous and formative‐assessment plan for a foundational New Testament survey course. Three pedagogical convictions are discussed and drive the design of the assessment. Seven to nine assessment items (depending on level of study) based on course learning outcomes and informed by Bloom's taxonomy of learning, were developed and implemented. Students provided feedback on the assessment through an anonymous online survey. The results demonstrate that students preferred continuous assessment to an exam and major essay, and that they better achieved the course learning outcomes. In conclusion, this style of assessment is effective in driving and assessing student learning and so provides a basis for further action reflection.     

Fostering Creativity in the Classroom: Effects of Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs,Motivation, and Goal Orientation

The relationships of teachers' epistemological beliefs, motivation, and goal orientation to their instructional practices that foster student creativity were examined. Teachers' perceived instructional practices that facilitate the development of multiple perspectives in problem solving, transfer, task commitment, creative skill use, and collaboration were measured as indicators of their effort to foster creative thinking in students. Participants were 178 elementary‐school teachers of third‐, fourth‐, and fifth‐graders. Teachers' learning goal orientation was the most significant teacher attribute that demonstrated significant impacts on all five creativity‐fostering instructional practices. Teachers with sophisticated beliefs about knowledge and with high intrinsic motivation for creative work also reported supporting student creativity through some of their instructional practices. However, teachers' motivation for challenging work, beliefs about learning, or performance goals did not significantly predict most of the creativity‐fostering instructional practices. Educational implications of the current findings are offered.     

An everyday story of systems practice

This article uses a case study to illustrate how a wider systems perspective can be helpful in considering the questions and dilemmas that arise in everyday practice when a practitioner is invited to intervene in a prescribed or limited way with an individual. The case is presented sequentially, with more detailed reflection at various junctures to allow readers to consider for themselves what the options for action are at any given point.     

Validation of a reflective practice rubric for evaluating the complexity of teacher candidate digital and written reflections

This study was conducted to validate the effectiveness of a previously published rubric for evaluating the reflective characteristics contained within reflective artifacts. The goal of the study was to test the validity of the rubric when evaluating written reflection and digital artifacts of teacher candidates. The theory of reflection is discussed, and the process of eliciting higher levels of reflection through various modalities from written prompts. Secondly, this study describes the process participants followed while learning to use the rubric, the methods of evaluating artifacts using the rubric, and the results the study produced. The rubric proved to be an effective tool when determining the level of reflection, a teacher candidate demonstrated. Lastly, this article discusses limitations of the rubric, as well as suggestions for further research regarding teaching reflective practices, and how to refine one’s own reflective skills to achieve a level of deep reflection on/for action.     

The impact of reflective practice in a university language class

This study by a university professor of foreign language examines what impact reflective practice has on students’ overall performance in a university language class. The findings support that reflective practice has a positive impact on students’ performance and their own role in learning. The intertwining nature of reflection in all contexts of learning processes strengthens instructional practices which students favorably described throughout this study.     

Publishing Action Research in Counseling Journals

The increased use of action research in counseling training and professional publications provides an opportunity to bridge the research‐practitioner gap that has plagued the profession for decades. In this article, action research is defined, and special considerations that counselor researchers need to address when designing, conducting, and reporting action research are presented. Suggestions are included throughout the article to assist counseling action researchers in publishing their studies in American Counseling Association journals.     

“Applied” research can be useful: An example

an example of how a practitioner can use his research skills to help a school district evaluate one of its projects is described. The practitioner is advised to become involved in “action” research despite the limitations of such research, and the example is presented as having implications for expanding the psychologist's role to that of a consultant to administrators, teachers, and parents.     

A multiple case study of teachers’ visions and reflective practice

Researchers have found that teachers’ visions of what they hope to instill in their students beyond curricular objectives are integral to their instruction and to larger decisions such as their career paths. The purpose of this research was to examine 10 in-service teachers, who taught in different geographic locations across the United States, their visions, and the ways in which these visions influenced their reflective curricular decisions and instructional actions. The researchers describe salient dimensions of visions, the actions teachers reported to enact visions, and the distance and tensions in enacting visions. Researchers used grounded theory and constant comparative analysis to analyze interviews, questionnaires, and artifacts. Findings explore the relationship between teachers’ visions and reflective practice as well as the alignment of instructional practices teachers report in supporting their respective visions. Implications for future research, theory, and practice are discussed.     

Overcoming Resistance to Prereferral Classroom Interventions

Although research supports the benefits of in-class remedial efforts for mildly handicapped youngsters, teachers often resist such practices. This article presents guideliens for educational consultants to use to overcome teacher resistance to prereferral intervention. Suggestions also are offered for engagin in constructive confrontation as well as for soliciting administrative intervention to help teachers adapt regular classroom instructional techniques for students at-risk.     

Learning in High-Tech and Multimedia Environments

ABSTRACT— When do high-tech environments promote learning? The goal of this article is to offer one answer to this question by examining the classic distinction between media and method, in terms of their roles in promoting learning with technology. To this end, I first propose a cognitive theory of learning with media, from which a set of instructional design principles are derived. Then I review research in which the relative learning contributions of method and media are investigated, and I offer final reflections for future research.     

Rates of Specific Antecedent Instructional Practices and Differences Between Title I and non-Title I Schools

The use of effective instructional strategies is clearly emphasized in current educational reform, especially in the area of reading. The purposes of this study were to investigate the rates at which specific instructional practices (i.e., attention signals, prior knowledge supports, previews, instructor modeling, student modeling, organizational prompts) were utilized during literacy time in elementary schools, determine if there were relationships among the instructional variables, and explore if teachers in Title I schools and teachers in non-Title I schools differed in their use of specific practices. Participants included teachers and students from 35 classrooms who were each observed for 5 hours, resulting in a total of 175 observation hours. The Setting Factors Assessment Tool (SFAT) was used to measure the antecedent instructional variables. Main results included that teachers in non-Title I classrooms used significantly more prior knowledge references than teachers in Title I schools; the effect size for this finding was large. Several correlations among the instructional variables were significant. The article concludes with a discussion of the main findings, implications for future research and the limitations of this study.     

Transforming school ensemble instruction through spiritually informed teaching practices

The transformative experiences that could be central to learning are curiously absent from American school music education. Students are motivated through competition and the goal of most programmes is flawless large ensemble performance. This paper describes a music programme in which the daily instructional practices have been modified and influenced by an outreach programme in which the students taught socially and economically challenged children of similar age. This programme was developed by a teacher with a deep sense of faith. His spiritually informed teaching practices emphasise the same principles of social justice espoused by secular educational philosophers. Parallels between spiritual and educational philosophies and a discussion of the transformations experienced by students conclude the paper.