Teaching Students to Recruit Positive Attention: A Review and Recommendations

Positive teacher attention and praise are powerful influences on student performance in the classroom. But the classroom is a very busy place, a place where important efforts by students can easily go unnoticed. In such instances, an existing and potentially effective natural contingency of reinforcement is asleep and needs to be woken up. Teaching students how to recruit positive teacher attention is one way to activate dormant contingencies of reinforcement and help students take a proactive role in their learning. This paper reviews the recruiting research to date, discusses implications for practitioners, proposes a recruitment training package including strategies for promoting generalization of recruiting skills, and offers recommendations for future research.     

教师工作满意度的影响因素结构模型研究

通过对317名教师的问卷调查,建立了教师工作满意度的影响因素结构模型。研究发现,组织氛围、课程改革参与性是教师工作满意度的直接影响因素,其对教师工作满意度的作用是正向的。工作满意度是影响教师职业承诺、工作主动性,以及职业倦怠的重要中介变量。组织氛围能提升教师的职业承诺。课程改革参与性不仅能增强教师的工作主动性,而且能降低教师的职业倦怠。     

Self-regulation in early childhood: the interplay between family risk,temperament and teacher–child interactions

Abstract

This study investigates the interplay between family risk and the quality of classroom interactions and their impact on self-regulation skills in two groups of children—children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (at-risk) and non-risk children. Participants included 485 children (N = 93 classrooms)—233 (N = 47 classrooms) of which were from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Temperament was measured using teacher report. Trained observers rated classroom quality via live observations of a typical preschool day. Behavioral regulation was assessed using direct measures and emotional regulation was assessed using a teacher report. Analyses using multiple group structural equation modeling showed that at-risk children had lower levels of cool behavior regulation than non-risk children. In addition, classroom quality was positively linked to cool behavioral self-regulation. Moderating effects were additionally found between family risk and classroom quality on both hot behavioral regulation and emotional regulation. Classroom quality served as a protective factor for children exposed to more risk factors. Results showed complex associations between individual characteristics, classroom quality, and family risk, indicating a need to further explore the interplay among these variables.     

Peer and Teacher-Selected Peer Buddies for Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Social,Emotional, and Mentalizing Abilities

This study examined mentalizing abilities, social behavior, and social impact of adolescents who expressed the willingness to become peer buddies for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and adolescents selected by their teachers and peers. Twenty-seven teachers and 395 adolescents from public high schools completed mentalizing abilities, social status, behavioral, and peer buddy nomination measures. Findings suggest that social status and preference play a significant role in the selection of peer buddies by both teachers and classmates. Furthermore, more advanced Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities and the engagement in prosocial behaviors differentiated peers selected as buddies from other classmates. When compared with nonparticipating students, adolescents who expressed willingness to participate were more often girls, and were more prosocial. Agreement between teacher and peer nominations of best peer was moderate.     

Secular ethics education as an alternative to religious education – Finnish teachers’ views

This study provides a Finnish perspective to international discussions on religious and worldviews education through the subject of secular ethics. This subject has been offered in Finland since 1985 throughout comprehensive schools and is primarily directed at students who are non-affiliated. Secular ethics education has scarcely been researched and is here investigated through secular ethics teachers’ views. The results highlight key characteristics of the subject, which in teachers’ views single out the subject from religious education classes. Key characteristics include gaining multiple perspectives on religions and worldviews, focusing on interactive, social and critical skills, and focusing on students’ personal identities and growth as human beings. In addition, specific challenges and possibilities of the subject of secular ethics arise, which may be taken into consideration in developing a future integrative subject of worldview education in Finland.     

Stress and coping among student teachers at a South African university: An exploratory study

This article reports findings from an exploratory qualitative study on the lived experience of stress among a convenience sample of 14 South African university student teachers (female = 8, black = 7; age range = 22 to 31). The students were participating in training in mindfulness meditation, and completed three interviews over a six-week period on stressors impacting on their personal and professional lives and on how they experienced them and responded. There were additional data from recordings of the mindfulness training sessions and a self-report scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). Thematic analysis revealed a wide range of stressors experienced by the students and provided insight into sources of resilience in dealing with them. In conclusion, the authors consider whether the extreme experiences of stress foreshadow the discontent among South African students that would fuel the serious unrest and disruption that has been negatively affecting South African universities since.     

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.     

Teachers as therapeutic agents: perceptions of a school-based mental health initiative

Teacher–child relationship building (TCRB) is a play-based professional development programme adapted from kinder training and filial therapy. Intended for early education teachers and students, TCRB is designed to strengthen the teacher–child relationship, improve student behaviour, enhance academic involvement and develop teachers' classroom management skills. In the current study, we utilised a phenomenological approach to examine teachers' perceptions of the initial implementation of TCRB through identifying individual and collective perspectives in the summation of themes. Findings indicated that the teachers perceived the TCRB model to be informative, well organised, appropriately structured and effective in enhancing teacher–child relationships, improving classroom management skills and reducing behavioural problems among child participants. Limitations of the study, implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.