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Descriptors:
Action Research; Teaching Methods; Research Projects; International Studies; Democracy; Classroom Techniques; Foreign Countries; Political Attitudes; Elementary School Students; Teacher Attitudes; Reflection; Student Participation; Teacher Role

Abstract:
Finnish youth are found to be, despite their broad knowledge, uninterested in politics and in societal participation. As a remedy, international studies suggest enabling democratic experiences in schools. This article discusses an action research project aimed at developing deliberation-based democratic practice in an elementary classroom. Results suggest that the formal deliberative-democratic practice opens up a way for pupils to productively express themselves, challenge the prevailing structures, make sense of social reality and, thus, practise skills and motivations needed in democratic citizenship. However, the teacher is argued to be in constant struggle between deliberative-democratic stance and control orientation. This tension exists in the teacher's actions and thinking and in his reflections about the contrast between the classroom practice and the overall school ethos. Therefore, this article suggests using the understanding of this tension in scrutinizing projects aiming at pupil participation and involvement. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Selection; Teaching Methods; Caring; Public Schools; Teacher Characteristics; Principals; Classroom Techniques; Teaching Skills; Mixed Methods Research; Administrator Attitudes; Interviews; Online Surveys; Teacher Behavior; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Urban Schools

Abstract:
Purpose: Relatively little is known about how principals make decisions about teacher hiring. This article uses mixed methods to examine what characteristics principals look for in teachers. Research Methods: Data were gathered using a mixed method approach, including in-depth interviews with a representative sample of 31 principals as well as an online survey of 368 principals in the Chicago Public Schools. Data analysis techniques included both qualitative analysis to look for patterns and themes and exploratory regression analysis of surveys to examine variation in preferences across school and principal characteristics. Findings: Results indicate that principals focus on behaviors and skills rather than qualifications. Principals report looking for teachers who care about students, have content knowledge, are willing to go beyond contractual obligations, and have classroom management skills. Principals, in general, talk extensively about caring, classroom management, and willingness to "give extra," while most say little about content knowledge or teaching skills. Preferences vary substantially across low- and high-achieving schools. Implications: Whether the skills and behaviors that principals report focusing on during the teacher-hiring process are those that will benefit their students most is an important question, particularly because even ineffective teachers are rarely dismissed from public schools. (Contains 4 tables and 5 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Accountability; Beginning Teachers; Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction; Educational Practices; Elementary School Mathematics; Classroom Observation Techniques; Interviews; Curriculum Based Assessment; Intermode Differences; Educational Indicators; Inclusion; Classroom Techniques; Teaching Methods; Learning Disabilities; Academic Accommodations (Disabilities); Instructional Effectiveness; Achievement Gains

Abstract:
In this exploratory study, teachers' use of standards-based, discourse practices and their students' mathematics learning in inclusive elementary mathematics classrooms were examined. Two beginning teachers (one third-grade teacher, one fourth-grade teacher) and six students identified with disabilities or as low performing in mathematics participated in this study (three students from each classroom). Six classroom observations of teachers took place over 4 months focusing on a subset of indicators associated with Walshaw and Anthony's framework of mathematics classroom discourse practices. Follow-up interviews were also conducted. Curriculum-based and state-accountability measures were collected on the six target students in these settings. Different patterns of student performance emerged across the two classrooms in which teachers were observed using different types and degrees of standards-based discourse practices during mathematics lessons. Findings suggest indicators of effective mathematics teaching in inclusive general education classrooms to be validated by future research efforts. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Conflict; Parent Child Relationship; Student Motivation; Peer Relationship; Questionnaires; Goal Orientation; Statistical Analysis; Qualitative Research; Well Being; Predictor Variables; Classroom Techniques

Abstract:
Students in class are sometimes torn between following the lesson and engaging in off-task behavior. In this paper, instead of classifying it as a form of deviant behavior, off-task behavior is reconstructed as a manifestation of students multiple motivations in the classroom. The study examines whether parental monitoring, peer value orientations, students' personal goals, and their value orientations determine students' motivational interference in these conflict situations. Participants were 348 students (mean age 15.24) from 16 classes of four high schools. A self-report questionnaire was used that combined a qualitative assessment of personal goals with a quantitative approach. Qualitative answers were coded and data was analyzed in a series of hierarchical linear models. As hypothesized, relationships between motivational interference and parental monitoring, peer achievement and well-being value orientations, students' school- and leisure-related goals, as well as students' achievement and well-being value orientations were demonstrated. Students' own value orientations emerged to be the strongest predictor of motivational interference and mediated between parental monitoring and motivational interference. The results suggest that teachers should help students to reconcile their multiple values and goals in the classroom. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Effectiveness; Evidence; Performance Based Assessment; Program Improvement; Preservice Teacher Education; Preservice Teachers; Teacher Education; Accountability; Teacher Education Programs; Classroom Techniques; Higher Education; Tenure

Abstract:
One of the important rationales for the development and implementation of a rigorous classroom-based measure of preservice teacher quality is that such a tool will provide new sources of data that are highly relevant to the task of improving programs of teacher preparation. However, research on data utilization within organizations from a variety of disciplines makes it clear that even when relevant and useful data are available, they are often not used for decision making. We studied three "high-data-use" programs from among the 32 California institutions implementing the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) to identify organizational practices associated with the use of PACT data for program improvement. We describe practices within and across these programs that were identified by informants as important to their success in using teacher performance outcome data to make decisions about program renewal and improvement. (Contains 2 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Information Literacy; Political Science; Internet; Information Skills; Classroom Techniques; Controversial Issues (Course Content); Mass Media Use; Technology Uses in Education; United States Government (Course); Skill Development; Media Literacy; Critical Literacy; Legislators; Citizenship Education; Teaching Methods; Cognitive Style

Abstract:
Students have access to a vast amount of information about American politics through new media outlets (e.g., the Internet). We survey the perils and promise of this new landscape through a case study of a political science class at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY), that examined congressional races in the 2010 election season. We find that students have access to a diversity of information and opinion about House of Representative races that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. However, the students' information literacy skills and the ability of students to sort and weigh the value of various perspectives to inform their own conclusions was limited. Unlike much of the celebratory tone of studies that proclaim the emancipatory value of new media for citizens and students alike, we argue that educators interested in the potential of new media must devote considerable attention to both the variety and reliability of new media outlets, as well as provide the historical and political context for information that students gather, with the goal of developing a deeper form of information literacy for students. New media offers much potential, but great challenges to educators as well. (Contains 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Applied Linguistics; Literary Criticism; Autobiographies; Empowerment; Foreign Countries; Criticism; Classroom Techniques; Teaching Methods; English (Second Language)

Abstract:
This article utilizes a reflexive ethnographic approach in the form of a "layered text" consisting of academic argument, literary criticism, biography, autobiography, and fiction. The dimension of academic argument involves "critical applied linguistics"; the dimension of literary criticism, Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," Algren's "The Man with the Golden Arm," Blake's "The Tyger," and Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"; the dimension of biography, the African American activist Malcolm X; autobiography, an account of my elderly father's visit with me in my city of residence (Oaxaca); and fiction, the story of me in an urban classroom teaching a group of students that includes Malcolm X as well as the authors of and characters from "The Great Gatsby" and "The Man with the Golden Arm." This diverse "layered text" intends to "perform" its theme involving the "critical"-minded teacher in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom as one who regulates her/his personal "political" awareness in order to foster a "critical" classroom accessible to all students. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Individualized Instruction; Teacher Effectiveness; Response to Intervention; Classroom Techniques; Decision Making; Teaching Methods; Elementary School Teachers; Grade 1; Grouping (Instructional Purposes); Reader Text Relationship; Instructional Materials; Literacy Education; Grade 4

Abstract:
This article addresses approaches to differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students whose literacy needs, interests, and strengths vary widely. This article was designed to support classroom teachers who understand the importance of differentiating instruction, but are unsure of how best to design and implement differentiation within the parameters of the classroom. The article begins by defining differentiated instruction and discussing its importance, including the role of differentiation with respect to diversity and with respect to Response to Intervention (RTI). The remainder of the article describes in detail two examples of differentiated instruction in classroom contexts. Each example is followed by a discussion of the research and decision-making underlying the teacher's approach to differentiation. The article concludes with common characteristics of effective differentiation. (Contains 4 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Students; International Schools; International Education; Foreign Countries; Interviews; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods; Cultural Pluralism; Classroom Techniques; Group Dynamics; Social Differences; Educational Theories

Abstract:
The study explored the culturally inclusive behavior of Filipino teachers using information culled from interviews of six Filipino teachers in international schools on their perception of international education, and how it translates into their pedagogy. The findings of the study reveal inherent patterns of behavior the teachers manifest in handling a multicultural classroom, the factors that affect them as well as the unique dynamics that play out in the interactivity between teachers from a developing country and foreign students from a more economically affluent nation. The study brings to the fore an underlying challenge in the handling of international education by non-western developing countries such as the Philippines and at the same time contributes further to the context of established theories on international education such as the Diversity Pedagogy Theory of Sheets (2005). Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Conflict; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Differences; Kindergarten; Qualitative Research; Classroom Techniques; Epistemology; Guidelines; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
The concept of homogenization is highlighted in the current discourse of postcolonialism in the educational arena. However, this concept strengthens the dimension of cultural convergence, but not the dimension of cultural divergence. Furthermore, an overly dualistic view is also aligned with the concept of homogenization and then leads to the neglect of the phenomenon of cultural hybridity and the studies of cultural differences. Through a qualitative study in a Taiwanese kindergarten, this study investigates whether any cultural hybridity appears in classroom practices, and what happens in the process. The results indicate that the concept of cultural hybridity is more suitable to explain the complex phenomena in schools, and both the ontologically and epistemologically cultural aspects are interwoven in the process of hybridity. According to the results, I propose a three-stage framework to interpret the development of hybridity: the extent of the matched context, the extent of cultural conflict, and the awareness of cultural difference. (Contains 2 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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