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Teaching Assistants managing behaviour - who knows how they do it? A review of literature
No full textThis article reflects on the specific challenges facing teaching assistants(TAs) when managing behaviour. It considers the variety of existing research into this area, and why the paucity of specific research is problematic. It discusses how difficulties in access to training, its availability, the levels of preparation for lessons, the lack of guidance on teacher and TA working relationships, all impact on the way TAs manage behaviour. The article also highlights some of the conflicts inherent within broader issues which impact, either positively or negatively, on TAs ability to manage behaviour, including
TA role definition, deployment and the wider pedagogical aspects of their evolving role
Enterprise placements: factors which support learning and prolonged attainment in students
No full textThis article investigates the learning and academic attainment of undergraduate education students on enterprise placement projects in a longitudinal mixed methods study. By observing the placement learning and analysing previous and subsequent attainment of a second and third year group it adds to the ontology of purpose for enterprise in education and concurs with the growing body of work identifying placements with sustained academic improvement. The qualitative investigation identifies five key learning factors from the placements which support improved academic attainment. These are: pressure to learn; critical personal learning events; seeing the setting as a learning environment; professional attachments, and having space to learn. These factors support the transfer of learning from one context or situation to another and using concepts of transformative learning (Mezirow 2000; Jones, Matlay, and Harris 2012) or transitional learning (Illeris 2007) contributes to a cycle of increasing self-esteem and motivation and a sustained improvement in academic attainment. It concludes that a praxis curriculum, using self-assessments, continuous short (micro) reflections and taught awareness of the placement as a place to look for and recognise learning, would underpin these five factors and contribute to the academic processes underpinning attainment
A critical account of what ‘geography’ means to primary trainee teachers in England
No full textResearch on trainee teachers’ conceptions of geography has criticised their views for being limited, and failing to appreciate the breadth or depth of geography. A body of research in this area has developed over the past two decades, producing well-established classifications through which to analyse conceptions of geography. This contribution breaks from these classifications by offering a critical review of the existing literature and then, drawing on critical theory, distinguishing between geography as knowing, understanding, and acting. Findings from a survey of first year undergraduate primary trainee teachers (n = 42) are analysed through this critical framework, and it is argued that there is a distinct Cartesian duality in the way that respondents see the world as an object of study for learners as cognising subjects. This is argued to be problematic and, in response, a moral vision for school geography is outlined that represents geography in terms of a critical praxis
Planning for learning
No full textThis chapter initially aims to develop understanding of why teachers plan, and the elements of a successful plan. Once teachers understand what they are doing, why they are doing it and what strategies they can use, lesson planning becomes more efficient and effective
Monarchy transformed - princes and their elites in Early Modern western europe
No full textThe introduction summarizes the argument of the book 'Monarchy Transformed: Princes and their Elites in Early Modern Western Europe', Cambridge 2017, ed. by Robert von Friedeburg and John Morril
Hyperousios: God ‘without being,’ 'Super- being,' or ‘Unlimited Being’?
No full textIt has been argued by John Milbank and the Radical Orthodoxy sensibility that a genealogy can be traced directly from the univocity of being in scholastics such as Duns Scotus and William of Occam to modern atheism . However, it can also be argued that such a genealogy can be traced from the equivocity of religious language amongst certain mystics to modern atheism. This link is clearly seen in the Vienna Circle for whom the ‘nonsense’ talk of mystics was a special object of attack and derision, prompting in part the reactionary turn towards an insistence on univocal language in an attempt to save meaning ( a turn which ultimately ended in failure). Anthony Flew famously questioned the essential difference between a God who ‘dies the death by a thousand qualifications’ and no God at all . Finally amongst the ‘death of God theologians’ such as Altizer and Hamilton or more recently Caputo, Rollins et al the equivocity of being and atheism become effectively coterminous with each other.
As a contribution to the debate on the meaningfulness of theological language, this paper will focus on examining Pseudo- Dionysius the Areopagite and how far his reception by Thomas Aquinas might overcome some of the problems arising in modern and postmodern readings of his work. I will examine the appellation of God in Dionysius as ‘Beyond Being,’ it’s interpretation in Jean Luc Marion as ‘God Without Being’ , the accusation from Derrida that negative theology really affirms God as a Superbeing and the transformation of Dionysian hyperousios in Aquinas as ‘Unlimited Being’ with some analysis of the implication of these respective views for epistemology
“God and Tonga Are My Inheritance!”: climate change impact on perceived spirituality, adaptation and lessons learnt from Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka in Tongatapu, Tonga
No full textClimate change is a significant threat to health and well-being, in particular to people’s spiritual well-being, in coastal areas and communities. This paper describes the findings of a 2013 study on impacts of climate change on people’s spiritual well-being in 5 coastal communities in Tongatapu, Tonga: Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka, using a concurrent convergence parallel triangulation design. Information was collected from a group of 460 participants aged 15–75 via self-administered questionnaire, in-depth interview (IDI), focus group discussions (FGD) and key information interviews (KII). There was a statistically significant difference between people whose spirituality was affected and those unaffected (p < 0.005). People who were worried and whose physical well-being were affected, emerged as the most strongly affected (χ2(4) = 15.780, p < 0.005). The same factor was explored qualitatively using thematic analytical strategy, and concluded that climate change had affected people’s spiritual well-being, negatively. Lessons learnt from this paper will be useful for people invested in policy practice, and pastorate serving the cause of holistic Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in Tonga: preaching, fasting and praying to God to reverse climate change and its impacts, help State and Church to adapt more effectively and comprehensively
Explaining Autism
No full textWhat is autism? With perhaps one in a hundred of our population now receiving a diagnosis of Autism, this is a question that more and more people are asking. Explaining Autism is the Second Edition of this highly successful book in the Explaining series and provides a clear and concise introduction to this fascinating and perplexing subject. Written in accessible, non-specialist language, it provides an ideal introduction for parents, carers, teachers and employers - for anyone coming across this intriguing condition - on ways to understand what is Autism
Students’ knowledge acquisition and ability to apply knowledge into different science contexts in two different independent learning settings
No full textBackground: Recently, there is a growing interest in independent learning approaches globally. This is, at least in part, due to an increased demand for so-called ‘21st century skills’ and the potential of independent learning to improve student skills to better prepare them for the future.
Purpose: This paper reports a study that explored the effectiveness of two different independent learning approaches: (i) guided independent learning and (ii) unguided independent learning with independent research, in enabling students in an undergraduate Macromolecules course to acquire knowledge in one chemistry context and apply it successfully in another.
Sample: The study involved 144 chemistry students commencing their first term of undergraduate study at a northern university in England. Students completed pre- and post-intervention tests containing 10 diagnostic questions, of which 4 measured students’ knowledge acquisition in one context and 6 measured their ability to apply it in another.
Design and methods: Diagnostic questions had been identified using a Delphi approach. Paired t-tests and chi-square tests were used to analyse the significance of any change in students’ responses to the diagnostic questions and the number of responses evidencing misconceptions, respectively.
Results: Whilst guided independent learning settings were found to improve students’ knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge in novel situations, unguided independent learning had no statistically significant effect. Unguided independent learning was also linked to a statistically significant increase in the number of student misconceptions in one of the diagnostic questions.
Conclusions: The results of this study show that guidance in independent learning activities is a key necessity for effective learning in higher education. This paper has strong relevance and high significance to tertiary STEM education, especially in the light of increased importance of teaching, such as the Teaching Excellence Framework in the UK, and shifts to more independent learning activities
Building quality early childhood education from the ground up: teacher preparation in Vanuatu
No full textAcross the Asia Pacific region (indeed, on a global scale), formalised provision of early childhood care and education has expanded exponentially during the past two to three decades. Through its history, formalised early childhood care has served a range of purposes, from providing care for young children while their parents work, to being a site for religious ministry. In the twenty first century, the field is driven primarily by growing acknowledgment of the important role of early childhood services in supporting young children’s growth and development and, in turn, shaping the development of healthy societies. This is
reflected in messages regarding both the economic benefits of investing in early childhood and the costs of failing to do so (e.g. Heckman and Masterov, The productivity argument for investing in young children.Chicago: Invest in Kids Working Group, Committee for Economic Development, 2004; Rao and Jin, Early childhood care and education in the Asia Pacific region: Moving towards goal 1. UNESCO, 2010; Neuman and Bennett, Starting strong: Early childhood education and care. Paris: OECD. 2001) and powerful rhetoric from International Non-Government agencies (INGO’s) that urges countries to invest inexpanding access to early education opportunities (e.g. UNESCO’s Education For All initiative; Baba and Puamau, Journal of Educational Studies, 21, 31–50, 1999). Related to these, the international Education
for All (EFA) agenda (UNESCO, EFA global monitoring report 2007, strong foundations: Early childhood care and education. Paris: UNESCO, 2006) and targets for human development defined by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), have stimulated rapid growth in early education and care services in most countries across the Asia Pacific region over the past two decades