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The Perceptions of Beginning Secondary Teachers about their Professional Learning Experiences in the Solomon Islands Context
No full textThis thesis was designed to investigate the professional learning experiences of beginning secondary teachers (BSTs) in the Solomon Islands context. The study sought to interpret and document the lived experiences of a cohort of BSTs who graduated from the Diploma in Secondary Teaching programme at the School of Education, Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SOE-SICHE) in 2007. The focus of the study was on the sense of preparedness of the BSTs at the end of their initial teacher education, and their induction and professional learning experiences during the first two years of their teaching careers. The aim of the study was to find out how prepared the secondary teacher graduates from SOE-SICHE felt at the end of their teacher education programmes, the kind of professional support they needed as beginning teachers, and whether Solomon Islands secondary schools have adequate professional support systems in place to promote early career learning and development for beginning teachers. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will add to the body of knowledge in the field of teacher learning and professional development experiences of beginning teachers from a Pacific Island, Melanesian, socio-cultural context. Existing studies on teacher learning and development have been conducted mainly in economically developed western countries, which are significantly different from a developing Pacific Island nation such as the Solomon Islands. This study is the first of its kind to be conducted in the Solomon Islands. There is growing recognition in the literature that teacher learning and professional development should be linked to learning experiences that match teachers’ socio-cultural contexts (Flores, 2004). Proponents of such a view contend that learners assimilate new information better when their learning experiences are based on the integration of what they already know and the new phenomena and ideas with which they come in contact (Bruner, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978b; Wertsch, 1997). Hence, there is a need for education systems to provide effective learning opportunities and professional support for teachers that are relevant to the teaching and learning contexts in which they are going to find themselves during their teaching careers (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005). It is also important to note that initial teacher education (ITE) programmes cannot fully prepare beginning teachers for their teaching roles. Rather, teachers should be viewed as learners who need ongoing professional support throughout their teaching careers (Loughran, 2007; Murdoch, 1979). Two phases of teacher professional learning that are considered to have significant impact on teachers’ practice and retention in the profession are induction and continuing teacher professional development (Feiman-Nemser, 2001a). Therefore, it is vitally important that pedagogies used during these phases are not only well supported and resourced by school systems but also appropriate to teachers’ socio-cultural contexts (Anthony, Bell, Haigh, & Kane, 2007a). There is ample research evidence to suggest that ITE does have an impact on the quality of teaching in the classroom and students’ learning achievements (Cochran-Smith, 2003). This research took an interpretive qualitative case study research approach, drawing on social constructivism and socio-cultural theoretical perspectives to make meaning of the professional learning experiences of beginning secondary teachers in the Solomon Islands context. The experiences of the 11 BSTs who participated in this study informed the collective case of BSTs’ experiences in Solomon Islands secondary schools. The study explored the experiences of the BSTs in the five secondary schools where they were posted, in light of the personal and contextual factors that might have influenced their perceptions about their initial teacher education, induction, and professional learning experiences. The primary sources of data were a questionnaire and three in-depth semi-structured interviews, each of which lasted 50 to 60 minutes. The data analysis process was based on the interpretive qualitative research methodology adopted in the study. Content analysis techniques were used to identify emerging themes, and interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques were then used to interpret and make meaning of the relationships within and between the key themes that emerged. This study highlighted the BSTs’ perceptions of their sense of preparedness and professional learning experiences from initial teacher education through to their second year of teaching. The findings of the study suggest that the BSTs felt inadequately prepared in some aspects of their teaching roles, and needed guidance and support from their school communities. The lack of formal induction and planned professional development opportunities for beginning teachers in the five secondary schools that were involved in this study meant that they were deprived of the kind of advice and guidance needed by new teacher graduates at the beginning of their teaching careers. The findings also suggested that beginning teachers had little opportunity to observe, reflect, and learn from their teaching practices because they were assigned the same teaching load as their experienced colleagues from day one. The BSTs also taught under difficult conditions, given the general lack of teaching resources, crowded classrooms, and lack of specialised classroom facilities and equipment for subjects such as science, home economics, industrial arts, and agriculture. Information and clear guidelines on school processes and procedures were also lacking, including advice about new teacher registration processes and procedures. Such teaching conditions were a major source of anxiety for the BSTs during the first two years of their teaching careers. The study raises questions about how well secondary teachers are prepared and supported as beginning teachers during their early years of teaching in the Solomon Islands context. It also raises questions about the quality of leadership, school cultures, expectations of individual beginning teachers, the nature of teachers’ work, government and societal expectations, and government support for quality teaching and learning in Solomon Islands secondary schools. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will help improve initial teacher education and teacher professional development practices in the Solomon Islands. This thesis argues that there is a need to develop secondary schools as professional learning communities, or ‘villages of learning’ that promotes and encourages reflective dialogue, ongoing professional conversations, and collaboration between education authorities, school principals and teachers, to enhance teachers teaching practices, and promote students’ learning outcomes
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Programme design practice in a polytechnic in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A case for complexity
No full textA programme is an instrument for education. Through educational programmes we help shape our society. Programme design includes decisions on what society finds valuable for people to learn, and how this should be structured and organised. In this way it influences teaching and learning. Therefore understanding how and on what basis programme design decisions are made is vital for the improvement of teaching and learning. Yet, there is a dearth of research that provides this understanding in the context of tertiary education. This thesis alleviates this scarcity by describing the theorising of design practice of certificate and diploma programmes in a polytechnic in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The research presented in this thesis consists of an interpretive case study of a polytechnic in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The study included embedded case studies of programme design practice at institutional level and of design practice of five certificate and diploma programmes across the polytechnic. Data were analysed from 32 interviews with representatives of the six embedded cases, from documents including the institution’s Academic Statute, its Quality Management system and approved programme documents, and from observation of one meeting. The findings show that programme design practice can be observed through various lenses. For this case study the following seven lenses were identified: 1) The teaching and learning lens shows how language shapes the conceptualisations of a programme and how these conceptualisations relate to views on teaching and learning; 2) The rational lens shows how models and frameworks influence programmes, how these models and frameworks become rationalisations that are often used unconsciously, and what the implications of this are; 3) The cultural lens allows exploring what is considered normal within programme design practice and indicates how differences from the norm are being approached; 4) The personal experience lens highlights how the personal experiences of people involved contribute to programme design considerations and decision-making; 5) The ethical lens investigates how people’s moral and professional responsibilities influence their programme design practice; 6) The business lens illustrates the contribution of business considerations to programme design; and, 7) The social-political lens highlights how people’s formally and informally assigned roles and responsibilities, their political responsibilities, and their negotiations between multiple responsibilities impact on programme design practice. The images of these lenses are interrelated. To create a comprehensive understanding of the images and their interrelationship, a programme has been theorised as a complex system. The constituents of this system are people’s considerations, language, silences, experiences and relationships. These constituents only concern those aspects of education that are assigned to the concept of ‘programme’. For the current case study these aspects were found to consist of six components: consultation for and development of a programme; intentions; structure and instruction; administration and management; assessment; and evaluation of a programme, including elements within these components. The people who create the considerations, language, silences, experiences and relationships were found in this case study to be people within the polytechnic. The complex programme system interacts with the outside world. Programme design practice then is the programme system’s adaptation to influences from outside. Ideological discourses are shown to form the power structures that shape the direction of adaptation of the programme system. For this case study the analysis of the images of the seven lenses and their interconnections shows neo-liberalist discourses as the prevailing ideological discourses determining the direction of adaptation of the complex programme system. The findings of this study have three major implications for practice. Firstly, the effects of a programme on the world around it cannot be predicted or controlled but emerge from the programme system. Secondly, the findings imply that if a programme is to survive or continue to develop, it needs diversification. Further strengthening of the already dominant ideological discourses directing programme systems in the context of this case study risks the death of these systems. And thirdly, acknowledging ideological discourses as the power structures that shape the direction of the adaptation of complex programme systems requires practitioners to be responsible in deciding which discourses to follow and to be mindful of the possible implications of their decisions
School-based assessment of practical work in science education in Solomon Islands
No full textThis study explored and documented the views of one science curriculum development officer and seven science teachers about science practical work and its assessment in the School-Based Assessment (SBA) for the Solomon Islands School Certificate (SISC). Science SBA is compulsory for all Form 4 (year 10) and 5 (year 11) students in Solomon Islands to undertake as internal assessment towards the SISC. The motivation behind the research questions for this study arose from literature discussions and my personal experiences associated with practical work, teaching, learning and assessment in science education.
Based on the interpretive paradigm, qualitative data was generated using a semi-structured interview technique, conducted on an individual basis with prior consent. The interviews were conducted in May 2009. Audio tape recording was used to record exactly what was said by the participants in the Pidgin and later translated, transcribed and verified in English. The analysis of the data was recursive with a rigorous thematic approach.
The findings indicated that participants' beliefs and views about the aims of science teaching and the roles of practical work were mainly related to the notion of science literacy, which is the main aim in the Solomon Islands science curriculum for Forms 4 and 5. However, the participants' views about the nature of science and assessment of practical work in the context of SBA were narrowly expressed. The findings indicated that the issues of reliability, validity and use of formative and summative assessments in relation to the theories of learning and the standardization of assessments for high stakes reporting are worth considering for a revision of the science SBA.
As such, this study suggested that coherence in the aims of science teaching, the roles of practical work and the design and implementation of the SBA is necessary. Also, the notion of science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is recommended, especially with regards to its inclusion in pre-service teacher education and ongoing professional development. This study was qualitative with a small sample limited to only eight educator participants. Hence, further research is recommended. This should specifically investigate students' perceptions in order to understand their standpoints on issues related to the science school-based assessment (SBA) for the Solomon Islands School Certificate (SISC)
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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