31 research outputs found
What Did Disruptive Students Say They Wanted From Their Classes? A Survey of Student Voices
No full textThis paper draws on data from over 60 students in order to find out how disruptive students viewed disrupted classes. The purpose of this research was to prepare training for tutors who were finding disruptive classes difficult to teach. Classes were identified as ‘disruptive’ by their tutors and then the researcher was asked by managers to give some training to the relevant tutors. The scope of this small-scale research was to report on the findings of what students said about disruptive classes. The rationale behind the research was that if we could find out what disruptive students said they wanted, teachers might be in a better position to teach them. The problem then was how to frame questions so that they would be understandable by the students and yet produce meaningful, authentic data. The findings showed that several students from these classes said that they had been involved in physical and verbal violence in class and that learning was compromised. From this research it emerged that the sample of students from classes identified as disruptive by their teachers said that their preferred sessions would be supportive, respectful, one-to-one; they would learn more, be involved in discussions and enjoyed practical work. In other words all the features that would be associated with normative good practice in teaching and learning. The consequent challenge implicit in this research is how to help teachers communicate these strategies, attitudes and values in a disruptive and challenging environment
The Fear of Being Assessed: An Auto-Ethnographic Case Study on Attempts to Engage and Motivate an Individual Disaffected Access Student
No full textThis paper explores how a tutor engaged an individual student who was abusive to teachers and would not carry out coursework assessments which tutors had set him in the Lifelong Learning Sector. It offers strategies to overcome barriers to achievement, particularly where a student resists carrying out required assessment tasks. It is a self-reflexive, auto-ethnographic case study. The research is based on observation, interview and a narratology of the researcher’s own involvement in the situation. It is concerned with strategies that worked with this particular student. It argues a case for personal engagement, solution-focused and cognitive behavioural strategies in the teaching/learning situation and offers an overall humanist approach. It ultimately argues for the complexity of understanding the key relationship between teacher and student. It is also concerned with ‘improving practice’ which is the central agenda of this journal
War Stories; How Experienced Teachers Said They Responded To Disruptive Students In The Lifelong Learning Sector
No full textThis small-scale qualitative research inquiry investigates how a small sample of experienced teachers dealt with disruptive students in their classes in the Lifelong Learning Sector (LLS) in West Yorkshire. I wanted to continue my earlier writing on these issues by listening to what teachers said about their challenging experiences on the front line of the classroom interfacing with negative student behaviour. I firstly discuss a research instrument for collecting this data from these teachers’ experiences, and also explore their strategies for dealing with disruptive student behaviours. It seemed very important to hear from practitioners rather than relying on what textbooks advised. Previously I was interested in the experiences of trainee tutors facing these difficulties; in this piece I am more concerned with how experienced tutors deal with these unpleasant circumstances. I outline the findings that this questionnaire elicited in terms of key negative incidents that these teachers had experienced in class and the strategies they had deployed to overcome the social and emotional challenges of disruptive student behaviour. I briefly summarise these tutors’ perspectives on the support they felt they did or did not receive on these issues. I conclude with an analysis of the findings and question the problematics of this research, its meaning, validity and possible application in other teaching contexts
Class Wars: Initial Steps Into The Fray
No full textThis article explores the issue of preparing trainee teachers for the challenges of how to face their students’ ‘disruptive behaviour’ which sometimes marks the beginning and sets the tone for the remainder of sessions. In this paper I explore my work mentoring two trainee teachers, looking at the options available to them on entering classrooms where students displayed disruptive behaviour. There is a context of Ofsted criteria, whereby disruptive behaviour is no longer acceptable and ‘failure’ is allocated as an observation grade where ‘disruptive behaviour’ occurs. This piece offers an exploration of classroom management strategies for preparing trainee teachers who face challenging situations in Further Education (FE) environments and suggests strategies for dealing with the difficulties of disruptive classes. The reason why this is vitally important is because trainee teachers in Cert Ed classes wish to discuss this issue more than any other topic. It affects their self-esteem, confidence and class interaction in delivering the curriculum
War and peace in the classroom: moments of reprieve; a strategy for reflecting on – and improving – students’ classroom behaviour
No full textIn this article I intend to outline a strategy for supporting trainee teachers on Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in developing their ability to deal with disruptive student behaviour in their classes. I describe a particular class-based, peer-reflective practice and demonstrate how this has been effective in impacting on helping trainees to deal with teaching disruptive or challenging groups.
The rationale for exploring this issue, and the problematic national context in which disruptive student behaviour takes place, is outlined. I then explore a strategy for offering trainee support and peer reflection by sharing a case study of two trainees’ classes where students were particularly disruptive. I examine how this reflective strategy helped support these trainees to improve their practice. Before concluding, some epistemological questions are raised as to the problematics of how teachers know whether improvements took place
The building no 546 at Uly Kishman complex in the Merv oasis
No full textThe article included in a volume dedicated to 75th birthday of Prof. Gennadi Koshelenko of the Russian Academy of Sciences, proposes a different reading of one of the sites of the Merv oasis listed as no 546 and traditionally by the Soviet school, and in particular by Mrs. Pugachenkova, interpreted as a caravanserai. The building not very far at north east from the more famous Uly Kishman, presented many aspects not completely detected and analyzed. The author suggests the different interpretation of the building as a mosque on the basis of the plan and other architectural details
« The Fortifications of the City of Gyaur Kala, Merv », in : J. Cribb, G. Herrmann, eds., After Alexander. Central Asia before Islam. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 313-329. (Proceedings of the British Academy, 133)
No full textThe excavations of the Turkmen-British International Merv Project between 1997-2003 focused their attention to the fortification walls of Gyaur Kala, revealing a complex sequence of building phases for the defences. In at least three main phases (Graeco-Bactrian period, early and middle Sasanian periods), the walls were substantially redesigned and the defensive system changed. The author traces a history of the previous excavations and follows the development of the city walls (with ten diff..
The Iron Age in Merv Oasis
No full textIn this short article the author in the volume devoted to the joint Italian/Russian/Turkmenian activities in south Turkmenistan entitled Archaeological Map of the Murghab delta is dealing with the development of the Iron Age in Central Asia. In particular the author is dealing with the important archaeological horizon of Yaz I-III, first individuated in the Murghab delta by the Soviet scholars right in the Yaz Tepe site
Al di là dei confini degli Imperi Iranici e oltre …..,
No full textThe author in this article in a volume edited by himself and the colleague M.V. Fontana, devoted originally to the 75° birthday of Prof. U. Scerrato and later to his memory, is dealing with his archaeological activities beyond the frontiers of the Iranian Empires. In particular he is emphasizing the work made during the late 80s of the last Century in southern Turkmenistan and the first trial-trenches there conducted in 2001 and 2002 on a small tepe of the Yaz III horizon, and strategically located in a very crucial point of the Merv oasis. Furthermore the author is also giving a short note on the topographical work on the Bukhara oasis, conducted in 2000 and 2001 in collaboration with the Università degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza, starting from the northern site of Vardanzeh to Bukhara and Pajkent
Premiers pas des archéologues russes et français dans le Turkestan russe (1870-1890)
No full textL’article présente les pionniers de la recherche archéologique de terrain dans le Turkestan russe entre 1870 et 1890, notamment Borzenkov, Krestovskij, Veselovskij, Chaffanjon, avant l’étape plus systématique que marquent la fondation du Cercle des amateurs d’archéologie du Turkestan en 1896 et l’entrée en scène de Vjatkin et de Barthold. Le site clé est d’ores et déjà Afrasiab, qui est l’emplacement de la Samarcande prémongole. Les sondages archéologiques effectués selon des méthodes sommaires s’accompagnent de la collection systématique d’antiquités ramassées sur place ou acquises sur les bazars locaux. Ces recherches sont favorisées par les autorités militaires qui s’intéressent au passé de la région. Il convient de reconsidérer dans cette perspective la mission du Français Jean Chaffanjon (18941895), qui a fait l’objet d’une véritable « légende noire » dans l’historiographie soviétique. Ni par son absence de véritable méthode de fouille, ni par l’acquisition qu’il a faite d’une collection privée (celle de l’officier Barshchevskij, dont une autre partie a constitué le noyau du musée de Samarcande), il ne s’oppose véritablement aux autres pionniers. De nouvelles recherches effectuées par l’auteur de l’article, notamment dans les archives françaises, permettent de compléter la riche figure de cet explorateur aux intérêts multiples, de préciser ses motivations et ses sources de financement, enfin de dresser le bilan de son travail de terrain (qui, dans l’Asie Centrale russe, s’est étendu de Merv au Semirech’e).Russian and French archeologists’ first steps in Russian Turkestan, 1870-1890. – This article presents the pioneers of archeological research in Russian Turkestan between the years 1870 and 1890 – among others, Borzenkov, Krestovskii, Veselovskii, Chaffanjon –before the more systematic era ushered in by the foundation in 1896 of the Turkestani Circle of Archeology Lovers and the appearance of Viatkin and Barthold. The key site was already Afrasiab, the site of pre-Mongolian Samarkand. Cursory digging went hand in hand with systematic collecting of antiquities picked up on the site and in local bazaars. The military encouraged the research out of interest for the region’s past. The French archeologist Jean Chaffanjon’s mission (1894-1895) must be reconsidered in this perspective. This archeologist was put at the center of a somber legend in Soviet historiography. He does not differ much from the other pioneers, whether by his lack of real digging methods or by his acquisition of a private collection (that of Barshchevskii – part of this collection constitutes the core of the Samarkand Museum). New research by the author of this article, conducted mainly in French archives, allows one to put the final touch on the rich portrait of this explorer with numerous interests, to understand his motivations and find out where his financial support came from, and finally, to assess his field work (which, in Central Asia, spread from Merv to Semirech’e)
