Education Commons^™

High Schools, Race, And America's Future: What Students Can Teach Us About Morality, Diversity, And Community, Lawrence Blum

Lawrence Blum

In High Schools, Race, and America's Future, Lawrence Blum offers a lively account of a rigorous high school course on race and racism. Set in a racially, ethnically, and economically diverse high school, the book chronicles students engagement with one another, with a rich and challenging academic curriculum, and with questions that relate powerfully to their daily lives.

Blum, an acclaimed moral philosopher whose work focuses on issues of race, reflects with candor, insight, and humor on the challenges and surprises encountered in teaching the unexpected turns in conversation, the refreshing directness of students questions, the aha moments and …

It’S Not Just The Language: Culture As An Essential Element In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Linda Evans, Annmarie Gunn

Linda S. Evans

We’re not even two weeks into this course, and already I feel that the readings are speaking directly to me: to my prejudice, my (unadmitted) racism, my unresolved feelings about foreigners in my country, and all of the sentiments I hold dear about what it means to be American, and what those who are not native to this country “should” be doing to fit in. I am one of those people who have thought, if not actually said, that once they are in the United States, they need to speak English. So, now, I am ashamed that I have been …

It Works For Me, Online!: Shared Tips For Online And Web-Enhanced Teaching, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, Douglas Robertson

Hal Blythe

It Works For Me, Online is designed primarily to aid instructors in two major types of classes: fully online and web-enhanced/hybrid courses. Those who teach fully online classes will find tips on such things as tricks you can use with synchronous chats, how to use blogging in your classroom to replace traditional chat-rooms (talk about your superannuation), and even ways of adapting Blackboard to meet administrative needs. Those who prefer web enhancements to the traditional classroom will find advice to navigate between the virtual and real world. And, truthfully, we are hopeful that even dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Luddites will skim through …

Successful Professional Learning, Marion Meiers, Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley

This edition is focused on research into teacher learning and professional development. Teacher learning includes not only activities such as conferences and workshops, but also includes participation in many formal and informal learning activities. Recent research has focused, amongst other things, on characteristics of successful professional learning, and on the connections between teachers' professional learning and improvements in student learning. This research has the potential to assist teachers and schools in selecting and planning for professional learning, so that it will maximise the benefits for participants. The first section of this digest presents some research findings on effective professional learning. …

‘Miss, Are You Bisexual?’ The (Re)Production Of Heteronormativity Within Schools And The Negotiation Of Lesbian, Gay And Bisexual Teachers’ Private And Professional Worlds, Emily M. Gray Dr

Dr Emily M Gray

This research offers an analysis of the experiences of twenty people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) and who are teachers within their professional lives. It aims to illustrate the ways in which the continuing (re)production of heteronormative discursive practices impacts upon their lives both within the private and the professional realm. The research deploys a two-tier methodological framework in order to gain insights into the lives of LGBT teachers, an often invisible social group. The research is underpinned by a theoretical framework which draws upon poststructuralist feminist/queer theories but which also is data, rather than theory, driven. …

Case Study Of Implementation Amidst Corruption Linkages: The National Textbook Delivery Program (Tdp) Of The Philippine Department Of Education, Vicente Reyes

Dr. Vicente C Reyes Jr

This article is subdivided into three closely linked parts. It initially starts with a description of the background and objectives of the Textbook Delivery Program (TDP). This is followed by an analysis of the factors of implementation on the basis of the field notes gathered during the inquiry. An analysis of the impact of these factors on policy implementation is highlighted in this section. The succeeding part explores cases of corruption and its intervening effects on TDP.

Comics, The Canon, And The Classroom, James Carter

James B Carter

This chapter, which explores what I call the canon-curriculum-culture connection in terms of comics and graphic novels, also offers definitions of the augmental and supplemental approaches to using graphic novels in the classroom. The link is to the "Google Books" version of the paper, which begins on page 47 of the book.

How Mobile Phones Help Learning In Secondary Schools, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Nadja Heym

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This research took place in 2007-8, at a time when mobile phones had become small, personal computers, providing clock, calendar, games, music player, Bluetooth connection, Internet access, and high-quality camera functions in addition to voice calls and short messaging. The Mobile Life Youth Report (2006) found that by the time they reach secondary school, 91% of 12 year olds in the UK have a mobile phone. Even though recent phone models, sometimes called ‘smart phones’, allow users to read pdf formats, spreadsheets and word-processed files, they have been more usually seen as disruptive, rather than useful, in school education.

Teacher Education And Development Study In Mathematics (Teds-M) : Policy, Practice, And Readiness To Teach Primary And Secondary Mathematics : Conceptual Framework., Maria Tatto, John Schwille, Sharon Senk, Lawrence Ingvarson, Ray Peck, Glenn Rowley

Ray Peck

TEDS-M is a collaborative effort of worldwide institutions to study the mathematics preparation of future primary and secondary teachers. This study investigates whether what future teachers learn in teacher education leads to more effective knowledge of mathematics and mathematics for teaching. The lead centre is the International Study Center at Michigan State University, which along with the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the Australian Council of Educational Research, and national research centres (NRCs) in 17 countries, is analysing the costs of becoming a teacher prepared to teach mathematics, the policies governing mathematics teacher education (including recruitment, …

Carving A Niche: Graphic Novels In The English Language Arts Classroom, James Carter

James B Carter

An introduction to the roles that graphic novels can play in the secondary English Language Arts classroom.

Researching ‘What Works’ In Boys Education: Teachers Take The Lead, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Greg Neal

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Accountability in education is often effected through mandated standards for curriculum, teacher performance and student outcomes at national or state levels, and this has increasingly occurred in Australia over the past decade. In order to make decisions regarding the achievement of these standards, evidence must be collected from sample sites or segments of the relevant populations. Funding is often linked to accountability, through reward mechanisms ‘after the event’ or through grants made a priori and requiring comprehensive reports. The evidence base is large-scale, but can lack detail. In conjunction with these levers for schools to act on current issues, their …

Evaluation Of An Online Community: Australia's National Quality Schooling Framework, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Keryn Mcguinness, Peter Cuttance

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This chapter considers the development and implementation of Australia’s National Quality Schooling Framework (NQSF), created particularly for teachers and others involved in improving school education. This large-scale, highly structured, and outcome- focused community space, funded by the Australian government, was developed as a means of building and testing knowledge. Using Wenger’s infrastructure for communities of practice, the chapter evaluates the NQSF in light of its capacity for engagement, imagination, and alignment. Although these three are often intertwined, we conclude that firstly, users value the space for engagement and that this needs to be supported by a national telecommunications infrastructure. Secondly, …

My Grandfather Is Dead: Narratives Of Culture And Curriculum, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Frank Vetere

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Curriculum, the term used to denote a course of study, has been understood in recent years as a documented program developed by experts and managed by an education authority. In many cases this has resulted in a focus on the experience and the goals of dominant cultures, so that minority groups do not feel well-represented in the curriculum. In this paper we explore the possibility of young people using mobile devices to enrich their curriculum by contributing content that encapsulates aspects of their lives. In a short project, we provided indigenous secondary school students from both urban and isolated communities …

Eportfolios In Australian Schools: Supporting Learners' Self-Esteem, Multiliteracies And Reflection On Learning, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Electronic or ePortfolios are containers for selections of digital items – whether audio, visual, text, or a combination of these – generally used to show individual learning. Large-scale systems are being developed in Europe and the United States, based on specially-designed proprietary or open-source software. In contrast, most Australian ePortfolio projects in schools are small-scale, locally-developed attempts to take advantage of digital formats to develop a range of literacies, express learners’ identities and present achievements to various audiences. This paper describes recent school-based examples reported by teachers and students and concludes that teachers believe that important outcomes lie in increasing …

What's In A Name? Why We Can't Learn With Mobile Phones, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

A team from the University of Melbourne is exploring the potential of mobile camera phones to support learning in schools and TAFE colleges. This article discusses some of the findings of the study.

Applying A Communities Of Practice Model To Research Partnerships, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Keryn Mcguinness

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

The quality and relevance of research is determined by those it affects, not just those who fund it or engage in it. A communities of practice model can bring together these diverse interests to meet national and local needs. Practice, the social production of meaning, is the source of coherence of a community. The specific practice of educational research is building and testing knowledge, and through the learning process necessary for this practice, numerous communities emerge, with complex boundaries and peripheries depending on people’s roles, purposes and expertise. Communication technologies can facilitate communities of practice, so that online dialogue, rather …

It Works For Me, Online!: Shared Tips For Online And Web-Enhanced Teaching, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, Douglas Robertson

Charlie Sweet

It Works For Me, Online is designed primarily to aid instructors in two major types of classes: fully online and web-enhanced/hybrid courses. Those who teach fully online classes will find tips on such things as tricks you can use with synchronous chats, how to use blogging in your classroom to replace traditional chat-rooms (talk about your superannuation), and even ways of adapting Blackboard to meet administrative needs. Those who prefer web enhancements to the traditional classroom will find advice to navigate between the virtual and real world. And, truthfully, we are hopeful that even dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Luddites will skim through …

Innovation In Practice : From Consumption To Creation, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper focuses on three aspects of innovation: its purpose of supporting lifelong learning during and after schooling, the ways that information and communications technology (ICT) supports learning and knowledge creation, and digital portfolios as an example of learning and innovation. Digital portfolios, containers of multimedia forms of evidence of activities, achievements and reflections, are just one way in which technology can support lifelong learning and the creation and sharing of knowledge.

New Roles For Knowledge Builders : What Teachers Tell Us About Working In The 21st Century., Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

The author explores the current roles of teachers in classrooms using computers, and identifies ways in which anticipated changes in practice are actually occurring.

Affirmative Action: A Case Study, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper explores what is a timely and overdue issue in educational administration: women's access to positions of responibility. Through a case study the author provides us with some insights on how the issues were played out in one school.