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Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

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Articles 211 - 240 of 316

Full-Text Articles in Education

El Aprendizaje Dialógico En Los Grupos Interactivos, M. Josepa Adell Nolla, Carlos Herrero, Belinda Siles Jan 2004

El Aprendizaje Dialógico En Los Grupos Interactivos, M. Josepa Adell Nolla, Carlos Herrero, Belinda Siles

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Este artículo escrito conjuntamente pretende compartir con otros profesores y profesoras, formadores y formadoras de profesorado, y con demás profesionales y personas que participen en el campo de la educación, nuestras experiencias con los grupos interactivos. El hecho de ver a niños y niñas rebosantes de esperanza, entusiasmo y motivación en las aulas, desde que empezamos con esta práctica de educación igualitaria, confiere un nuevo sentido a nuestro trabajo. La alegría y plenitud que estamos viendo y experimentando resultan contagiosas. Creemos que difundir aquellas innovaciones que están obteniendo buenos resultados en las aulas y las escuelas es fundamental para todos …


Familias Gitanas Transformando La Escuela, Xavier Folch Jan 2004

Familias Gitanas Transformando La Escuela, Xavier Folch

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Cuando explicamos a alguien que tenemos la suerte de trabajar en unos barrios con unas escuelas donde una gran parte de las familias son gitanas, de entrada no entienden por qué lo decimos. Cuando transmitimos a alguien todo lo que hacemos les parece que no sea posible. El estigma que precede a la etnia gitana hace que tengan asociados calificativos que presuponen que quien se relaciona o trabaja con gitanos, más que suerte tiene una desgracia. Sorprende, no obstante, que todo aquel que trabaja con personas gitanas desde un acercamiento respetuoso y desde un diálogo igualitario, huyendo de los estereotipos …


Romani Families Transforming The School, Xavier Folch Jan 2004

Romani Families Transforming The School, Xavier Folch

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

When we explain to people that we are lucky enough to work in neighborhoods with schools where a large number of families are Romany, at first they do not understand why we say this. When we tell people everything that we do, they do not believe it is possible. Because of the stigmatization of Roma there are labels associated to them, which lead to presumptions that those who relate to or work with Roma, rather than being lucky are unfortunate. It surprises people, however, that all those who work with Roma in a respectful way, avoiding stereotypes and clichés, learn …


La Transformation De Los Centros Rurales, Carmen Elboj, Amparo Gil, Isabel Rodrigo, Ignacio Zaldívar Jan 2004

La Transformation De Los Centros Rurales, Carmen Elboj, Amparo Gil, Isabel Rodrigo, Ignacio Zaldívar

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Por escuela rural, comúnmente se entiende aquélla que está situada en un ámbito rural. Si matizamos un poco más podemos decir que la escuela situada en el ámbito rural es una institución educativa que tiene como soporte el medio y la cultura rurales con una serie de factores y circunstancias que, si no son resueltas favorablemente, pueden dificultar la consecución de unos objetivos que hagan de ésta una escuela de calidad, en igualdad de condiciones con otros centros educativos.


The Transformation Of Rural Schools, Carmen Elboj, Amparo Gil, Isabel Rodrigo, Ignacio Zaldívar Jan 2004

The Transformation Of Rural Schools, Carmen Elboj, Amparo Gil, Isabel Rodrigo, Ignacio Zaldívar

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

A rural school is commonly understood as a school that is situated in a rural setting. If we specify a little more, we can say that a school situated in rural surroundings is an educational institution that is supported by rural culture and resources. Additional factors and circumstances exist that if not resolved favorably, can make it difficult to attain those objectives that make this a quality school, with conditions of equality in line with other schools.


El Currículum Global: Reconsiderar La Escuela Desde La Educación, Pablo Del Río, Amelia Álvarez Jan 2004

El Currículum Global: Reconsiderar La Escuela Desde La Educación, Pablo Del Río, Amelia Álvarez

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

En este trabajo se condensan las propuestas educativas de la perspectiva histórico-cultural y genético-cultural como un escenario de las metas, realidades y alternativas de renovación para la tarea educativa, resaltando a partir de ese escenario un conjunto de reorientaciones aconsejables para abordar la educación en un mundo cambiante. Esas reorientaciones implicarían un giro desde el actual énfasis en el conocimiento mismo a prestar una mayor atención a las herramientas y operadores del conocimiento; pasar del énfasis en las tareas individuales a una mayor preocupación por la actividad compartida como origen de las operaciones mentales y pasar del énfasis en el …


Construyendo Un Sueño: Comunidades De Aprendizaje En El País Vasco, Mª Luisa Jaussi, Carmen Vega Jan 2004

Construyendo Un Sueño: Comunidades De Aprendizaje En El País Vasco, Mª Luisa Jaussi, Carmen Vega

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Todas las personas que formamos parte del proyecto de Comunidades de aprendizaje compartimos un mismo sueño, una misma utopía: que todos los niños y niñas, independientemente de su situación social, de su cultura, de sus características personales lleguen a desarrollar al máximo sus capacidades y gocen de los mismos derechos y oportunidades reales en la sociedad actual. Es un sueño de igualdad que incluye la diferencia. Pensamos que "otra educación es posible" y para ello es necesario que más personas se adhieran a esta utopía, algo que ya está sucediendo en Euskadi donde cada vez más escuelas inician el proceso …


The Global Curriculum: Rethinking School From The Perspective Of Education, Pablo Del Río, Amelia Álvarez Jan 2004

The Global Curriculum: Rethinking School From The Perspective Of Education, Pablo Del Río, Amelia Álvarez

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This paper brings together educational proposals based on a framework derived from the perspectives of historic-cultural and genetic-cultural theory. This framework enables us to specify the goals, realities and alternatives for renewal in the educational task, and to highlight a series of recommended reorientations for tackling education in a changing world. These reorientations imply a switching of attention: from the current emphasis on knowledge as an end in itself, towards a greater attention to the tools and operators of knowledge; from an emphasis on individual tasks to a greater concern with shared activities as the origin of mental operations; and …


"Kiss My Donkey!" Or Raising The Level Of Authentic Communication In My Core French Classroom, Jan Claes Jul 2003

"Kiss My Donkey!" Or Raising The Level Of Authentic Communication In My Core French Classroom, Jan Claes

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

The way I see it, teacher action research found me rather than my finding it. In April of 2002, I attended the Quebec Conference on Teacher Action Research in Montreal as an observer. Having absolutely no prior experience with the concept, I was at first completely overwhelmed by the puzzling new vocabulary and by the obvious passion of the participants. Then, about halfway through the second day, I suddenly understood. It felt as if an internal dam were breaking and I began to engage in conversation after exciting conversation about the phenomenal power of this approach.


Exploring The Use Of Collaborative Inquiry In Improving Practice, Panayiotis Angelides Jul 2003

Exploring The Use Of Collaborative Inquiry In Improving Practice, Panayiotis Angelides

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Effective teaching in mixed ability classes has dominated much of the Cyprus government's agenda for educational reform. Since the publication of the UNESCO report (UNESCO, 1997) which pointed out that primary school classes in Cyprus are organized as mixed ability groups with no clear policy about internal grouping, no policy on differentiation in curriculum, methodology or resource utilization, the Ministry of Education and Culture began a campaign for improving teaching in mixed ability classes. Circulars setting out the advantages of this policy were sent to schools and senior officials of the Ministry of Education and Culture organized seminars to suggest …


Learning And Thriving With Questions: A Helpful Resource For Teacher Researchers, Catherine Compton-Lilly Jul 2003

Learning And Thriving With Questions: A Helpful Resource For Teacher Researchers, Catherine Compton-Lilly

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Contemporary educators live is an era of advertised "quick fixes and simple solutions that too often leave us feeling cheated and alone. The acclaimed phonics program, the scripted behavior reinforcement scheme, and the carefully sequenced, research-based scope and sequence all leave us much as they found us - continuing to seek ways to improve instruction for our students. As teacher researchers recognize, no one resource will serve all of our needs and challenges. Collaboration from supportive peers is integral to developing and maintaining exciting, compelling, and productive research projects. However, there are resources that can support us as we embark …


Can Computer-Based Instruction Improve Molecular Biology Comprehension Among General Education Students?, Christine A. Genovese Jul 2003

Can Computer-Based Instruction Improve Molecular Biology Comprehension Among General Education Students?, Christine A. Genovese

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

The study compared the efficacy of teaching key concepts of molecular biology using an online study environment with a more traditional, lecture-based approach. Two introductory biology classes were randomly divided and exposed to one of two instructional delivery systems. The traditional group attended class and heard lectures covering DNA structure and replication, RNA transcription and protein synthesis, and had live interaction with the instructor. The remaining students used computer-based instruction exclusively to cover the identical course content. These, so called, online learners had access to web pages with detailed lecture notes that were supplemented with graphics, animations and hyperlinks. They …


Learning To Consult And Collaborate In The High School: A Two-Year Study Of Perceptions From University Student Team Members, Eleanor T. Migliore, Angela Breidenstein Jul 2003

Learning To Consult And Collaborate In The High School: A Two-Year Study Of Perceptions From University Student Team Members, Eleanor T. Migliore, Angela Breidenstein

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Collaboration in the schools is an important intervention for providing services to students and staff members. The majority of studies regarding collaborative consultation between school psychologists and teachers have been conducted at the elementary and middle school levels. Further, little has been written about teaching collaborative consultation at the university level to preservice educators.This article describes a two-year project designed to teach collaboration at the university level to two groups of high school teacher interns and school psychology students enrolled in separate courses. Teacher trainees identified problems within their classrooms with which they needed assistance and school psychology students collaborated …


Researching And Acting: Exploring And Improving The Provision Of Academic Support For Newly Appointed Staff In A Higher Education Institution In Ireland, Roisin Donnelly Jul 2003

Researching And Acting: Exploring And Improving The Provision Of Academic Support For Newly Appointed Staff In A Higher Education Institution In Ireland, Roisin Donnelly

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

My current professional role is as an academic working in a learning and teaching centre supporting other academics in a higher education institution in Ireland. In my attempts to become a more developed self-reflective practitioner, there are times when it helps me to take a time-out from my daily teaching practice and instead put some time and energy into clarifying for myself the kinds of values and commitments I hold as a professional in my practice. Earlier this academic year, I undertook a piece of action research as one such time-out. This paper reports how I decided to take a …


Book Review: Milnes, Joan. (2003). Field Work Savvy: A Handbook For Students In Internship, Co-Operative Education, Service-Learning And Other Forms Of Experiential Education. Wa: Pleasant Word., Gay Roland Jul 2003

Book Review: Milnes, Joan. (2003). Field Work Savvy: A Handbook For Students In Internship, Co-Operative Education, Service-Learning And Other Forms Of Experiential Education. Wa: Pleasant Word., Gay Roland

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Field Work Savvy by Joan Milnes is a handbook for students preparing to participate in a field based learning experience. It is a user-friendly guide for high school and college level students. Ms. Milnes has researched the whys and hows of making a field experience successful for students and employers. This handbook provides the students' faculty coordinator with a comprehensive preparatory plan to ease the transition from the classroom to the world of work.


Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells Jul 2003

Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This issue of Networks contains a varied collection of articles, ranging from research in elementary classrooms to investigations carried out by university teacher educators; in all, there is a concern on the part of the authors to improve the ways in which they fulfill their responsibilities and enthuse and challenge the students with whom they work.


What Counts As Legitimate Research?: The Generalizability Of Teacher-Research, Karen L. Lowenstein, James S. Damico Jul 2003

What Counts As Legitimate Research?: The Generalizability Of Teacher-Research, Karen L. Lowenstein, James S. Damico

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Although there are several criteria for considering "what counts as research," we focus on the criterion of generalizability for teacher-research in this essay. We argue that although teacher-researchers conducting research in their own classrooms are more likely to be concerned with deepening local knowledge about immediate practice than asserting what is termed "generalizability" across a larger educational community, this does not preclude the work of teacher-researchers from fulfilling the criterion of generalizability. In other words, we aim to point out that teacher-research is generalizable. To develop this argument, we first briefly define teacher-research, situating it within interpretive research more broadly. …


Collaborative Educational Research In Spain, Gordon Wells Jul 2003

Collaborative Educational Research In Spain, Gordon Wells

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Earlier this year, I was privileged to speak with educators in Spain when I was invited to address conferences in Barcelona and Bilbao, organized by the Ministries of Education in Catalonia and the Basque Country, respectively. My hosts during the visit were members of the Center for Social and Educational Research at the University of Barcelona (CREA). They gave me a wonderful welcome and introduced me to some of the attractions of Catalonia, including a tour of Gaudi buildings, a visit to the remains of the Greek and Roman city at Ampurias on the Costa Brava, meals in a variety …


Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells Jan 2003

Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

It gives me particular pleasure to introduce this special issue by members of the Developing Inquiring Communities in Education Project (DICEP). For eight years, while I was at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, I was a member of DICEP, and even now I still continue my participation - from a distance. Without any doubt, DICEP has been the major influence on the work I have been doing during the last decade.


Science Teaching And Learning: Teachers And Children Plan Together, Zoe Donoahue Jan 2003

Science Teaching And Learning: Teachers And Children Plan Together, Zoe Donoahue

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

When I started teaching, the science curriculum was not prescribed for each grade. We were able to teach topics that we knew were captivating for children of a certain age and to share our particular passions and knowledge with our students. Many a time a whole unit of study would evolve from a "teachable moment". A child bringing in a robin's egg or a rock collection would pique our interest and we would pursue that topic until we had satisfied our curiosity. We were covering the same skills that the curriculum now details, children were learning how to learn about …


Book Review: Wells, Gordon. (Ed.). (2001). Action, Talk, And Text: Learning And Teaching Through Inquiry. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University., Mary Hookey Jan 2003

Book Review: Wells, Gordon. (Ed.). (2001). Action, Talk, And Text: Learning And Teaching Through Inquiry. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University., Mary Hookey

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

In 1990, Marilyn Cochrane-Smith and Susan Lytle argued that "What is missing from the knowledge base for teaching are the voices of the teachers themselves, the questions teachers ask, the ways teachers use writing and intentional talk in their work lives, and the interpretive frames teachers use to understand and improve their own classroom practices." The ultimate goal for teachers is the enhanced learning of their students.


Creating A Classroom Of Connoisseurs: Grade 7 Students And Their Teacher Investigate Their Growth As Readers, Maria Kowal Jan 2003

Creating A Classroom Of Connoisseurs: Grade 7 Students And Their Teacher Investigate Their Growth As Readers, Maria Kowal

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Maria Pia's poem illustrates the state of mind I was in. It was August and I was preparing for the upcoming school year. My assignment, as it had been for a few years, was Grade 7 home room teacher, responsible for teaching language arts, social studies and math to 12 and 13 year olds. My thoughts were tuned in to my language arts program; the reading component in particular. The purpose of this paper is to show how over the course of a school year, through coinvestigating this aspect of my program with my students, I and they came to …


Reflections On Action Research: Uncovering My Assumptions, Monica Mcglynn-Stewart Jan 2003

Reflections On Action Research: Uncovering My Assumptions, Monica Mcglynn-Stewart

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

I have engaged in action research for several years in different settings and for different purposes. At the elementary level I have used action research to try to understand my students' view of the culture of our classroom, (presentation, OERC, 1996) and to make a geometry unit come alive (International Reading Association, 1996). At the secondary level, I used Action Research to develop a leadership program (Teachers College Press, 2001) and to help my fellow DICEP members and me understand the functioning of our own research group (Orbit, 1998).


Discovering Action Research: The Evolution Of My Research Question, Barbara Bell Angus Jan 2003

Discovering Action Research: The Evolution Of My Research Question, Barbara Bell Angus

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

As a new member of Developing Inquiring Communities in Education Project (DICEP) as well as a rookie action researcher, I feel that my greatest contribution at this time is to chronicle the evolution of my research question through my initial cycle of action research. I hope this article will provide encouragement to other first time action researchers as they wrestle with their initial projects.


Following The Students' Lead: Exploring The Value Of Incentives, Greta Davis Jan 2003

Following The Students' Lead: Exploring The Value Of Incentives, Greta Davis

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Recently, I decided to focus on how children perceive the learning activities I give them. I believed this would not only help improve my students' metacognitive skills by encouraging them to identify what strategies best helped them to learn but it would also help my practice by understanding how my goals for activities might differ from their goals. I shared this interest with the students at the beginning of the year and asked for their assistance in exploring these issues. I planned to use a means of data collection that my DICEP colleagues had proposed. It involved pausing or "freezing" …


Reflection In Teacher Education: It Starts With Me!, Clare Kosnik Jan 2003

Reflection In Teacher Education: It Starts With Me!, Clare Kosnik

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

In the Mid-Town teacher education program at OISE/UT our broad goals for ourselves and our students are inquiry, integration and community. However, student teachers often enter the program believing they will be systematically taught how to teach mathematics, language arts, science, and so on; acquire fool-proof strategies for classroom management; and be given the names of prescribed curriculum textbooks (Britzman, 1986). As Louisa, a student teacher in this study noted, "I thought teacher education would be sitting in front of a lot of instructors, and you don't have anything to say, because you're going to be told everything that you …


Co-Researching The Researchers: Dicep's Ongoing Self-Reflection, Monica Mcglynn-Stewart Jan 2003

Co-Researching The Researchers: Dicep's Ongoing Self-Reflection, Monica Mcglynn-Stewart

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

The self-appointed chronicler of DICEP strikes again! In 1997 I prepared, distributed and analyzed an anonymously completed survey of our collaborative action research group (McGlynn-Stewart, 1998). I felt that there were a lot of issues that needed to be discussed regarding how we functioned as a group, and I wanted to provide a forum for that to happen. In 1999, I facilitated an interactive email conversation among our members for an update on how we were doing with respect to the issues that arose in the earlier survey (McGlynn-Stewart, 2001).


Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells Sep 2002

Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This issue of Networks is the last in a year that has seen a tightening of constraints, both political and educational, in response to the increasing violence that has characterized relationships between nations, cultures, religions and economic classes. In education, in almost all the richer countries, there has been a tighter focus on "basic skills" and the memorization of an increasingly large body of "core knowledge", assessed through standardized tests, and a concomitant narrowing of the opportunities for student initiative, choice, and sustained investigation of questions and issues that they find personally significant. Teachers feel harried and hurried, with little …


The Definition Of Enlightenment - Lighten Up: My Use Of Humor In Social Work Education And Practice, Rich Furman Sep 2002

The Definition Of Enlightenment - Lighten Up: My Use Of Humor In Social Work Education And Practice, Rich Furman

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

In this narrative, I discuss how humor has become a central "tool" of my practice as a social work educator and social worker. I describe how I use humor as a conscious means of achieving student learning. In a very real sense, calling humor a tool is a misnomer as it is a central feature of my personality. Each of us possesses certain personality characteristics that, if nurtured and cherished, can become powerful allies in the processes of teaching and helping.


Learning From Others: Literacy Perspectives Of Middle-School English Teachers, Cynthia A. Lassonde Sep 2002

Learning From Others: Literacy Perspectives Of Middle-School English Teachers, Cynthia A. Lassonde

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

At the center of this interview-based study, middle-school English teachers talk and write about their literacy development, their teaching philosophies, and their curriculum, as they reflect upon their teaching. Portraits of their perspectives of literacy emerge. Using these portraits to reflect upon teaching practices, the author suggests we can effectively examine our own educational philosophies, contributing to our efforts to become increasingly competent educators.