A foot in both camps: lessons learned about without-prejudice teaching and learning from cross-cultural experience

This chapter contributes knowledge and new insights into learning and teaching practices in two classrooms in a Polish primary school that were observed over a longer perspective of three school semesters. Although the research project was performed on a small scale, it can be defined as one that monitors the changes to learning and teaching practices happening in the traditional educational culture of the school under analysis. In particular, these changes were identified through the data collected by means of classroom video ethnography and interviews with classroom’s teachers. The chapter contributes a map of teaching and learning practices over the course of three semesters during the process of introducing tablet technology into a school and a series of conflicts and tensions teachers experience in their tablet-mediated teaching practices. The “wow” in the title of this chapter is tantamount to the teachers’ excitement, hope, and their expectation that the appearance of tablets at school will work “wonders.” The teachers perceived tablets as a magic wand about to cause radical changes to teaching and learning practices. However, nothing like that happened. Our video ethnographic and narrative research, trying to find optimum ways of tablet integration in the classroom, started at the moment when the teachers expressed their great disappointment and began to wonder “and then what?”

The appearance of tablet technology in the classroom is considered an obvious modernisation milestone. In the last few years school professionals in Poland have made large investments in digitalisation, especially through one to one model (1:1), using digital devices such as tablets. Researches on tablet technology integration in school classrooms convince that digital technologies are closely related to the discourse of educational change. What really changes when digital technology is used in the classroom? This is a driving question for the present study. This research contributes knowledge and new insights into learning and teaching practices in two classrooms in a Polish primary school that were observed over a longer perspective of three school semesters. The design of teaching and learning with tablet technology was explored using the didactical design framework. This perspective focuses on both teachers’ practices and students’ learning activities in the classroom and how tablet technology is integrated into teaching and learning practices. Although the research project was performed on a small scale, it can be defined as one that documents the changes to learning and teaching practices happening in the traditional educational culture of the school under analysis. These changes were identified through the data collected by means of classroom video ethnography (63 teaching hours of recording) and follow-up interviews (18) with classroom’s teachers. The analysis resulted in three distinct maps of emergent teaching and learning practices and a series of conflicts and tensions teachers experience in their everyday tablet-mediated teaching practices. The findings point out that tablet technology integration needs the alignment of the classroom pedagogy - technology relationships.

Research on technology integration in school classrooms convinces that digital technologies are closely related to the discourse of educational change. What really changes when digital technology is used in the classroom? This is the driving question for the present study. This research contributes knowledge on learning and teaching practices in 19 early education classrooms observed over two school semesters. The design of teaching and learning with tablet technology was explored using the didactical design framework. This perspective focuses on both teachers’ practices and students’ learning activities in the classroom and how tablet technology is integrated into teaching and learning practices. Although the research project was performed on a small scale, it can be defined as one that documents the changes to learning and teaching practices happening in the traditional educational culture of the schools under analysis. These changes were identified through the data collected by means of structured classroom observation (283 teaching hours) and interviews with classroom teachers. The analysis resulted in three distinct sets of emergent teaching and learning practices and a series of conflicts and tensions teachers experience in their everyday tablet-mediated teaching practices.

This paper proposes using different concepts for guiding institutional practices in times of digitally changing professional teaching work environments. This paper draws upon our previous research and offers a first step of a framework, to understand and explore the new digital changes for professional teaching and learning practice, while engaging in online and virtual work and learning environments. Thereby focusing on the notion of a professional and the social implications of digital work technologies that are used for teaching and learning. The theoretical paper is structured around concepts we identified in our previous work and its potential of adopting them in the context of digital communities of professional practices. Addressing these objectives can hopefully help us to understand, what the effects of digital professional teaching work environments on teaching practice and for teacher’s professional responsibility are, their social effects in everyday teacher work and their practice related knowledge? What capabilities, features or skills are enabling teachers to do so and what guidelines can help them to cope with the current changes? And ultimately, how workplaces, schools and universities can benefit from these ideas? We focus on both human social factors and digital material factors as being inherent to professional teaching and learning practice. We hereby build upon concepts derived from socio-cultural and socio-material theories which are currently not commonly used in the same context, such as: communities of practice which is popular in socio-cultural learning theories whereby the understanding of human development relies on the social world; and extending the community of practice with materiality whereby human development also involves the material world. We contribute with this paper by suggesting that our framework, drawing on concepts of two different but related learning theories is useful for further research, such as on the institutional and individual response to digital change in teaching and learning practice. We believe that our theoretical informed conceptual approach enables to inform an increased professionality of teaching professionals in times of digital work change, activates thinking about different concepts, a change of mindset or at least provide the guidelines for an improved understanding among those involved in teaching practice.

Faculty research at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague focuses on a wide range of topics relevant to the artistic practice of its teaching staff, to the artistic develop- ment of its students and to the world of musical practice at large. Areas covered include informed performance practice, creative (artistic) research, instrument building, educational research, and music theory. One strand within the faculty research programme is directed towards the under- standing and the enhancement of the student-teacher relationship in higher music education. Two investigations within that strand – ‘Making Music: Being Heard and Seen’ by Paul Deneer, and ‘The Teacher-Student Relationship in One-to-One Teaching’ by Gerda van Zelm – were performed in close collaboration. This publica- tion brings together the outcomes of both research projects, including an appendix ‘Reciprocity: The Two Studies Combined’, which offers conclusions and recommen- dations to further enhance the student-teacher relationship in conservatoires. Help! A Talent! documents and communicates knowledge, understanding and practical recommendations, based on accumulated experiences, theoretical insights and data collection. Its empirical base is the practice of teaching and learning at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. The relevance of the findings, however, reaches beyond the confines of this institute. Other conservatoires and music departments might benefit from the insights and suggestions offered. Research into the student- teacher relationship in higher music education is gaining more and more attention lately. This publication is both a contribution to this emerging research field and an invitation to further research. Help! A Talent! is part of Royal Conservatoire Publications. With this series the Royal Conservatoire aspires to contribute insights and experiences, embedded in its higher music education culture and embodied in the professionals who study and work here. With the publication of Help! A Talent! we support the dissemination of knowledge and understanding, but we also show our commitment to research and our readiness to be in front of the development. In doing so the Conservatoire ma- nifests awareness that today’s higher music education is in constant need to refine and attune its programme to an ever-changing world.

One of the challenges of 21st-century academia is meeting the often-competing demands from students, universities, and professional associations. Among many diversities, students at regional universities, such as the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), often have higher rates of first-in-family learners than metropolitan counterparts. Law academics at regional universities, then, must address the challenges of maintaining high-quality teaching to fulfil student satisfaction for a diverse student demographic, while both meeting university and professional requirements and supporting students’ personal satisfaction. One avenue to support academics in enhancing teaching practices while aligning with university and professional obligations is through peer discussion, review, and enhancement of learning and teaching practice. Peer discussion, enhancement, and review of learning and teaching practice occurs regularly on an informal basis in most academic settings. However, opportunities to engage in structured and meaningful peer review and enhancement of teaching are neither prevalent nor popular. Academic staff in the School of Law and Criminology (SLC) at USC instigated and developed an interdisciplinary, formalised framework for enhancing teaching and learning practice within the SLC, in accordance with the SLC’s mission: to provide a personal, inspiring, and rigorous learning environment that empowers graduates to be career- and future-ready and able to make significant contributions to their communities. This framework, termed Peer Review and Enhancement of Practice (PREP), delivers a teaching-enhancement best-practice structure that is informed by evidence-based pedagogy and involves shared experience, self-reflection, and peer review. PREP is innovative in nature through its ground-up approach, which is driven by academic staff within the SLC, to create a collaborative space that is relevant and suitable for academic staff to address learning and teaching challenges and opportunities. Accordingly, PREP is flexible, voluntary, and organic, tailored to suit the needs and wants of academic staff. PREP also provides an opportunity for academic staff to develop portfolios that collate authentic evidence of effective learning and teaching

The notion that the student-teacher relationship is quintessential for the holistic development and success of students has been well established through various research. A considerable number of studies have been conducted in western countries, and various scales have been developed to measure student-teacher relationship. These scales have been extended to various cultural contexts. However, few studies have been found to focus on the suitability and applicability of these scales and theories of student-teacher relationship in the Indian context. In the western context, most of the studies on the student-teacher relationship were based on the attachment theory. In the context of Indian culture, student-teacher relationship functions beyond the boundaries of attachment theory. It is well acknowledged that Indian culture differs vastly from other cultures. Given the uniqueness of Indian culture, the present study advocated that nature of student-teacher relationship in the Indian context is significantly different from western countries. There was a need to develop a scale for measuring student-teacher relationship in the Indian context. This study intended to construct a scale on student-teacher relationship in the Indian context. Standard procedure was followed in the process of scale construction. Results of the first study illustrated a four factor (dedication, trust, respect, and obedience) model of student-teacher relationship, and a second study confirmed this model and ensured reliability and validity of the scale.

An innovative method of data analysis: Using art as a lens through which to view pharmacy undergraduate students' learning and assessment practices.

There is a continuous struggle on understanding learning settings, particularly with ICT integrations (i.e. incorporate the use of ICT in teaching and learning practice and environment). This paper aims to illuminate an alternative means of understanding the virtual learning environment which is through affordances (perception-action coupling). A qualitative inquiry was implemented in gathering participants' experiences and perceptions regarding ICT integration in teaching practices through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. This study shows that preferences for ICT integration in a learning environment are closely related to ICT affordances. Understanding ICT affordances is indispensable in order to assess the conduciveness of learning environments with ICT integrations.

At Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa (Massey University), Aotearoa New Zealand, we have declared our stance as a Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led institution. This necessitates the embodiment and enactment of the principles and provisions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the embedding of Indigenous Māori knowledge, values and belief systems in curriculum design and implementation. This article outlines the beginning of our journey toward indigenizing our postgraduate public health curriculum at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa. We describe the redevelopment of the Master of Public Health curriculum that embeds mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), te reo Māori (Māori language), tikanga Māori (Māori values and belief systems), and Māori pedagogy (culturally sustaining teaching and learning practices). Here, we focus on how curriculum redevelopment and pedagogy have enabled the utility of Māori knowledge and processes to be reflected at every level of the program and give life and relevancy to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Te Tiriti o Waitangi guides our teaching practice and ensures that students can safely develop their confidence in Māori ways of knowing, being, and doing to effectively partner with Māori as Tangata Whenua. Our program aims to produce agentic graduates who are champions and advocates for Māori aspirations in health.

This article examines the enduring role of relational pedagogies in higher education and their amplified importance during periods of disruptive change. It provides analysis of interviews conducted with academic teaching staff at a research-intensive university during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine participants’ experiences and perceptions of relationality in relation to three dimensions: student–teacher relationships; student–student relationships; and teacher–teacher relationships and highlight responsive changes in both the relationships within the three dimensions, and in educators’ practices. Drawing upon these findings, we argue that the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of relational pedagogies in higher education and caused lasting shifts in our understanding of how relationality can be enacted in teaching and learning practices.

For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students’ class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW) and teacher–student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM) was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students’ class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students’ class identification through students’ just-world belief and teacher–student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students’ belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class.

As educators we are interested in continuous improvement; we want our teaching to be more impactful, to be engaging and innovative, culminating in students developing skills that facilitate lifelong learning. To date significant research has been conducted on innovative teaching and learning practices that educators may adopt to achieve these aims. However, fewer studies have focused on teaching and learning practices from the student perspective. This paper, reporting findings from a larger study, seeks to address this gap. An online survey was conducted across the student cohort in the School of Business of an Irish higher education institution (HEI). The findings show that students favour a mix of innovative practice and traditional teaching in helping them to learn effectively. Case studies and recorded lectures are the most popular choice of innovative teaching practice and students favour methods that help them to understand, thus leading to deep learning. Additionally, traditional teaching practices are still important to students, particularly first year undergraduates.Keywords: Traditional teaching practices; innovative teaching practices; student perspective; higher education.

The Higher Education Sector in Britain, United Kingdom (UK) is currently being taken to task regarding issues of structural inequality and unfair outcomes for student learners from non-white backgrounds, also referred to as the degree awarding gap. How do we disrupt the narrative concerning race, and more specifically as part of our learning, teaching and assessment practices? Using Critical Race Theory, a project, ‘Disrupt the Discourse,’ an initiative launched in 2021 is a small scale case study piloting the application of the aforementioned theory as part of learning and teaching in a Higher Education Institution based in London. The project explored issues of curriculum design, and assessment practices in response to the issue of the degree awarding gap. The initiative explicitly explores uncomfortable conversations about race as part of learning and teaching practice and by working with a team of anti-racist scholars, a curriculum framework and digital toolkit to explore the lived experiences of student and staff was created. Feedback from the pilot was encouraging, academics from different curriculum disciplines and cultural backgrounds saw the initiative as instrumental in re considering assessment practices, curriculum content and pedagogy as part of learning and teaching practice.

Ample evidence has been found for the association between affective, dyadic student–teacher relationships and students’ engagement with schoolwork in Western, individualistic countries. There are far fewer studies, however, examining this association in Eastern, collectivistic countries. As maintaining harmony in interpersonal relationships plays a crucial role in collectivistic countries, student–teacher relationships may even be more important in collectivistic countries than in individualistic countries. In the present study, we therefore investigated cross–cultural differences in the strength of associations between student–teacher relationship quality and students’ engagement based on data from the Netherlands (a Western country) and China (an Eastern country). The Dutch sample included 789 students (51.1% girls) and the Chinese sample included 588 students (52.9% girls) from grades 3 to 6 of elementary school. Students reported about the quality of their relationship with their teacher (closeness, conflict) and their behavioral and emotional engagement with schoolwork. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that the positive association between closeness and both behavioral and emotional engagement was stronger for the Chinese sample than for the Dutch sample. In contrast, the negative association between conflict and both behavioral and emotional engagement did not differ across countries. To conclude, closeness may be more relevant for Chinese students’ engagement than would be expected based on Western studies, whereas conflict seems to be equally harmful in both cultures. Therefore, developing relationship-focused interventions for Chinese teachers and students seems important, either by adapting Western programs or by developing new programs especially designed for Chinese schools.