Concern For Teachers Research Articles

THE MEASUREMENT AND FURTHER CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TEACHER COMMUNICATION CONCERN

This study reported the development of a set of scales to measure the self, task, and impact dimensions of teacher communication concern. Three stages of instrument development were described: item construction, testing of the hypothesized factor structure, and reliability and validity information. The result was a 15-item instrument with three subscales. In an effort to refine the conceptualization of teacher communication concern, a secondary purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of teacher communication concern to two variables: anxiety about teaching and attitude toward teaching as a career. Results were that teacher communication concern was not related to anxiety about teaching, but was positively related to attitude about teaching.

The Use of Roleplay to Overcome Cultural Fatigue

A major concern of ESL teachers is the social and cultural adjustment of their students to life in the U.S. Clarke (1976) suggests that students who act withdrawn, anxious, confused, or angry have problems related to culture shock. Teachers who see students struggling with these problems often ask “What can we do to help them?” If we ascribe to Brown's theory (1980) that learning a second culture is part of learning a second language, then we must ask “How can we teach them the subtleties of culture?” In order to answer these questions, we first examine the terms culture, culture shock, cultural fatigue, and trans-cultural dialogue for insights as to how teachers can evaluate the students' needs in the learning situation. We suggest that if teachers offer students a safe, secure learning environment for testing their observations about English and U.S. culture, then they will acquire both the language and the cultural subtleties necessary for appropriate social behavior. Second, we examine the use of role play as the key to teaching these subtleties. Role play promotes the process of trans-cultural dialogue while providing students with the opportunity to practice new language and social forms in realistic situations. Using a realistic situation as an example, we outline an eight step procedure for the implementation of role play,

Teacher Responses to Student Time Differences in Mastery Learning

A model to assist in the analysis of teachers' time allocation procedures is presented. An instructional technique, mastery learning, is analyzed within the context of this model. A qualitative analysis of 10 elementary school teachers who implemented short sequences of mastery learning is presented to illustrate possible ways teachers adjust various conditions that are formulated in the model. A major concern of teachers was the differential time students need to achieve mastery. Teachers appear to adjust instructional timing to slower students.

Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Education

Since the Brown decision by the Supreme Court in 1954, issues of and in education have been a major concern of teachers, administrators, and educational researchers and policymakers. Many of the most widely discussed and controversial debates in education, from Brown to Bakke, have grown out of diverse assumptions about opportunity; educational philosophers and theorists have devoted thousands of pages to the review and analysis of these assumptions. Therefore we take it as no trivial task to explain and justify, at the outset, the addition of our analysis to an already swollen body of literature. While several authors have written quite lucidly on certain aspects of the issue of for education, there has not been a thorough and comprehensive philosophical analysis and critique of the concepts of equity and equal opportunity and related issues in education. In 1969, the dean of American philosophy of education gave the rallying cry: The concepts of justice and equality that are latent in much of our educational policy need to

Skills versus Meaning: An Appraisal of Two Rival Approaches to Secondary Reading

Reading instruction, which used to be the exclusive concern of elementary teachers, has gained increasing acceptance as a necessary subject for secondary schools. One reason for this trend may be the declining levels of literacy among high school students, college entrants, and SAT candidates (Beaton, Hilton, and Schraeder, 1977). The slogan every teacher a teacher of reading, a rallying cry from many reading specialists, reflects a mounting effort to infuse reading instruction into secondary classes. A number of textbooks on secondary school reading have been published in the last two decades. These texts appear to embody two different instructional approaches, a skills approach and a meanings approach. Although authors provide rationales for their chosen approaches, none discusses one approach in relation to the other. The basis for selecting a particular approach is thus obscured. The purpose of this article is to compare the two approaches and to assess the strengths and limits of each. I will examine theoretical perspectives and particular instructional procedures associated with each approach. In addition, Olson's (1977) explanation of the locus of meaning will be invoked to sharpen and deepen the distinctions already drawn between both approaches. Finally, I will show that the two approaches need not be rivals, but can be used in concert in actual teaching situations.

Preservice teachers' reflections on the instructional process

Although research on teacher planning is in its infancy, Jackson (1965) reveals various teaching and planning processes have been studied and a distinction made between preactive and,interactive teaching. During preactive teaching, or periods of time when teachers do not interact with students, teachers have the most time to reflect on the total instructional process. Doyle (1979) maintains that all planning is affected by what teachers know about classrooms, an idea consistent with one of Colbert's (1979) teacher function categories: diagnostician. Assuming, as did Zahorik (1970), that general and haphazard planning leads to wasteful and unproductive plans and that preservice teachers' classroom knowledge is more limited than experienced teachers, we designed a study to examine the type of information preservice teachers consider when reflecting on the teaching process. Current research findings regarding teachers' planning influenced our choice of pupil characteristics, teaching activities, and evaluation criteria as areas of inquiry. Choices also were predicated on our recognition of teacher education programs' focus on all three areas with possible differences of emphasis on each for elementary and secondary preservice teachers. Therefore, we formulated two questions: 1. What pupil characteristics, teaching activites, and evaluation criteria do elementary and secondary preservice teachers consider and/or use? 2. Are there any pre/post associations in the type of information considered by elementary and secondary preservice teachers? Despite the paucity of research in this area, Zahorik (1975) and Yinger (1978) found that activities, subsuming content and materials as elements that help define the activities, were the most frequent planning concern of teachers. In contrast, Morine (1978) found that teachers paid little attention to pupil backgrounds, while Yinger (1978), on the other hand, found that attention was given to pupil characteristics during the planning process, but was not referred to in the plans themselves. Finally, both Yinger and Morine found that evaluation procedures were almost totally neglected by teachers during planning.

Dealing with Classroom Distractions

The Elementary School Journal Volume 81, Number 1 ? 1980 by The University of Chicago 0013-5984/81/8001-0013$01.00 Maintaining continuity of pupils' attention to learning activities has long been a concern of teachers. Recently continuity of pupils' attention has become a concern of educational researchers. Anderson (1) and Arlin and Roth (2) have shown that continuity of pupils' attention is significantly related to achievement. Bennett (3), Rosenshine and Berliner (4), and Fisher, Filby, and Marliave (5) have all shown that time spent attending to academic work is an important determinant of pupils' achievement. Researchers have tried to determine

Responding to teachers as individuals

Robert F. McNergney University of Virginia Guest Editor Teacher educators have often championed the individual in their rhetoric, while showing only minimal concern for teachers as individuals in their practice. In general, teacher educators have acted as if they had the best set of methods for enabling all teachers, regardless of individual differences, to become effective and personally satisfied professionals. The simple fact is that no one possesses a magic method for educating all teachers.1 Teacher educators have not, of course, used the same set of methods for preparing teachers. Traditionally, the best preparation for teaching was thought to be a strong liberal education with an emphasis in a particular discipline or specialty. Many teacher educators have translated this philosophy into programs of liberal arts education, followed by training for teachers in educational foundations, then courses on how to teach, and finally a brief apprenticeship in teaching. Others have believed that the best approach to the preparation of teachers is to train people as scientists or problem solvers who will discover and apply laws of teaching and learning. Some have emphasized humanistic approaches concentrating on developing teachers' beliefs and values. There have also been teacher educational technicians, or systems designers, who stress skill development; and change agents who seek to educate teachers through social action. Variations on these themes are myriad, but one does not have to look far to conclude that theory, research, and practice reveal no general-effects model or single set of best methods for enabling all persons to become teachers.

Differentiation of Classroom Climate Among Home Economics Teachers

The Student Estimate of Teacher Concern (SETC) has been used to describe an individual student's perception of the classroom climate as well as the overall classroom environment. This research determines the appropriateness of the SETC in both contexts. Analysis of variance based on student responses to 48 teachers, in 1 to 6 of their classrooms at grade levels 7 to 12, resulted in 22 items differentiating among teachers. Classroom climate scales were established by examina tion of both the between‐teachers and pooled within‐teacher correlation matrices.Two scales resulted from the between‐teachers matrix and four from the pooled within‐teacher matrix. Comparison of these results showed the two between‐teachers scales essentially duplicated two of the four scales from the within‐teacher analyses. These findings suggest that none of the scales of the SETC measure classroom dimensions that are a function of the teacher and that the scales are more appropriately used for assessing an individual's perception of climate. The study also provides a workable methodology by which an inventory to measure classroom climate dimen sions attributable to teachers could be developed.

Self‐Actualization of Teachers and Teacher‐Student Rapport

The purposes of this study were to determine possible relationships between selected background characteristics and degree of self‐actualization of home economics teachers of central Iowa, to refine a teacher‐student rapport instrument, and to test for differences in teacher‐student rapport between two groups of teachers differing in self‐actualization. Data on background characteristics and self‐ actualization (inner‐directed scale of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory) were gathered by mail from 126 teachers. No relationships existed between degree of self‐actualization and the background characteristics.Two groups of the teachers, 10 who scored high and 10 who scored low on the POI, were selected for remaining phases of the study. Their ninth grade students responded to the Student Estimate of Teacher Concern (SETC), a measure of teacher‐student rapport. A 39‐item form of the SETC was developed from an 89‐item version with no loss in reliability. No significant difference in teacher‐ student rapport was found between the two groups of teachers.

Pregnancy in adolescence: incidence and outcome in European countries

Pregnancy in adolescence is now a very great concern for doctors, teachers and social workers throughout the world and yet about 95% of the publications on this topic have come from the USA. The remainder are mainly from the UK and Scandinavia. Other countries have produced only a small number of papers, focusing mainly on clinical problems such as the pathological events and complications during pregnancy or delivery. In France, the first paper to appear in a paediatric journal was published in 1977 in the French journal of school health (Martin, 1977). On the other hand, teenage magazines often contain articles about sexual behaviour and pregnancy in adolescence. There is now a great concern in the adolescents' press about the problems of sexuality, contraception, abortion and pregnancy, including advertising for pregnancy tests.

Impact of chronic illness on child and family: an overview based on five surveys with implications for management

For the past eight years the Rochester Child Health Group has systematically investigated chronic illness in childhood with the goal of minimizing the psychosocial sequelae of chronic illness through more optimal management. This overview examines the impact of chronic illness on 404 children and their families in five separate studies: 1) 209 children in a follow-up of all children with chronic symptoms in a previous random sampling of children; 2) 42 children with juvenile arthritis; 3) 44 nephrotic children; 4) 54 asthmatic children; 5) 55 chronically ill children living in rural areas of Western New York. Information was obtained through parental interviews, school reports, and psychological testing of the child. The percentage of parents reporting impact of the child's illness on family differed according to study population. The percentage reporting areas of impact according to severity of the illness is as follows: worry, 75--97; financial, 46--60; fatigue of parent, 31--65; change in sleep arrangements, 17--31; change in furnishings, 15--40; less social life for parents, 12--35; restrictions on travel, 13--40; parental friction, 9--20; sibling neglect, 10--20; sibling resentment, 10--25; embarrassment, 12--20; interference from relatives, 5--17. Over half the parents felt their child's future education, job chances, and social life would be affected. One third reported activity limitations. Compared to a control group of children, a significantly greater percentage of parents of the chronically ill reported teacher concern about their child's effort and behavior, and showed concern about the child having too few friends. Two of the three studies in which psychological appraisals were obtained suggested that more of the ill children than controls showed indices of maladjustment. School information from two studies showed more of the ill children than controls underachieving and being referred to a school psychologist. Work by the Rochester Child Health Group has pointed up several ways in which providers of care can more optimally assist families in order to minimize these problems: 1) identifying families at risk at the onset to find which families may require special support; 2) Assuring that family and all care providers know who is orchestrating care, and that all areas of care are being provided; 3) Assuring that where necessary, an outreach person is meeting the needs of the family and child on an intensive, sustained, caring and creative basis.

The Cyclical Patterns of Curriculum Emphasis

Reflecting the concern of teachers, the author describes what he calls the curriculum merry-go- round. Because of the cyclical pattern of educa tional reform, he writes, educators must not lose sight of the larger picture of what education is all about.

Teacher-Principal Interaction Leading to Feelings of Concern or Pleasure

This investigation was concerned with the detection and study of types of behaviour of principals with teachers which led to teachers experiencing concern or pleasure. From free response data in an initial phase of the study, common sources of teacher concern and pleasure in teacher-principal interaction were derived. In the main phase of the study, the 13 concern-causing types of behaviour and 12 pleasure-giving types derived were investigated further. These items were scored by 232 teachers from 14 Queensland state high schools for degree of pleasure or concern experienced and frequency of occurrence. Principal axis analyses and subsequent rotation of the axes yielded three concern-causing factors, “Aloofness”, “Hindrance”, and “Lacking Consideration”, and two pleasure-giving factors, “Leadership” and “Support”.

When Pictures and Words Conflict

Previous articleNext article No AccessWhen Pictures and Words ConflictMary Ann Byrne and George E. MasonMary Ann Byrne Search for more articles by this author and George E. Mason Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Elementary School Journal Volume 76, Number 5Feb., 1976 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/460990 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1976 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Secondary School Adjustment and Employment Opportunities

Most of the discussion on the topic of Aboriginal education until recently has largely focused on primary education, and not without ample justification. This is without doubt the crucial stage in education. But, as the primary section becomes increasingly more successful with its Aboriginal pupils, so it becomes increasingly imperative for secondary education to respond adequately to this new challenge. The exact nature of this challenge is the concern of many teachers involved.

History at the Cinema: A Guide for the Movie-Going History Student

MEDIA has become an important concern of classroom teachers. Many of us, who a few years ago were content to meet our classes with a reasonably good text, some orderly lecture notes, a few theatrics, and a bit of charisma, are now learning all we can about video-tape, film loops, and play back units. We have reconsidered our methodology because we accept the much publicized premise that print, on which we once relied so heavily, is only one of the sources from which students learn. We have begun to bring the new media into our classrooms. The positive effects of this effort, however, will be minimized if teachers do not consider as well the media experiences students have outside the classroom. No matter how much film and tape we bring to our history classes, students will continue to learn and mislearn much history from television and the movies. The students who leave my charge on Friday night may return on Monday with film-formed impressions of Billy the Kid, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Hitler's last days. Gone with the Wind is back again, while Victor Mature is still fighting the lions on the late show. I believe we must find ways to encourage our students to view more critically the history-related media they encounter away from school. My particular concern here is with the commercial film. Too often history teachers find themselves cast in the role of pedantic debunkers of good movie stories. We need to develop with our students a format which

Classroom Climate and the Verbal Participation of Indian and Eskimo Students in Integrated Classrooms

AbstractThe mute withdrawal typical of village Indian and Eskimo students who have been integrated into the public schools is a central concern of many teachers. Ethnographic research suggests that these students’ silence may derive from their perception of a threatening classroom climate where they fear white students will laugh at them. To test this hypothesis, the relationship between forty-two village Indian and Eskimo students’ perception of the classroom climate in three major academic subjects and their verbal participation in each of these subjects was examined. Classroom climate was measured through a pupil perception questionnaire and students’ verbal participation was measured through teachers’ ratings. A moderately strong relationship was consistently found between students’ perception of the classroom climate and their verbal participation in integrated classrooms.

Facilitating Communications: A Mutual Concern of Counselors and Teachers

Facilitating Communications: A Mutual Concern of Counselors and Teachers

Individualized instruction: Developing broadened perspectives

The development of mathematics programs for elementary school pupils that are meaningful and productive, as well as related to the needs, interests, and abilities of children, is the concern of mathematics educators and teachers alike. However, a particular urgency surrounds tbe task today, for it is all too evident that the learning of mathematics is still not a successful experience for many boys and girls.