Exemplary Teachers Research Articles

In Memoriam

On February 18, 2014, the international scientific community of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) lost our friend and colleague, Offie P. Soldin, PhD, MBA. Offie was a long term member of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Editorial Board, and the first Review Editor of the Journal. She was a loving mother, grandmother and wife, and in addition to her scientific career she completed an MBA and was a licensed pilot. During her high school years she completed Cume Laude the London Royal Conservatory of Music (piano). The term “impossible” did not exist in her vocabulary. Offie, a Georgetown Lombardi member in DC since 2003, was an associate professor in the Departments of Oncology, Medicine, Physiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her research focused on thyroid disease and tobacco control, and she was equally comfortable and effective working with both clinical and population science colleagues. Publishing 80 peer review papers and well funded by the NIH and other agencies, Offie was a committed educator: she directed two graduate courses; co-directed a pharmacology elective for second-year medical students; and taught thyroid cancer genetics, tumor biology and radiation health within the Department of Oncology. Offie focused her research making excellent innovative contributions regarding the simultaneous quantification of free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine by tandem mass spectrometry. With regard to TDM, Offie Soldin established and published pediatric reference ranges for various clinical chemistry, toxicological and endocrinological parameters. In the field of toxicology, she had a long-standing cooperation with the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and the Motherisk program, which focuses on the effects of drugs, chemicals, radiation, and infection in pregnancy and lactation. Of special note, Offie presented an excellent comprehensive review article on developmental neuropathology of environmental agents such as methylmercury, lead, antiepileptic drugs, and ethanol. Dr Steven Lamm of DC, who introduced Offie to the field of thyroid therapeutic monitoring wrote: “Offie made a considerable name for herself in the American Thyroid Association where she brought her keen mind and laboratory skills to establishing trimester-specific thyroid parameters.” As the president of Georgetown Women in Medicine (GWIM), she created a mentorship program for women at the rank of associate professor. Offie also served on the university senate steering committee, was the chair of the American Thyroid Association clinical laboratory services committee, and the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women. Most recently, Offie received the GWIM Fall 2013 Estelle Ramey Mentorship Award in honor of her exemplary teaching and mentoring work at Georgetown University Medical Center. She believed that knowledge is transformative and exemplary teaching essential, a belief clearly evidenced in her interactions with her students and mentees. She continuously sought to have a noteworthy impact in multiple communities through her clinical research and proactive work within Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to her arrival in DC, Offie was a member of the Motherisk Program in Toronto, and she continued as a consultant to the Program until her death. In DC, Offie commenced her interest in therapeutic drug monitoring while working with Steven Lamm. This work had initiated her interest in fetal thyroid function, an area she excelled in until her passing. Dr Janine Polifka of Seattle commented: “Offie was a beautiful, talented and extremely bright person. She was a joy to be with and so committed to her work and the people in her life.” When Offie told her close friends that she planned to come to the Summer 2013 scientific meetings, they were surprised, being aware of her grave situation. But she said: “I am on the program talking about thyroid in pregnancy, so I need to be there.” And she was—no one could tell how gravely ill she was. And during the party that evening she was smiling and joking as if everything would be okay. Offie’s legacy will certainly be highlighted by her unique way of doing everything with great passion, combined with talent, creativity and outstanding relationships with colleagues. And above all, an individual for whom the term “impossible” did not exist.

Enabling exemplary teaching: a framework of student engagement for students from low socio-economic backgrounds with implications for technology and literacy practices

Engaging students in effective technology use and literacy learning is an ongoing challenge, particularly for students who are impacted by poverty. Exemplary teaching and teachers’ pedagogical choices play a critical role in addressing this challenge. This paper illustrates the practices of teachers, identified to be exemplary in engaging students in low socio-economic status (SES) locations, with a focus on their use of technology and associated literacy practices. The data is drawn from a large-scale study of the practices of 28 exemplary teachers in low SES primary and secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia. Using the Fair Go student engagement framework, we illustrate the ways these teachers used high cognitive, high affective and high operative strategies with technology to build students’ discipline and literacy knowledge, to scaffold their learning and to create a nurturing environment for literacy learning. Technology-literacy markers are presented as a pedagogical guide that draws on exemplary practice by teachers in a range of low SES settings. The analysis presented also provides forward-thinking input to governments and policymakers for re-conceptualizing educational technology for students in these contexts.

We Teach who We Are: Creativity in the Lives and Practices of Accomplished Teachers

Background/Context There is a strong sense in education that creativity should be nurtured in classroom settings, yet there is little understanding of how effective and creative teachers function. Existing research has recognized that successful/creative people in any discipline use creative avocations to enhance their professional thinking. Root-Bernstein demonstrated a strong connection between the professional and personal-life creativity of highly accomplished scientists, which has been applied to other disciplines. Until now, however, this phenomenon has not been applied to exemplary teachers. This study focuses on a broader picture of how exceptional teachers use creativity in the classroom. Purpose/Objective This study documents the ways in which successful, award-winning teachers function creatively in their classrooms. It investigates their beliefs about creativity in teaching—what “creativity” means, and how skilled teachers instantiate it in classroom practices. Finally, this research examined the teachers’ personal creativity (in terms of creative pursuits, hobbies, and habits of mind) and the practical ways this translates into teaching. Research Design A qualitative research design was used for in-depth interviews with highly accomplished teachers. Detailed interview data was gathered from eight recent National Teacher of the Year award winners/finalists, to investigate creative classroom practices and beliefs about creativity among exceptional teachers across varied teaching contexts. Qualitative coding of phenomenological research described important themes arising from the creative practices and beliefs of the participant teachers. Findings Findings reveal how excellent teachers actively cultivate a creative mindset. Results show how excellent teachers are highly creative in their personal and professional lives, and that they actively transfer creative tendencies from their outside avocations/interests into their teaching practices. This study describes common themes in creative teaching, including intellectual risk taking, real-world learning approaches, and cross-disciplinary teaching practices. Conclusions/Recommendations Current U.S. educational policy, with its emphasis on high-stakes testing and scripted, “teacher-proof” curricula, have impeded creativity in teaching and learning. Based on the findings of this study, suggestions for curricula include the incorporation of teachers’ unique personal creative interests in lessons, along with infusion of the arts and music across varied disciplinary content. Teacher education programs and professional development courses should include a focus on both real-world, cross-disciplinary lesson planning, while administrators and policymakers should support opportunities for teachers to take creative and/or intellectual risks in their work.

Narratives of Lincoln High School African American Graduates in Kansas City, Missouri

Our purpose was to explore the voices of five African American graduates of Kansas City’s Lincoln High School between 1955 and 1985. It has been suggested that an ethic of care supporting institutional caring was maintained within segregated schools and broader communities of the old South and existed in all-Black Northern schools as well. This finding led to an inquiry about race and schooling in Kansas City, Missouri. Using oral history, the following question guided the study: What were the schooling experiences like for African American graduates in this segregated setting? Findings suggested themes of exemplary teachers and principals as disciplinarians, interpersonal caring, institutional structures of teacher, parent and community supports, unequal resources, a curriculum of high academic standards, and legacy and tradition. The Lincoln graduates provided insight into what it takes to provide academic and social success for students in historically underserved communities.

Occurrences and quality of teacher and student strategies for self-regulated learning in hands-on simulations

For many decades, teacher-structured hands-on simulations have been used in education mainly for developing procedural and technical skills. Stimulating contemporary learning outcomes suggests more constructivist approaches. The aim of this study is to examine how self-regulated learning (SRL), an important constructivist learning environment characteristic, is expressed in hands-on simulations. Via structured observations of teachers’ SRL promoting strategies and students’ SRL strategies in eight hands-on simulations, along the three phases of SRL, this study is the first to expose whether students and teachers use SRL in hands-on simulations, what these strategies look like and what their quality is. The results show that both students and teachers demonstrate SRL behaviour in the forethought, performance and reflection phase to some extent, but that they vary considerably in their occurrences, form and quality and provide opportunities for improvement. For example, teacher strategies ‘modelling’ and ‘scaffolding’ were often used, while ‘giving attribution feedback’ and ‘evaluation’ were lacking. The student strategy ‘proposing methods for task performance’ was used regularly, while ‘goal-setting’ and ‘self-monitoring’ were often absent. An overview shows exemplary teacher and student behaviours in the SRL phases with lower, medium and higher quality in hands-on simulations.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Winchell Kiddy (1957–2014)

Elizabeth “Betsy” Winchell Kiddy (1957–2014)

Synthesizing Multicultural, Global, and Civic Perspectives in the Elementary School Curriculum and Educational Research

Social networks and communities are rapidly expanding and changing due to the accelerating pace of globalization. In this article, we examine new possibilities for the reform of curriculum and educational research in a way that is responsive to increasingly multicultural and global communities. Drawing on literatures in the areas of multicultural, global, and civic education, we conducted a critical qualitative case study of four elementary school teachers. The teachers, two in the United States and two in the United Kingdom, are known to be exemplary at synthesizing multicultural, global, and civic education. We, the two authors, one a female from China and the other a male from the United States, employed duoethnography methodology to utilize our different positionalities as researchers in our description, analysis and interpretation of the data. As the exemplary teachers in our study illustrate, education needs to be culturally responsive, socially just, well-integrated, and empowering. We conclude with findings that have implications for the reform of curriculum and educational research methodology.

An Ethnographic-Case Study of Beliefs, Context Factors, and Practices of Teachers Integrating Technology

This ethnographic-case study explored the beliefs, context factors, and practices of three middle school exemplary teachers that led to a technology-enriched curriculum. Findings suggest that these middle school teachers believe technology is a tool that adds value to lessons and to students learning and motivation. Due to a personal interest in technology, these teachers are self-taught and apply for grants to acquire new hardware and software. They receive support for release time to continue with ongoing professional development, which has helped to change their teaching strategies from teacher-centered to student-centered. They are not afraid to take risk using trial and error, flexible planning, project-based lessons, varying roles, varying grouping, and providing multiple activities in their classroom practices.

Модель инклюзивного экземплярного обучения по методу эвристической инверсии на уроках математики в начальных школах республики Сербия

Модель инклюзивного экземплярного обучения по методу эвристической инверсии на уроках математики в начальных школах республики Сербия

EarthLabs: Supporting Teacher Professional Development to Facilitate Effective Teaching of Climate Science

ABSTRACT The EarthLabs Climate program encourages high school students to develop systems thinking and scientific knowledge as the basis for climate literacy. In this paper, we introduce three components of the effort: curriculum development, teacher professional development, and evaluation. The main focus is on the two-part teacher professional development program, which enables a small group of exemplary teachers, known as EarthLabs “teacher leaders,” who have reviewed and tested the EarthLabs Climate modules (part 1) to lead a summer workshop introducing high school teachers to modules (part 2). Evaluation results from the first workshops held in Texas and Mississippi in summer 2012 reveal that participants appreciated the variety of activities covered, including online resources, individual work, small group work, hands-on activities, outdoor activities, field trips, and scientist lectures. Self-reported content learning and increased confidence in teaching the three main topics was positive for almost all participants. These results, in combination with teacher leaders' observed pedagogic practice and reported impact of their participation, suggest that the EarthLabs Climate two-part model of teacher professional development is effective. This success is largely because of our support system for teacher leaders to help them plan and deliver summer workshops, as well as the emphasis placed on supporting their continued professional growth. We are confident that EarthLabs Climate teacher leaders are competent to continue to offer professional development to their colleagues and to sustain climate education beyond the current effort. Research on student learning and detailed evaluation results will be presented elsewhere.

Book review of "Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty"

Lang, James (2013). Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pages: 251. Price: $26.95 USD. Hardcover.James M. Lang is an associate professor of English at Assumption College in Massachusetts where he serves as Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Lang has been a regular contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education for more than a decade, especially on matters of teaching and learning in higher education and early career academics on the road to tenure. A series of submissions in the Chronicle in 2013 using the title Cheating Lessons lead me to place an advance order for Lang's book by the same name. Since the book's release, James Lang has given several invited lectures on learning environments and academic dishonesty.Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty offers a refreshing lens through which to consider the phenomenon of academic dishonesty in higher education. Steering the reader away from the morally bankrupt theory of academic dishonesty, Lang brings readers to a more optimistic and constructive focus on the structure of learning environments themselves. Following parallel interests in academic dishonesty research and the field of cognitive psychology, Lang connects the two areas to bring our attention to contextual rather than students' entering characteristics or predispositions, peer-groups or campus-based features that have been reported to influence cheating behaviours. His connection brings forward strategies for to construct and teach a class that reduces the incentive and opportunity for students to cheat by increasing their desire and ability to learn (p. 56).Lang structures the book in three parts. He begins, in Part 1, by introducing the reader to the existing research in the area, characterized mainly by large-scale studies of selfreported incidence of student cheating. He next walks us through his theory of academic dishonesty using four illustrative case studies that focus on what makes learning environments inducing of academic dishonesty. The four factors at play according to Lang's interpretation of research and first-hand experience as a teacher are (1) an emphasis on performance by students, but also by assessment design, (2) high stakes riding on the outcome for students, (3) an extrinsic motivation for success on the part of students, and (4) a low expectation of success by students. Part 2 contains chapters on fostering intrinsic motivation, learning for mastery, lowering stakes, and instilling self-efficacy. In these chapters, Lang describes exemplary teachers from diverse disciplines who employ the kinds of innovative, learning-centred approaches he recommends. He highlights the matter of intrinsic motivation on the part of students as the most important factor, and often, the most challenging to instill. Then, in Part 3, Lang adds a fifth factor that extends beyond the level of the individual teacher to the campus climate. Here he advocates for ongoing dialogue among all members of campus communities about what academic dishonesty means, why academic integrity is important, and how it is most consistently handled. Lang extends the thinking on honor codes, and their apparent positive impact, to an interpretation that rather than being a precursor of low cheating campuses, they may instead be artifacts of campuses engaged in the kind of dialogue he suggests.I found the recurring point of interest for me in Lang's book to be the design of student assessment. Perhaps this should be obvious, since cheating is thought to occur, for the most part, on graded assessments. …

Moving towards effective physical education teacher education for generalist primary teachers: a view from Cyprus

The preparation of effective teachers continues to be a critical issue in the literature since what teachers know and are able do is the most significant influence on what students learn. Teacher education programmes are considered to be the best places for teacher candidates to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to educate children. Physical education initial teacher education (PE-ITE) for generalist primary teachers is being challenged with regard to quality. The purpose of this article is to stimulate discourse on how teacher education for primary school teachers teaching physical education might be structured more effectively. The article begins with a description on how the PE-ITE programme for generalist teachers is designed and delivered at the University of Cyprus. The article then presents and discusses the most effective features of exemplary teacher education programmes and the most common qualities of newly qualified teachers who have been identified in the literature. Finally, the article presents some concluding thoughts on how the existing body of research should be used effectively by teacher educators.

DESIGNING TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR MATHEMATICS TEACHING WITH VARIATION THEORY

In this study, we aimed at demonstrating the power of Variation Theory in exploring the local situation of Indonesian teachers and Teacher Professional Development program. The projection of Variation theory regarding the enterprise of teaching results on the need of sensitivity of students and exemplary teaching strategy that differ with teachers teaching style. Besides, It requires more opportunities for teachers to understand the critical feature of object of learning. By sequence of activity that elaborating variation theory and regards the local situation might imply the improvement of students learning. Keywords: Variation Theory, Teacher Professional Development, Indonesia  DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.22342/jme.5.2.1497.127-137

Profesor Alberto Guzmán Barrón (1904 - 1988) Semblanza

Las instituciones se perennizan en el tiempo, mientras que los seres humanos afrontamos un inexorable carácter cíclico; este hecho hace que hoy esté ocupando estas páginas una semblanza del otrora distinguido y ejemplar Maestro de la Facultad de Medicina de San Fernando: doctor Alberto Guzmán Barrón; semblanza escrita con el reconocimiento del discípulo, el respeto del colega y el afecto del amigo, que lo recuerda con su hacer parsimonioso, sus oportunos y pasajeros ataques de «sordera», su hablar pausado y tránquilo, demostrando siempre serenidad aun en momentos difíciles.

Application of exemplary teaching within the subject nature and society

Even at the end of the 19th century the weaknesses of traditional teaching were emphasized where a teacher teaches, and the students try to reproduce the contents they remember. Many pedagogues pointed out that students should gain knowledge on the basis of their individual work and that teaching should be replaced with learning. Exemplary teaching appeared recently, it started between the two world wars, in an attempt of critical attitude towards traditional school, suggesting changes in educational contents and teaching methods. The opinion that prevailed was that scientific-technological development continually increases the number of scientific facts which enter the curriculums, which cannot be learnt in regular classes, so learning this voluminous material began to take place in exemplary teaching, which is an example to students that they can individually learn analogue contents in teaching nature and society.

No Child Left Behind and outreach to families and communities: the perspectives of exemplary African-American science teachers

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of eight exemplary African-American science teachers toward No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and their outreach to families and communities in the context of the USA. Data revealed that whereas these exemplary teachers applauded the general intent of NCLB, they were concerned with its overemphasis on testing and the limited resources provided to support quality science instruction. To address these challenges, these teachers looked for ways to reach out to families and communities, with particular emphasis on working with communities. Data further revealed that their outreach efforts to families and communities corresponded with three dimensions in Boykin’s Afrocultural Ethos (harmony, communalism and orality), thereby suggesting that there is a need to reexamine school–family–community partnerships when working with students and families from diverse backgrounds, and particular with predominately African-American communities.

Exemplary Teachers' Influence on Their Adolescent Pupils Who Later Became Teachers

There are many possible sources that may influence teachers in the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills throughout their careers. The current study analyzes 26 interviews with Israeli female teachers who reported on exemplary teachers from their past who served as role models regarding class management. Contrary to our initial assumption, the respondents of this study could recall only one or two outstanding teachers, mostly from middle and high school, from among the many teachers who had taught them in the past. The findings present outstanding professionals, those who possess unique and unusual personal and professional qualities in the inter-personal, professional and moral-social dimensions. The discussion analyzes how classroom management practices are recalled and why most of the key teachers appeared early in the lives of the respondents, long before they chose to become teachers and attend teachers colleges.

Incorporating the Aesthetic Dimension into Pedagogy

One of the dimensions of learning experiences, which is not often given much attention outside of the creative arts, is the aesthetic dimension. In this paper we report on a study we conducted which explores the importance of learning through aesthetic experiences as identified by Dewey. While there is literature available which engages with the significance of such experiences (Hinchliffe, 2011; Nakamura, 2009) there is little which explores the nexus between this and specific practices in classrooms. Through examining pedagogical practices and beliefs of some exemplary teachers (as identified by their community), our study uncovered some approaches which offer alternate considerations for pedagogy. These have the potential to further enrich the sometimes static nature of the ‘official’ curriculum (Apple, 2000) as often assumed by pre-service teachers who attempt to deliver it through experiences.

The “Grandes Dames” of New York City Archaeology: An Interview with Drs. Anne-Marie Cantwell, Nan Rothschild, and Diana diZerega Wall

Interview conducted by Hana Koriech and Meredith Linn, 27th July 2013 at Columbia University in New York City.<br />This summer we had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with three of the most celebrated New York City (NYC) archaeologists, Drs. Anne-Marie Cantwell, Nan Rothschild, and Diana diZerega Wall. Each is well-known for their exemplary teaching careers, outstanding publications, and direction of some of the city’s most important excavations. The three are also long-time friends and collaborators. In a lively afternoon chat, they shared their more personal experiences in NYC archaeology over the past several decades, their reflections about how it has changed, and their ideas for the future.

Teachers’ and Students’ Conceptions of Good Science Teaching

Capitalizing on the comments made by teachers on videos of exemplary science teaching, a video-based survey instrument on the topic of ‘Density’ was developed and used to investigate the conceptions of good science teaching held by 110 teachers and 4,024 year 7 students in Hong Kong. Six dimensions of good science teaching are identified from the 55-item questionnaire, namely, ‘focussing on science learning’, ‘facilitating students’ understanding’, ‘encouraging students’ involvement’, ‘creating conducive environment’, ‘encouraging active experimentation’ and ‘preparing students for exam (PSE)’. Significant gaps between teachers’ and students’ conceptions on certain dimensions have been revealed. The inconsistency on the dimension ‘PSE’ is particularly evident and possible reasons for the phenomenon are suggested. This study raises the important questions of how the gap can be addressed, and who is to change in order to close the gaps. Answers to these questions have huge implications for teacher education and teacher professional development.