Professional Dialogue Research Articles

Teacher Perceptions of Science in the National Curriculum: Findings from an application of the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire in English primary schools

This article presents and discusses outcomes arising from a recently completed National Primary Science Survey (England) intended, in part, to elicit how teachers and others perceive the effectiveness of colleagues and the schools in which they work to implement and deliver primary science within the National Curriculum. While the majority view among respondents was found to be generally positive and encouraging, particularly so in terms of school ethos and regard for science as a curriculum area, certain personal or ‘intrinsic’ and environmental or ‘extrinsic’ elements were nevertheless identified as more inhibiting than others and for certain subgroups within the sample of participants itself. The majority of findings reported here were obtained using a seven-scale, 49-item diagnostic research instrument originally developed for use in New Zealand and subsequently transported to other locations around the world. In its first fully documented use within the UK, the validity, reliability and potential of this instrument to provide teachers and others with a means of evaluating science education provision together with providing an evidence-base for professional dialogue, strategic planning and decision-making for overall school improvement are considered.

Using a wiki to facilitate an online professional learning community for induction and mentoring teachers

The purpose of this case study was to report on the use of a wiki as a tool for conducting online professional learning communities (OLCs) with 26 induction and mentor teachers. Data sources include teachers' wiki postings and teacher interviews. Results indicate that: (a) Web 2.0 tools may be most effective in OLCs when the social features are utilized in addition to the features that enable task completion; (b) Using Web 2.0 tools restrictively, and without consideration of their affordances, may inhibit the success of OLCs; (c) Online learning communities for induction teachers may be most effective when supplemented with face-to-face discussion; and (d) A task-driven environment in OLCs can encourage professional dialogue and reflection, but may make induction teachers feel isolated and unsupported.

Professional Dialogue as Professional Learning

This article discusses professional dialogue as an important aspect of professionalism for early childhood teachers. It draws on the experiences of four qualified early childhood teachers of one teaching team in an early childhood centre who engaged in extensive professional dialogue with each other. Dialogue focused on the values that underpinned and were reflected in their teaching practice. These values were discussed in order to explore the commonalities and differences in teaching philosophies amongst the team. The article outlines both the benefits and the challenges of engaging in professional dialogue by drawing on the perceptions of the teachers who participated. The article contends that professional dialogue should be viewed as an alternative form of professional learning.

How Valid Is Negotiation Research Based on Student Sample Groups? New Insights into a Long-Standing Controversy

Although a considerable amount of research has examined the impact of experience on negotiation behavior and performance, we still know very little about the usefulness of student samples in negotiation research because most studies have compared the performance of inexperienced students with those who had received some kind of extensive negotiation training or with experienced professional negotiators(s). Against this background, we investigate whether the results obtained from trained student samples are generally similar to those of professional negotiators. Generally, our data confirm our hypotheses that students with some negotiation training and experience perform better than untrained student negotiators and that they are not significantly outperformed by professional negotiators. From this, we conclude that many questions in the field of negotiation research can be effectively tested by using trained students as experimental subjects.

Nursing homes as learning environments: The impact of professional dialogue

Nursing students' clinical experiences are important with respect to their impact on attitudes towards care for older people and preferences for future workplaces. The purpose of this paper is to explore how professional dialogue has an impact on nursing students' clinical learning and professional development in nursing homes. A qualitative design based on field work, field notes and qualitative research interviews was employed with 12 third year nursing students undergoing clinical practise in three nursing homes in Norway. The nursing students who participated in this study displayed positive attitudes towards older people. However, their experiences and perceptions of the learning environment in the nursing homes, varied. The nursing students expressed that a positive learning environment included participation in nursing care and professional dialogue to support their learning process and outcomes. Their primary wish was to develop their knowledge about care for older people through participation and dialogue as critical and reflective processes in a community of practise.

The Practitioner-Researcher Divide in Psychological Negotiation Research: Current State and Future Perspective

This conceptual paper discusses the extent to which psychological negotiation research suffers from a practitioner–researcher divide. We conclude from an analysis of the various activities that negotiation researchers engage in, that this research has its strengths in the knowledge transfer domain, but is not yet sufficiently tuned to produce practically relevant knowledge. Based on this analysis, indicators are developed that help to monitor the progress of psychological negotiation research in producing such knowledge. Among the suggested indicators are the balance between real-world phenomena and theory-driven research questions, the amount and continuity of direct communication between practitioners and researchers, and the relative number of studies that validate laboratory findings through the inclusion of multiple dependent variables as a standard approach. Further indicators focus on the relative amount of replication studies with professional negotiators, in field studies, and under situational conditions that are both practically relevant and challenging.

Trust Me: Your School Can Be Better—A Message from Teachers to Principals

Drawing upon empirical data, this article explores the concept of trust as a context for the establishment of teacher leadership. This article is part of a larger study that was carried out over a 2-year period and involved 21 teachers, 21 subject leaders and 9 principals belonging to three private K—12 schools in Beirut, Lebanon. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest the pivotal role of trust in establishing higher levels of teachers’ self efficacy, collaboration, commitment, collective vision and building a strong sense of belonging to the organization thus paving the way towards the establishment of teacher leadership. The article highlights how principals establish trust by (1) securing a considerate environment that encourages teachers to get involved in professional dialogues; (2) modelling specific leadership behaviours; and (3) making it possible for teachers to instigate ideas and programmes that result from reflective practice.

Learning from leisure: Developing nature connectedness in outdoor education

The “greening” of outdoor education has received increasing attention from educators in Aotearoa-New Zealand and internationally. Given contemporary global concerns about the scale of environmental issues and the associated recognition that educating for sustainability is a matter of urgency, the continuing exploration of pedagogies promoting human connection to nature is arguably a central concern for outdoor educators. This paper contributes to professional dialogue about outdoor education pedagogies that may facilitate the development of students' connectedness to, and care for, non-human nature. It draws from an interpretative research project that explored the meanings of nature-based leisure for eleven women aged 40 to 65 years. Findings from that research highlighted an important interplay between women's conceptions of nature and their participation in leisure. The paper directs attention to three interconnected pedagogical principles that are teased from the women's stories: repeated immersion in local nature environments, the decentring of traditional performance discourses, and critical reflection. These are presented as key considerations for outdoor education teachers and teacher educators in promoting nature connectedness and care. Recommendations are made for outdoor education researchers and teacher educators for future research directions.

Developing pre‐service teachers' reflective capacity through engagement with classroom‐based research

This paper explores how participation in classroom‐based qualitative research, initiated early in the pre‐service year, can enhance the reflective skills of subject specialist student teachers studying Art and Design Education on a one year Post‐primary, Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). Findings from the study indicate that such engagement in classroom‐based research helps to support the development of informed professional dialogue that can increase student teachers’ reflective capacities. It can also offer the means to enrich understanding of curriculum change by providing an authentic opportunity to link educational theory to professional practice.

Turning Into Teachers Before Our Eyes: The Development of Professional Identity Through Professional Dialogue

This paper examines the development of professional identity in early career teachers enrolled in an “add-on year” of an undergraduate teacher education degree. Through a series of readings focused on reflection and pedagogy, participants engaged in professional dialogue as they made connections between the themes in their professional readings and their own understanding of the professional practice of a teacher. Dialogue was recorded and shared on a developed website. Participation in this dialogue afforded teachers opportunities to reflect on their professional identity in connection with literature, personal experiences and experiences of others. Further, uploading audio files to the site created a sense of accountability among the teachers to ‘have something to say’, thereby contributing to the community. The authors argue that this use of professional dialogue in both the physical and virtual environment is a valuable approach for promoting reflective capacities and for the development of professional identity.

A Comparison of Mexican and US American Students’ Perceptions of High-Low Context Business Communication Style

Abstract Cross-cultural studies (Hofstede, 1984, 1991, 2001; Hall, 1959, 1976) posit that Mexico is a more collectivistic and high context culture than the United States of America and therefore it could be claimed that Mexicans will communicate and perceive professional communication in a different way than US Americans. In contrast, professional communication and social (psychology) studies argue that in order to communicate in a truly intercultural way it is necessary to go beyond the frame of cultural dimensions, since shared professional and educational frameworks could override the impact of cultural differences in professional settings. While empirical evidence so far has shown mixed results, the results of this article provide additional evidence to support the view that the two cited cultural dimensions have been overridden, since the Mexican (N=280) and US American (N=300) student samples showed a rather similar perception of professional dialogues in a monocultural as well as in an intercultural communication setting. A shared framework of knowledge and skills, the impact of the new media and technologies, the virtual and real intercultural encounters between Mexicans and US Americans, their shared educational level, and the fact that nearly all of the Mexican participants reported to speak English as a foreign language and that a majority of the US American participants reported to speak Spanish as a foreign language, could explain, at least for the studied samples, the observed convergence.

Talking, learning and sharing: HEI Forum Professional Dialogue Seminars

Talking, learning and sharing: HEI Forum Professional Dialogue Seminars

Storytelling as dialogue: how teachers construct professional knowledge

This study shows how a group of English language lecturers use storytelling as a form of professional dialogue. The aim of the study is to highlight the dialogic role of storytelling in supporting the construction of lecturers' professional knowledge and not to identify lecturers' professional knowledge. In a professional development project, 12 lecturers created digital stories about their experiences of professional development. These stories were shared with colleagues who then responded with their own digital stories. A narrative framework was used to analyse stories for the types of connections lecturers made between stories. Five dialogic processes were identified: connecting, echoing, developing, questioning and constructing. Excerpts of stories are used to demonstrate how lecturers construct professional knowledge through storytelling. The study concludes by outlining the potential and limitations of storytelling as an approach to professional development and proposes further research into the dialogic capacity of storytelling in a professional development context.

Using a web-enabled video system to support student–teachers’ self-reflection in teaching practice

With the goal of promoting student–teachers to reflect on their teaching performance, a web-enabled video system was developed to permit them to record their classroom performance and then retrieve online videos of their teaching for self-reflection. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of online videos in facilitating self-reflection amongst student–teachers. Eight student–teachers from four disciplines were invited to use the video system to reflect on their teaching in two lessons. A content analysis was conducted to compare the reflective notes made by the student–teachers before and after browsing the videos of their teaching. The results indicated that video browsing prompted student–teachers to generate an additional 50 per cent of reflective notes and stimulated them to significantly increase the depth of their reflective thoughts in the areas of discipline and classroom management, and professional knowledge on teaching. Building on the gains achieved in this way, student–teachers can subsequently engage in in-depth professional dialogue with their teacher supervisors.

Making reflection public: using interactive online discussion board to enhance student learning

The account of teacher education pedagogy presented here suggests that reflective practice in the form of reflective online letter writing has the potential to move conversations towards an epistemological shift that values multiple perspectives and builds confidence and competence for engaging in reflection and professional dialogue. This paper focuses on the requirement for reflection within a teacher education course in a regional Australian university that blends online and face‐to‐face teaching and learning. What is of particular interest is how the possibilities and enabling limits of asynchronous, online discussion can scaffold student engagement with course content and with one another in ways that enhance their willingness and ability to read, write and interact reflectively. The paper reflects on how the move to online reflection and to composing reflections as a letter to a critical friend made this, more often private, assessment driven, process interactive and open to a wider audience. Making reflection public seems to have had a positive impact on the quality and style of reflection and interactions; and on student commitment to imagining possible futures as agents of change within classrooms and schools.

International collaboration between tissue banking associations

This volume of Cell and Tissue Banking is a very important Special Issue of the Journal. It clearly demonstrates the increasing international collaboration between tissue banking associations. It contains the report of the 17th International Congress of the European Association of Tissue Banks (EATB), which was held jointly with the 17th Annual Meeting of the British Association for Tissue Banking (BATB). It also included, for the very first time, a cardiovascular symposium held jointly by three tissue banking associations, EATB, BATB and the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). This Congress was held in November 2008 in Edinburgh, UK and received excellent evaluation from its international participants. There were 23 invited speakers who submitted elegant short papers on the subject of their talks, which are to be found in this volume, as well as the abstracts that were accepted for free papers given as either an oral presentation or poster. In addition, this volume is graced with 5 invited full papers, which were considered to be some of the best free papers that were presented at the meeting. A report co-written with Scott Brubaker, Chief Policy Officer, AATB, John Kearney, Chair of the Scientific Abstract Management Committee for the Congress, Robert Parker Chair of the Local Organising Committee, and myself as EATB President 2007–2009, describes the meeting in greater detail and is included in this Special Issue. This volume also includes a paper from Scott Brubaker (as above), Chad J. Ronholdt, Chair, AATB Scientific and Technical Affairs Committee, 2005– 2008 and Mark Moore, Chair-elect AATB Scientific and Technical Affairs Committee, 2009–2001. This paper describes the 32nd Annual Meeting of the AATB, which was held in Chicago, Illinois, USA and this volume also contains the abstracts from that meeting which, for the first time, were managed through an on-line submission system. Clinical and scientific progress in tissue banking continues to be made at rapid pace. The evolving partnership between the various associations, their members and regulators and many others who contributed to the Congress have all facilitated professional dialogue, one of the many facets of cooperation that is benefiting tissue recipients and which will further develop over the years to come. Guest Editor CATB Special Issue EATB-BATB-AATB President EATB 2007–2009

Introduction to Special Issue: The School Counselor as Leader

Following more than a decade of influence by the Transforming School Counseling Initiative (Education Trust, 1998, 2007) that promoted a new vision of school counselors as assertive advocates and social activists (House & Hayes, 2002; House & Martin, 1998; Martin, 2002), professional school counselors are currently in a pivotal role to collaboratively lead school transformation at the local, state, regional, and national levels (Kaffenberger, Murphy, & Bemak, 2006). The importance of school counselors as leaders is evidenced in the ASCA National Model[R] (American School Counselor Association, 2005), wherein leadership is indicated as one of the four major themes of school counseling along with collaboration and teaming, advocacy, and systemic change. Beyond being leaders in the design, implementation, management, and evaluation of comprehensive school counseling programs, school counselors play a ubiquitous role in leading the education mission and process for the development of student academic, career, and personal/social growth. Further, as school systems become more diverse and complex, the resounding call for professional school counselors to be leaders of social justice and educational reform continues. Scholarly discourse on the role of the school counselor as an advocate and agent of social justice has been well documented (Baker & Gerler, 2004; Education Trust, 1998, 2007; Lee & Goodnough, 2007; Walker, 2006). Indeed, the preamble to ASCA's (2004) Ethical Standards for School Counselors explicates that school counselors are leaders and advocates who affirm diversity while promoting equitable access to educational resources, excellence in education, and postsecondary education for all students. Unfortunately, in spite of the focus to reform schools toward equity, the historical gaps between student groups have continued to persist (Roberts, 2004). As schools and communities continue to become more demographically diverse (Roberts), recognizing and challenging systemic oppression become key skills for school counselors in support of their advocacy for students and their efforts to remove social barriers that impede achievement (Bemak & Chung, 2005; Kiselica & Robinson, 2001; Ratts, DeKruyf, & Chen-Hayes, 2007). Preparing for the professional roles of change agent and promoter of social justice is crucial and involves a personal commitment to affirming diversity (Holcomb-McCoy & Chen-Hayes, 2007). Beyond this essential commitment, having the competencies to advocate is also critical. As editors and counselor educators, we believe that at the core of school counselor social justice practice is leadership. However, the related literature on school counselor leadership theory and practice has only recently begun to gain prominence. For example, Amatea and West-Olatunji (2007) explored the role of school counselors as leaders in high-poverty schools. In their article they illuminated the need for school counselors to collaborate with teachers and to assist school-based professionals in creating a climate of cultural acceptance while encouraging the success of all students. The focus of the article by Amatea and West-Olatunji was unique in that it underscored how school counselor leadership may positively impact access to community resources, educational outcomes, and systemic support of impoverished students. Following their lead, our intent as co-editors was to highlight, specifically, research and conceptual works dedicated to leadership in school counseling. In this special issue of Professional School Counseling, articles were selected that represent contributions to school counselor leadership theory and practice in order to stimulate further thought on the topic, as well as to motivate readers to conduct additional research on school counselor leadership. We further hope to encourage an ongoing professional dialogue about what are the salient characteristics of school counselor leadership and how counselor educators can teach and model leadership and advocacy skills in order to prepare professionals who are ready to actively participate in educational reform to benefit all students. …

Call for Papers

Karen Wixson, Guest Editor Response to Intervention (RTI) is an alternative to the discrepancy approach used for the identification of students with specific learning disabilities that was written into law in the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The RTI approach to identifying learning disabilities rests heavily on the ability of general educators to prevent serious learning difficulties by meeting the needs of the overwhelming majority of their students. Although RTI is commonly considered a general education initiative, the bulk of what has been written about it is both by and for school psychologists and special educators. As a result, there is a lack of information that is more directly relevant to the needs and concerns of general educators. This themed issue is designed to address this need by publishing papers written from a variety of perspectives on RTI-related theory and research. We are particularly interested in promoting professional dialogue about the value and challenges of using RTI approaches to address students’ needs in the areas of reading and mathematics in general education contexts. The special issue might include papers on a range of topics, such as comparisons among different approaches to RTI in different contexts, school-wide initiatives and collaborations, approaches to differentiated core instruction, instructionally meaningful assessment and progress monitoring, methods to address the needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, educative professional development for in-service teachers, and the role of school and district administrators. We are particularly interested in evidence-

Characteristics of and Recommendations for EU Coordination at the UN

Abstract. This paper is the second article of a series of two papers focused on European Union (EU) coordination at the United Nations. It analyses characteristics of EU coordination through insider observations and suggests a set of recommendations for improving and simplifying some of the current ways of proceeding. This would be of particular interest for the future external action service of the EU, which will provide back up and support to the High Representative for the Union in Foreign Affairs. This new configuration should streamline and increase the impact and the coherence of the EU’s external action. The audience for this article is diplomats and professional negotiators at Member States and European level.

Academic Medicine as a Bridge to Peace: Building Arab and Israeli Cooperation

Can you imagine Canadian, Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian medical students singing, volunteering, and working together to develop programs to address issues related to global pediatric emergency medicine? Such a program was first held in Toronto in 2003 and continues annually. Can you imagine Canadians, Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians jointly teaching and developing solutions, via video teleconference, to address behavioral neurological problems affecting elderly populations? Such an initiative began in 2006 and continues to expand today. Can you imagine senior Jordanian and Israeli ear surgeons operating together, successfully carrying out pioneering cochlear implant surgery on deaf infants, on Jordanian national television? Such a surgery was performed in Amman in December 2003. Can you imagine every newborn baby in Jordan having her or his hearing tested? Such a program began in January 2005 as a result of Canadian, Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian service, educational, and scientific research cooperation, becoming national health policy in Jordan in 2007. All of this and much more are the result of the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO) and its cooperation network of knowledge. CISEPO is an international cooperation network of academics, researchers, educators, medical, public health and allied health professionals, and students working as a team of individuals and institutions. During the past 15 years, through ongoing professional engagement and dialogue across religious, political, and cultural borders, CISEPO has created opportunities for building cooperation and trust, identifying and sharing knowledge, building capacity, and leadership within key academic and health care institutions across the Middle East, serving as a role model for dialogue and cooperative development in regions of conflict.1–3 CISEPO believes that sharing health expertise, techniques, and knowledge can build a bridge to peace. Some argue that successful peace-building initiatives should start only after a political resolution has been established. CISEPO teaches that a bridge to peace is not a “bridge too far.” CISEPO believes in harnessing academic theory and medical relationships for three very practical purposes—to turn war into peace, to turn despair into hope, and to turn poverty into wealth. CISEPO initiatives are guided by a bilevel model for peace-building, which integrates project-specific goals for improving health services, clinical, and population health outcomes with meta-level goals for building cross-border cooperation and knowledge exchange.2 CISEPO started as a Canadian nongovernmental organization to provide continuing medical education for Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian physicians in the field of otolaryngology and allied health disciplines. The priority need initially identified was hereditary deafness, a significant public health issue for Arabs and Israelis alike that is 6 to 10 times more prevalent in the Middle East than in the West. This nerve deafness, a genetic condition, has a major economic, social, and health impact on infants, children, their families, and entire communities in the Middle East. To find and treat disadvantaged Arab and Israeli newborns and infants in a comprehensive program, CISEPO brokered the establishment of the Middle East Association for Managing Hearing Loss in 1998. Today, this association thrives as the first joint Arab and Israeli professional association to address hearing loss issues in the Middle East.1–3 Other successful projects established by CISEPO in recent years include providing residency training for Palestinians in Israeli hospitals, conducting cross-border dental public health research, establishing Jordanian-Egyptian-Israeli-Canadian fellowships on dive and emergency medicine, creating youth social engagement through photography, and instituting the critical study of water pipe smoking cessation. Building on these successes, CISEPO has expanded beyond otolaryngology to include medical education, public health, nursing, and other clinical disciplines. To broaden the scope and reach of such initiatives, American CISEPO was established as a sister network to work closely with the CISEPO family of programs. American CISEPO is a registered U.S. charitable organization and has initiated an exciting portfolio of cooperative projects ranging from organizing the first Arab and Israeli genetics conference in Jordan to supporting a cross-border cardiac resuscitation training program. The success of so many CISEPO programs proves that, despite the many challenges, academic health initiatives in conflict regions can bring health professionals together in cross-border collaboration to build mutual respect, trust, and understanding, benefiting all who are involved.