Coombe Boys' School in New Malden worked with Kingston University to establish a 'Big Read', a scheme of pre-arrival shared-reading for boys transitioning from local primary schools into year 7 of the Coombe Boys' secondary school. A novel was chosen for shared-reading, and all arriving pupils were given a copy at their Induction Day (at the end…

Higher education institutions should not only aim to educate academic experts who master their own fields, but also give their students generic skills important in the current society. New teaching methods are required to support the development of such skills. The study examined how a group of voluntary university lecturers re-designed their…

The methodology in this paper discusses the use of photographs as an elicitation strategy that can reveal the thinking processes of participants in a qualitatively rich manner. Photo-elicitation techniques combined with a Piercian semiotic perspective offer a unique method for creating a frame of action for later participant analysis. Illustrative…

Socio-constructivist perspectives on adult education, as well as many practitioners in the field, assume that the teacher's interpersonal attitudes influence the process of knowledge construction on the part of the participants. The aim of this paper is to contribute to an empirical evaluation of this view, and in particular: (1) to understand…

This paper describes a school's participation in a project designed to support critical reflection of teachers' beliefs about best practice in early childhood education, and how these beliefs and practices intersected with shifting policies and trends in the broader early childhood field. The "Professional Learning" Project (PL project),…

The study presents the results of an educational intervention during in-service training of secondary school teachers in Cyprus, which led to participants' development. The aim was twofold, first to reveal teachers' conception about cooperative learning and second to help teachers through simulation of cooperative learning to construct the…

The process of continual growth and development in the teaching profession represents a common value among education professionals. Federal and state laws maintain that teachers must continue to study. These mandates, pronounced at federal, state, and local levels to create high academic standards for students, must be met through quality…

The aim of this article is to identify concepts and methods for studying collaboration in context. The article presents a two-level methodology designed to combine individual and group-level perspectives for the evaluation of collaborative knowledge construction in student groups. The group-level analysis is focused on the students' negotiation…

A study on the needs for articulation between Iowa secondary and postsecondary vocational agriculture programs was done (1) to determine the importance of selected activities in promoting articulation, (2) to determine the extent that these activities have been implemented, and (3) to identify priority articulation activities. A questionnaire was…

The use of authentic tasks is derived from social constructivist principles of locating learning in the context of reality. Authentic tasks can foster learning transfer because collaboration among students not only helps them learn the concepts under discussion, but also exemplifies how these concepts are used in real-world contexts. To achieve a…

Discusses movement toward interagency cooperation for service delivery for handicapped, emphasizing importance of preservice education. Describes special education course at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Course designed to encourage communication of knowledge, attitudes, and coordination of skills in service delivery. Suggests new directions…

Three groups of secondary school teachers received different types of training with regard to teaching at-risk students. Teachers who learned techniques of experiential cooperative gaming for use with at-risk students demonstrated an increase in self-confidence in dealing with at-risk students, while teachers who received only information…

A case study of parental involvement in a seventh grade interdisciplinary activity, called "International Fair," at a Middle School is described and interpreted. The International Fair, the culmination of the work of student groups, involved students preparing booths representing the cultures of different countries and dressing up in…

This study examined kindergarten teachers' perceptions of the impact of changes in group-size policy on 3- and 4-year-old children in New Zealand's Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association. Data were collected through a series of interviews of Wellington kindergarten teachers from 54 kindergartens and focused mainly on the perceived effects…

Mexican and Mexican American students enrolled in 58 bilingual settings (grades K-6) were studied to determine whether there was a relationship between student achievement and specific ethnic and profile characteristics of students and teachers. Five student-related independent variables were based on language dominance. Teacher-related…