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tandfonline.com – Teaching as a new mission: Swedish preschool teachers’ collegial discussions

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT This article explores how preschool teachers, over time, collectively manage teaching as a new part of their mission. The study’s empirical data consist of two related but temporally separated sets of data containing collegial discussions among preschool teachers; talks during a development process and group interviews with the same preschool teachers six months later. Through a theory-driven analysis, using the theoretical concept of teacher agency, different ways of achieving teacher agency are brought into light. When tensions appear, the preschool teachers achieve teacher agency by using professional core values in order to make adjustments, additions or changes to school policy. These professional core values consist of for example, sensitivity to the interests and needs of children, the ambition… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – Students’ Possibilities to Learn From Group Discussions Integrated in Whole-class Teaching in Mathematics

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to investigate how small-group and whole-class discussions during whole-class teaching contribute to students’ learning. The study includes 33 video-recorded small-group discussions in four mathematics lessons on enlarging and reducing two-dimensional geometric figures in Grade 8. The results show that different objects of learning were enacted in the different small-groups’ discussions, and that in the majority of the small-group discussions the students did not have the possibility to learn what was intended, since critical aspects were not explored. The combination of group and whole-class discussions contributed to that critical aspects of the specific subject matter came to the fore and thereby were possible to discern. The results indicate that small-group discussions without subsequent… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – A supportive tool for principals in guiding professional group discussions

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Background Developing collective professional capacities in schools is important for school improvement, and principals can initiate such developments. That is, by initiating and leading professional group discussions on teaching and learning, principals can influence teaching practices and, thereby, indirectly affect student outcomes and school improvement. However, research indicates that leading such discussions in communities of professionals can be a challenge for principals. Purpose The aim of this article is to explore and yield insight into how a conceptual model (the LPGD model) can support principals in guiding professional group discussions on school development and change. Method The study adopts a qualitative observational approach. Data were collected through observations of a pilot use of the model by principals who… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – “If It Lived Here, It Would Die.” Children’s Use of Materials as Semiotic Resources in Group Discussions About Evolution

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT With the aim of exploring how children discuss underlying reasons for evolution and how materials function in children’s meaning making processes, this article provides insight into how evolution theory can be introduced in preschool and in the early years of primary school. Video data from eight group discussions (N = 27) were analyzed using a multimodal perspective. Despite not having had any formal instruction about evolution theory, the 6-year-old children in this study made use of their previous experiences and the materials to make meaning and argue for different reasons for animal diversity. The results show that the children’s discussions concerned four conceptual themes: animals are different because of kinship and heredity, environmental effects, the need for adaptation, and the… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Investigating Students’ Perceptions of Motivating Factors of Online Class Discussions

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: One of the goals of teacher education is to prepare our citizens to communicate in a variety of ways. In our present society, communication using digital media has become essential. Although online discussions are a common component of many online courses, engaging students in online discussions has been a challenge. This study queried 86 educators in a math/science teacher education graduate program to examine their perceptions on the factors that motivate them to participate in online discussions. The results revealed a pragmatic outlook on online education. In terms of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, the participants’ main motivation to participate in online class discussions was extrinsic (85.88%), specifically so that they could earn an acceptable participation grade. With regards to discussion grouping formats, they preferred small group discussions… Continue Reading