The Effects of Group differentiation by students’ learning strategies

This study analyses the effects of group differentiation by students’ learning strategies of around 1200 students in 46 classes from eight secondary schools in the Netherlands. In an experimental setup with randomization at the class level, division of students over three groups per class (an instruction-independent group, an average group, and an instruction-dependent group) is based on learning strategies, measures using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Each group is offered instruction fitting their own learning strategy. The results show that student performance is higher in classes where the differentiation was applied, and that these students score higher at some scales of the posttest of the questionnaire on motivation, metacognition and self-regulation. However, there are differences between classrooms from different teachers. Additional teacher questionnaires confirm the discrepancy in teacher attitudes towards the intervention.

I Want to Become a Teacher because…? Student-Teachers Change in Attitudes of Becoming Teachers in Austria and Kosovo

The motivation for career choice motivation of student-teachers is a well-studied topic with a representative theoretical basis in teacher education research that has a long-standing tradition in the international research landscape. However, in understanding the pressing questions of why young people choose to become teachers, only a few longitudinal and comparative studies have been carried out that focus on the development of motivation for choosing a teaching career. This longitudinal study reports on the effects of time within initial teacher education and how it influences student-teacher attitudes and motives about the teaching profession. This article is a product of a larger study that aims at addressing the existing literature gap by examining student-teacher change in attitudes of becoming teachers in Austria and Kosovo starting from initial teacher education, during early stages of their teaching career as novice teachers, and to more advanced stages of their teaching career. This is a panel study located within a longitudinal design. In this study, a questionnaire and student-teacher reflection texts were used as instruments. Data were collected in three phases during which 673 student-teachers participated in face-to-face administered questionnaire as follows: 341 (phase 1), 185 (phase 2), and 147 (phase 3), as well as 19 student-teacher reflections. Questionnaire data were analysed using the general linear model (GLM) with repeated measures test, whereas the reflection text data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings in this longitudinal study provide evidence that student-teacher attitudes and motives for becoming teachers can change over time during the initial teacher education in Austria and Kosovo, and they can be influenced by in-school experiences during teaching practice. The study concludes that motives for choosing a teaching career are primarily intrinsic, are not time-stable, and change over the course of studies. The study findings have clear implications for initial teacher education programs in addressing changes in student-teachers’ attitudes of becoming teachers. The insights gained from the findings of this study lead to recommendations that initial teacher education programs should strengthen teaching practice to better manage the preparation of students and teachers and their entry into the teaching profession.

Teacher Attitudes Towards the School Integration of Students With Special Educational Needs

In recent decades, the issue of integrating students with SEN in mainstream education has been the focus of both educationalists and teachers from Romania. In this respect, integrated education means the form of schooling in which students with SEN are taught in mainstream education, while inclusive education assumes that schools adjust themselves to the psycho-individual particularities of each student, whether or not they have certain disabilities. Unfortunately, teachers and other educational agents are not always prepared to accept and meet the needs of a student with disabilities. Thus, the aim of this research was to identify the attitude of teachers towards the integration of students with SEN in the mainstream education of Bihor county, Romania. The results show that both society and a large part of the school staff ignore the issue of people with disabilities, preferring a superficial involvement, which restricts itself mainly to the administrative aspect instead of developing quality interpersonal relationships between non-disabled students and those with SEN.

Unpacking the Possible: A Qualitative Case Study of Inclusive Teacher Practice in India

Research on teachers and inclusive education in India has largely been conducted using standardised, quantitative measures of teacher attitudes, efficacy and behaviour. There is little focus on teachers’ perspectives on their practice. Such findings promote a deficit view of teachers, recommending interventions to ‘correct’ teacher attitudes and behaviour, with little attention to institutional and policy contexts within which the teachers operate. The existing studies focus on what is absent or lacking, rather than what is possible. The present study attempts to offer a perspective of what is possible in inclusive education in the Indian context. The purpose of this intrinsic case study research is to better understand the inclusion of girls with disabilities in Kolkata, India, at a home and school for orphan girls. Non-institutionalised, inclusive, community-based care is rare in India, specifically for individuals with disabilities. The overall case study involved interviews ( N = 32) with students, teachers and staff, observations and document analysis, and this focuses on the n = 7 teacher interviews. All transcripts were analysed using structural and in vivo codes. These findings are centred on teacher voices and perspectives – identifying best practices, dilemmas and challenges. However, teacher perspectives are discussed within a larger school and institutional context. An important feature is the description of teachers’ inclusive practice as an iterative process, supported by feedback and input from the school leader. The findings highlight how the school provides and serves as a space of familial bonding, allowing teachers to challenge the views of educability, within the backdrop of a community that stigmatises disability. It is in this way that these teacher-centred voices demonstrate resilience in their teaching and conceptualisation of inclusion and disability.

Does Music Education Have a Poverty Problem?

In this literature review, I explore poverty, the barriers to participation that exist for students in poverty, and why this issue should matter to music educators. Research findings about students and poverty generally fall into three categories: logistics, teacher attitudes, and policy. I identify participation barriers in each of these categories and offer suggestions how they might be addressed. Overall, findings involving poverty and music education indicate that when teachers are well-supported at the micro and macro level by legislators, administrators, parents, and other teachers, most barriers can be reduced or eliminated, and participation increases.