How High Achievers Learn That They Should Not Become Teachers

In this article, Zid Mancenido examines how high-achieving students are socialized to believe that they should not become K–12 classroom teachers. Research has well established that academically successful students are often disinterested in teaching as a career, yet there has been little attention to how this disinterest is developed through the process of career exploration. To address this gap in the literature, Mancenido conducts a narrative inquiry based on interviews with high-achieving recent college graduates and graduating seniors. He presents six representative vignettes to demonstrate how high achievers learn through explicit and implicit signals that teaching is not appropriate for someone like them. This process is social, with parents and peers playing a significant role in shaping beliefs. These findings suggest that policy efforts to recruit more high achievers into teaching may benefit from more focus earlier in the career exploration pipeline.

Matematiikan parhaat osaajat lukion lopussa ja heidän matematiikka-asenteissaan tapahtuneet muutokset

Tutkimus perustuu Opetushallituksen ja Kansallisen koulutuksen arviointikeskuksen keräämään pitkittäisaineistoon. Samaan ikäluokkaan kuuluvat oppilaat ovat osallistuneet kansallisiin matematiikan kokeisiin ja matematiikka-asenteita kartoittaviin kyselyihin vuosien 2005–2015 aikana neljällä eri mittauskerralla perusopetuksen kolmannelta vuosiluokalta toisen asteen loppuun. Tutkimusaineiston kokonaisotos käsittää yhteensä 3896 oppilasta. Tutkimuksessa keskitytään tarkastelemaan matematiikassa parhaiten menestyneitä opiskelijoita. Matematiikan parhaiksi osaajiksi määritetään kansalliseen matematiikan kokeeseen osallistuneet lukiolaiset, jotka saivat pitkän matematiikan ylioppilaskokeesta arvosanan laudatur tai eximia cum laude approbatur (n = 146). Ensin tutkimuksessa selvitetään, miten parhaiden osaajien matematiikka-asenteet muuttuivat perusopetuksesta lukion loppuun ja toiseksi, miten opetuksen pedagogiset ratkaisut yläkoulussa ja lukiossa selittävät osaamiseltaan parhaiden tyttöjen ja poikien asenteissa tapahtuneita muutoksia. Selittävien tekijöiden analyysissa käytetään päätöspuuanalyysia (DTA) ja lineaarista regressioanalyysia. Matematiikan parhaiden osaajien matematiikasta pitäminen kasvoi lukio-opintojen aikana, mutta minäkäsitys ja kokemus matematiikan hyödyllisyydestä laskivat. Matematiikassa parhaiten menestyneiden tyttöjen asenteissa tapahtuneet muutokset poikkesivat asenteiden yleisestä muutossuunnasta. Parhaiden tyttöjen minäkäsitys kasvoi yläkoulun ja lukion aikana lähes parhaiten menestyneiden poikien tasolle ja tytöt pitivät matematiikasta lukion lopussa poikia enemmän. Matematiikassa parhaiten menestyneiden tyttöjen ja poikien asenteiden kehittymistä selittivät erilaiset opetuksen pedagogiset ratkaisut. Molemmilla myönteisiä asenteita vahvistivat yleisesti oppilaskeskeisyyteen, yhteistoiminnallisuuteen ja oppijoiden tarpeiden huomioimiseen liittyvät pedagogiset ratkaisut. In English The study is part of a longitudinal research. Students belonging to the same age group were followed from the third grade of primary education to the end of upper secondary level. The data was collected by EDUFI and FINEEC during 2005–2015. The data consists of 3896 students. The target group consists of mathematically high-achieving students at the end of their studies in upper secondary school. The definition of high-achieving students based on success in matriculation examination of advanced math (n = 146). First we examine how high-achieving students’ attitudes towards mathematics change from primary education to the end of upper secondary level and then how pedagogical solutions in grades 7–9 and in upper secondary level explain boys’ and girls’ changes in attitudes. Decision tree analysis (DTA) and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that high-achieving students liked more mathematics during upper secondary school but self-concept and experience of usefulness of mathematics decreased. The changes of high-achieving girls’ attitudes differed from the general trend of change. High-achieving girls’ self-concept increased almost to the same level than high-achieving boys’ during grades 7–9 and in upper secondary school. Additionally, girls liked mathematics more than boys at the end of upper secondary level. The development of high-achieving girls’ and boys’ attitudes was explained by different pedagogical solutions. Both girls’ and boys’ positive attitudes were generally reinforced by pedagogical solutions related to student-centeredness, cooperative learning and paying attention to students’ needs. Fulltext in Finnish.

Ki te Taumata: a Personal Journey into the Multiple Identities of Academically High Achieving Māori Girls

<p>This thesis investigates the multiple identities of four academically high achieving, Māori girls negotiated in one English Medium mainstream schooling environment. The study sought to determine how these young women have grown to define and develop diverse understandings of what it means to “be Māori” and “high achieving” within this context. The metaphor of plotting a path from the foothills to the peak of a mountain is used to describe the journey that the participants of this study, and I as a researcher, undertook during this process. Participating in this journey were 13 travellers; four academically high achieving Māori girls, four caregivers and four of the girls’ friends. I also identify myself as a Māori female researcher as a traveller since I tell a story that has attempted to be transparent and personal. This case study was guided by Kaupapa Māori research protocols (Smith, 1999; Bishop & Glynn, 2003) and Personal Experience methodology (Clandinin & Connelly, 1994). Such protocols were useful in enabling me to tell this research story. However, this was not the research journey I expected to take when I first set off. Through this inquiry process I learned about the influence of society and colonisation on the construction of identity. I learned how pressures and stereotypes, aligned with socialisation processes, lie beneath our consciousness and inform our individual and collective identities. The conversations with fellow participants of the study highlight the limitations in our understanding of what it means to be Māori and achieve educational success “as Māori” amongst contemporary youth today. The findings of this study suggest that multiple complex Māori identities exist amongst contemporary Māori youth. Further research and discussion about what it means to “be Māori” needs to occur to ensure that we cater for the needs of all Māori learners. Recommendations include establishing a professional development programme for teachers to address the way knowledge is constructed and perpetuated in a contemporary, postcolonial society. A focus on motivation, gender, indigeneity and special/gifted abilities was not investigated in this thesis.</p>

Ki te Taumata: a Personal Journey into the Multiple Identities of Academically High Achieving Māori Girls

<p>This thesis investigates the multiple identities of four academically high achieving, Māori girls negotiated in one English Medium mainstream schooling environment. The study sought to determine how these young women have grown to define and develop diverse understandings of what it means to “be Māori” and “high achieving” within this context. The metaphor of plotting a path from the foothills to the peak of a mountain is used to describe the journey that the participants of this study, and I as a researcher, undertook during this process. Participating in this journey were 13 travellers; four academically high achieving Māori girls, four caregivers and four of the girls’ friends. I also identify myself as a Māori female researcher as a traveller since I tell a story that has attempted to be transparent and personal. This case study was guided by Kaupapa Māori research protocols (Smith, 1999; Bishop & Glynn, 2003) and Personal Experience methodology (Clandinin & Connelly, 1994). Such protocols were useful in enabling me to tell this research story. However, this was not the research journey I expected to take when I first set off. Through this inquiry process I learned about the influence of society and colonisation on the construction of identity. I learned how pressures and stereotypes, aligned with socialisation processes, lie beneath our consciousness and inform our individual and collective identities. The conversations with fellow participants of the study highlight the limitations in our understanding of what it means to be Māori and achieve educational success “as Māori” amongst contemporary youth today. The findings of this study suggest that multiple complex Māori identities exist amongst contemporary Māori youth. Further research and discussion about what it means to “be Māori” needs to occur to ensure that we cater for the needs of all Māori learners. Recommendations include establishing a professional development programme for teachers to address the way knowledge is constructed and perpetuated in a contemporary, postcolonial society. A focus on motivation, gender, indigeneity and special/gifted abilities was not investigated in this thesis.</p>

Virtual Faculty Strategies for Supporting Motivation of Online Doctoral Students

Our study focused on online faculty members and their perceptions of the strategies and activities they use to promote progress for and motivation in their online graduate students, particularly at the dissertation/doctoral study phase of the program. Results show high-achieving faculty members vary their strategies according to each students’ needs. High-achieving faculty members reach out to students often, offer encouragement throughout the process, and establish realistic goals.

Why do Low-Income, High-Achieving Students not Apply to Top Universities?

In this study, the behavior of low-income, high-achieving students when applying to prestigious universities is analyzed. It was postulated that this behavior is due to a lack of information provided to these students and the effect of several behavioral heuristics that influence these students’ application decisions — namely, availability, simulation, and the status quo bias. This paper focuses on the behavior of low-income, high-achieving students who do not apply to prestigious students and therefore behave in a manner typical to their income level rather than their ability. These students, who are less likely to attend magnet schools or live in major metropolitan areas, are often left out of initiatives and college resources available to high-income students. To address this disparity, two solutions are proposed to encourage income-typical students to apply to prestigious universities: the continuation of test-optional policies and virtual college tours.

“They Overestimate Me All the Time:” Exploring Imposter Phenomenon among Indian Female Software Engineers

Imposter phenomenon is defined as a self-perception of intellectual fraudulence despite achieving objective success and accomplishments. Imposter phenomenon has been rigorously explored among high-achieving career professionals. The present qualitative study is an attempt to explore imposter phenomenon experiences among female software engineers in the Indian Information and Technology sector. The data, derived through in-depth and semi-structured interviews, has been analysed through a hybrid of an inductive and a theoretical thematic analysis method. Clance and Imes’ (1978, Psychother: Theory Res Pract, 15(3):241) article, “The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention,” has been used for screening the sample and also, as a theoretical lens. The study reveals that external attribution of success, fear of failure, anxiety, and devaluing accomplishments are core psychological processes associated with the imposter phenomenon experience. The current work further found that parenting patterns characterized by lack of praises, comparison among siblings, lack of trust in children’s potential, and strict gender values are significant antecedents of Imposter Phenomenon.