Unabridged Short Stories by 21st-Century Spanish-Speaking Authors in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language

Introduction. The need to include authentic works of fiction in the foreign language teaching process is obvious, but the selection of texts of the appropriate level at the elementary and intermediate stages of Spanish teaching remains a challenge. Since this phenomenon has not been sufficiently explored, the aim of this article is to present a list of unabridged short stories that correspond to the intermediate level (B1 PCIC) and the results of the study on the benefits of using these stories as a means of stimulating communication skills in the Spanish class. Materials and Methods. To study the problem, a Likert scale questionnaire, oral interviews, and a check of the final work were carried out. The study involved 54 students from three Russian universities and one school where Spanish and English are studied in depth. The collected data were processed by methods of mathematical statistics in Microsoft Office Excel. For the study, 36 short stories by contemporary Hispanic authors were selected and pre and post-reading questions were developed to introduce the topic and stimulate oral speech. Results. Based on the results of the study, it was revealed that the selected stories correspond to the B1 level of the Cervantes Instituteʼs curriculum, and the topics presented in the stories stimulate communication in the class, pushing the fear of making a mistake into the background. Many Spanish teachers introduce unabridged fiction starting at B2 level. This experiment demonstrates the successful use of short stories at an intermediate level of language proficiency. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study contribute to the development and improvement of the methodology of teaching Spanish with the use of authentic fiction texts. The materials of the article will be useful for practicing teachers and methodologists of the Spanish language.

TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE PERSONAL COMPONENT OF SITUATIONS RELATED WITH PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEMS

Statement of the problem. Improving the quality of resolving difficult situations associated with teachers’ professional activity is possible only by studying those personal and situational variables that a) affect the resolution of difficult situations, b) are included in the personal structure and are available for comprehension. Tolerance for ambiguity (TA), being an intersubjective personality parameter, has all the necessary characteristics and can be considered when developing socio-psychological programs for teachers. However, its contribution to the resolution of difficult situations is currently not well understood. The purpose of the article is to show the place of TA in the structure of the personal component of situations related with pedagogical difficulties based on experimental data. Review of scientific literature on the problem. TA has many interpretations and is considered by researchers as a personality trait, as a metacognitive characteristic, as a socio-psychological attitude. Currently, without denying the multidimensionality of the concept, the emotional, cognitive and perceptual components of TA are considered. This means a return, at a new level, to the original idea of E. Frenkel-Brunswik, author of this psychological concept, who defined TA as an emotional-cognitive personality variable associated with the ambivalence of experiencing negative and positive properties of objects of reality. Sharing the views of E. Lehtinen and K. Merenluoto, we consider TA not as a stable, but as a dynamic characteristic. However, we have to admit that in this aspect the problem has been studied least of all. Therefore, studying the structure of the personal component of situations related with pedagogical difficulties, we consider as a separate task of studying TA as a structural component that develops in personal and situational interaction. Materials and methods. The research methodology is built in accordance with the idea of ​​L.S. Vygotsky and K. Levin, according to which any objective characteristic with which a person interacts becomes subjective through experience. The second foundation is understanding of the personality in the existential and humanistic approach as the leading instance that mediates any interaction with the world and oneself. The third foundation is a situational approach. The study involved 111 practicing teachers, who were offered five problem-solving tasks. Self-reports were processed using content analysis, the results were correlated with the data of personality techniques, including S. Badner’s TA test, and were subjected to factorization. Research results. The paper proves that TA refers to intersubjective parameters that affect the relationship between the personality and the situation. The TA factor turned out to be significant for all three groups of open, closed, and mixed models of interaction in difficult situations and is included in the structure of the personal component of situations related with pedagogical difficulties along with such factors as autonomy, communication, cognitive interest, openness, and creativity. Conclusion. The idea of ​K. Dahlbert that TA is most of all connected with the time factor was confirmed. During the study, it was found out that entering into different combinations within the personality structure, the TA parameter forms different configurations. Combined with the “orientation in time” factor, TA promotes an open type of interaction, while intolerance is associated with categoricalness and a closed type of communication in a situation of difficulty. Temporal competence enhances the personality ability to resolve a situation of difficulty through time resource management. At the same time, expectation of easiness and categoricalness lower the developmental potential of interaction in a situation of difficulty. In general, the high weight of TA in the structure of the personality component of situations related with pedagogical difficulties allows us to consider TA as a task and condition in the development of socio-psychological programs for practicing teachers.

Using Text via Dialectical Journals to Nurture Liminal Spaces in Teacher Education

This article shares the findings of a study examining the use of dialectical journals as liminal spaces for the development of critical reflection in practicing teachers. In an online graduate course on critical teacher inquiry designed to foster teachers as antiracist multicultural educators, teachers engaged in dialogue with themselves as they responded to self-selected text segments in assigned readings throughout the course. Using Mezirow’s theory of transformation and specifically the typology of critical reflection of assumptions and critical self-reflection of assumptions, we analyzed the online dialectical journals of 23 teachers to better understand how their engagement with key texts both represented and influenced their reflective development and engagement in transformational learning. We conclude the journals to be powerful liminal spaces for teachers to engage in reframing of their assumptions.

Early Childhood Education Students' Experiences of Engaging with Academic Text

<p>Academic text is viewed in most university environments as a tool for supporting student learning which generates knowledge, skills and the capacity to critique ideas. Yet there is little research undertaken to understand early childhood education (ECE) students’ experiences and beliefs of engaging with academic text. Therefore, in order to understand this specific group of students’ text engagement practices and beliefs, this ethnographic research followed a group of ten third-year ECE students at Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand through one course of their undergraduate study. The researcher collected data using ethnographic methods (including a non-traditional visual participatory method of identity portfolio collages) to identify patterns which help understand students’ beliefs and experiences of engaging with academic text. Based on social learning theories, the research examined the influence of student identity and cultural context on their motivation and interest in engaging with academic text. The study found that while this group of ECE students reported valuing academic text for a number of reasons, they were most likely to engage with assigned text for assessment purposes. The prevalent use of a surface learning approach, skim reading, when reading academic text also left students feeling frustrated with the reading they completed during their programme. Group expectations of reading mainly for assessment and a lack of text engagement by practicing teachers they encountered also encouraged these students, who hold positive reader identities, to limit their engagement with academic text. The results from this study indicate that students and educators can examine ways to increase student motivation to engage deeply with academic text on a more regular basis for students to achieve deeper and more meaningful learning experiences.</p>

Early Childhood Education Students' Experiences of Engaging with Academic Text

<p>Academic text is viewed in most university environments as a tool for supporting student learning which generates knowledge, skills and the capacity to critique ideas. Yet there is little research undertaken to understand early childhood education (ECE) students’ experiences and beliefs of engaging with academic text. Therefore, in order to understand this specific group of students’ text engagement practices and beliefs, this ethnographic research followed a group of ten third-year ECE students at Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand through one course of their undergraduate study. The researcher collected data using ethnographic methods (including a non-traditional visual participatory method of identity portfolio collages) to identify patterns which help understand students’ beliefs and experiences of engaging with academic text. Based on social learning theories, the research examined the influence of student identity and cultural context on their motivation and interest in engaging with academic text. The study found that while this group of ECE students reported valuing academic text for a number of reasons, they were most likely to engage with assigned text for assessment purposes. The prevalent use of a surface learning approach, skim reading, when reading academic text also left students feeling frustrated with the reading they completed during their programme. Group expectations of reading mainly for assessment and a lack of text engagement by practicing teachers they encountered also encouraged these students, who hold positive reader identities, to limit their engagement with academic text. The results from this study indicate that students and educators can examine ways to increase student motivation to engage deeply with academic text on a more regular basis for students to achieve deeper and more meaningful learning experiences.</p>

Using digital tools during dista nce learning: teacher experience

Due to the situation caused by the coronavirus COVID-19, educational institutions were forced to switch to a mode of distance interaction with students. The proposed material presents the range of digital tools successfully used by the teacher during the period of distance learning, as well as proposed for use in the traditional learning mode in the perspective of the use of blended learning technology. Among the tools, attention is paid primarily to educational platforms, portals, electronic notebooks, services for creating interactive exercises, quests, quizzes, and video sessions. Several variants of virtual whiteboards are offered for use, and attention is also drawn to the possibility and feasibility of using MOOC in school. As examples, the methodological techniques implemented in the lessons during the distance in the Zoom communication program are given. The use of digital tools in school education allows you to create, implement and distribute new methods of teaching and working with children, improve educational approaches, and further combine the possibilities of online and offline learning. The article will be relevant for practicing teachers and researchers whose interests lie in the field of digitalization of education.

The Teachers Have Something to Say: Lessons Learned from U.S. PK-12 Teachers During the COVID-impacted 2020-21 School Year

To develop an in-depth, nuanced understanding of what teaching was like during the COVID-impacted 2020-21 academic school year, we interviewed 57 U.S. PK-12 teachers from across the country in public, charter, and private schools, at different grade levels, and in different subject areas. The primary message we heard from teachers is that they have not been valued as partners in designing our educational response to COVID. Specifically, the following three themes emerged from our interviews: 1.) exclusion from decision-making processes is demoralizing to teachers, especially when combined with worsening working conditions and widening inequalities; 2.) ignoring the concerns of teachers led to policymakers and school leaders advancing several seriously ill-considered ideas over the objections of practicing teachers; and 3.) teachers have developed a variety of effective instructional strategies in response to the challenging conditions of COVID. Delta is already disrupting school openings across the country. The school systems with the most effective approaches to pandemic schooling over the next year and beyond will be those that listen seriously to the concerns and insights of teachers and include them in design and decision-making.

“But When Are We Going to Learn the Real Do?” Toward Learner-Centered Pitch Practices in U.S. Music Classrooms

While the field of music education is rife with participation in methodological debates around “best systems” for learning about pitch, the authors in this article explore the possibilities of learner-centered approaches to teaching pitch among students with diverse music backgrounds. Specifically, the article highlights several challenges faced by the students with fixed pitch backgrounds in U.S. music classrooms: confusion around solfège syllables used to represent both movable and fixed pitch systems, and difficulty in transitioning between fixed and movable systems regardless of the symbolic language used. The authors offer a variety of research-based recommendations for deepening students' understandings of pitch in light of these challenges and emphasize the necessity for a learner-centered approach to pitch pedagogy in U.S. music classrooms. The purpose of this article is to (1) help practicing teachers understand more deeply and empathize with the nature of confusion students with fixed pitch backgrounds might experience in American music classrooms, and (2) develop pedagogical strategies that are sensitive to the experiences of these students while working to deepen understanding of pitch.

MODEL OF IMPLEMENTATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CONDITIONS OF CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING INDEPENDENCE OF STUDENTS

Актуализируется проблема обеспечения непрерывности образовательной деятельности в педагогической системе общего образования с целевым ориентиром на учебную самостоятельность обучающихся. В условиях дискретности российской образовательной системы этап перехода школьника из начальной школы в основную школу определяется автором как стратегически важный период в решении обозначенной проблемы, заключающийся в создании на переходном этапе общего образования комплекса организационно-педагогических условий, рассматриваемых как совокупность внешних и внутренних обстоятельств образовательной деятельности, направленной на непрерывное развитие учебной самостоятельности обучающихся. Научная новизна исследования, проведенного автором, заключается в разработке модели реализации организационно-педагогических условий непрерывного развития учебной самостоятельности обучающихся, включающей концептуальный, содержательно-деятельностный и результативный модули. Особенностью авторской модели является интеграция функциональных блоков, которые взаимодействуют друг с другом посредством разработанных механизмов и инструментов реализации и показывают, какие организационно-педагогические условия должны быть выполнены, чтобы задачи были решены и функции, описываемые блоками, осуществились. Цель статьи заключается в описании модели реализации организационно-педагогических условий непрерывного развития самостоятельности обучающихся в учебной деятельности на этапе перехода из начальной школы в основную школу. В результате экспериментальной проверки модели доказано, что выявленный автором комплекс организационно-педагогических условий (управленческих, методических, проектировочных, технологических) обеспечивает непрерывность учебной самостоятельности школьника при его переходе с начального на основной уровень общего образования. Исследование проводилось методом естественного эксперимента в рамках опытно-экспериментальной работы, результаты которой подтверждены статистическими данными. Статья предназначена для исследователей, специалистов в области педагогики, педагогов-практиков, студентов педагогических вузов. The author actualizes the problem of ensuring the continuity of educational activity in the pedagogical system of general education with a target focus on the educational independence of students. In the context of the discreteness of the Russian educational system, the stage of the student’s transition from primary school to basic school is defined by the author as a strategically important period in solving the indicated problem, which consists in creating a complex of organizational and pedagogical conditions at the transitional stage of general education, considered as a combination of external and internal circumstances of educational activity, aimed at the continuous development of educational independence of students. The scientific novelty of the research carried out by the author lies in the development of a model for the implementation of organizational and pedagogical conditions for the continuous development of educational independence of students, including conceptual, content-activity and effective modules. A feature of the author’s model is the integration of functional blocks that interact with each other through the developed mechanisms and implementation tools and show what organizational and pedagogical conditions must be met in order for the tasks to be solved and the functions described by the blocks to be realized. The purpose of the article is to describe a model for the implementation of organizational and pedagogical conditions for the continuous development of students’ independence in educational activities at the stage of transition from primary school to basic school. As a result of the experimental verification of the model, it was proved that the complex of organizational and pedagogical conditions (managerial, methodological, design, technological) identified by the author ensures the continuity of the student’s educational independence during his transition from the primary to the basic level of general education. The study was carried out by the method of natural experiment within the framework of experimental work, the results of which are confirmed by statistical data. The article is intended for researchers, specialists in the field of pedagogy, practicing teachers, students of pedagogical universities.