Alison Gilmore

Teacher stress in intermediate schools

Summary Intermediate school teachers from the same eight New Zealand schools were surveyed five times over four years using the self‐report Stress in Teaching Questionnaire. Sources of teacher stress were found to be similar to those identified in previous research. Higher levels of stress were related to lower job satisfaction and a reduced commitment to remain in the job long term. Absence due to sickness was not found to be correlated with stress. No marked increase in stress among teachers was found over the five survey episodes.

The effect of paid employment on university students' lives

Purpose – Owing to the increasing debt students are accumulating to finance their tertiary study, many are having to work during term time. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of this paid employment on their study time and other aspects of their lives.Design/methodology approach – Eighty three undergraduates completed a questionnaire about their academic workload, their paid employment commitments during term time, their earnings and expenditure, and their recreational and cultural activities.Findings – Results indicated that 81 per cent of the students held at least one job during term time for an average of 14 hours per week. The money earned was typically spent on essential living expenses. Working left less time than desired for social activities, study and recreation.Research limitations/implications – The findings are limited by the relatively small sample size of self‐selected students: mainly young, female and enrolled in Arts courses.Practical implications – The results suggest that w...

Turning Teachers on to Computers: Evaluation of a Teacher Development Program.

AbstractThis study evaluated a teacher development program designed to introduce educational uses of computers to teachers and to facilitate their integration into classroom activities. The model involved teachers in a school-based, action-research project supported by visits from resource personnel, with clusters of teachers attending two meetings to evaluate their experiences, share ideas, and discuss relevant issues. The model proved to be very successful. Dramatic increases in teacher confidence and, to a lesser extent, competence in computer use were the major outcomes. A strong commitment to continue their use of computers in their teaching was common. Teachers reported their students gaining noticeable cognitive and social benefits from the experience.

Preparing Teachers to Use the Enabling Power of Assessment

In this chapter we use an empirical investigation of the changes in assessment beliefs of preservice teachers to inform a discussion of what it might take to build a professional workforce to implement assessment to promote student learning. The findings demonstrated that significant changes in preservice teachers’ beliefs (as well as their knowledge and skills) are necessary if they are to become ‘assessment capable’ and ready to use assessment in the service of learning as teachers. We argue that mobilizing the power of assessment to enable learning, even in supportive policy contexts, is dependent upon teachers’ beliefs. Knowing about preservice teachers’ beliefs and how they change in relation to their teacher preparation programs is a first step in this process.

Wellbeing in the New Zealand Curriculum

This study examines the usage and contexts of wellbeing in New Zealand’s curriculum, a formal statement of education policy enacted by a democratically elected government. The analysis is guided by a current model of student wellbeing rooted in seven, interdependent domains: Having, Being, Relating, Thinking, Feeling, Functioning, and Striving. Identification of explicit and implicit references to wellbeing in the NZC provides a rare opportunity to locate areas of alignment between governmental indicators and these domains. The scope of analysis is deliberately broad, thus providing a transferrable model for curriculum analysis from the perspective of student wellbeing. This study found that words and phrases cluster around constructs associated with the Relating domain, and that the Feeling domain was under-represented by the curricular language. This suggests that a New Zealand educational view of wellbeing may differ from how it is conceptualized in the literature. Qualitative content analysis of a national curriculum invites further study into how wellbeing is understood and experienced by students and teachers, and how their views align with the intended curriculum. This exercise can be adapted by educators practicing in different schooling contexts, resulting in site-appropriate indicators relevant to their own guiding principles and educational aims.