Christine M. Rubie-Davies

The effect of a new approach to group work on pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil interactions.

The main impetus for the SPRinG (social pedagogic research into grouping) project was to address the wide gap between the potential of group work and its limited use in schools. It is an ambitious project that developed key principles and strategies to improve the effectiveness of group work in everyday primary classes and across a whole school year. On-the-spot and video-based systematic observations showed more active, sustained engagement, more connectedness, and more higher order inferential joint reasoning within SPRinG groups than in control comparisons. The authors argue that group work can be successfully implemented into everyday school classrooms and improve pupil interactions, provided teachers take time to train pupils in the skills of group working.

Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual factors: What are the relationships?

BACKGROUND There is a plethora of research around student beliefs and their contribution to student outcomes. However, there is less research in relation to teacher beliefs. Teacher factors are important to consider since beliefs mould thoughts and resultant instructional behaviours that, in turn, can contribute to student outcomes. AIMS The purpose of this research was to explore relationships between the teacher characteristics of gender and teaching experience, school contextual variables (socio-economic level of school and class level), and three teacher socio-psychological variables: class level teacher expectations, teacher efficacy, and teacher goal orientation. SAMPLE The participants were 68 male and female teachers with varying experience, from schools in a variety of socio-economic areas and from rural and urban locations within New Zealand. METHOD Teachers completed a questionnaire containing items related to teacher efficacy and goal orientation in reading. They also completed a teacher expectation survey. Reading achievement data were collected on students. Interrelationships were explored between teacher socio-psychological beliefs and the teacher and school factors included in the study. RESULTS Mastery-oriented beliefs predicted teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management. The socio-economic level of the school and teacher gender predicted teacher efficacy for engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, and a mastery goal orientation. Being male predicted a performance goal orientation. CONCLUSIONS Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual variables can result in differences in teacher instructional practices and differing classroom climates. Further investigation of these variables is important since differences in teachers contribute to differences in student outcomes.

Expectations of achievement: Student, teacher and parent perceptions

M (1948) proposed the self-fulfi lling prophecy over half a century ago and twenty years later this concept was applied to teachers (Rosenthal and Jacobson, 1968). The proposition was that when teachers expected their students to do well they interacted with them in ways that led to their expectations being fulfi lled. Since then the research has consistently explored teacher expectations; expectations of signifi cant others for student outcomes have been largely ignored. For example, while teachers clearly hold expectations for students, students will have self-expectations and parents will also have expectations for their children. Furthermore, parents, students and teachers will have expectations of each other. Yet these various perceptions have been little explored, and where they have, at most, expectations of two parties have been included (see Benner and Mistry, 2007, for a recent example). The primary aim of the current research was to explore expectations students, teachers and parents have for one another. An extensive literature search has not located any other studies that have explored these various perspectives in one study.

Enhancing learning? A comparison of teacher and teaching assistant interactions with pupils

In many countries, teaching assistants are working in schools in increasing numbers. While they formerly supported teachers by completing low-level administrative tasks, they are increasingly playing a pedagogical role and working directly with pupils, particularly those with special educational needs. However, little is known about the quality of the support that teaching assistants provide to these pupils. This paper systematically examines differences in the types and quality of interactions teaching assistants have with pupils compared with the interactions of teachers in the same classrooms. Differences were found, particularly in relation to the development of pupil thinking, and examples of the differential interactions are provided in the paper. Recommendations are made related to the need to examine existing models of teaching effectiveness to take account of the role of teaching assistants in classrooms and the role of teachers managing teaching assistants.

Improving pupil group work interaction and dialogue in primary classrooms: results from a year‐long intervention study

Findings are reported from a year‐long evaluation of the effectiveness of the SPRinG programme relative to a control group. SPRinG aimed to address the wide gap between the potential of group interaction to promote learning and its limited use in schools. The project involved working with teachers to develop strategies for enhancing pupil group work and dialogue, and to implement a pupil relational and group skills training programme. Video observations were conducted of a sub‐sample of pupil groups (31 SPRinG; 29 control groups) working on a specially designed group decision‐making activity undertaken in everyday classroom settings. SPRinG groups displayed higher levels of participation, engagement, active and sustained discussion, high level inferential joint reasoning and lower levels of group disruptive blocking behaviours. We argue that group work can be successfully implemented into everyday school classrooms, and improve pupil interactions and high level discussion, provided teachers take time to train pupils in relational and group working skills.

Adolescent time attitude scale (ATAS) scores and academic outcomes in secondary school females in New Zealand

Multiple associations between time-related variables and several educational outcomes have been established previously. Of these time-related variables, the majority have focused on attitudes and perceptions related to the future, but not to the present or the past. This paper examined the psychometric properties of a multidimensional measure of time attitudes, and whether time attitudes were related to several academic variables and to attitudes to teachers and towards school. A total of 579 students at an all-female New Zealand high school completed the adolescent time attitude scale (ATAS). Results from the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the six-factor ATAS model had acceptable fit indices with robust internal consistency estimates for each of the factors in that model. Time attitudes had no meaningful relationships with GPA, academic self-ranking or wagging/cutting school, but were related to attitudes toward school and teacher. However, time attitude profiles had meaningful relationships to all variables except wagging school.

Who Is to Blame? Students, Teachers and Parents Views on Who Is Responsible for Student Achievement.

Elizabeth R. Peterson Department of Psychology, University of Auckland Christine M. Rubie-Davies Faculty of Education, University of Auckland Margaret J. Elley-Brown Centre for Child and Family Policy Research, University of Auckland Deborah A. Widdowson Centre for Child and Family Policy Research, University of Auckland Robyn S. Dixon Centre for Child and Family Policy Research, University of Auckland S. Earl Irving Faculty of Education, University of Auckland

Pause, Breathe, Smile: A Mixed-Methods Study of Student Well-Being Following Participation in an Eight-Week, Locally Developed Mindfulness Program in Three New Zealand Schools.

Abstract Children today face increasingly high stress levels, impacting their well-being. Schools can play a crucial role in teaching social and emotional skills; therefore there is a need to identify effective interventions. This mixed-methods study of 124 elementary school students from three New Zealand schools aimed to (1) assess if children experienced improved well-being after an eight-week mindfulness program, and (2) understand their perceptions of the program. Participants completed these self-rated scales: the Mindful Awareness Attention Scale for Children and the Stirling Children’s Well-being Scale. Six children were interviewed about their perceptions and classroom teachers’ observations were reviewed. Quantitative data indicated a steady increase in students’ mindfulness, while well-being increased significantly but returned to baseline levels at three-month follow up. Changes in mindfulness were positively related to changes in well-being. The study results suggest the importance of offering mindfulness-based programs for potential improvements in students’ well-being.

Watching Each Other: Portrayals of Gender and Ethnicity in Television Advertisements

ABSTRACT The stereotypical depiction of men and women and of ethnic minority groups in advertisements is problematic because studies have shown that repeated exposure to selective portrayals of particular groups can lead to viewers adopting distorted beliefs about those groups. The current study examined the contemporary portrayal of men and women and of ethnic minority groups in New Zealand television advertisements. Over 3,000 advertisements were coded. Men and women were less often depicted in stereotypical roles than has previously been reported. However, White actors dominated the screen with Maori and Pacific Island people only being proportionally represented in advertisements that presented negative stereotyping. The findings were similar for Asians whose portrayal also appeared to be stereotypical. The authors call for more equitable appearances of women and ethnic minority groups.

Teaching high-expectation strategies to teachers through an intervention process

This study describes the outcomes of an intervention focused on the strategies and practices of high-expectation teachers. Specifically, the intervention involved 84 teachers who were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The research methodology was primarily qualitative, grounded in the interpretive tradition. Data collected from workshop evaluations, cluster meeting reports and pen-and-paper evaluations were analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings revealed that teachers involved in the intervention refined and changed their practices by creating flexible grouping, enhancing the class climate and supporting students’ goal-setting. The teachers reported benefits as well as challenges and barriers to intervention implementation.