Insider ethnographic analysis is used to analyze change processes in an engineering department. Distributed leadership theory is used as conceptual framework.
Change is endemic in modern society, and the educational systems that operate in it. In Higher Education societal trends such as globalization and economic rationalism are impacting on teachers. Changes in the student population, new educational methods derived from shifting perspectives on the role of knowledge and re-structuring of the organizations within which teachers work have also led to transformation of the professional context. At European level policy initiatives such as the Bologna Declaration (1999) have necessitated an overhaul of educational provision. This research project attempts to focus on these wideranging changes through the lens of teacher autonomy in order to establish what is changing in the working lives of teachers in a Dutch university, how they are responding to these changes and how they can be helped to respond to change effectively and discriminatingly. This is an insider research project, using case study and semi-structured interviewing to yield data that is subjected to thematic linguistic analysis. It was piloted in 2006, and interviewing was resumed in February 2007. Findings indicate the contested nature of teacher autonomy, and suggest that professional autonomy can impede as well as facilitate teachers in processes of engaging with change. The team - operating as a community of practice - is identified as the location where change agency can operate most effectively. Distributed leadership - specifically perceived in the activities of team leaders and teacher change agents - is seen as crucial to processes of embedding change in educational practice.
This paper presents a mixed methods study in which 21 first-year student teachers took part that investigated learning outcomes of a modified learning by design task. The study is part of a series of studies that aims to improve student learning, teaching skills and teacher training. Design-based science challenges are reasonably successful project-based approaches for breaking down the boundaries between traditional school subjects. Previous learning outcomes of the extensively studied Learning by Design (LBD) approach demonstrated a strong positive effect on students’ skills. However, compared to traditional classroom settings, LBD provided little or no profit on (scientific) concept learning. For this, according to two preliminary studies, a lack of explicit teaching and scaffolding strategies, both strongly teacher-dependent, bears a share of responsibility. The results of this third study indicate that more emphasis on these strategies indeed strengthens concept learning without reducing positive effects on skill performance.
In Amsterdam heeft 33% van de kinderen een motorische achterstand op de basisschool (factsheet Gymmermansoog, 2017), wat veelal ook gevolgen heeft voor de sociaal-emotionele en cognitieve ontwikkeling (Taanila et al., 2005; Veiga et al., 2017). Kinderen met een ernstige motorische achterstand (categorie ‘rood’) worden vanuit de school doorverwezen naar externe zorg (zorgtraject Gymmermansoog, zie Figuur 3). Echter, de gymleraar moet ondersteuning bieden aan de grote groep kinderen met een matige achterstand (categorie ‘oranje’). Voor dit traject is momenteel nog onvoldoende aandacht, terwijl we weten dat door natuurlijk beloop een aanzienlijk deel van deze groep kinderen een ernstige achterstand zal ontwikkelen (zie Figuur 1). Gerichte preventieve ondersteuning aan deze grote groep kinderen, om ernstige motorische achterstanden te voorkomen, is daarom belangrijk. In Amsterdam werken gymleraren al actief aan het terugdringen van motorische achterstanden via programma’s als Motor Remedial Teaching (MRT) en Gym+. Echter, de effectiviteit van deze interventies is niet aangetoond. De gymleraar is, met ondersteuning van ALO en gemeente, in staat risicokinderen te screenen. Maar daarmee rijst de vraag welke ondersteuning de gymleraar deze risicokinderen het beste kan bieden. In dit onderzoek zal de effectiviteit van twee motorische interventies op school bepaald worden door een voor-, na- en retentiemeting. Door middel van een checklist en observaties worden de kenmerken van de interventies bepaald. De kenmerken van de kinderen worden in kaart gebracht, om te achterhalen voor welke kinderen deze interventies wel of niet werken. Vervolgonderzoek kan zich dan richten op verdere interventie-ontwikkeling, zodat de gymleraar voor ieder kind op school gepaste ondersteuning binnen en buiten de les kan realiseren.
