Developing statistical literacy: Student learning and teacher education

Recent international and national mathematics curriculum guidelines indicate the development of students’ statistical literacy, at different levels of schooling, as a major educational aim. In Portugal, the mathematics syllabus for basic education, which began to be implemented in 2009, gave a greater emphasis on statistics, presenting more demanding learning goals, since the elementary levels. This represented a challenging situation for practicing teachers, requiring them to develop new perspectives about the teaching and learning of statistics. In this context, the project Developing statistical literacy: Student learning and teacher education was planned aiming to study the development of statistical literacy from elementary to secondary education, with special attention to two main issues: i) the characterization of key aspects of students’ statistical literacy, particularly regarding the ability to formulate questions, collect data and represent them to answer those questions, and ii) the development of statistical and didactical knowledge for teaching in different schools levels. As the project unfolded, another research strand associated with students’ statistical reasoning and the necessary conditions for its development emerged

Exploring Successful Partnerships Between Teachers of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and General Education Classroom Teachers

The field of deaf education has moved from a direct service model to a primarily indirect service model. This means that teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (TSDHH) increasingly work with school staff as well as with students. However, many TSDHH report feeling unprepared for the consultative aspect of their role, for which training may have been limited during their preparation program. This qualitative study used appreciative inquiry to study what is working in TSDHH and classroom teacher partnerships. Five dyads were selected through a two-step nomination process. The 10 selected teachers (general education classroom teachers and TSDHH) participated in separate semi-structured interviews about their professional partnerships. Joint and separate interviews served as the primary methods of data collection. A portraiture design was utilized to answer the following: What are the perceptions and experiences of teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and general education classroom teachers regarding the consultation process? What are the qualities of successful partnerships between teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and general education classroom teachers? Themes that arose among dyads included flexibility, shared goals, and mutual respect. For classroom teachers, themes included flexibility, a welcoming nature, and “good” teaching. For TSDHH, themes included flexibility, positivity, an ability to read the teacher, and an ability to work the room. Results have implications for teacher preparation and professional development, especially in terms of explicitly teaching consultation models, skills, and processes. Findings are integrated with current research, and suggestions for teacher preparation and professional development are discussed

An ethnomathematical perspective of STEM education in a glocalized world

An Ethnomathematics-based curriculum helps students demonstrate consistent mathematical processes as they reason, solve problems, communicate ideas, and choose appropriate representations through the development of daily mathematical practices. As well, it recognizes connections with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Our pedagogical work, in relation to STEM Education, is based on the trivium curriculum for mathematics and ethnomodelling, which provides communicative, analytical, material, and technological tools to the development of emic, etic, and dialogic approaches that are necessary for the elaboration of the school curricula. STEM education facilitates pedagogical action that connects ethnomathematics; mathematical modelling, problem-solving, critical judgment, and making sense of mathematical and non-mathematical environments, which involves distinct ways of thinking, reasoning, and developing mathematical knowledge in distinct sociocultural contexts. The ethnomathematical perspective for STEM education proposed here provides a transformative pedagogy that exposes its power to transform students into critical and reflective citizens in order to enable them to transform society in a glocalized world

Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English

Since 2003, RTE has published the annual “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English,” a list of curated and annotated works reviewed and selected by a large group of dedicated educator-scholars in our field. The goal of the annual bibliography is to offer a synthesis of the research published in the area of English language arts within the past year for RTE readers’ consideration. Abstracted citations and those featured in the “Other Related Research” sections were published, either in print or online, between June 2020 and June 2021. The bibliography is divided into nine sections, with some changes to the categories this year in response to the ever-evolving nature of research in the field. Small teams of scholars with diverse research interests and background experiences in preK–16 educational settings reviewed and selected the manuscripts for each section using library databases and leading scholarly journals. Each team abstracted significant contributions to the body of peer-reviewed studies that addressed the current research questions and concerns in their topic area

Learning of mechanical systems in grade 9 technology classroom by deaf learners in KwaZulu-Natal : an exploration of a learning of technology in a non-hearing environment.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, EdgewoodThe purpose of this study was to explore the learning of Mechanical Systems in a Grade 9 Technology classroom by Deaf learners in KwaZulu-Natal. The study focused on how Technology is learned in a non-hearing environment, considering the nature of Technology and the interdisciplinarity between Technology and Mathematics. This is a case study set within an interpretive paradigm. Since there were five Deaf learners constituting the Grade 9 Technology class, all were considered to be participants in this study. A blended learning model (BLM) was identified as the theoretical framework for this study. BLM is foregrounded on cognitive and social constructivism, with an intention to explore the learning of Mechanical Systems in a non-hearing environment. The data collection schedule included the following methods: • Classroom observation; • Document analysis; and • Semi-structured interviews. The results of this research were analysed qualitatively in order to adhere to the principles of the interpretive paradigm. The research findings of this study highlighted that Deaf learners’ previous experience limited their exposure to daily practices, resulting in misunderstanding of concepts in Mechanical Systems. Furthermore, the results showed effectiveness of demonstrations and simulations in enhancing the comprehension of concepts in Mechanical Systems. The findings of my study concur with Piaget’s view that the comprehension of a child is enhanced when learning is made concrete to them. Deaf learners’ participation in Technology activities assisted them to develop an understanding of concepts in Mechanical Systems, and facilitated effectiveness of interdisciplinarity in scientific subjects

“Can a snowman have more than three snowballs?” Conducting Project Studies with Young Deaf Children

This study explored conducting project studies with young deaf children in two American Sign Language (ASL) and English bilingual schools for deaf children. Project studies involve teachers’ facilitation of exploration on a topic that interests young children. In projects, children learn by doing, starting with questions based on children’s curiosity about a topic and finding answers to the questions through investigation, field trips, and play. Children then represent their understanding and ideas about the topic in various ways. This study used ethnographic methods by observing specific strategies that teachers used to facilitate deaf children’s learning in multiple early childhood classrooms. The study also included focus group interviews to listen to the perspectives of families and teachers about using the project approach with young children in deaf education. The findings include descriptions of deaf children’s experience conducting projects that took place in both schools. It revealed the benefits of conducting project studies with young deaf children to enhance their learning experiences

Imagining and reimagining the future of special and inclusive education

“Reimagination” is required to create a new vision of education that better serves individuals with disabilities. Imagination is a way of conceiving possibilities and probabilities. The future of special education is imagined within the limits of possibility and probability of “appropriate” education for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Education is reimagined for full inclusion without special education and an alternative reimagination of inclusive special education. Particular attention is given to the administrative structure of public education and to the training of teachers for the imagined approaches to special education. The importance of imagining special and inclusive education being based on science and rationality and the limitations of proposed approaches to including students with disabilities in education are explained