What works best in education: the politics of collaborative expertise

This report presents a series of tasks designed to reduce the problem of within-school variability by seeking out and scaling up teacher expertise. Introduction In a previous paper, What Doesn’t Work in Education: The Politics of Distraction, I argued that the aim of schooling is for every student to gain at least a year’s worth of learning for a year’s input. I further argued that many policy-makers and systems are persistently drawn to the wrong kind of education interventions – distractors that will not help us realise this ambitious aim. From new types of schools to getting more adults into them, we need to declare these ‘fixes’ distractors and move to more fertile territory. What we need instead is a defensible and compelling narrative that leads to long-term, coherent and focused system-wide attention on student learning. I call this territory ‘the politics of collaborative expertise’. Its premise is that there is differential expertise across our schooling system and that there can be wide variation within schools. At the same time, there is a remarkable spread of expertise that can be identified, nurtured, esteemed and brought together to reduce this variance. The aim of this paper is to begin describing what a model of collaborative expertise would look like and what we need to get done to make it a reality

Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences during an Annual Performance and Development Cycle

In this study, the perceptions and experiences of eighteen teachers across three primary schools in Victoria, Australia, were examined as they participated in an annual performance and development cycle, guided by the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework. The study sought to investigate teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the cycle to understand the aspects perceived as valuable to these teachers. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were held with teachers at the beginning and end of each school’s annual performance and development cycle, and responses were thematically analysed. Findings suggest that school leaders perform a critical role in the success of performance and development processes, and cultivating a culture of learning and development with a focus on individual and collective improvement helped teachers feel connected to these processes and empowered as learners. The findings of this study have implications for the individual and collective nature of performance and development. Based on research and findings, a five-step model is proposed to support the design and implementation of meaningful teacher performance and development processes

Synlig læring i dag

I bogen Visible Learning fra 2009 skrev John Hattie læringshistorie i form af verdens hidtil mest omfattende forskningsoversigt: en syntese af over 800 metaanalyser af faktorer, der påvirker elevers læring. I denne artikel fortæller han historien om synlig læring og forholder sig til en række af de kritikpunkter, der siden er blevet fremsat

Detection of a single cobalt microparticle with a microfabricated atomic magnetometer

We present magnetic detection of a single, 2 {\mu}m diameter cobalt microparticle using an atomic magnetometer based on a microfabricated vapor cell. These results represent an improvement by a factor of 105 in terms of the detected magnetic moment over previous work using atomic magnetometers to detect magnetic microparticles. The improved sensitivity is due largely to the use of small vapor cells. In an optimized setup, we predict detection limits of 0.17 {\mu}m^3.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Synlig læring i dag

I bogen Visible Learning fra 2009 skrev John Hattie læringshistorie i form af verdens hidtil mest omfattende forskningsoversigt: en syntese af over 800 metaanalyser af faktorer, der påvirker elevers læring. I denne artikel fortæller han historien om synlig læring og forholder sig til en række af de kritikpunkter, der siden er blevet fremsat

Evidence for facultative protocarnivory in Capsella bursa-pastoris seeds

Many plants derive nutrients by attracting, ensnaring and killing invertebrates, a process that is described as “protocarnivory”. This has been observed in seeds of the weed Capsella bursa-pastoris, but it is unclear as to whether it confers any material benefit in terms of germination, establishment and development. In the present study, seeds were germinated in zero, low, medium and high nutrient soils in both the presence and absence of nematodes (Steinernema feltiae). Nematodes were attracted to the seeds, with many dying within three days. Germination rates and seedling fresh masses were higher at all nutrient levels, and seedling fresh lengths were higher in all but the zero nutrient treatment, in the presence of nematodes. After transplantation, young plant fresh root lengths and dried leaf and root masses were generally higher in plants that had been germinated in the presence of nematodes across all nutrient levels, with the majority of significant differences being observed in the low-nutrient treatment. Our findings suggest that protocarnivory may play a role in the germination, establishment and early development of C. bursa-pastoris, and that this process may be facultative, since differences between nematode and non-nematode treatments were generally more pronounced in soils with low nutrient levels

Reputation Enhancing Goals: Integrating Reputation Enhancement and Goal Setting Theory as an Explanation of Delinquent Involvement

There are a number of conditions to which youths are exposed that predispose them to involvement in delinquent activities. Not all adolescents who are exposed to adverse conditions, however, necessarily engage in delinquency. This article provides an alternative explanation of delinquency via a model entitled Reputation Enhancing Goals (REG) which integrates reputation enhancement theory and goal setting theory. An overview of the theories of reputation enhancement and goal setting is presented with discussion of how the two theories are integrated. Elaboration of the elements of the integrated model with empirical support for their inclusion is provided. The integrated model is based on the premise that delinquency is a relatively common alternative chosen by adolescents because it serves to provide critical feedback about their own self-image and status and it assists them to interpret the image and status of others. The model comprises four major facets (individual's resources, personal goals, peer influence, and reputation management) and four self-regulating mechanisms (presence of audience, feedback, commitment, and challenge). Implications for prevention and intervention with at-risk adolescents are discussed

Goal setting and reputation enhancement: Behavioural choices among delinquent, at-risk, and not at-risk adolescents

Purpose. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the relationships among goal-setting, reputation enhancement (striving to project a nonconforming, tough image) and delinquent behaviour in adolescents. Methods. Participants were 80 incarcerated delinquent, 90 at-risk and 90 not at-risk adolescent males, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, who completed four scales: the Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale, the Importance of Goals Scale, the Reputation Enhancement Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results. Four second-order factors (self-reported delinquency, self-presentation, conforming reputation, non-conforming reputation) were derived from the 31 first-order factors of the four scales. A series of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) and univariate F tests were then performed on each of the four sets of dependent variables which revealed that the goals of delinquent and at-risk participants were more congruent with a non-conforming reputation, compared to those of the not at-risk participants who set goals which were more congruent with a conforming reputation. Conclusions. The integration of goal-setting theory and reputation enhancement theory tested in this research provides an alternative analysis of delinquency using a social-psychological approach. Identification of the phenomenon of nonconforming reputation enhancement among delinquent and at-risk adolescents highlights the necessity to provide a differentiated intervention for working with these particular young people

Near-zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance

We investigate nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in near-zero-field, where the Zeeman interaction can be treated as a perturbation to the electron mediated scalar interaction (J-coupling). This is in stark contrast to the high field case, where heteronuclear J-couplings are normally treated as a small perturbation. We show that the presence of very small magnetic fields results in splitting of the zero-field NMR lines, imparting considerable additional information to the pure zero-field spectra. Experimental results are in good agreement with first-order perturbation theory and with full numerical simulation when perturbation theory breaks down. We present simple rules for understanding the splitting patterns in near-zero-field NMR, which can be applied to molecules with non-trivial spectra.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Personality, Resilience, Self-Regulation and Cognitive Ability Relevant to Teacher Selection

The current study uses social judgment theory to inform the design of processes to be used in selecting teachers for training programs. Developing a comprehensive selection process to identify individuals who are likely to succeed as teachers is a mechanism for improving teacher quality and raising the profile of the profession. The design of such a process requires the identification of qualities of effective teaching that can be assessed at selection, and their relative importance. Six psychological constructs are identified from previous literature that are likely to differentiate between teaching candidates – Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Resilience, Self-Regulation and Cognitive Ability. 90 participants judged the likely success of 35 hypothetical teaching candidates. All included constructs were positively related to candidate selection, with Cognitive Ability the most valued attribute. Individuals clustered into three groups – one characterized by a dominant preference for candidates with high cognitive ability, another characterized by a relative preference for people with high personality scores, agreeableness in particular, and a third characterized by a strong preference for candidates with high self-regulation and resilience. Further research is required to validate the current findings; however, they lend support to the use of all six constructs in teacher selection, particularly cognitive ability