Collective learning in primary schools and teacher education institutes

Many innovations in education are not completed, even if they are well thought out in advance. One of the main causes is the organization’s lack of learning ability, combined with a shortage of teachers’ and students’ ownership with respect to the renewal of ideas and design. In communities of learners, teachers and students collaborate and learn together in order to shape innovations in their daily practice. Their ability to learn collectively is a key factor in developing a learning organization. So far, insights into how processes of collective learning can be designed effectively, and which critical factors play a role, have been based on limited empirical research. This article’s goal is to contribute to the development of these insights, using the results of a study based on 48 cases of collective learning in communities of learners in primary schools and teacher education institutes. The results suggest that although collective learning rarely takes place in most cases, many outcomes are created that affect all community members. This leads to the conclusion that some participants create outcomes, not only on behalf of themselves but also on behalf of others

Measuring student teachers’ basic psychological needs

In the Self–Determination Theory (SDT) basic psychological needs for relatedness, autonomy and competence are distinguished. Basic psychological need fulfilment is considered to be critical for human development and intrinsic motivation. In the Netherlands, the concept of basic psychological need fulfilment is introduced in the curricula of many teacher education institutes. In five teacher education institutes, study coaches use a Dutch version of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS), to collect data to be used in a discussion with student teachers about their intrinsic motivation for a specific part of the teacher education course. On the basis of the outcomes of this discussion, study coaches and student teachers derive consequences for day to day practice in their classrooms. The data were also used to establish whether the theoretical distinction between three basic psychological needs is found in this sample of student teachers in the Netherlands. The results show that the constructs of relatedness, autonomy and competence are found and can be measured by using a 14-item five-point scale, partly based on the original BPNS, and partly on new items that focus on different sources of perceived need fulfilment, namely teacher education in general, the study coach and fellow students

Eye movements in patients with Whiplash Associated Disorders: A systematic review

Background: Many people with Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) report problems with vision, some of which may be due to impaired eye movements. Better understanding of such impaired eye movements could improve diagnostics and treatment strategies. This systematic review surveys the current evidence on changes in eye movements of patients with WAD and explains how the oculomotor system is tested. Methods: Nine electronic data bases were searched for relevant articles from inception until September 2015. All studies which investigated eye movements in patients with WAD and included a healthy control group were screened for inclusion. Qualifying studies were retrieved and independently assessed for methodological quality using the Methodology Checklists provided by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. Results: Fourteen studies out of 833 unique hits were included. Ten studies reported impaired eye movements in patients with WAD and in four studies no differences compared to healthy controls were found. Different methods of eye movement examination were used in the ten studies: in five studies, the smooth pursuit neck torsion test was positive, in two more the velocity and stability of head movements during eye-coordination tasks were decreased, and in another three studies the cervico-ocular reflex was elevated. Conclusions: Overall the reviewed studies show deficits in eye movement in patients with WAD, but studies and results are varied. When comparing the results of the 14 relevant publications, one should realise that there are significant differences in test set-up and patient population. In the majority of studies patients show altered compensatory eye movements and smooth pursuit movements which may impair the coordination of head and eyes

The influence of cervical movement on eye stabilization reflexes

To investigate the influence of the amount of cervical movement on the cervico-ocular reflex (COR) and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in healthy individuals. Eye stabilization reflexes, especially the COR, are changed in neck pain patients. In healthy humans, the strength of the VOR and the COR are inversely related. In a cross-over trial the amplitude of the COR and VOR (measured with a rotational chair with eye tracking device) and the active cervical range of motion (CROM) was measured in 20 healthy participants (mean age 24.7). The parameters were tested before and after two different interventions (hyperkinesia: 20 min of extensive active neck movement; and hypokinesia: 60 min of wearing a stiff neck collar). In an additional replication experiment th

Measuring student teachers' basic psychological needs

In the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) basic psychological needs for relatedness, autonomy and competence are distinguished. Basic psychological need fulfilment is considered to be critical for human development and intrinsic motivation. In the Netherlands, the concept of basic psychological need fulfilment is introduced in the curricula of many teacher education institutes. In five teacher education institutes for primary school teachers, study coaches use a Dutch version of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS), to collect data to be used in a discussion with student teachers about their intrinsic motivation for a specific part of the teacher education course. On the basis of the outcomes of this discussion, study coaches and student teachers derive consequences for day to day practice in their classrooms. The data were also used to establish whether the theoretical distinction between three basic psychological needs is found in this sample of student teachers in the Netherlands. The results show that the constructs of relatedness, autonomy and competence are found and can be measured by using a 14-item five-point scale, partly based on the original BPNS, and partly on new items that focus on different sources of perceived need fulfilment, namely teacher education in general, the study coach and fellow students

'Ik heb het gevoel dat je echt naar ons luistert. Over onderzoek door groepleiders samen met hun kinderen'

Het artikel gaat over het betrekken van leerlingen bij het onderwijs en over het belang van het 'geven van een stem' aan kinderen. Het artikel beschrijft een methodiek om kinderen een stem te geven aan de hand van praktijkvoorbeelde

Onderwijs is van ons. Collectief leren in school en opleiding.

In dit boekje staat samen leren centraal. Door samen te leren kunnen mensen zichzelf en de context waarvan zij deel uitmaken, veranderen of verbeteren. Een groep mensen die samen leren noemen we een leergemeenschap. Er zijn verschillende soorten leergemeenschappen. Zo kan een team van basisschoolleraren of opleiders een leergemeenschap vormen. Ook een groep leerlingen of studenten kan, samen met de groepsleraar dan wel met de opleider een leergemeenschap zijn. Er is nog weinig bekend over hoe dat samen leren in leergemeenschappen verloopt en hoe er concreet vorm aan gegeven kan worden. In deze lacune wil dit boekje voorzien. Overigens gebruiken we de termen 'samen leren' en 'collectief leren' door elkaar. De inhoud van deze publicatie is tot stand gekomen op basis van het onderzoek naar collectief leren dat door het lectoraat Kantelende Kennis van de Educatieve Federatie Interactum in de periode 2008-2011 is uitgevoerd in basisscholen en lerarenopleidingen. In een lectoraat wordt praktijkgericht onderzoek gedaan, onderzoek dat nadrukkelijk als doel heeft een bijdrage te leveren aan de ontwikkeling van de onderwijspraktijk. In het lectoraat Kantelende Kennis werkten drie lectoren en een 'kenniskring' van vijftien lerarenopleiders (de kenniskringleden) uit vijf pabo's samen. Het lectoraatsonderzoek laat zien hoe motiverend maar ook hoe weerbarstig collectief leren soms kan zijn. Door middel van collectief leren kun je samen belangrijke opbrengsten tot stand brengen, maar succes is niet vanzelfsprekend. Deze publicatie bestaat uit drie delen. In het eerste deel wordt collectief leren in een theoretisch kader geplaatst. Vervolgens formuleren we in het tweede deel op basis van het onderzoek een aantal conclusies ten aanzien van het samen leren van leerlingen en leraren, van studenten en hun opleiders en van teams in scholen en lerarenopleidingen. Aan deze conclusies worden overwegingen gekoppeld, die bij het vormgeven van samen leren in de onderwijspraktijk van belang kunnen zijn. Ten slotte wordt in het derde deel stilgestaan bij het effect van samen leren op de motivatie van de deelnemers en de toepasbaarheid van de in het lectoraat ontwikkelde cyclus voor collectief leren. In de teksten zijn geanonimiseerde voorbeelden verweven uit de school- en opleidingspraktijk

Collective learning in primary schools and teacher education institutes.

Abstract Many innovations in education are not completed, even if they are well thought out in advance. One of the main causes is the organization's lack of learning ability, combined with a shortage of teachers' and students' ownership with respect to the renewal of ideas and design. In communities of learners, teachers and students collaborate and learn together in order to shape innovations in their daily practice. Their ability to learn collectively is a key factor in developing a learning organization. So far, insights into how processes of collective learning can be designed effectively, and which critical factors play a role, have been based on limited empirical research. This article's goal is to contribute to the development of these insights, using the results of a study based on 48 cases of collective learning in communities of learners in primary schools and teacher education institutes. The results suggest that although collective learning rarely takes place in most cases many outcomes are created that affect all community members. This leads to the conclusion that some participants create outcomes, not only on behalf of themselves, but also on behalf of others

Tools for practice and theory: how to monitor collective learning in schools.

Primary schools are challenged to continuously improve their teachers' teaching and their students' learning. Through an iterative process, we have developed a method to stimulate teachers to collectively collect and analyze data, derive consequences from their analyses, take actions and evaluate outcomes. Such processes are referred to as collective learning (Verbiest, 2002; Dixon 2002) through collective action research. In order to study the impact of our method in practice, fifteen pilot-schools have applied this method of collective action research in their school-practice. Every pilot-school was followed intensively, both regarding processes as well as outcomes, leading to 15 case-description. Our research questions are: 1) what kind of framework is helpful to monitor collective learning in primary schools? and 2) which critical aspects are involved in the process of collective learning? There are three important aspects underlying our definition of collective learning: influence, vitality and evaluating. With 'influence' we refer to the way Lundy (2005) uses this: whose voice is heard and who has influence on the process? The second aspect is vitality, which refers to the way people interact with each other. Castelijns, Koster & Vermeulen (2009) describe vitality in relation to collective processes as a balanced situation in which individual- as well as collective needs are fulfilled. The third important aspect in collective learning is the way the process is finished: do the participants evaluate their process of working and learning together in order to learn from the process itself (double-loop learning as defined by Argyris & Schön, 1978)? This theoretical background is the frame for the analysis of our cases. Fifteen (qualitative) case-descriptions are the input for our analysis. We have developed an analytical framework, based on the three underlying principles for collective learning as described above. This framework consists of a set of descriptions (rubrics) which define each principle. Every case is read carefully and scores are adjusted for each principle leading to a quantitative measurement of collective learning. In addition to the quantitative scoring of case-descriptions, also a qualitative analysis is carried out by labelling text-fragments. The qualitative analysis helps to interpret the quantitative findings. By analysing our quantitative and qualitative data, we hope to be able to explore processes of collective learning. At this moment half of the fifteen case descriptions are ready for analysis, the other cases are being written. Our first impressions in applying the analytical framework are that the framework offers a useful tool to monitor and interpret a case. We think the framework itself might not only be used for research purposes, but could also serve as an instrument for schools to monitor their processes. Our first analysis shows that the framework is useful for analysing the process of collective learning in detail and that the framework is applicable to all kind of different cases