Action learning and primary teachers’ pedagogical knowledge in mathematics

In 2004 an inner city primary school, Hawksridge, found itself in the 99th percentile in mathematics and second to bottom nationally. Confronted with a plethora of local authority and National Strategy intensive programmes, which the school did not have the capacity to execute or sustain, Hawksridge’s headteacher took the decision to turn to research to establish the school’s future direction. The subsequent action research project, which used action learning as a dialogical tool, became the base of their rise from mathematical ‘no-hopers’ to ‘influential institution’ in 2010. This case study focuses on Set One, the model that was created to experiment with action learning procedures, before it was refined and implemented in Hawksridge as Set Two. The purpose of Set One was to try and establish whether or not action learning procedures could develop teachers’ knowledge and understanding of mathematics and in particular their subject, content and pedagogical knowledge. It is set in the context of a time when the government centralised what was to be taught in mathematics, how long for and the style in which it was to be delivered through the national curriculum and the national strategies. The 1999 national numeracy strategy was brought in to support the 1998 mathematics national curriculum. In 2001 a new mathematics curriculum was introduced and this is the version referred to in this work. The primary curriculum is in two Key Stages: Key Stage 1 is for children aged 5 – 7 and Key Stage 2 is for 7 – 11 year old children. Set One, composed of four primary headteachers, their four mathematics’ coordinators and four Hawksridge senior managers, met for one year to experiment with action learning procedures. It was capable of instigating a rich mathematical dialogue through its open-ended questioning and able to develop a collaborative, supportive culture where teachers demonstrated that they could be flexible in their thinking. The three key features of action learning in Set One are the development of the skills of reflection, rich mathematical dialogue and collaboration. In the analysis of the transcripts from the sessions, these features are unpicked and scrutinised in detail from the social constructivist perspective. Different types of teacher knowledge are identified, in particular, the knowledge associated with the Mathematics National Curriculum and the National Numeracy Strategy and how teachers have integrated these two government documents as part of their knowledge base. An assessment of how teachers use this knowledge to ask and answer questions is undertaken. The power of open-ended questioning is explored and the growing expertise of Set One as a group evaluated, predominantly, their ability to listen, use silence effectively and to build up powerful stacks of questions capable of challenging teachers’ mathematical thinking. Action learning comes with caveats: it is not always a comfortable experience because dissonance is a part of the way it functions and for it to work well there must be trust, truthfulness and integrity. It is also a powerful managerial tool and should be used wisely to support and develop teachers’ knowledge and skills. Action learning procedures were implemented into Hawksridge before the termination of Set One. The lessons that have been learned have facilitated teacher development. Hawksridge staff are now capable of reflecting and learning from their daily experiences. Other benefits have been improved classroom practice, based on a probing dialogical questioning style which encourages pupils to think, improved collaboration across the school and a more careful and considered approach to professional development. Hawksridge has managed to find its way forward

The University of Tennessee Libraries Newfound Press Scholarly Publishing Demonstration

Launched in 2005, the University of Tennessee Newfound Press demonstrates open access; ensures quality through peer review; encourages innovative approaches to the creation and dissemination of scholarly and specialized work; seeks content with narrow focus or innovative format unlikely to be published by a market-driven press; helps authors of specialized content disseminate their work; and experiments with new forms of publication. This presentation describes the reasons for starting Newfound Press; offers highlights from the business plan; and discusses the convergence of Newfound Press with other campus publishing, including the digital showcase and archive, Trace (operates on the bepress Digital Commons platform), and the University of Tennessee Press

Introduction to SelectedWorks: Training Slides

This is a set of slides used for orientation to SelectedWorks with the University of Tennessee College of Nursing on February 12, 2010

Selector as Entrepreneur (Panel presentation for New Selectors and Selecting in New Subjects: Meeting the Challenges)

Collection building in the digital age aims to create a collection of freely accessible, integrated, and comprehensive record of serious scholarship and knowledge. Library collections are broadly defined as all the resources libraries make available to users—items purchased, locally created or reformatted digital materials, subject guides, social networking tools, and content freely accessible in digital collections around the world. New selectors must master several enduring skills related to collection policy, management of print and digital resources, budget management, and liaison with clientele. An entrepreneurial approach to collection building and liaison requires an understanding of the digital library context and diverse scholarly cultures. Entreneurial selectors who know details about the disciplines they serve, such as who is publishing and where, research topics, location of data sets, applications of research, and student involvement will be prepared to offer clientele information about gaining maximum visibility for their scholarly work

Walking the Walk: A Path to Support Open Access Publishing [Poster]

Scholarly communication is the lifeblood of universities. Threats to the free flow of research and ideas continue to jeopardize the entire academy; however administrators, scholars, and librarians are now pursuing options to reclaim research produced in the academy\u27s domain. One way to do this is with Open Access. Open Access has been a topic of interest and intense depabe for academic librarians. Ways to create awareness about and encourage publication in Open Access journals have been discussed at library conferences for the better part of the decade. But what is the next step? What happens when the library\u27s promotion pays off and teaching faculty seek support for their open access endeavors? This poster describes the steps taken to create a pilot program for an open access support fund at a Research I university. The program is one way to walk the walk of open access promotion by offering to subsidize costs associated with some open access publications. The poster includes practical information and tips such as: steps that can be taken to create a similar program; library and academic positions which may be involved; and opportunities and barriers that exist. Program documents, statistics and general impressions are provided

Children’s Literature in Canadian Commercial Reading Programs

In this study we analyzed the use of children’s literature in three widely used commercially published and literature-based reading programs for grades 1 to 6. On average, 37% of the literature selections had been previously published, with a range by publisher of 4% to 55%. These percentages are noticeably lower than those reported for American programs published about the same time. The publishers changed the selections from their original trade book publication in two key areas: text content and illustrations. The changes frequently altered the intent, content, and meaning of the selections, and in some cases rendered the stories incomprehensible. Keywords: children’s literature, commercial reading programs, trade books, illustrations L’article porte sur l’analyse de l’usage fait de la littérature de jeunesse, généralement utilisée et publiée sur une base commerciale, dans trois programmes de lecture fondés sur la littérature, pour les enfants de la 1ère à la 6e année. En moyenne, 37 % de la littérature sélectionnée avait été publiée antérieurement, au taux de 4 à 55 % par éditeur. Ces pourcentages sont beaucoup plus bas que ceux rapportés pour les programmes américains publiés dans la même période. Les éditeurs ont changé les sélections de la publication de nature commerciale initiale dans deux domaines à deux niveaux : le contenu textuel et les illustrations. Les changements apportés modifient fréquemment la finalité, le contenu et le sens des sélections, et rendent dans certains cas l’histoire incompréhensible. Mots-clés : littérature de jeunesse, programmes de sensibilisation critique à la lecture de contenus publicitaires, publication commerciale, illustrations