Creative thinking and entrepreneurial behavior among k-12 teachers : a predictive study

This study aimed at investigating the influence of creative thinking on teachers' entrepreneurial behavior and the demographic characteristics correlated with teachers' entrepreneurial behavior. Participants were 344 U.S. public school teachers. The mean age was 42.1 (SD = 11.5) and the mean years of teaching experience was 14.6 (SD = 10). Female teachers comprised the larger gender group (n = 250, 73%). The results indicated that age and creative thinking were the only variables showing significant unique contributions to entrepreneurial behavior. These findings highlight the importance of creativity for teachers trying to innovate in the classroom. The results also indicate that accumulated experience allows older teachers to better understand how the different layers of the educational system function

Principals and teamwork among teachers: an exploratory study

This study explored the role public school principals play in implementing teamwork among K-12 teachers. A sample of 636 U.S. principals completed an online survey rating the importance of teamwork, identifying the barriers teachers face when working in teams, and listing the initiatives they have taken to promote teamwork among teachers. The findings suggest that principals consider teamwork to be very important. They also showed that time constraints, relationship concerns, and differences in teaching and experience are the leading barriers to teamwork. The findings also indicated that principals take initiative

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Sobre formação de professores e o desafio da ética e da moral

Firstly, this article gives a descriptive overview of the consequences of ethical relativism and moral decline, from both social and philosophical perspectives. Secondly, based on the defi nition of ethics and moral of Yves de La Taille, it presents some possible inferences on the concept of ethics, present in the National Curricular Guidelines for Graduate courses in Pedagogy. Finally it presents some perspectives on the role of ethical and moral discussion in the Education, focusing, more specially, on its role in teacher training.O artigo apresenta, inicialmente, um panorama descritivo das conseqüências do relativismo ético e do eclipse da moralidade, tanto do ponto de vista social quanto do ponto de vista fi losófi co. Em seguida, a partir da defi nição de ética e moral assumida por Yves de La Taille, o texto apresenta algumas inferências possíveis sobre a concepção de ética, presentes nas Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o Curso de Graduação em Pedagogia. Finalmente, são apresentadas algumas perspectivas que a discussão sobre ética e moral pode assumir na Educação e, especifi camente, na formação de professores

Creative thinking and entrepreneurial behavior among k-12 teachers: a predictive study = Pensamento criativo e comportamento empreendedor entre professores da educação básica: um estudo preditivo = Pensamiento creativo y comportamiento emprendedor entre maestros: un estudio predictivo

Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar as influências do pensamento criativo e de características demográficas no comportamento empreendedor de professores do ensino básico e médio. Os participantes foram 344 professores de escolas públicas dos Estados Unidos. A idade média foi de 42,1 (desvio padrão=11,5) e a média de anos de experiência foi de 14,6 (desvio padrão=10). Professoras compreendem a maioria da amostra (n=250, 73%). Os resultados indicaram que a idade e pensamento criativo são as únicas variáveis significativas que contribuem para o comportamento empreendedor em professores. Esses resultados demonstram a importância da criatividade para professores que tentam inovar em sala de aula. Os resultados também mostraram que a experiência acumulada permite aos professores mais velhos entender melhor como as diferentes camadas do sistema educacional funciona

Teachers' job satisfaction and loneliness in Brazil: Testing integrative models

While low job satisfaction is a reality among Brazilian teachers, studies on this topic have focused almost exclusively on environmental factors such as salary as predictors of job satisfaction. No studies have combined environmental and personal factors to explain job satisfaction among Brazilian teachers. This study aimed to identify the demographic and professional characteristics of Brazilian teachers that are associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and its predictors. This study also tested two models comprised of environmental and personal predictors of teachers’ job satisfaction. Participants were 1,194 Brazilian teachers (830 women, 351 men, 13 non-identified) working in public (n = 906, 75.9%) or private schools (n = 153, 12.8%) or both (n = 129, 10.8%). The grade levels taught were kindergarten (n = 137, 11.5%), fundamental (n = 373, 31.2%), high school (n = 239, 20%), or more than one level (n = 433, 36.3%). Using a snowball sampling strategy, participants answered an online survey questionnaire. A series of t-tests, ANOVAs, and correlational analyses were performed to identity the demographic and professional characteristics associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and its predictors. The type of college attended, the type of school in which teachers work, geographical region and grade level taught were associated with teachers’ job satisfaction. Path analysis was used to determine the best fit for the hypothesized models. Loneliness was not found to be a direct or indirect predictor of teachers’ job satisfaction. Positive affect, goal progress, and teachers’ self-efficacy were respectively the strongest predictors of teachers’ job satisfaction. Work conditions and goal progress mediated the effect of goal support in predicting teachers’ job satisfaction. Future research is required to identify other factors that may predict teachers’ job satisfaction among Brazilian teachers

Teachers Feel Lonely Too: A Study of Teachers’ Personal and Professional Characteristics Associated with Loneliness

This study aimed to identify the demographic and professional characteristics associated with loneliness among a sample of Brazilian teachers, and to assess the extent to which job satisfaction and loneliness are associated. Participants were 1,194 Brazilian teachers. Using a snowball sampling strategy, participants answered an online survey questionnaire. A series of t-tests, ANOVAs, and correlational analyses were performed. The results suggest that teachers who are not in a relationship, teachers who attended a private college, and those teaching in a public school are more likely to feel lonely. The results also indicate that the more lonely teachers feel, more dissatisfied they are with their jobs.O objetivo do presente estudo foi identificar as características pessoais e profissionais associadas com a solidão entre professores brasileiros e medir o quanto a satisfação no trabalho e a solidão estão associadas. Participaram deste estudo um total de 1.194 professores. Recrutados por uma amostragem do tipo bola de neve, os participantes responderam a um questionário online. Foram conduzidos os testes t, ANOVA e correlação de Pearson. Os resultados indicam que professores que estão em um relacionamento amoroso, aqueles que estudaram em faculdades privadas e aqueles que lecionam em escolas públicas são mais propensos a experimentarem solidão. Os resultados ainda revelam que quanto maior o nível de solidão, maior a insatisfação do professor com o seu trabalho.El estudio se proponía identificar las características demográficas y profesionales asociadas con la soledad, entre un grupo de maestros brasileños, y estimar hasta qué punto están asociadas la satisfacción en el trabajo y el sentido de soledad. Los participantes fueron 1,194 maestros brasileños. Utilizando la estrategia del modelo de bola de nieve, los participantes contestaron un cuestionario en línea. Se llevaron a cabo una serie de t-tests, ANOVA, y análisis corelacionados. Los resultados sugieren que los maestros que no se inter-relacionan, los que enseñan en escuelas privadas y los que enseñan en escuelas públicas, están más propensos a sentirse solos. Estos resultados indican también que cuanto más solos se sienten los maestros, menos satisfechos están en su trabajo

Freire, Dussel e Kohlberg: da vulnerabilidade à autonomia

Vulnerability is an essential category of the condition of human existence. In a close correlation with the principle of autonomy, it is a fundamental aspect for reflection on the ethical dimension of educative intervention, in a context of globalization. This reflection is supported by the articulation between the authors Freire, Dussel and Kohlberg, based on reflection on educative intervention, with appeal to issues of moral education which involve concepts of autonomy and vulnerability, their implications for living in a group, community and society, in a specific culture, and the social relevance of these concepts for understanding the educative intervention aimed at training people for autonomy.A vulnerabilidade é uma categoria essencial da condição de existência humana. Em estreita correlação com o princípio de autonomia é eixo fundamental para a reflexão da dimensão da ética na intervenção educativa no contexto da globalização. É na articulação entre os autores Freire, Dussel e Kohlberg que se sustenta a reflexão sobre a intervenção educativa, com apelo para as questões de educação moral que envolvem os conceitos de autonomia e vulnerabilidade, suas implicações para a vida em comunidade, em grupo, em sociedade, numa determinada cultura e a relevância social desses conceitos para compreender a intervenção educativa no sentido de formar as pessoas para a autonomia