Development of a Teacher Dispositions Framework

Evaluating a person’s dispositions is complex and problematic, considering the affective nature of these invisible traits (Diez, 2006; Wilkerson & Lang, 2007). Teacher preparation programs are responsible for developing critical dispositions in their candidates and ensuring candidates have acquired them before recommendation for certification. Furthermore, school administrators must ensure that the teachers they hire have the right dispositions before placing them in a classroom with students. Valid and reliable instruments must be used to measure teacher and teacher candidate dispositions. The purpose of this study was to identify a finite set of dispositions critical for an effective teacher and to describe expected levels of performance for each disposition. Additionally, descriptive evidence that could substantiate the existence of a given disposition within a teacher or teacher candidate was identified. Arthur Combs perceptual field psychology (1965) and the InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers (CCSSO, 2013) were used as a guiding framework for the development of a Teacher Dispositions Framework rubric. Combs’ four general areas of perceptions that differentiate effective from ineffective teachers were utilized to organize each of the 43 INTASC dispositions standards into a simplified rubric. Sixteen dispositional components resulted in a finished product that could serve as part of a larger teacher dispositions’ assessment protocol. A modified Delphi study using subject matter experts served to validate the content of the rubric. Teacher preparation programs may use the rubric as a guide for dispositional-based assignments. Teacher candidates and practicing teachers may use the rubric as a self-evaluation instrument or as a guide in the development of a portfolio that could attest to their dispositions

Going too far: complaining, escalating and disaffiliation

This report, arising from a study of affiliation and disaffiliation in interaction, addresses an apparently ‘anomalous’ finding in relation to complaint sequences in conversation. In some of the cases we collected in which one speaker was complaining on behalf of the other (their co-participant), taking her side in some matter, the one on whose behalf the other was complaining did not affiliate with the complaint. Instead they resisted the complaint (again, one made on their behalf) and demurred to ‘go so far’. This finding is anomalous in the sense that if A is complaining on behalf of B, in respect of some harm done to B, then it might be expected that B would go along with the complaint, and affiliate with A. To account for how it might come about that B demurs from ‘going as far as’ A, we explore how complaints are frequently introduced in conversation. We show that complaints may emerge through a progression in which ‘the complainant’ does not initially go on record with a complaint, but instead secures the other's participation in co-constructing the complaint. Hence the ‘complaint recipient’ may be the first to make the complaint explicit, in a sequence of escalating affiliation. In the ‘anomalous’ cases, it appears that this escalation goes too far for the putative complainant (B)

Determining the Efficacy of the Community Research Fellows Training: An 18-Month Evaluation

Community members equipped with knowledge, training, resources, and opportunity acquired through structured research educational programs can strengthen the research relationship and improve the process for community-based participatory research. The purpose of this research is to explore the sustained efficacy of the Mississippi Community Research Fellows Training conducted by the 18-month post-completion of the first cohort. A mixed method approach that included fielding a brief survey and having a focus group discussion among fellows was applied to the study to determine impact, value, and utility of skills learned. Seventeen of the 25 Cohort 1 fellows completed an online survey. Six participated in a focus group. The participants recognized the relevancy of the skills acquired and had applied their training to forge new collaborations with researchers and community organizations and contributed to the acquisition of resources for their communities and disseminated culturally appropriate health information to the residents. Recommendations for the future training programs were identified. The findings could ensure the long-term utility of the lessons and skills learned

Common Models and Sub-Processes Inherent to Translational Research: Public Health Examples of Science for the Public Good

This study provides a formal review of eight of the most commonly cited models, frameworks, and approaches to translational research in public health. Translational research is defined as the process of moving scientific and other innovations into widespread use, and the authors suggest that such activities culminate in the use of proven practices to solve societal problems. Three critical subprocesses inherent in translational research are described: (a) knowledge generation, (b) translation, and (c) widespread implementation of proven practices. Implications for translational research professionals and organizations, mostly related to public health innovation and promotion of evidence-based practices, are discussed

Displays and claims of understanding in conversation by people with aphasia

Background: There is scope for additional research into the specific linguistic and sequential structures used in speech and language therapist (SLT)-led therapeutic conversations with people with aphasia (PWA). Whilst there is some evidence that SLTs use different conversational strategies than the partners of PWA, research to date has focussed mainly on measuring the effects of conversation-based therapies—not on analysing therapeutic conversations taking place between SLTs and PWA. Aims: This paper presents an analysis of the use of oh-prefacing by some PWA during therapeutic supported conversations with SLTs. Methods & Procedures: Normally occurring therapeutic conversations between SLTs and PWA after stroke were qualitatively analysed using Conversation Analysis. Interactions with five PWA were video-recorded, involving three different specialist stroke SLTs. Outcomes & Results: The analysis revealed a difference in the way some PWA use turns that display understanding (e.g., oh right) versus those that continue the conversation, merely claiming understanding (e.g., right). This use of oh-prefacing is similar to that described in the literature on typical conversations. In our data, SLTs are shown to treat oh-prefaced turns differently from non-oh-prefaced turns, by pursuing the topic in the latter, and progressing on to a new topic in the former. Conclusions: At least some PWA use oh-prefacing in the same way as non-language-impaired adults to display understanding of information versus merely claiming to understand. The SLTs in our data are shown to treat non-oh-prefaced turns as mere claims of understanding by providing the PWA with additional information, using supported conversation techniques, and pursuing additional same-topic talk, whereas oh-prefaced turns are treated as displays of understanding by being confirmed, and leading to changes of topic. This study is a first step in providing SLTs with a clearer understanding of the ways in which they are assessing the understanding of PWA, which may in turn help them better support non-therapy staff

Repetition and the prosody-pragmatics interface

Repetition poses certain problems for pragmatics, as evidenced by Sperber and Wilson’s claim that ‘‘the effects of repetition on utterance interpretation are by no means constant’’. This is particularly apposite when we examine repetitions produced in naturally occurring talk. As part of an ongoing study of how phonetics relates to the dynamic evolution of meaning within the sequential organisation of talk-in-interaction, we present a detailed phonetic and pragmatic analysis of a particular kind of self- repetition. The practice of repetition we are concerned with exhibits a range of forms: ‘‘have another go tomorrow . . . have another go tomorrow’’, ‘‘it might do . . . it might do’’, ‘‘it’s a shame . . . it’s a shame’’. The approach we adopt emphasises the necessity of exploring participants’ displayed understandings of pragmatic inferences and attempts not to prejudge the relevance of phonetic (prosodic) parameters. The analysis reveals that speakers draw on a range of phonetic features, including tempo and loudness as well as pitch, in designing these repetitions. The pragmatic function of repetitions designed in this way is to close sequences of talk. Our findings raise a number of theoretical and methodological issues surrounding the prosody– pragmatics interface and participants’ understanding of naturally occurring discourse

Form ≠ Function: The independence of prosody and action

This article argues for the importance of describing form independently of function, especially for prosodic and phonetic forms. Form and function are often conflated by language-in-interaction researchers when they give descriptive labels to the sound of talk (e.g., “upgraded” pitch, “continuing” intonation), and that tempts researchers to see a given form as having a given function or practice—often one that is influenced by the descriptive label. I argue that we should discipline ourselves to keeping to a purely technical description of any form (practice); that will then make it possible unambiguously to show how that form contributes to a particular function (action), without presuming the relationship to be exclusive. Data are in American and British English