'The Work of Teacher Education' : Final Research Report

Partnership teacher education – in which schools work with universities and colleges to train teachers – works and there is abundant existing evidence in support of this fact. But our small-scale study across England and Scotland shows that it is the higher education tutor who seems to make it work, often at the cost of research-informed teaching and research. The most time-intensive activity for the higher education tutors in our sample was maintaining relationships with schools and between schools and individual trainee teachers. The need to maintain relationships to such a degree is caused in part by the creation of a marketplace of ‘providers’ of teacher education who compete for funding on the basis of inspection and quality assurance data and also by the very early school placements that characterise the English model of initial teacher education in comparison to other European models such as that of Finland

Teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science: A comparative study from Pakistan and UK

Curriculum designers in both Pakistan and the UK accept that science education for today’s young people should not just be about learning science, it should also include learning about the nature of science. However, together with other research evidence, this article suggests that for many science teachers, teaching about the nature of science might be problematic as they do not have the necessary understanding of the nature of science themselves. This article also argues that there are benefits in teachers across cultural divides sharing their understandings about the nature of science

Academic work and proletarianisation : a study of higher education-based teacher educators

This article reports on a one year, mixed methods study of 13 teacher educators at work in English and Scottish higher education institutions. Framed by cultural-historical activity theory, itself a development of a Marxian analysis of political economy, the research shows how, under conditions of academic capitalism, these teacher educators were denied opportunities to accumulate capital (e.g. research publications, grants) and were proletarianised. The reasons for this stratification were complex but two factors were significant: first, the importance of maintaining relationships with schools in the name of ‘partnership’ teacher education; and, second, the historical cultures of teacher education in HE

Student teachers' understandings of poverty and learners' educational attainment and well-being : perspectives from England and Scotland

This article reports on two UK initial teacher education studies from two contrasting contexts: a secondary school course in Oxford, England and a primary school course in Strathclyde, Scotland. The questions of how student teachers understand the effect of poverty on pupils’ educational achievement, and what they as prospective teachers can do to effect change, are common concerns of the research studies reported here. The Oxford study illustrates the problematic issue of student teachers’ perceptions of poverty, whilst the Strathclyde data suggests the potential power of a focused intervention to change views on poverty and education. A teacher identity framework is used to consider the interactions between external factors (schools, systems, communities of practice) and internal factors (knowledge, activities, thoughts, reflections), to understand how participation, alignment, agency and reification can support or undermine teachers’ understanding and enactment of teaching for social justice

Heat stress in racing Greyhounds

Heat related illness has been recorded in dogs undertaking strenuous exercise in high temperatures. In South Australia, summertime daily maximum temperatures may reach 50°C. This study aimed to determine if a safe maximum ambient temperature for racing in greyhounds can be established and if particular environmental or phenotypic factors increase the risk of greyhounds developing hyperthermia. A preliminary study compared four temperature recording devices to determine their suitability for use in a racing environment. Digital rectal thermometry was the most reliable and convenient method of recording greyhounds’ body temperature. An observational study was then undertaken at racetracks in South Australia, during which, environmental temperature and relative humidity were recorded and greyhounds’ body temperatures measured on arrival, pre- and post-race. A mean increase of 2.1 ± 0.4 °C in greyhounds’ (n=239) post-race rectal temperature was recorded. No association was found between environmental temperatures and greyhounds’ temperatures on arrival or pre-race. However, post-racing there was a small but significant relationship between shade temperature and both rectal temperature (r² = 0.023, P = 0.027) and the increase in rectal temperature (r² = 0.033, P = 0.007). No association between environmental relative humidity and body temperature was detected. The influence of sex, bodyweight and coat colour on body temperature increases were investigated. There was a small but significant relationship (r² = 0.04, P = 0.009) between bodyweight and post-exercise rectal temperature. Greyhounds of dark colours developed higher temperatures than light coloured greyhounds (P <0.05). Animal housing at racetracks was examined and temperature and relative humidity levels in enclosed environments were recorded using data loggers and ibuttons. A significant relationship was found between kennel house temperatures and body temperature changes of greyhounds during racing (r² = 0.03, P = 0.009). Temperature and relative humidity levels in dog transport vehicles were monitored with ibuttons when vehicles were stationary and moving in both laden and un-laden states. The effects of an air conditioning system on conditions within a vehicle were measured and responses of dog body temperatures to transport were assessed. In ambient temperatures <33°C the air conditioning system maintained internal trailer temperature below 26°C. Between ambient temperatures 33-37°C, although the internal temperature in the air conditioned trailer rose above 26°C, dogs were able to maintain normal body temperature. Following journeys of approximately 50 minutes in a trailer without air conditioning, mean dog rectal temperature increased by 0.5°C ± 0.2. Results of these studies have identified a number of factors which may increase the risk of greyhounds developing a potentially hazardous level of hyperthermia after exercise. Following racing in external environmental temperatures ≥38°C, 39% of greyhounds developed rectal temperatures ≥ 41.5°C. Large, dark coloured greyhounds are at greater risk of developing hyperthermia. Conditions within kennel houses and transport vehicles may influence dog body temperature as a kennel house temperature ≥ 27°C and transport in temperatures ≥32°C are both associated with an increase in body temperature. These findings will be important in the development of evidence-based guidelines to protect the welfare of greyhounds racing in hot conditions in Australia and other countries.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, 2016