Teacher Perceptions of Intercultural Sensitivity and Their Classroom Management Practices: An Empirical Study Among Middle and High School Teachers in a Georgia School System

Researchers have reported the existence of an achievement and discipline gap between Black and White students and examined factors that potentially influenced the outcomes. The researcher conducted a causal comparative study to determine if there were differences in teacher perceptions of intercultural sensitivity and classroom management practices based on gender, ethnicity, years of experience, and grade level. The present study was also designed to determine if there were differences in classroom practices based on levels of intercultural sensitivity. The data were collected using a survey instrument comprised of the following three parts: four preliminary questions to gather demographic information, the 24-item Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), and the 12-item version of the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale (BIMS). The survey was administered to 386 middle and high school teachers in a small school system in central Georgia, and 153 participants responded to the survey. The ISS scores were analyzed with a factorial ANOVA, and the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale scores were analyzed with a Kruskal-Wallis test. The mean of ISS scores fell in the high sensitivity range, and the mean of the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale scores fell in the less controlling range. The results revealed that there was no significant difference in perceptions of intercultural sensitivity or classroom management practices based on gender, ethnicity, years of experience, and grade level. The results also revealed that there was no significant difference in perceptions of classroom management for participants with high levels of intercultural sensitivity versus participants with average levels of intercultural sensitivity. Implications of the study were that factors other factor s than teacher beliefs and classroom practices potentially contributed to the achievement and discipline gaps

After the Rain – learning the lessons from flood recovery in Hull

The report shows that it is often not so much the floods themselves, but what comes afterwards, that people find so difficult to deal with. The research on which this report is based aimed to undertake a real-time longitudinal study to document and understand the everyday experiences of individuals following the floods of June 2007 in interaction with networks of actors and organisations, strategies of institutional support and investment in the built environment and infrastructure. It had the following objectives: - To identify and document key dimensions of the longer term experience of flood impact and flood recovery, including health, economic and social aspects. - To examine how resilience and vulnerability were manifest in the interaction between everyday strategies of adaptation during the flood recovery process, and modes of institutional support and the management of infrastructure and the built environment. -To explore to what extent the recovery process entailed the development of new forms of resilience and to identify the implications for developing local level resilience for flood recovery in the future. To develop an archive that will be accessible for future research into other aspects of flood recovery. The flooding which affected the city of Kingston-upon-Hull took place in June 2007. Over 110mm of rain fell during the biggest event, overwhelming the city‟s drainage system and resulting in widespread pluvial flooding. The floods affected over 8,600 households and one person was killed. Our research used in-depth, qualitative methods where 44 people kept weekly diaries and participated in interviews and group discussions over an 18-month period