The structure of teacher-specific intercultural competence: Empirical evidence on the 'Beliefs, Values, and Goals' dimension

The aim of this contribution is to identify the elements that are integral parts of a teacher-specific intercultural competence construct. In this paper, we focus on those facets of the construct that are considered to be rather value-laden and affectively tinged. Following the widely used theoretical model of teachers’ professional competencies developed by Baumert and Kunter (2013), we conceptually place these facets within the Beliefs, Values, & Goals dimension, and propose four core elements: (1) appreciation of cultural diversity; (2) ethno-relative worldview; (3) attitudes toward integration; and (4) identification with goals of intercultural education. In order to test the hypothesis that these four aspects represent one single overarching latent construct, we operationalized each with an appropriate scale and then scrutinized the instruments’ internal consistency, and convergent and factorial validity. The results suggest that our four scales have good internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alphas between .82 and .89), adhere to a one-factor structure (as demonstrated by Confirmatory Factor Analysis), and indicate one latent construct (RMSEA = 0.000; TLI = 1.004; CFI = 1.000; SRMR = .007). With these results, this paper presents a valid, contextually relevant new instrument to assess (pre-service) teachers’ beliefs, values and goals regarding intercultural education and contributes to resolving theoretical, methodological, and practical issues of research on intercultural competencies.+repphzhbib2018

The structure of teacher-specific intercultural competence: Empirical evidence on the 'Beliefs, Values, and Goals' dimension

The aim of this contribution is to identify the elements that are integral parts of a teacher-specific intercultural competence construct. In this paper, we focus on those facets of the construct that are considered to be rather value-laden and affectively tinged. Following the widely used theoretical model of teachers’ professional competencies developed by Baumert and Kunter (2013), we conceptually place these facets within the Beliefs, Values, & Goals dimension, and propose four core elements: (1) appreciation of cultural diversity; (2) ethno-relative worldview; (3) attitudes toward integration; and (4) identification with goals of intercultural education. In order to test the hypothesis that these four aspects represent one single overarching latent construct, we operationalized each with an appropriate scale and then scrutinized the instruments’ internal consistency, and convergent and factorial validity. The results suggest that our four scales have good internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alphas between .82 and .89), adhere to a one-factor structure (as demonstrated by Confirmatory Factor Analysis), and indicate one latent construct (RMSEA = 0.000; TLI = 1.004; CFI = 1.000; SRMR = .007). With these results, this paper presents a valid, contextually relevant new instrument to assess (pre-service) teachers’ beliefs, values and goals regarding intercultural education and contributes to resolving theoretical, methodological, and practical issues of research on intercultural competencies

The creation of practical relevance of research as a joint effort of research and practice: An outline of a supply-use model

Der Anspruch, dass Forschung auch «in der Praxis» oder «für die Praxis» einen Mehrwert bieten soll, materialisiert sich oft in der Forderung nach «Praxisrelevanz». Der vorliegende Beitrag diskutiert offene Fragen, die mit der gängigen Forderung nach Praxisrelevanz einhergehen, und identifiziert Voraussetzungen dafür, dass Forschungsergebnisse relevant werden können. In Anlehnung an Angebots-Nutzungs-Modelle der Unterrichtsforschung wird ein Angebots-Nutzungs-Modell für Praxisrelevanz von Forschung skizziert. Das Modell macht deutlich, dass das Erzeugen von Praxisrelevanz nicht einseitig eingefordert werden kann, sondern nur in gemeinsamer Verantwortung von Wissenschaft und Praxis gelingen kann. Der Beitrag schließt mit Überlegungen zu den Implikationen eines solchen Modells für die Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung. (DIPF/Orig.)The claim that research should also create added value «in practice» or «for practice» often manifests itself in the call for «practical relevance». Our contribution discusses open questions that relate to this widespread call and identifies conditions that must be fulfilled in order for research results to become relevant. Making reference to similar models in research on teaching, we outline a supply-use model that describes the generation and reception of research knowledge in a detailed way. The model shows that the creation of practical relevance cannot merely be expected from one side. Rather, both research and practice have to assume responsibility and make a joint effort. We close with some concluding remarks about the implications of such a model for teacher education

Forschung & Entwicklung: Alte Herausforderungen, neue Entwicklungen?

Der vorliegende Beitrag thematisiert aktuelle Herausforderungen zu Forschung & Entwicklung in der deutschschweizerischen Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung. Im Fokus stehen drei strategische Stossrichtungen, welche die Kammer Pädagogische Hochschulen von swissuniversities in ihrer Strategie 2021-2024 benannt hat: die weitere Entwicklung des Leistungsauftrags «Forschung & Entwicklung», die Verbindung von Forschung und Lehre sowie die Evidenzbasierung in der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung. Als Beitrag zu einer Jubiläumsnummer zeichnet dieser Artikel nach, wie diese Themen in den letzten vier Jahrzehnten in den «Beiträgen zur Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung» diskutiert wurden, und stellt Überlegungen für künftige Entwicklungen zur Diskussion. (DIPF/Orig.)This article discusses the current challenges of research & development in teacher education in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The focus is on three strategic goals that the Chamber of Universities of Teacher Education of swissuniversities named in its strategy 20212024: the further development of the R&D activities, the connection of research and teaching, and evidence-based teacher education. As a contribution to a jubilee number, the article documents how these topics have been discussed in the journal «Beiträge zur Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung» over the past four decades and presents considerations regarding future developments

Self-regulatory dimension of teachers' intercultural competence: Development and psychometric evaluation of new scales

Samoregulacija je ključno pitanje za nastavnike. Samo-regulatorne kompetencije pomažu nastavnicima da sačuvaju kako osećanje lične sreće, zdravlja i uspeha, tako i posvećenost poslu. Ovo je od posebnog značaja kada je u pitanju nastava koja se realizuje u kulturno raznovrsnim odeljenjima. Međutim, edukatori budućih nastavnika i nastavnika najćešće zanemaruju ovaj aspekt u svojim nastojanjima da unaprede njihovu interkulturlanu kompetenciju. Umajući to u vidu, ovaj rad se bavi konstrukcijom tri skale za psihološku procenu samoregulatornih aspekata interkulturalne kompetencije nastavnika - Skala fleksibilnosti nastavnika za kulturnu raznolikost (TCDFS), Skala emocionalne regulacije nastavnika u susretu sa kulturnom raznolikošću (TCDERS) i Skala tolerancije neizvesnosti nastavnika na kulturnu raznolikost (TCDTAS). Svaka skala je razvijena i validirana u dve forme od kojih se jedna odnosi na učenike iz manjinskih grupa uopšte, a druga na romske učenike. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju na dobru pouzdanost (alfa koeficijent od .74 do .91) i jednofaktorsku strukturu svih novokonstruisanih skala. Za obe forme (opšta i forma za romske učenike) Skale fleksibilnosti nastavnika za kulturnu raznolikost i Skale emocionalne regulacije nastavnika u susretu sa kulturnom raznolikošću utvrđena je zadovoljavajuća konkurentna validnost. Psihološke procene zasnivane na primeni ove dve skale, mogu da budu dobra osnova za diferencirano dizajniranje obuka i intevencije koje imaju za cilj da doprinesu razvoju samoregulatornog aspekta interkulturalne kompetencije nastavnika, a pored toga ove skale mogu da se koriste i za merenja ishoda i efikasnosti takvih intervencija. Međutim, koleralacione analize ukazuju na izvesne slabosti Skale tolerancije neizvesnosti nastavnika na kulturnu raznolikost. U svetlu tog rezultata, buduća nastojanja treba da budu usmerena na dodatno preispitivanje konstrukta samoregulacije i uloge koju samoregulacija ima u susretu sa kulturnim različitostima.Self-regulation is a key issue for teachers. Self-regulatory competencies help teachers maintain both their well-being and professional commitment. This is of particular importance when it comes to teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. However, this facet is generally neglected when Teacher Education supports pre- and inservice teachers in the development of their intercultural competencies. Against this background, the current paper deals with the development of three scales for the assessment of self-regulatory aspects of teachers' intercultural competence - the Teacher Cultural Diversity Flexibility Scale (TCDFS), the Teacher Cultural Diversity Emotional Regulation Scale (TCDERS), and the Teacher Cultural Diversity Tolerance for Ambiguity Scale (TCDTAS). Each scale was developed and validated in two forms: one referring to minority students in general, and one referring specifically to Roma students. The results indicate generally good reliabilities (αs from .74 to .91) and a unifactorial structure for each of the proposed scales. Both forms (general and the one for the Roma) of the TCDFS and the TCDERS also demonstrated concurrent validity. An assessment based on these scales may better inform training interventions aiming to develop self-regulatory aspect of teachers' intercultural competence and to measure the outcomes and efficacy of such interventions. However, correlation analyses have also revealed some weaknesses of the TCDTAS. In the light of these results, further efforts should be directed at reanalysing the construct of self-regulation in dealing with diversity

Chiral perturbation theory

The main elements and methods of chiral perturbation theory, the effective field theory of the Standard Model below the scale of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, are summarized. Applications to the interactions of mesons and baryons at low energies are reviewed, with special emphasis on developments of the last three years. Among the topics covered are the strong, electromagnetic and semileptonic weak interactions of mesons at and beyond next--to--leading order in the chiral expansion, nonleptonic weak interactions of mesons, virtual photon corrections and the meson--baryon system. The discussion is limited to processes at zero temperature, for infinite volume and with at most one baryon.Comment: 84 pages, Latex, 11 PostScript figures (in separate file) embedded with epsfig.sty, complete ps file (compressed, uuencoded, 0.6 MB) available via email on request; to appear in Progr. Part. Nucl. Phys., vol. 3

Nambu Jona-Lasinio Like Models and the Low Energy Effective Action of QCD

We present a derivation of the low energy effective action of an extended Nambu Jona-Lasinio (ENJL) model to $O(p^4)$ in the chiral counting. Two alternative scenarios are considered on how the ENJL model could originate as a low energy approximation to QCD. The low energy effective Lagrangian we derive includes the usual pseudoscalar Goldstone modes, as well as the lower scalar, vector and axial-vector degrees of freedom. By taking appropriate limits, we recover most of the effective low-energy models discussed in the literature; in particular the gauged Yang-Mills vector Lagrangian, the Georgi-Manohar constituent quark-meson model, and the QCD effective action approach model. Another property of the ensuing effective Lagrangian is that it incorporates most of the short-distance relations which follow from QCD. (We derive these relations in the presence of all possible gluonic interactions to leading order in the $1/N_c$-expansion.) Finally the numerical predictions are compared to the experimental values of the low energy parametersComment: 50 pages, LaTeX, 4 LaTeX figures include

Chiral perturbation theory for K+ to pi+ pi0 decay in the continuum and on the lattice

In this paper we use one-loop chiral perturbation theory in order to compare lattice computations of the K+ to pi+ pi0 decay amplitude with the experimental value. This makes it possible to investigate three systematic effects that plague lattice computations: quenching, finite-volume effects, and the fact that lattice computations have been done at unphysical values of the quark masses and pion external momenta (only this latter effect shows up at tree level). We apply our results to the most recent lattice computation, and find that all three effects are substantial. We conclude that one-loop corrections in chiral perturbation theory help in explaining the discrepancy between lattice results and the real-world value. We also revisit B_K, which is closely related to the K+ to pi+ pi0 decay amplitude by chiral symmetry.Comment: 50 pages, TeX, two eps figures included, minor changes, no changes in results or conclusions, version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair