(An item from ISHN Member information service) A theory about teacher behaviours in implementing programs, the Planning Realistic Intervention Implementation and Maintenance by Educators, is used to explain a teacher's use of a behaviour support program for students. The case study is reported in an article in Issue #1, 2013 of School Psychology Quarterly. The authors report that "We propose that to transform student outcomes through evidence-based practice, conceptualization of mediators' intervention implementation must move beyond quantification of discrete intervention steps implemented. Intervention implementation requires behavior change and thus can be conceptualized as an adult behavior change process. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how adult behavior change theory may inform how intervention implementation is conceptualized, facilitated, and supported. An empirically supported theory of adult behavior change from health psychology, the Health Action Process Approach, and how it has informed development of PRIME (Planning Realistic Intervention Implementation and Maintenance by Educators), a system of supports to facilitate mediators' implementation of school-based interventions, are introduced". Read More>>

(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #1, 2013 of the International Journal of Education Development uses the \\'Capability Approach\', developed by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, as well as a realist review to assess and explain the quality of teacher practices in Tanzania. The authors suggest that the apparent gap between perceptions (teachers are nor performing well enough vs the teachers don't have enough resources) The authors conclude that " By unpacking these components of teachers’ behaviours, and understanding the underlying structures, mechanisms, tendencies and counter-tendencies that produce certain empirically apprehended actions, we can start to see entry points in which measures to improve teachers’ professional performance could be seeded. First, interventions should acknowledge teachers’ causal mechanisms because these are the valued beings and doings that are central to the lives that teachers want to lead; if interventions could aid in the achievement of these functionings, they would also aid in the reduction of some ‘deficient’ behaviours that are associated with their constraint. Secondly, interventions need to account for and address dominant counter-tendencies (or constraining conversion factors) that teachers face, as this will ground strategies in context, provide pragmatic solutions, and convince teachers that these measures are worth trying. Without acknowledgement of causal mechanisms or counter-tendencies, it is highly likely that technocratic fixes that attempt to alter certain criticised practices will not be sustained, as teachers will revert to old ways. The reason being, these criticised ‘old ways’ are grounded in the valued functionings and conversion factors that consistently generate much of teachers’ behaviour."  Read more>>

(An item from ISHN Member information service) Adequately preparing teachers to teach in urban schools is an ageless challenge for teacher education programs. An article in Issue #1, 2013 of Education & Urban Society offers some insights into the qualities that need to be promoted among teachers aspiring or assigned to work in those schools. The fact that a minority of these new teachers felt ready to "make it their own" practice is revealing. The authors note that "This replication study represents an analysis of 47 exit portfolios of students enrolled in an urban teacher education program. Portfolios were analyzed to determine the degree to which students integrated concepts related to teaching in urban schools: asset/deficit perspectives, connections with families, social justice, high expectations for student learning, and contextualized teaching and learning. The portfolios fall into three groups along a continuum from “awareness” to “trying things out” to “making it their own.” With 30%, 51%, and 19% falling into each group respectively, the data are interpreted in relationship to faculty development and the challenges of scaffolding preservice teachers" Read more>

(An item from ISHN Member information service) n article in Issue #6, 2012 of Environmental Education Research discusses how teacher reflections in a small case study on implementing a curriculum on education for sustainable development can help to understand the implementation process and ongoing teacher concerns. The author notes that It examines what the teachers learned about effective pedagogy from undertaking a systematic study of their own practice in ESD/GCE-based topics, and it highlights the development of their own understanding of, and values about the place of ESD/GCE in the curriculum. Findings emerging from the study were that critical reflection on their work gave the teachers the confidence to adopt the more learner-centred pedagogy of ESD/GCE, and that teachers, too, were able to learn/benefit from the participation in ESD/GCE activities. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #8, 2012 of Teaching & Teacher Education reports on how pre-service teachers are induced to copy the beliefs and practices of their cooperating teachers. This small scale study "employed ethnographic methods to describe and explain changes to beginning science teachers' (n = 6) practices and beliefs during a year long internship. Teaching practices were strongly influenced by the cooperating teachers. Initially, all six interns attempted to re-enact lessons they witnessed their cooperating teachers teach, including following lesson structures and borrowing representations, anecdotes, and jokes. Later, they independently implemented instruction that emphasized similar strategies as their mentors, regardless of whether or not they were experiencing success. Interns who were successful also shifted their beliefs to match their mentors." The implications of this in regards to the teaching of values, skills and intentions in subjects such as health and personal/social development are significant. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) There has been an increasing number of research articles published recently that are describing the perceptions of teachers. These studies help us to understand the concerns, professional norms, normative and sociological factors that will determine how teachers approach various health, social and environmental issues in their classrooms. An article in Issue #5, 2012 of Environmental Education Research is an example of this trend. The study examined the perceptions or pre-service teachers of using outdoor settings as a learning environment. The researchers report that "Based on the results of 110 participants, this study suggests preservice early childhood educators perceive parks as the most conducive outdoor setting for achieving educational outcomes, specifically structured learning about nature, and that they are more inclined to use maintained outdoor settings than natural outdoor settings. The strongest predictors of intention to use natural outdoor settings were perceived difficulty in using natural settings, participants’ level of nature relatedness, and the degree to which they agreed that experiences in nature were important for young children’s health and wellness. Barriers to address include perceived lack of access to natural settings and safety concerns. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #4, 2012 of Educational Research presents a theory-based explanation as to how experienced teachers develop professionally. The authors note that : "The review is framed by theories within the constructivist paradigm. From this perspective, knowledge is perceived as the construction of meaning and understanding within social interaction. The social surroundings are seen as decisive for how the individual learns and develops. It is argued that courses and lectures, or ‘times for telling’, and teachers’ development of a metacognitive attitude are decisive factors for teachers’ learning within a constructivist frame of reference." The review of articles shows that both individual and organisational factors impact teachers’ learning. Teacher co-operation has importance for how they develop, and some of the teachers can lead such learning activities themselves. Moreover, a positive school culture with a good atmosphere and understanding of teachers’ learning, in addition to co-operation with external resource persons, may impact the professional development of teachers. The article concludes with the reflection that learning in school is the best arena for further development of teachers. Read more.