Teaching mathematics to young girls often invokes perceptions around inherent ability, gender, and influences that contribute to a gap between boys and girls with regard to math achievement. Moreover, lived teaching experiences indicate that there is a strong affective component to students’ encounters in schools, which may affect children’s perceptions of their capabilities. The authors address intersecting issues that interact with gender inequalities surrounding girls and mathematics: math self-concepts, gender stereotypes, parental involvement, and influences from teachers and curriculum. In this paper, stories about teaching girls from a mathematics teacher’s perspective are interwoven with research literature to strengthen recommendations for change in the areas of gender, teacher education, STEM careers, and intersectional understanding.
Various impacts of COVID-19 have been explored throughout the literature; however, no research has yet considered the impact of COVID-19 on greetings in education. This paper represents an attempt to address this gap. Using a lens of Relational Engagement, this paper explores the findings of a recent survey (n = 67) that asked how teachers have historically greeted students and how they will go about doing so upon return to a physical classroom space. Findings suggest that COVID-19 has significantly impacted teachers’ beliefs about greetings in the context of education, that teachers’ greeting behaviours are likely to change, and that it is possible if not likely that many teachers may experience various intra- and interpersonal conflicts when they next encounter students face-to-face.
The recent global shift to online teaching has thrust educators in all levels and forms of education into new roles and experiences. As many have little prior experience teaching online, it is possible that there are those who feel overwhelmed and as such focus on technical aspects of online education. By reviewing the concept of social presence in online education, this paper seeks to accomplish two tasks: first, to remind readers of the importance of interpersonal aspects of online education; and second, to recommend instructor-featured videos as an accessible and effective way of fostering social presence and helping students feel grounded, connected, and reassured.
This study sought to examine the existing research on gamification to see whether or not there was the potential for application in the higher education co-curricular environment. This study also aimed to explore the current best practices of gamification in order to define a consistent structure to create a gamified initiative. This meta-synthesis concluded that, due to the lack of consistent gamification structures and the large range of game mechanics and dynamics being utilized in various studies, it is difficult to determine whether gamification has been successful or not in the current educational climates where it has been tested. Through the creation of a recommended structure of gamification to be applied in a volunteer co-curricular environment, future testing can be applied to validate approaches.
As the educational world becomes more technologically inclusive, the need for teacher candidates to become proficient at integrating technology into their practice is crucial. Teacher Education programming in Ontario needs to reflect the current climate of K-12 teaching. In order to improve the learning environments for our teaching candidates, Teaching and Learning with Technology instructors decided to incorporate the concept of Genius Hour within our courses. Using this strategy, we hoped the teacher candidates would become more passionate within their learning, while developing the necessary technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and skills. This study sought to understand the ways in which Teacher Candidate participation in Genius Hour influences their perceived participation within the course, as well as their opinions on the benefits of teaching with Genius Hour. According to teacher candidates, Genius Hour allowed for the time to focus on something of personal interest, with 2/3 of the participants seeing personal improvements in creativity and participation in their overall program.
Authorship is both a product and a process. This article uses an Authorship as Assemblage Model (that I developed—Winters, 2010) to investigate the behind-the-scenes collaborative authorship of the picturebook Jeffrey and Sloth (2007). Specifically, using narrative recount and interview transcripts, I will demonstrate how Ben (illustrator), Maggie (editor), and I (author) assembled modes and semiotic resources, while continually shifting among the social (inter)actions of designing, negotiating, producing, and disseminating as we interpreted and realized multimodal meanings in the book.
Between November 2016 and November 2017, a group of creative scholars, international, and domestic graduate students gathered to explore topics related to immigration and Indigenous culture through artistic practices. The goal was to construct scenes that would be put together to build a play. The scenes were shaped in different ways, through poetry, music, literature, movement/dance, and drama. In this way, playbuilding became our methodology. Through semiotic, social, and critical authorship practices the actors engaged in a dynamic and participatory drama. Schools and classrooms might consider using an artistic, embodied pedagogy, such as the artistic pedagogy of the migrant soul explored in this paper, to engage elementary and secondary students in active, thoughtful approaches to understand diverse and critical issues, including forced migration, marginalization, truth and reconciliation, and co-existence.
Regulation 283/13 and the Ontario Ministry of Education’s decision to reduce teacher education admission rates by 50% provide a clear opportunity to reflect on the alignment between admissions practices and the programs that they serve. This article presents an overview of teacher education admissions literature, identifying the many purposes that admissions processes serve, the ways teacher educators may connect purpose to practice, as well as the equity issues inherent to program admissions. The strengths and limitations of seven common assessment tools are also presented. This information will be of interest to stakeholders involved in teacher education, and is intended to support teacher educators in making informed selection and admission decisions for their particular programs.
There is an inherent mismatch between the prevailing individualistic narrative implicit within the 20th century education gospel of higher skills equals better jobs equals a better economy, and the realities of the emerging knowledge based creative economy where precarious, part-time labour persists and outsourcing of employment globally is compounded. Before broad implementation of innovative approaches within classrooms can be realized, underlying ideologies that have shaped and continue to shape education systems and policy must be surfaced and challenged, taking seriously the shifting employment landscape and social context in the enigmatic digital era.
While generalist teachers of physical education typically receive preparation in the curriculum and pedagogy of physical education in their teacher education programs, they do not typically receive instruction on the disciplinary foundations of physical education as specialist teachers do; that is, the biological, physiological, and developmental factors of human movement. Such foundational knowledge is critical for teachers of physical education to understand the physical characteristics of the children and adolescents in their gymnasium/classroom and to implement the curriculum and pedagogy of physical education into practice in an effective and appropriate way. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to provide generalist teachers who teach physical education with a synthesis of the disciplinary foundations of physical education, specifically key information regarding children’s and adolescents’ (ages 7-18): (a) physical growth and development; (b) movement skills; and (c) physical fitness. The information presented in this synthesis is based on a systematic examination of reference materials on the physical and movement development of school-age children (chosen in consultation with 10 academic researchers); information accessible online via the websites of relevant public organizations (e.g., Physical and Health Education Canada); as well as the authors’ teaching experiences and expertise as specialist physical educators, scholars of physical education, and instructors of physical education teacher education. This paper is intended to offer a relevant, simplified, and easy-to-understand reference guide to help deepen generalist teachers’ understanding of the learners in their gymnasium/classroom and ultimately enhance their teaching of physical education so as to advance their students’ development of physical literacy and healthy active lifestyles.
The Ontario Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) program, now in its fifth year, celebrates children’s intentionality and natural curiosity about the world. Consequently, a report card is needed to support the vision for the new full-day early learning program in Ontario. A preliminary review of the report cards reveals that expectations/outcomes have been categorized and quantified. The scales being used vary considerably from school board to school board and these variations include: using numeric scales of achievement (Levels 1-4); providing descriptors for a specific skill set (i.e. emerging, developing at expected level, beyond expected level); or evaluating progress based on frequency (i.e. sometimes evident, always evident, not yet evident). Additionally, although reports should include next steps for the Early Learning–Kindergarten team, as well as next steps for the parents to assist them in supporting their child’s learning (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010), our preliminary review reveals that while this information is sometimes communicated variably or informally, it is only periodically included in completed report cards. The overall focus of the new FDK program is on developing children’s problem solving and metacognitive skills (encouraging children to think about their thinking). In addition, the goal is for children to develop self-motivation and self-regulation so that they can become self-directed, lifelong learners. A new report card is needed to embrace this new vision for full-day learning which is based on child directedness and inquiry. In this article we: a) present the background on the inception of the Full-Day Kindergarten program in Ontario; b) share insights and evaluative methods from the Reggio Emilia approach of pedagogical documentation for reporting growth and learning of four and five year olds in an attempt to inform our practices in Ontario; and c) present a standardized provincial Kindergarten report card that is aligned to Pascal’s vision for full day early learning.
For the last two decades, systems of education have been shifting special education teaching practice away from segregated classes to inclusive schools (Reiser & Secretariat, 2012; Sharma, Loreman, & Forlin, 2012; UNESCO, 1994). Despite much success, this shift has not come without its challenges. Research has found teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about students with exceptionalities influence their inclusive pedagogy (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002; MacFarlane & Woolfson, 2013; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1996). This paper examines the current literature on teacher attitudes and beliefs towards inclusion as well as the process of teacher change. It is concluded that despite unfavourable attitudes, when teachers have training and support paired with authentic experiences, attitudes can shift and inclusive pedagogy adopted.
Central to providing rich and diverse PA opportunities in schools are our classroom teachers. Regardless of generalist or specialist training in health and physical education, all of our Ontario teachers play a vital role in providing opportunities for children and youth to learn through PA. This paper (a) positions student participation in school-based PA as an essential public health outcome, (b) explores barriers affecting teachers’ efforts to provide school-based PA, and (c) offers teachers one potential macro planning and instructional solution to address a single barrier-the challenge associated with planning for student motivation in school-based PA settings. Keller’s (1987) influential ARCS model of motivational design provides the foundation for the proposed solution. An adapted version, the ARCS School-Based PA model, is presented. The adapted model offers considerations and sample category success strategies that could be embedded in teachers’ current school-based PA planning and instructional practices to support the development of school-based PA programming that is firmly grounded in learner motivation and needs.
