Moen, Torill. Inclusive Educational Practice: Results of an empirical study Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 2008;52(1):59-75

Keywords: Inclusive practice; Children with special needs; Individual and system approach; Dilemmas

This article presents a Norwegian primary school teacher, facing the challenge of realizing the curriculum’s vision of inclusive education. Ann teaches a third-grade class with twenty-two pupils among which are pupils with special needs. Two of them are John and Paul. The article focuses on how the teacher deals with these two boys as she at the same time approaches the class as a whole. The analysis shows that the teacher’s practice can be clustered into four themes. The themes are analysed in light of relevant theoretical concepts situated within the framework of socio-cultural theory. It appears that the themes have some common characteristic traits and dilemmas that Ann encounters in her daunting work of realizing inclusive education.

Moen, Torill; Nilssen, Vivi; Weidemann, Nina. An aspect of a teacher's inclusive educational practice: scaffolding pupils through transitions. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice 2007;13(3):269-286

DOI: 10.1080/13540600701299783

Inclusive educational practice is a political vision in Norway as in several other Western countries. This article focuses on how the ideal of inclusive practice is realized in one particular classroom. As is the case for most Norwegian teachers, the practitioner in this study, Ann, has children with special needs in her class. Among these is a boy with behavioural problems. We know that inclusive practice is a complex field interwoven with a variety of activities. This article focuses on one aspect of the teacher’s inclusive practice; how she deals with transitions so that all her pupils, including this particular boy, can manage them. It also examines Ann’s reflections on transitions, and presents a narrative from her classroom to illustrate her practice. In the analysis her use of various scaffolding devices are presented. The theoretical framework of the study is socio-cultural theory.

Samuelstuen, Marit S.; Bråten, Ivar. Examining the validity of self-reports on scales measuring students' strategic processing. British Journal of Educational Psychology 2007(77):351-378

DOI: 10.1348/000709906X106147

Background. Self-report inventories trying to measure strategic processing at a global level have been much used in both basic and applied research. However, the validity of global strategy scores is open to question because such inventories assess strategy perceptions outside the context of specific task performance.

Aims. The primary aim was to examine the criterion-related and construct validity of the global strategy data obtained with the Cross-Curricular Competencies (CCC) scale. Additionally, we wanted to compare the validity of these data with the validity of data obtained with a task-specific self-report inventory focusing on the same types of strategies.

Sample. The sample included 269 10th-grade students from 12 different junior high schools.

Methods. Global strategy use as assessed with the CCC was compared with task-specific strategy use reported in three different reading situations. Moreover, relationships between scores on the CCC and scores on measures of text comprehension were examined and compared with relationships between scores on the task-specific strategy measure and the same comprehension measures.

Results. The comparison between the CCC strategy scores and the task-specific strategy scores suggested only modest criterion-related validity for the data obtained with the global strategy inventory. The CCC strategy scores were also not related to the text comprehension measures, indicating poor construct validity. In contrast, the task-specific strategy scores were positively related to the comprehension measures, indicating good construct validity.

Conclusion. Attempts to measure strategic processing at a global level seem to have limited validity and utility.

Hohr, Hansjörg. Danning i en ny medietid. I: Mediedanning og mediepedagogikk - fra digital begeistring til kritisk dømmekraft. Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk 2007. ISBN 978-82-05-37167-5. s. 173-196

Danning inkluderer nytteperspektivet slik vi finner det i begrepet læring. Det gir i tillegg et moralsk perspektiv som åpner for spørsmålet om de verdiene oppdragelsen bør bygge på. Endelig har danning et kulturelt og samfunnsmessig perspektiv.

Vettenranta, Soilikki. Mot mediedysleksiens tidsalder?. I: Mediedanning og mediepedagogikk - fra digital begeistring til kritisk dømmekraft. Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk 2007. ISBN 978-82-05-37167-5. s. 13-33

De unge, som må skape sin identitet i krysspresset mellom den stadig endrede mediekulturen og den galopperende nye medieteknologien, trenger mer enn verktøy. De trenger tid til refleksjon, stabilitet og mulighet til å lære empati og ansvar.

Bråten, Ivar; Samuelstuen, Marit S.. Measuring strategic processing: Comparing task-specific self-reports to traces. Metacognition and Learning:2007;2: 1-20

DOI: 10.1007/s11409-007-9004-y

This research compares the strategic processing reported on right after the completion of a reading task with physical traces of the same strategies that were found in the study materials. In addition, both task-specific self-reports and traces of strategies were used to predict performance, both in the task context where the strategy data were generated and in another context. Using a sample of 177 Norwegian tenth-grade students, a quite close correspondence was found between learners’ task-specific self-reports about strategies and the strategies traced in the study materials. Moreover, both self-reports and traces of strategies predicted performance not only on the specific reading task but also beyond that context, on the PISA literacy tests. In both contexts, however, strategy data that traced what learners actually did when working on the reading task seemed to predict performance better than did task-specific self-reports

Skaalvik, Einar Melgren; Skaalvik, Sidsel. Dimensions of Teacher Self-Efficacy and Relations With Strain Factors, Perceived Collective Teacher Efficacy, and Teacher Burnout. Journal of Educational Psychology 2007;99(3):611-625

DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.99.3.611

In this study, the authors developed and factor analyzed the Norwegian Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. They also examined relations among teacher self-efficacy, perceived collective teacher efficacy, external control (teachers' general beliefs about limitations to what can be achieved through education), strain factors, and teacher burnout. Participants were 244 elementary and middle school teachers. The analysis supported the conceptualization of teacher self-efficacy as a multidimensional construct. They found strong support for 6 separate but correlated dimensions of teacher self-efficacy, which were included in the following subscales: Instruction, Adapting Education to Individual Students' Needs, Motivating Students, Keeping Discipline, Cooperating With Colleagues and Parents, and Coping With Changes and Challenges. They also found support for a strong 2nd-order self-efficacy factor underlying the 6 dimensions. Teacher self-efficacy was conceptually distinguished from perceived collective teacher efficacy and external control. Teacher self-efficacy was strongly related to collective teacher efficacy and teacher burnout.