Georgie Donati presented a recent report from the Aspen Institute, an international think tank. The report was the result of findings from a commission set up to look at Social, Emotional, and Academic Development in young people – with the aim of re-envisioning what constitutes success in schools.
There is a wealth of information available from Aspen here and Georgie’s slides of the presentation are available on the link below:
Music teacher and researcher Melissa Uye-Parker tells us about her recent tech-based classroom intervention study.
In this seminar at Centre for Educational Neuroscience, I presented my research that explored the design of a technology professional development and how it could be implemented to support teacher technology adoption.
Three teachers, T1, T2, T3, took part in a 6-week technology integration programme. Through participation in constructivist-framed activities (encouraging reflection, peer-collaboration, mentor support) the teachers each trialed a new technology into their lessons. Along with their peer-mentor, the teachers reviewed and reflected on their lessons through video recordings.
The results produced three distinct profiles of teacher. T1, who considered herself as a proficient ICT user, lacked the confidence to integrate technology into her teaching. She did not engage with the non-compulsory aspects of the programme. T2, who considered herself as lacking in ICT skills, was able to use her knowledge of teaching to support her ICT integration. She also did not engage with the non-compulsory aspects of the programme. T3, who considered herself as proficient in ICT and teaching, demonstrated the highest instance of pedagogical strategies. In additional, she engaged fully with the program. For T3, this was an effective intervention.
The study also found assessing that the role of the mentor and the video-guided analysis of the project contributed to its success. Building on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made for further developments of the programme: technology professional development programmes must be able to develop teaching skills as well as their technological skills. The level of reflection was higher for the teacher with a secure knowledge of their teaching skills.
In this week’s seminar, Leonardo Bevilacqua shares his fascinating research into children with conduct problems. Using a large dataset (ALSPAC), he has looked at the likelihood of these children being ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET) by the age of 20, and the positive effects that school connectiveness and school enjoyment have on this association.
To read more about Leo’s research, click on the links below:
Conduct problems trajectories and psychosocial outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The role of family and school-level factors in bullying and cyberbullying: a cross-sectional study
A bit more about Leo: He is completing his PhD at UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, under the supervision of Professor Russell Viner, Professor Bianca De Stavola and Edward D. Barker at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. He is currently working on:
1) a randomised controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of a whole-school intervention to reduce bullying in 40 schools in London (INCLUSIVE Trial)
2) Predictors and outcomes of adolescent mental health with particular attention to conduct problems and antisocial behaviour.
He is also a senior teaching fellow at UCL Institute of Education and works as an assistant Psychologist at Helen Bamber Foundation. He will soon start a post-Doc with Professor Essi Viding looking at social reward processing in young people with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits.