ABSTRACT Bringing an awareness of emotions to the fore through mindfulness-based breathing and pr... more ABSTRACT Bringing an awareness of emotions to the fore through mindfulness-based breathing and providing a space to discuss them is a way of promoting teacher and student agency in collectively developing structures specific to their learning environment. The authors explore students', teachers', and researchers' collective sensemaking through cogenerative dialoguing (cogen) about a mindfulness-based breathing practice at the start of mathematics lessons in an elementary classroom. They found that the power of cogen as hybridized space enabled the generation of collective understanding and the potential for all cogen participants to become engaged in an authentic and transformative way in discussing classroom life. The authors argue that the mindfulness-based breathing practice itself acted as a heuristic for thinking about learning environments and, during the reflexive process of thinking about the breathing practice, new forms of classroom culture unfolded both expanding classroom structures and the practice itself, and laying bare otherwise taken-for-granted practices.
This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices tha... more This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices that develop teacher capacity and increase student learning. The main focus was on identifying the domains of knowledge perceived by lead teachers themselves, principals, and teachers as critical to effective leadership practice. Four domains of knowledge perceived to be important were knowledge of, and attitude towards, mathematics, knowledge of students as learners, knowledge of teachers as learners, and knowledge of communities as learners. Background The central focus of the New Zealand Numeracy Development Projects (NDP) is to raise student achievement in mathematics by improving the professional capability and capacity of teachers across all New Zealand schools. The NDP began as a pilot study in 2000 in response to the poor performance
This paper explores the perceptions of teachers of five-year-old children and the expectations th... more This paper explores the perceptions of teachers of five-year-old children and the expectations these teachers have of the children when they begin school in terms of their level of mathematics knowledge. Teachers were asked about their beliefs in relation to mathematics teaching and learning and how they thought children best learned mathematics. This was matched with classroom observations to compare teacher practice with teacher beliefs. A significant finding was the general lack of attention that teachers paid to the knowledge and skills that children had when they started school. There was a lack of consistency between what teachers said they believed in compared with what they actually did in the classroom. This paper is a study on teacher beliefs and practices regarding the nature of the mathematical knowledge that five-year-old children enter school with. These beliefs have the potential to impact on the nature of the mathematics programme that the teachers present to the chi...
Using comparative analysis two orientations to helping teachers implement new practices in mathem... more Using comparative analysis two orientations to helping teachers implement new practices in mathematics are examined through four characteristics of practice. A design adherence orientation to facilitation emphasizes classroom activity following the guidelines of the teacher manual. By contrast, a contextually responsive orientation using structural elements of a programme emphasizes student understanding. The paper raises questions about attributes of effective facilitation.
Imperial journal of interdisciplinary research, 2017
This case study investigates factors affecting the research engagement of the lecturers in a univ... more This case study investigates factors affecting the research engagement of the lecturers in a university in the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam. The study employed the interpretive qualitative case study approach with the use of three data collection tools (document analysis, surveys, and recorded semi-structured interviews). In this paper, the authors presented the survey findings of this study. The findings indicated that the lecturers’ research perceptions and their research engagement were affected by many factors. For research perceptions, the lecturers disagreed research perceived as a way to fulfil requirements. Factors such as a high salary , reduction of teaching loads , or promotion in management positions were considered unimportant to motivate their research engagement. Other factors like limited finance, time and facilities, and particularly a complex procedure to receive research funding and payments were substantial
The 2006 Secondary Numeracy Project (SNP) continues the mathematics professional development init... more The 2006 Secondary Numeracy Project (SNP) continues the mathematics professional development initiated in the 2005 Secondary Numeracy Pilot Project. In 2005, 320 mathematics teachers in 43 schools received professional development aimed at enhancing the teaching of year 9 mathematics. In 2006, teachers in the same 43 schools were supported in consolidating their teaching of year 9 mathematics and in developing their teaching of year 10 mathematics.
Developing students' scientific literacy requires teachers to use a variety of pedagogical ap... more Developing students' scientific literacy requires teachers to use a variety of pedagogical approaches including using video as a form of instruction. Using video is a way of engaging students in science ideas not otherwise accessible to them. This study investigated the use of video clips representing scientific ideas in a secondary science classroom as one component of a science program. Drawing an interpretive approach framed as authentic participant-centered inquiry the analysis used cogenerative dialoguing to generate collective perspectives on the affordances and constraints of learning from video. We found that the structure of a video in terms of density of the content delivery and its length shaped students' viewing experiences and access to science ideas. We argue that structures of the learning context afford and constrain students' opportunities to learn science from video.
Mindfulness and Educating Citizens for Everyday Life, 2016
The potential benefits of mindfulness – the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness and attention... more The potential benefits of mindfulness – the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness and attention to the present moment – is an emerging field of inquiry for psychology and education researchers. Findings from a growing body of studies suggest that undertaking mindfulness-based breathing for a short time each day can mediate the impact of emotions in classroom events. We focus on ways in which two teachers and their students and the researchers developed emerging understandings of mindfulness during a three-month breathing intervention. Drawing on video data of the teachers leading classroom breathing sessions and associated conversations with teachers as well as a training session, we highlight some of the challenges encountered as teachers introduced mindfulness-based breathing in classroom settings.
This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices tha... more This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices that develop teacher capacity and increase student learning. The main focus was on identifying the domains of knowledge perceived by lead teachers themselves, principals, and teachers as critical to effective leadership practice. Four domains of knowledge perceived to be important were knowledge of, and attitude towards, mathematics, knowledge of students as learners, knowledge of teachers as learners, and knowledge of communities as learners. Background The central focus of the New Zealand Numeracy Development Projects (NDP) is to raise student achievement in mathematics by improving the professional capability and capacity of teachers across all New Zealand schools. The NDP began as a pilot study in 2000 in response to the poor performance
ABSTRACT Bringing an awareness of emotions to the fore through mindfulness-based breathing and pr... more ABSTRACT Bringing an awareness of emotions to the fore through mindfulness-based breathing and providing a space to discuss them is a way of promoting teacher and student agency in collectively developing structures specific to their learning environment. The authors explore students', teachers', and researchers' collective sensemaking through cogenerative dialoguing (cogen) about a mindfulness-based breathing practice at the start of mathematics lessons in an elementary classroom. They found that the power of cogen as hybridized space enabled the generation of collective understanding and the potential for all cogen participants to become engaged in an authentic and transformative way in discussing classroom life. The authors argue that the mindfulness-based breathing practice itself acted as a heuristic for thinking about learning environments and, during the reflexive process of thinking about the breathing practice, new forms of classroom culture unfolded both expanding classroom structures and the practice itself, and laying bare otherwise taken-for-granted practices.
This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices tha... more This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices that develop teacher capacity and increase student learning. The main focus was on identifying the domains of knowledge perceived by lead teachers themselves, principals, and teachers as critical to effective leadership practice. Four domains of knowledge perceived to be important were knowledge of, and attitude towards, mathematics, knowledge of students as learners, knowledge of teachers as learners, and knowledge of communities as learners. Background The central focus of the New Zealand Numeracy Development Projects (NDP) is to raise student achievement in mathematics by improving the professional capability and capacity of teachers across all New Zealand schools. The NDP began as a pilot study in 2000 in response to the poor performance
This paper explores the perceptions of teachers of five-year-old children and the expectations th... more This paper explores the perceptions of teachers of five-year-old children and the expectations these teachers have of the children when they begin school in terms of their level of mathematics knowledge. Teachers were asked about their beliefs in relation to mathematics teaching and learning and how they thought children best learned mathematics. This was matched with classroom observations to compare teacher practice with teacher beliefs. A significant finding was the general lack of attention that teachers paid to the knowledge and skills that children had when they started school. There was a lack of consistency between what teachers said they believed in compared with what they actually did in the classroom. This paper is a study on teacher beliefs and practices regarding the nature of the mathematical knowledge that five-year-old children enter school with. These beliefs have the potential to impact on the nature of the mathematics programme that the teachers present to the chi...
Using comparative analysis two orientations to helping teachers implement new practices in mathem... more Using comparative analysis two orientations to helping teachers implement new practices in mathematics are examined through four characteristics of practice. A design adherence orientation to facilitation emphasizes classroom activity following the guidelines of the teacher manual. By contrast, a contextually responsive orientation using structural elements of a programme emphasizes student understanding. The paper raises questions about attributes of effective facilitation.
Imperial journal of interdisciplinary research, 2017
This case study investigates factors affecting the research engagement of the lecturers in a univ... more This case study investigates factors affecting the research engagement of the lecturers in a university in the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam. The study employed the interpretive qualitative case study approach with the use of three data collection tools (document analysis, surveys, and recorded semi-structured interviews). In this paper, the authors presented the survey findings of this study. The findings indicated that the lecturers’ research perceptions and their research engagement were affected by many factors. For research perceptions, the lecturers disagreed research perceived as a way to fulfil requirements. Factors such as a high salary , reduction of teaching loads , or promotion in management positions were considered unimportant to motivate their research engagement. Other factors like limited finance, time and facilities, and particularly a complex procedure to receive research funding and payments were substantial
The 2006 Secondary Numeracy Project (SNP) continues the mathematics professional development init... more The 2006 Secondary Numeracy Project (SNP) continues the mathematics professional development initiated in the 2005 Secondary Numeracy Pilot Project. In 2005, 320 mathematics teachers in 43 schools received professional development aimed at enhancing the teaching of year 9 mathematics. In 2006, teachers in the same 43 schools were supported in consolidating their teaching of year 9 mathematics and in developing their teaching of year 10 mathematics.
Developing students' scientific literacy requires teachers to use a variety of pedagogical ap... more Developing students' scientific literacy requires teachers to use a variety of pedagogical approaches including using video as a form of instruction. Using video is a way of engaging students in science ideas not otherwise accessible to them. This study investigated the use of video clips representing scientific ideas in a secondary science classroom as one component of a science program. Drawing an interpretive approach framed as authentic participant-centered inquiry the analysis used cogenerative dialoguing to generate collective perspectives on the affordances and constraints of learning from video. We found that the structure of a video in terms of density of the content delivery and its length shaped students' viewing experiences and access to science ideas. We argue that structures of the learning context afford and constrain students' opportunities to learn science from video.
Mindfulness and Educating Citizens for Everyday Life, 2016
The potential benefits of mindfulness – the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness and attention... more The potential benefits of mindfulness – the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness and attention to the present moment – is an emerging field of inquiry for psychology and education researchers. Findings from a growing body of studies suggest that undertaking mindfulness-based breathing for a short time each day can mediate the impact of emotions in classroom events. We focus on ways in which two teachers and their students and the researchers developed emerging understandings of mindfulness during a three-month breathing intervention. Drawing on video data of the teachers leading classroom breathing sessions and associated conversations with teachers as well as a training session, we highlight some of the challenges encountered as teachers introduced mindfulness-based breathing in classroom settings.
This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices tha... more This case study examines which domains of knowledge underpin effective lead teacher practices that develop teacher capacity and increase student learning. The main focus was on identifying the domains of knowledge perceived by lead teachers themselves, principals, and teachers as critical to effective leadership practice. Four domains of knowledge perceived to be important were knowledge of, and attitude towards, mathematics, knowledge of students as learners, knowledge of teachers as learners, and knowledge of communities as learners. Background The central focus of the New Zealand Numeracy Development Projects (NDP) is to raise student achievement in mathematics by improving the professional capability and capacity of teachers across all New Zealand schools. The NDP began as a pilot study in 2000 in response to the poor performance
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Papers by Joanna Higgins