It's About Learning (and It's About Time)

Opening up towards children’s languages: enhancing teachers’ tolerant practices towards multilingualism

“…The introduction of the Validiv tools in the schools was supported by SIR principles (Guskey, 1988;Harris, 2002;Hopkins, 2001;Stoll et al, 2003). First, there was an introductory talk with the school team in which the Validiv tools were presented by the coach.…”

“…The research not only looks at differences between experimental and control schools, but at other factors that might facilitate or hinder the implementation. The literature indicated three important aspects in that respect: the schools' pupil population (Pohan et al, 2009;Youngs & Youngs, 2001), an open and trusting working environment for teachers (Harris, 2002), and the presence of a supportive coach in the innovation process (Stoll et al, 2003). The second research question focuses on pupil populations in schools and asks to what extent the impact of the Validiv project on tolerant practices towards multilingualism is influenced by a linguistically diverse population.…”

“…Teachers need an open and trusting work environment to gain confidence in experimenting in the classroom (Clement, Sleegers, & Vandenberghe, 1995;Harris, 2002;Hopkins, 2001). This can be established by using open communication, by encouraging positive collegial relations, and by providing teachers with professional development in their everyday environment (Harris, 2002;Hopkins, 2001;Stoll et al, 2003). A third important determining aspect for schools' innovative power is the pupil population.…”

“…Three aspects of the school are important in this respect. The first aspect is leadership (Harris, 2002;Hopkins, 2001;House & McQuillan, 2005;Leithwood & Jantzi, 2006): A person who offers guidance should provide a balance of both support and high expectations (Stoll, Fink, & Earl, 2003). On the one hand, teachers need guidance and support as they work through a challenging process when innovating classroom practices.…”

Re-Thinking the Value of Learning Theories to Develop Self-Directedness in Open-Distance Students

“…Concept maps, flowcharts, outlines, comparison tables, analogies and hierarchical relationships in ODL study guides can help students to relate new information to prior knowledge and make the structure of the knowledge clear (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Stoll et al, (2003) argues that the information processing theory's description of learning is insufficient to describe learning because it focuses mainly on the role of memory in learning, though individuals can store, gain and retrieve information not only from their memories, but also from other sources like models, videos and Internet. This theory also fails to explain the role of personal factors like emotions, individual construction of knowledge and the social contexts of learning, and only focuses on the cognitive levels of students (Eggen & Kauchak, 2004).…”