Tag: Education

A Picture Book for Emotional Regulation in Early Childhood

Posted on by lissethelias

Adriana Elias, MEDS student

The video below presents a picture book for emotional regulation. This picture book is written in Spanish and has English audio. Besides, the infographic summarizes the main concepts depicted in the story. Through this applied project, I developed this story to reinforce emotional skills like identifying feelings and communicating them. Whit this learning tool, readers can practice acceptance and understanding of feelings using curiosity and kindness. Emotional abilities can reinforce other skills, like boosting self-confidence, improving performance, developing decision-making skills, supporting independence, and enhancing sociability. The earlier we start this learning process, the better children can master these abilities and improve wellness.

References:

  • Domitrovich, C., Durlak, J. A., Stanley K. C., & Weisberg, R. P. (2017). Social-Emotional competence: An essential factor for promoting positive adjustment and reducing risk in school children. Child Development, 88(2). https:/doi.org/408-416. 10.1111/cdev.12739
    Cambridge University Press (2021). What is dialogic reading? https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2019/04/18/dialogic-reading/
  • Breugelmans, S., Ambadar, Z., Vaca, J., Poortinga, Y., Setiandi, B., Widiyanto, P., & Philipot, P. (2005). Body sensations associated with emotions in Raramuri Indians, rural Javanese, and three student samples. American Psychology Association, 5(2), 166-174. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/1528-3542.5.2.166
  • Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. Bantam Books.
  • Nummenmaa, L., Glerean, E., Hari, R., & Hietanen, J. (2013). Bodily maps of emotions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS, 111(2), 646-651. https://www.pnas.org/content/111/2/646
  • Llenas, A. (2012). The color Monster. Flamboyant.

Improving Inclusive Teaching Practice by Reducing Role Conflict and Ambiguity for Learning Support Teachers

Posted on by andreahoeving

Many teachers in learning support roles face the challenge of managing a wide array of tasks that fall outside of the expectations of a typical classroom teaching position while also carrying the expectation that their time is best spent in direct teaching. Conflict arises when spending time on indirect and administrative tasks, which is important and time consuming, is de-valued and the fact that these tasks are key components to providing services for students is overlooked. This leaves teachers in learning support roles with conflicting expectations and assumptions of what is important and how this is to be acted out, often leading to job attrition. This research explores the question: Could a planning tool be used to more clearly and effectively utilize LST time and, by extension, improve the working environment and job satisfaction of the LST? Using the methodology of design-based research, both qualitative and quantitative data was collected through survey, interview and focus group meetings to explore discrepancies in the perceptions of the roles LSTs fulfill related to the needs of the students they work with from the perspectives of elementary classroom teachers, school administrators and LSTs. The data collected indicated that all three groups exhibited incongruencies between what specific activities they saw as valuable and how they felt LSTs should spend their time. Having specific jobs outlined, as in a planning tool, clarified perceptions of how time would be best spent, enabling team members to plan with a unified vision.

Please click the link to watch my 3-minute thesis:

https://viu.video.yuja.com/V/Video?v=659114&node=3177186&a=464021169

Alternative Education: Administrators’ Perspectives on Effective Leadership Practices

Posted on by Lisa Spalding

As a future administrator and alternative educator for over 24 years, I wondered what successful alternative administrators do to best support their staff and students. This curiosity led me to begin a comprehensive search for inspirational alternative Southern Vancouver Island administrators. In May 2020, I received ethical approval from the REB to conduct semi-structured qualitative interviews with six to twelve of the most extraordinary leaders I could find. Participants had to have been in their position in the last five years and be willing to share their personal stories, lessons learned, hopes for the future, and any other wisdom they thought new administrators like myself should know. My research study, therefore, qualitatively looks into what Vancouver Island alternative education administrators, from 2015-2020, learned, experienced, and consider to be effective leadership practice in alternative schools. In the end, I was fortunate to find eight remarkable alternative administrators, including past and present principals, vice-principals, and assistant superintendents, that agreed to meet with me over Zoom. Their professionalism, passion, excitement and sometimes tears, as we explored their leadership experiences and strategies with trauma and burnout, have been emotional and powerful.

Preliminary analysis indicates that themes and commonalities in their experiences and stories are emerging. I believe what is learned from these leaders will significantly contribute to the academic conversation around alternative school leadership in BC. The data could potentially provide powerful Southern Vancouver Island leadership strategies and practices, which may help to improve alternative education experiences for teachers and students both here and beyond.

Please ask me anything! Do you want to know why I picked semi-structured interviews, the qualitative method, how I received permission to do the research in the two districts that approved me, or how to get going on the Ethics Review Board process? How about how to get help with the library, access to old thesis, finding writing support for your papers, navigating Zoom, COVID issues, or what software to use for analysis? I’m here to help, so please do not hesitate to ask.