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The aim of this chapter is to critically analyse multiple stakeholders’ self-perceptions of the value, nature, success and impact of core Aboriginal Studies subjects in primary teacher education university courses.

Participants were drawn from two universities in New South Wales which taught a core Aboriginal Studies subject as part of their primary teacher education degree. The methodology was informed by Yin’s (2003) multiple-case study replication design. This replication presents a picture of the perceptions and events which have impacted on the participants in the study.

The findings have important implications for theory, research and practice. The results of this study demonstrate that core Aboriginal Studies subjects in primary teacher education courses can make a positive difference in changing the perceptions of many pre-service teachers about Aboriginal people.

The purpose of this study was to assemble an evidence-based rationale, which includes the voices of multiple stakeholders, to test the extent to which core Aboriginal Studies subjects in primary teacher education courses are vital to improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal children, advancing reconciliation and creating a more socially just Australian society.

Undertaking professional training through a core Aboriginal Studies subject builds pre-service teachers’ self-concepts, attitudes, commitment, knowledge and skills, and ability and understandings to teach Aboriginal Studies, incorporate Aboriginal perspectives and to be committed to effectively teaching Aboriginal students.

The study supports the need for the inclusion of core Aboriginal Studies subjects in all universities with teacher education courses.

Research on Indigenous students has mostly adopted a deficiency model. In contrast, this study takes an explicitly positive perspective on Indigenous student success by focusing on the active psychological ingredients that facilitate successful learning.

Rural Australian patients continue to receive inadequate medical attention. One potential solution to this is to train Indigenous Australians to become medical doctors and return to their community to serve their people. The study aims to examine whether Indigenous medical students have a stronger intention to practice in underserved communities.

A sample of Indigenous (N = 17) and non-Indigenous students (N = 188) from a medical program in Sydney was surveyed about their medical self-concept and motivation. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted, group differences were tested, and correlation patterns were examined.

CFA found seven distinct factors – three medical self-concepts (affective, cognitive, and cultural competence), one motivation factor, and three work-related variables – intention to serve underserved communities (intention), understanding of Indigenous health (understanding), and work-related anxiety (anxiety). Indigenous medical students were higher in cultural competence, intention, and understanding. Both the affective and cognitive components of medical self-concept were more highly correlated with intention and understanding for Indigenous students than for non-Indigenous students.

It is important to examine medical students’ self-concepts as well as their cultural characteristics and strengths that seed success in promoting service to underserved Indigenous communities.

The findings show that Indigenous medical students tended to understand Indigenous health issues better and to be more willing to serve underserved Indigenous communities. By enhancing both the affective and cognitive components of medical self-concepts, the “home-grown” medical education program is more likely to produce medical doctors to serve underserved communities with a good understanding of Indigenous health.

Given the considerable interest currently in the field of early childhood on ways culture influences children’s development, in this chapter I present findings from an ethnographic study I conducted over a six-month period that looks at cultural influences on children’s development. The study looks at 20 Mexican-American children living in a low-income neighborhood in a South Texas community. The children and their families were studied in three specific settings: the children’s homes, the neighborhood surrounding the children’s homes, and the Head Start Center the children attended which was located in the neighborhood. The children ranged in age from 3 to 5 years. Research methodology involved participant observation, informal interviewing, formal interviewing, and document analysis. The theories of Bronfenbrenner and Ogbu provide the framework for considering the cultural perspective in looking at children’s development. Numerous possible themes of cultural aspects as uniquely influencing children’s development emerged from the study’s data collection. The theme I address in this chapter is the adults’ use of names when addressing children. The findings of the study are also compared to the criterion of cultural diversity in Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Implications for future research and early childhood practice are also presented. Finally, I suggest a new metaphor for looking at culture and its influence on child development.

This chapter provides a descriptive review of recent intervention research practices intended to improve the literacy skills of students with emotional or behavioral disabilities (EBD). A systematic search procedure identified 21 investigations that had been published in the past five years. These studies are described within the categories of peer-mediated literacy interventions, reading interventions, and writing interventions. Generally, it has been found that such practices as peer mediation, direct instruction (DI), cognitive text mapping, and writing strategy instruction including the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model have led to substantial improvement in the literacy skills of students with EBD. These strategies were apparently successful because they served generally to focus student attention and to provide cognitive models for executing literacy tasks. Implications for practice and future research are provided.

Educational research and many aspects of the educational system in Germany are facing a challenge. With Germany’s participation in large-scale assessment studies such as PISA, the German educational discourse is increasingly incorporating international developments in terms of educational standards, accountability, and students’ performance testing. At the same time, the long-standing history of German Didaktik has influenced and shaped teacher education programs in Germany for decades. Research conducted at a German university shows how these two concurrent developments can be fused – without neglecting their distinct differences. A crucial aspect revealed in this work shows that preservice teachers are prepared for their future profession in a rather output- and standard-based educational system in inquiry-based classes. In these classes, their research-based reflective thinking, didactic expertise, and their leadership skills in the sense of didactic ownership are strengthened.

This study examined early childhood special education preservice teachers' perceived knowledge and confidence, as well as actual knowledge of functional assessment-based interventions pre- and postuniversity course participation. A quasi-experimental two-group pre- and posttest design was applied to examine (1) initial differences between two groups (by assigned instructor) in preservice teachers' perceived knowledge, perceived confidence, and actual knowledge, (2) growth over time on these three measures, and (3) their concluding performance following course completion. Results indicated mean score differences between groups at the start of the functional assessment-based intervention course instruction. Large magnitude effects were found for both groups when comparing pre- to posttest scores of preservice teachers' ratings of their perceived knowledge and confidence, as well as a measure of actual content knowledge. Posttest scores showed preservice teachers ended the experience with similar levels of actual knowledge, regardless of group membership. Findings indicate preservice teachers may benefit from a preparation course with applied practice to develop knowledge and confidence for using functional assessment-based interventions, a promising practice (What Works Clearinghouse, 2016), to support students with challenging behaviors. Limitations and future directions are presented.

Science and technology are transforming our world in ways that have not been seen in a long time, and we live in a rapidly changing world. Despite these changes, as citizens of today, we must not lose sight of the reality that these changes even cause crises that must be managed in order to place ourselves in a true working environment that allows us to survive as employees despite these changes. The main objective of this research is to find the relationship between interpersonal competences and teacher performance in a sustainable university. The methodology used was the quantitative, nonexperimental approach, as the variables will not be deliberately manipulated. In order to verify whether or not there was a relationship between these variables, 84 teachers from the Universidad Nacional Santiago Antunez de Mayolo were surveyed to evaluate the variables under study. The results obtained show a direct and significant relationship (Spearman's Rho = 0.731) between the two variables. Through this research, it was possible to determine that teachers who have developed interpersonal competences have a better performance, while in the relationships between interpersonal competences and the dimensions of teacher performance, a positive correlation was obtained.

Douwe Beijaard, PhD, is full professor and director of the Eindhoven School of Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands. His current research themes are the professional identity, quality and development of (beginning) teachers, as well as teachers’ roles in educational innovations.