The Open Education Journal

This article reports the validity of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), (developed to assess student- teacher interpersonal interaction) when modified, translated and used at the university level in Indonesia. We also investigated relationships between students' outcomes (achievement and attitudes) and the quality of teacher-student interactions among 422 students in 12 classes in a private university in Indonesia. Data analyses supported the QTI's validity, revealed differences between a computer science and a management department in terms of instructor-student interactions, and identified which types of instructor-student interactions are most likely to promote student outcomes at the university level.

The aim of this study was to investigate conditions related to teacher participation in the planning and implementation of the Norwegian part of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools. One hundred and four teachers responded to the questionnaire at baseline and at three year follow-up. Teachers' personal interest and regard for the program aim were the main predictors of their self-reported participation in the program. Conditions perceived as enabling or hindering program implementation, as well as baseline characteristics of school culture and professional discretion were to a high extent related to participation in the program (Multiple R 2 = .52). Health promotion aiming at increasing the students' wellbeing and improving the school environment seemed to have been well received by teachers, and enabled their participation in the program. The findings imply that programs encouraging networking are likely to be successful in engaging teachers, and that such networking yields ample opportunities for professional learning.

The aim of this study was to investigate comprehensive (classes 1-9) school teachers' views of the functionality of the social support networks in promoting pupils' health and well-being in school communities. This study belongs to the European Network of Health Promoting Schools programme (ENHPS) evaluation project in Finland. In this study partnership and the social support networks between home and school, school nurse and school community and school community and various other networks are a part of social capital that promote pupils' health and well-being. The survey data were collected from teachers (N = 22) by the means of web-based questionnaires in the spring terms in a four-year follow-up design. The teachers felt that the social support network and partnership between school and parents and school nurses was significant in promoting the health and well-being of pupils. However, parents and school nurses didn't always have opportunities to participate in the planning and evaluation of teaching and health promotion work in the schools. In the future, partnership will represent a potential way in which schools might build additional capacities and support for promoting pupils' health and well-being. Furthermore, social capital is not separate from other capital structures, such as cultural and economic capital, which are all needed.

This paper discusses emerging findings from 12 focus group interviews of parents who are currently using kindergarten as the main early childhood education provider for their child/children. These interviews are from a larger national study looking at current kindergarten culture within the early childhood sector of this century. Parents were asked what they liked about kindergarten and what, if any changes they would like to see in the kindergarten provision firstly, for their child and then for the kindergartens as a national service. The wider data from this study is still being compiled and the parents’ interviews are at a preliminary analysis stage. The views of the parents are significant for all planning and understanding about the importance of our early childhood sector in the lives of families, and the implications of these early findings will be discussed.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the of influences the process of gaining access to university. To this end, we considered the distribution of the birth dates during the year, the qualifications required to enter the University of the Basque Country and the selected degree of 32,740 students who had entered the University from 1999 to 2004. Correlation analysis demonstrated that there is a small (r=-0.015) but significant (p=0.011) relation- ship between date of birth (January 1 st =1; December 31 st = 365) and the average grade students obtained in their univer- sity admittance exams. Moreover, this difference is more marked in certain degrees such as Medicine, Audiovisual Com- munication, Psychology, Engineering, Fine Arts or Physical Education. The effect may be due to a different degree of ma- turity between the adolescents born in January and those born in December. Thus, the former may be more mature and ob- tain better qualifications in secondary school. In conclusion, the data suggest that the of factor influences the process of gaining access to university. Therefore special attention should be made to avoid the potential disadvantages associated with being born late in the year.

In this study, we examined the sustainability of health-promoting practices in Norwegian schools that were enrolled in the European Network of Health-Promoting Schools from 1993 to 2003. The research questions were: How do the principals perceive that health-promoting practices have been sustained in the schools following the schools' membership of the health-promoting schools network? In what way is school leadership related to the sustainability of health promotion? The study draws on qualitative data consisting of interviews with seven principals in 2008 and school documents. The schools determined their own priorities for action based on assessment of needs in 1994. After 14 years, health promotion practices were sustained in six of the seven schools. Two factors emerged as vital for sustained health promotion practices: the health-promoting school experience and the maintenance and development of practice. The health-promoting school experience relates to staff who internalized the potential link between health promotion practices, school satisfaction, and learning. This also emphasizes the importance of the transfer of experience in sustaining health promotion practices as the staff turned over. The maintenance of vision and practice relates to the principals' commitment to school health promotion, leadership practices that encourage health promotion practices, and external collaboration with the surrounding community in health promotion.

Aim: To investigate children's body image, perceptions of the academic abilities of thin and fat children and whether body image influences student's academic confidence and/or participation in school classroom activities. Methods: The Children's Body Image Scale (CBIS) depicting seven figures ranging from thin (A) to fat (G) and individual one-on-one interviews were completed by 15 children aged 8 to 10 years. Results: The thinnest CBIS figures (A, B) were the most nominated 'ideals'. Children with two largest figures, F or G were not nominated as ideal. Thin children were generally ranked as best and perceived as kind; happy; small eaters and socially successful. Fat children were perceived as unintelligent; lazy; greedy; unpopular; bullying and unable or unwilling to play physical games. Thin children were perceived as best at sport; dancing; mathematics and giving speeches. No fat children were perceived as best at any of the academic skills. Conclusion: Body image ideals and fat stereotypes are well entrenched among children although it did not appear to adversely affect their academic confidence and participation in school activities at this age. Teachers and health educators could promote children's participation in academic activities and encourage well being by implementing programs that increase acceptance of a wide range of healthy, and active body shapes. behavior and job competence. The results of this study showed that the girls considered themselves to be less intelligent and academically competent than their lower weight peers, based purely on their body weight perceptions. These findings suggest that adolescent's poor self image is reflected in their poor body image and their desire to seek the perfect body, which is characterized by slimness in females and slim/muscularity in males. These perfect body ideals are largely unattainable by most individuals and the pursuit of them often translates into repeated failure, further weight gain and lower self worth. The current study seeks to investigate these phenomena in younger children to examine if body image issues affect primary school children's academic self concept as well as self image related to children's participation in classroom and physical education activities. The major research question in the current study was How do primary school children perceive their own bodies and those of others and do children's body image perceptions relate to their perceptions of and confidence in academic activities, sporting ability and other school activities?

The United Kingdom team investigated policy and practice in relation to students in four key categories of disadvantage, according to participation and achievement data: asylum seekers and refugees; gypsies and travellers; minority language speakers; and looked after children; and. The link between policy and practice was found to be a tenuous one and although there were many examples of good practice documented, few were systematically evaluated or disseminated in ways that would allow others to learn about, adopt or adapt apparently successful initiatives.

The paper reports the attempt to synthesize the main theoretical positions about creative thinking in order to define a coherent framework to be applied in education. Three general mental operations seem to rely on the basis of creativity: widening (W), connecting (C) and reorganizing (R). W concerns the tendency to keep an open mind and to deal with a great number of elements. C refers to the capacity to establish relationships among different elements and to combine them in unusual ways. R consists of changing the perspective and inverting relationships among elements. The model of creativity resulting from the integration of W, C and R: (i) inspired the investigation of the folk conceptions of creativity; (ii) was the basis of a test to measure creative thinking skills; and (iii) was the foundation of a training programme aimed at enhancing such skills in children. The instruments which were devised on the basis of the WCR model are described and some results coming from their application in educational settings are reported.

This paper examines the relationship between dispositional goal orientations, the perception of different motivational climates and physical self-concept in physical education classes. An additional purpose was to examine the nature of these relationships among boys and girls. Eight hundred and eighty-four students from a large Spanish metropolitan school district were participants in this study and completed questionnaires assessing the above mentioned variables. Results revealed that sport competence and physical condition were the domains of physical self-concept that had a greater connection with goal orientations and motivational climates. Gender differences were also identified for all variables except for task orientation. In addition, the task-involving motivational climate was the main predictor in the sport competence and physical condition subscales in the case of the girls, while ego and task orientation were, respectively, the strongest predictors for the same physical self-concept subscales in the case of the boys. In order to provide more inclusive teaching, especially for students with low self-concept, this study suggests the need to create classroom participation that favours task-involving motivational environments.

In a context of reform aimed at providing a quality education for all children, governance and leadership play a crucial and central role. Hence, it has been deemed essential to study the way governance and leadership are being tackled and introduced by central authorities as they move towards greater devolution of authority to the micro level, represented in Malta through a College network system. The article takes cognisance of the fact that we are still in the initial stages of the reform and that the reflections are based on initial studies that have been carried out over the past few years and a critique presented by the authors. Striking the balance between centralized and decentralized practices, focusing on different forms of professional development, a heavy emphasis on co-operation and sharing of good practices have been identified as essential ingredients that have to be addressed in a strategic manner and sustained over time.