Training and Leadership
Combatting Learner Challenges in a Rural School: Aspirational Capital as a Tool for Navigating Diverse Social Spaces View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Emma Groenewald
The study focuses on how learners in a rural school use aspirational capital to overcome challenges and ensure academic success. In bridging the gap between the community space and the school space learners make use of various forms of capital to ensure successful navigation in a new space. Aspirational capital is acquired through individual experiences within specific contexts. This resilience enables learners to achieve goals amidst challenges. The study is guided by the central research question: How do learners utilise aspirational capital to address learner challenges and ensure academic success? Two learners, a Xhosa boy, and a Nama girl, were chosen as participants for the study. Data was generated through four semi-structured interviews. The narratives gave insight into how the participants used aspirational capital in the navigation of the new school context. A social constructivist paradigm was followed to capture the participants' unique experiences. The data was analysed using Appadurai's (2004) capacity to aspire, Yosso's (2005) model of cultural wealth in communities, and Somers' (1994) narrative identity as theoretical lenses. The data is presented under the following themes: the learners' community narratives focusing on their personal aspirational experiences, their school narratives linked to aspirations within the school context, and navigation using aspirational capital. The analysis of the narratives indicates that learners with the capacity to aspire effectively utilise resources to unfold a culture of possibility and act as agents of change.
The Multivoiced Classroom: Enhancing Pre-service English Teachers’ Self-efficacy through Formative Assessment View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alfonso Lopez-Hernandez
Numerous studies have found that a perceived low level of competence in the foreign language can negatively affect foreign language teachers' self-efficacy and self-concept. This can be a problem in countries where, as in Spain, many pre-service teachers begin their training with an intermediate to low level of English. This case study offers of a course design and implementation that uses formative assessments and multi-directional feedback to foster a “multivoiced” learning environment that can help respond to the needs of a mixed language ability group. Using team lesson planning and microteaching as the main course task, students are exposed to abundant teacher and peer feedback, provide constructive criticism to their peers’ work, and engage in processes of self-assessment and reflective writing. In this exploratory study, we were interested in assessing the effectiveness of these instructional strategies, especially in their ability to support the learning of lower language-level trainees, and even modify their self-concept as prospective English teachers.To do so, qualitative data were collected in the form of anonymous mid-semester and end-of-semester exit tickets, focus group interviews, and reflective essay writing. Initial results suggest that the prominent role of collaboration and feedback in the classroom does provide an effective scaffold for students’ learning, although it is unclear whether an increased sense of foreign language pedagogical competence significantly affects trainees' self-concept as English teachers.
A Diagnosis about Preliminary Considerations about Computational Thinking in Primary and Secondary School Teachers in the Municipality of Pasto, Colombia View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jesus Insuasti, Alexander Baron Salazar, Edwin Giovanni Insuasty Portilla
Computational thinking is increasingly recognized as a foundational skill for the 21st century, akin to reading, writing, and arithmetic, due to its profound impact on problem-solving and analytical skills across various disciplines. In education, embedding computational thinking into the curriculum equips students with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary to navigate and innovate in a rapidly evolving digital world, fostering a generation that is adept at using technology and understanding and shaping it. Despite its growing importance on a global scale, the implementation of computational thinking within the educational domains of primary and secondary schools in the municipality of Pasto, Colombia, remains in its nascent stages. This research presents a comprehensive diagnosis of the initial perceptions and understanding of computational thinking among 407 educators in Pasto. Our findings underscore the pressing need for targeted training programs in computational thinking, which align with international educational standards and cater to the unique context of local schools. By highlighting specific areas of interest and potential application in real-world scenarios, this paper paves the way for more effective integration of computational thinking into the local educational curriculum, thereby enriching students' learning experiences in Pasto.
