The Institution for Special Education at the Faculty of Pedagogic of the University of Kaposvár has been engaged in animal assisted activities for about three years. Our most recent research program was conducted for over two month in the Spring of 2014 with the involvement of 66 children--all kindergarten and elementary school age--11 special…

In this paper we explore the value of theoretical triangulation as a methodological approach for the analysis of classroom interaction. We analyze an excerpt of a whole-class discussion in history from three theoretical perspectives: interactivity of the discourse, conceptual level raising and historical reasoning. We conclude that using…

Much pedagogic research undertaken in geography and other disciplines relies on post-hoc methods such as surveys or interviews to investigate the student experience of higher education (often based on self-reports of behaviour). However, observation of students provides a far more direct route to obtain information about their behaviour, and there…

This paper discusses interactional patterns in classrooms in primary school in rural Tanzania, based on an ethnographic study on literacy practices. The paper argues that the official policy of Swahili-only in primary school, together with the huge gap between high expectations on educational outcome and lack of resources, have resulted in the…

Much of this annual report of the Scottish Council for Research in Education consists of lists and reports, including names of officials, budget, titles of dissertations of Scottish university students, and titles of published articles relating to the Council. Two of these articles are included in the report. One describes methods of observing…

A model for processes of abstraction, based on epistemic actions, has been proposed elsewhere. Here we apply this model to processes in which groups of individual students construct shared knowledge and consolidate it. The data emphasizes the interactive flow of knowledge from one student to the others in the group, until they reach a shared…

Many academics do not view community engagement as a priority in their work. Yet, in an increasingly competitive funding environment, there is evidence that many benefits arise from the creation of university-community partnerships. This paper describes a study that documents the experience of seven academics successfully establishing community…

Discusses some of the better known interaction analyses for analyzing teacher behavior generally and the teaching of small groups. One particular category system is advocated and problems in using it are noted, as well as its strengths for general, nonspecialist use. Seven references are listed. (Author/CHC)

Whilst there is broad consensus that the emotional responsiveness and sensitivity of staff are of high importance in interactions with babies and young children in nursery, there is not consensus about how far interactions should be organised to facilitate attachments with particular staff. This paper brings the "child's voice" into this…

Situational studies comprised one part of a multiperspective approach to evaluation of the social studies curriculum in British Columbia, Canada. Situational studies were defined as settings in which daily interactions occurred among the subjects, and were based on two suppositions; that the interaction of students and educators created social…

The work of Vygotsky (1987) on everyday and scientific concept formation has provided a useful theoretical framework for considering the nature and connectedness of learning between the home and the early childhood centre. This paper will present the findings of an investigation which sought to examine the potential connections made between home…

A research program to investigate interactions of instruction styles and learner characteristics related to learning results in junior high schools is described. Data was gathered both by observation of the teacher in the classroom and by responses of pupils on their perceptions of the teacher. Different teaching styles are defined and referred to…