Communication in education

Leaders often manage both chaos and diversity. We can improve our leadership
effectiveness by better understanding our motives and behaviors, and those of our
followers. A potential tool for leadership development is the Instinctual Variant
Questionnaire (IVQ). Based on Enneagram theory (pronounced “ANY-a-gram”), this
online instrument is designed to assist users in identifying how three behavioral drives, or
variants, may be helping or hindering their dispositions. Each reside in us, but one
typically dominates, one supports, and one tends to impede our behaviors and motives.
Through an understanding of one’s variants and order of preference, it is possible to
increase self-awareness of our motives and behaviors. While the IVQ proposes to
measure one’s preferred order of variants, no formal test of reliability and/or validity was
found published prior to this study. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability
and criterion-related validity of the IVQ. Reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha.Results indicated alpha values between .82 and .85 for the three variants measured,suggesting internal reliability.Validity was tested using data collected from a 120-person sample. The instrument’s results were compared to self-reported primary variant types obtained from those who had a high confidence level in accurately identifying their most dominant type. The IVQ was found to be a strong predictor of the three self-reported variant types. Three binary logistic regression models were run. Omnibus tests were significant for all three models at the p < .001 level (self-preservation chi-square statistic = 82.57, social chi-square statistic = 56.47, and sexual chi-square statistic = 51.77). A multinomial regression model, using self-reported dominant types as the dependent variable and IVQ scores as the independent variable, confirmed predictability of the IVQ. When z-scores were obtained based on the classification hit-rates from all four independent models, classification accuracy was found to be a significant improvement over guessing. Further analysis also suggested age, gender, marital status, education level, or number of years spent studying the Enneagram do not factor into IVQ results. Support for the IVQ to beused as a tool by leaders to better understand themselves and their followers is presented.

This mixed methods study investigated teacher, parent, and school leader
perceptions of the impact of parent communications and expectation on teacher practices, focusing specifically on four categories: grading, communication, instructional, and curriculum practices. Quantitative data were collected through online surveys from 25 teachers in second through fifth grades, as well as 96 parents of second through fifthgraders, in five private Jewish day schools located in the Southeastern United States. Qualitative data were collected from ten teachers, ten parents, and three school leaders who provided interviews, where they elaborated on the nature of parental communications and expectations at their own schools and their perceptions of their impact on teacher practices. The findings indicated that parent communications take place with high frequency, and are initiated fairly evenly between parents and teachers. Parents and teachers differ on their perceptions of negativity of communications, with teachers reporting more negative communications than parents. A t-test was conducted on the survey items that corresponded with the four categories to compare parent and teacher responses. There were some statistically significant differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers of the impact of particular types of parent communications on teacher practices in private Jewish day schools. These included requests for reviews of a child's grade or a grade change, as well as requests for changes in the content of homework. However, the qualitative data overwhelmingly indicated that parents and teachers have similar perceptions of the impact of parents communications and. They felt that parents occasionally request certain changes, but that these changes have minimal impact in the classroom, outside of isolated, individual events. expectations The school leaders who participated in the study agreed that, for the most part, the dayto- day practices of teachers were not greatly impacted by parent communications.

The purpose of this dissertation was to compare the communication style of academic and student affairs administrators and to determine whether these administrators were satisfied with their mutual relationship. The study was conducted among 109 chief academic and student affairs administrators in two year colleges from five states who took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the researcher's Relationship Satisfaction Survey. Oneway analysis of variance and the Selection Ratio Type Table were used to compare responses by groups of academic or student affairs administrators on MBTI scales of sensing or intuition and thinking or feeling. Oneway analysis of variance was also used to compare participants' responses to six items on importance and satisfaction scales of the Relationship Satisfaction Survey. The MBTI findings of the study indicated that academic affairs administrators were more likely than student affairs administrators to prefer intuition and student affairs administrators more likely to prefer sensing. Almost one half of the academic affairs administrators preferred intuition plus thinking, and almost eighty percent preferred intuition. The student affairs administrators' types were more diverse, with one third scoring as feeling types and over one half sensing types. These findings have an impact on the communication style that might be used by administrators when collaborating with counterparts of differing psychological types. The findings of the Relationship Satisfaction Survey indicated no significant difference between the two groups in their importance or satisfaction ratings of six aspects of the partnership. These aspects included agreement on resource allocation, agreement on policies and procedures, agreement on ethical principles and practices, effective listening by partner, general understanding and maintaining a collaborative working relationship. The means of the sums of importance and satisfaction scale scores for each group were similar, indicating both groups believed the items important and were satisfied with those aspects of their partnership. Conclusions related to the findings include suggestions to improve the communication between academic and student affairs administrators. Specific suggestions were given for each of the four MBTI functions of sensing plus thinking, sensing plus feeling, intuition plus thinking and intuition plus feeling. It is recommended that future research include larger studies, studies where participation is of a less voluntary nature and studies of matched pairs of administrators who work together.

In this study the effectiveness of WatchMinderTM, a vibrating prompt watch, was examined as a component of a self-monitoring intervention package to help students with autism increase on-task behavior during independent seatwork. A multitude of literature since the 1970s has suggested that self-monitoring interventions are integral in increasing task engagement. Tactile prompting devices are a new aspect of self-monitoring interventions, and the limited research has shown that these unobtrusive devices are effective for providing feedback to monitor their behavior. Self-graphing is another component of self-monitoring interventions that has received little attention in the literature. However, many studies recognize the importance for individuals to be active participants in their educational programs by analyzing progress and being a part of the decision making process. This study assessed the use of WatchMinder and self-graphing on the on-task behavior of four elementary students with autism in the special education setting.

The qualitative research study examined the teacher-student and student-student interactions that took place in two elementary parochial classrooms staffed by teachers nominated as effective by their supervisors. The study also examined relationships, similarities and differences between the teacher-student and student-student interactions. Qualitative data were collected including classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and focus group interviews with students. Results indicated that effective teachers supported their students organizationally through well-organized learning environments ; instructionally by using a variety of instructional scaffolds, strategies and materials while holding students accountable for their learning ; and emotionally by meeting students' needs for belonging and safety. Student-student instructinal and emotional supports reflected most of the elements of teacher-student organizational, instructional and emotional supports but also included some negative interactions not present in teacher-student interactions. Implications for classroom practice, public policy and further research in classroom interactions are given.

This study examines the potential benefits of using the native language of learners in a principled way by reviewing research that represents the dominant view of using only the second or target language (L2) against a growing body of literature that argues for principled L1 use. The development of the direct and monolingual method and its key aspects are discussed, and bilingual methods and arguments for implementing the first language (L1) in a foreign language classroom are reviewed and evaluated. An attitudinal case study investigating learners' attitudes towards L1 use in the classroom showed that students prefer a mixture of L1 and L2, and that the principled use of the L1 has positive effects on the learner.