Spanish Teacher Attitudes Towards Digital Game-Based Learning

The consideration that the only goal of games is the achievement of entertainment is still commonly accepted, although there is now an outgrowing perspective that believes in the use of games to promote learning. This exploratory quantitative research examines both in-service and pre-service Spanish teacher perceptions (n = 112) about using digital games in their lessons, paying a special attention to the TPACK model, and comparing the results regarding age, gender, and professional situation. Responses show a positive attitude towards the potential use of video games in their lessons, although there are differences considering the results of the items concerning technological, pedagogical, or content knowledge. The data presented in this study is relevant to guide the design of curriculum and training programs, as well as to develop strategies to support and scaffold pre-service and in-service teachers' knowledge and practical implementation of digital game-based learning (DGBL).

Understandings and uses of assessment: case study with Spanish teacher educators

Assessment can serve different purposes. In Spain there has been an increase of research in assessment processes that intends to enhance students’ learning. Attending to this scenario, this study intends to explore the understandings of four teachers from one Spanish university, known as one of the most active in developing formative and shared assessment processes, about i) the process of implementing formative and shared assessment processes and ii) the impact of these assessments on students and on the teaching-learning process. Four teachers were purposively selected to be interviewed, according to their availability, use of assessment to promote students’ learning, work in a teacher education programme and have more than 15 years of experience as teacher. Analysis of data collected from semi-structured individual interviews resulted in the following themes i) formative and shared assessment – advantages vs. disadvantages, ii) vision about teacher education programmes, iii) teachers’ changes throughout their career, iv) students’ participation in assessment, and v) negotiating the teaching-learning process with students. These teachers consider that formative and shared assessment can be laborious, but worth the effort, mainly in teacher education programmes, where the focus is not only on student-person, but also on future teacher-person.

“My Language Learners Seemed Like Ghosts”: A Rural Teacher’s Transformational Journey Implementing the Seal of Biliteracy

This paper describes the personal and professional journey taken by one secondary Spanish teacher to implement the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) for English learners (ELs) in a rural Florida school district. The teacher’s goal was to promote bilingual pride among her ELs and to validate their bilingual abilities, which had been frequently unrecognized in the community. This promising practice in a rural Florida district demonstrated two important transformations: first was the teacher’s personal views about bilingualism as an asset rather than a deficit, and second was the instructional practices she employed and fierce advocacy for the ELs in her rural secondary school. Ultimately, the work of the teacher disrupted inequities that her bilingual students faced and positively affected her EL students’ views of bilingualism and their lives in the rural school community.

Spanish Teacher Education Students’ Values and Satisfaction with Life

The main purposes of this study were to describe teacher education students’ values and degree of satisfaction with life, to analyze whether any differences by educational program, gender or living standard and to analyze the association between values and satisfaction with life. A total of 565 students of teacher degree programs (girls 415 (73.5%)) answered a self-administered questionnaire composed by two validates scales about their values (Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) and satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale)). The results showed that the most important values were self-direction, benevolence and hedonism, while the least important values were power, tradition and achievements. Females reported higher importance for benevolence, universalism, self-direction, stimulation, hedonism and security. Males reported higher importance for power. Students who live with family reported also more high values for power. Concerning satisfaction with life, it was associated to higher values of power. Current intervention programs have focused different approaches by gender and living standard. Programs focus on increasing satisfaction with life should consider the values structure of students.

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Child Problematic Traits Inventory in 3- to 12-Year-Old Spanish Children

The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Spanish teacher-rated Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI) in two community samples of 3- to 12-year-old children. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported the three-factor structure of the CPTI (Grandiose-Deceitful: GD; Callous-Unemotional: CU; Impulsive-Need for Stimulation: INS), being invariant across gender and age groups. The CPTI total and factor scores showed excellent internal consistencies (> .90) in the total group, and across gender and age groups. In support of their criterion validity, the CPTI scores were positively related to psychopathy scores as measured by an alternative teacher-rated measure. In support of their convergent validity, the CPTI scores showed the expected relations to variables that have been linked to psychopathic personality, including fearlessness, conduct problems, aggression, and low prosocial behavior. Overall, these findings suggest that the Spanish teacher-rated version of the CPTI has good psychometric properties and seems to be a promising tool for studying psychopathic traits in children.

Beliefs about L1 use in teaching English: A comparative study of Polish and Spanish teacher-trainees

The study investigated the beliefs expressed by a sample of 206 Polish and Spanish teacher-trainees about the use of learners’ native language (L1) in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Quantitative and qualitative data from a questionnaire revealed considerable differences between the two nationality groups in their beliefs about both medium-oriented and framework-oriented functions of the L1 in an L2 classroom. Moreover, significant differences were found in the participants’ accounts of their prior EFL learning experience in terms of the L1–L2 proportion in teachers’ classroom language use. A possible interpretation of these findings relates trainees’ beliefs to the L2 educational cultures prevalent in different countries, pointing to a contextually-mediated complexity of teacher-trainees’ belief systems. The study adds to the existing research on the issues underlying L1 use in L2 teaching that are currently under debate by offering a cross-national comparison of teacher-trainees’ beliefs about the place of the L1 in L2 instruction.