In-text citations

       When writing a paper or an article, it is necessary to bear in mind that it is a crime to cut and paste somebody else’s concepts. It is undeniable that when writing it is necessary to do research and sometimes refer to other authors’ ideas. The original writer must always be named if we use his/her thoughts. One way of doing this is by using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6^th Edition (2010).  In this book, different in-text citations appear, like paraphrased material, parenthetical citations or block quotations. Some examples of in-text citations can be found in the text Narratives in teaching education written by Dolk and den Hertog (2008).

·         Paraphrased ideas are used to share other authors’ ideas but using our own words. In the following example found on page 220, it can be seen that the authors choose to place the original author’s name and the date between parenthesis.

In relation to this, we can refer to the methodological norm of ‘‘trackability,’’ which is used as a criterion in ethnographic research (Smaling, 1992).

·         Paraphrased ideas can also be used by mentioning the author’s name in a signal phrase and placing the date between parenthesis, an example was found on pages 215- 216.

Goffree and Dolk (1995) identified reflection, narration, and construction as being particularly important for teacher education.

·         When mentioning the same authors for several times, for future references it is advisable to write only the first’ author’s last name and et al.  The following example was found on page 216.

MILE is a multimedia interactive learning environment for prospective primary school teachers, with content for primary mathematics teacher education programs (Dolk et al., 1996; Goffree & Oonk, 2001).

Writers with little experience tend to steal ideas from other authors and many times they do this without realizing it, this is called plagiarism. But, it is easy to avoid having problems with the original author. For this, it is advisable to use the advice given in writing manuals, like the APA Manual 6^th edition (2010).

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (6th, ed.) Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Dolk, M & den Hertog, J. (2008) Narratives in teacher education, Interactive Learning Environments, 16:3, 215-229. Doi:10.1080/10494820802113970

Narratives and sharing could help teachers' improvement

       Dolk and den Hertog (2008), in the article titled “Narratives in teacher education,” analyzed the idea of helping student-teachers to develop narratives using a multimedia learning environment. They carried out an experiment at a Primary School to help student-teachers construct their own personal growth through personal practical experiences. Furthermore, student-teachers had to share and discuss their own practices with their peers.

       Dolk and den Hertog (2008, p.216) discussed the idea that “taking the narrative approach implies a redesign of teacher education”. They focused the experiment on a multimedia learning environment called Multimedia Interactive Learning Environment (MILE).  MILE is used for didactical investigation so it helps users to analyze students’ learning and their process. “MILE contains a database of real classroom teaching: a video database of real teaching and learning practice in primary schools, communication tools for learners, a search engine, a scrapbook, and a journal for the learners.” (Dolk & den Hertog, 2008, p. 216)

        In the article, it is described the worth of using narratives by student-teachers. Dolk and den Hertog (2008, p.217) stated that “constructing narratives from learning experiences will help teachers to reflect on those experiences”.

       In the multimedia, environment student-teachers observe and discuss different topics related to education. This debate leads them to talk about their own stories and to develop them into narratives (Dolk & den Hertog, 2008). Student-teachers are asked to tell their stories and “telling stories about the observation of short episodes in the classroom brings student-teachers to constructing hypotheses about education.” (Dolk & den Hertog, 2008, p.221)

       Dolk and den Hertog (2008) presented and explained one specific situation that happened to a particular student in a Primary School. This was taken as an experiment. Dolk and den Hertog (2008) asked student-teachers to observe a video about a specific episode and to make it their personal story. After that, several stories were shared and analyzed among the peers.

       Subsequently, Dolk and den Hertog (2008) presented six steps for the construction of educational meaning through narratives. The six steps include: observing; sharing and discussing observations; analyzing; reflecting; developing narrative knowledge; and expanding the personal repertoire and generalizing the situation into a didactic for teachers’ education.

       Practical experience is an important source for constructing a meaning of teaching…Student teachers are expected to explain and justify their observations and interpretations. Their peers are expected to take observation and interpretation seriously, to be able to paraphrase their story, and be able to verify the story with the event in the multimedia environment (social norm) … We see these narratives as the starting point for a discussion about understanding teaching, constructing educational meaning, rethinking classroom behavior, and expanding classroom repertoire. (Dolk & den Hertog, 2008, p.228) 

      The aim of the article written by Dolk and den Hertog (2008) was to help student-teachers reflect upon their own practices. Also, the purpose of the mentioned experiment was that student-teachers should learn to share their personal practices with their peers so as to grow professionally.      

References

Dolk, M & den Hertog, J. (2008). Narratives in teacher education, Interactive Learning Environments, 16:3, 215-229. Doi:10.1080/10494820802113970