How do they do it? : perspectives on being an educational assistant in an Ontario classroom

This qualitative study examined the roles and responsibilities of educational assistants from their own perspectives. Five educational assistants kept written journals and each participant was interviewed once. Findings were interpreted through a critical lens which allowed an examination of the relationships within the hierarchical power structure of the school system and where the educational assistants were situated. A grounded theory approach explained the factors which influenced the perspectives of the participants on being an educational assistant in an Ontario classroom. These factors were identified and organized in five major categories: 1) roles and responsibilities, 2) relationships, 3) communication, 4) changes, and 5) training. The interrelationships between these categories highlighted the complex nature of the role of the educational assistant. This study concluded that relationships and communication had a major influence on the perspectives of the educational assistants.

How do they do it? : perspectives on being an educational assistant in an Ontario classroom

This qualitative study examined the roles and responsibilities of educational assistants from their own perspectives. Five educational assistants kept written journals and each participant was interviewed once. Findings were interpreted through a critical lens which allowed an examination of the relationships within the hierarchical power structure of the school system and where the educational assistants were situated. A grounded theory approach explained the factors which influenced the perspectives of the participants on being an educational assistant in an Ontario classroom. These factors were identified and organized in five major categories: 1) roles and responsibilities, 2) relationships, 3) communication, 4) changes, and 5) training. The interrelationships between these categories highlighted the complex nature of the role of the educational assistant. This study concluded that relationships and communication had a major influence on the perspectives of the educational assistants.

Emerging Complexity in Distributed Intelligent Systems

Distributed intelligent systems (DIS) appear where natural intelligence agents (humans) and artificial intelligence agents (algorithms) interact, exchanging data and decisions and learning how to evolve toward a better quality of solutions. The networked dynamics of distributed natural and artificial intelligence agents leads to emerging complexity different from the ones observed before. In this study, we review and systematize different approaches in the distributed intelligence field, including the quantum domain. A definition and mathematical model of DIS (as a new class of systems) and its components, including a general model of DIS dynamics, are introduced. In particular, the suggested new model of DIS contains both natural (humans) and artificial (computer programs, chatbots, etc.) intelligence agents, which take into account their interactions and communications. We present the case study of domain-oriented DIS based on different agents’ classes and show that DIS dynamics shows complexity effects observed in other well-studied complex systems. We examine our model by means of the platform of personal self-adaptive educational assistants (avatars), especially designed in our University. Avatars interact with each other and with their owners. Our experiment allows finding an answer to the vital question: How quickly will DIS adapt to owners’ preferences so that they are satisfied? We introduce and examine in detail learning time as a function of network topology. We have shown that DIS has an intrinsic source of complexity that needs to be addressed while developing predictable and trustworthy systems of natural and artificial intelligence agents. Remarkably, our research and findings promoted the improvement of the educational process at our university in the presence of COVID-19 pandemic conditions.

Opportunistic Behavior And Its Relationship To Narcissistic Personality Disorder Among Educational Administrators in Soran

This research aims to know the strength and direction of the relationship between opportunistic behavior and the narcissistic personality disorder of educational administrators from principals and assistants to basic and preparatory schools in Soran, and to know the differences in both opportunistic behavior and narcissistic personality disorder between managers and assistants, as well as between schools located in the Soran District Center and its outskirts, Severally .In order to achieve these five goals of the research, the researcher used a sample of (306) managers and assistants of both sexes, who were chosen using the stratified random sample method, and by the method of proportional selection. Where (170) of them were school administrators, and they constituted (55.5%) of the sample population, by (48) principals in the Soran District Center, and (122) principals at the outskirts of the Soran District Center, while the researcher used the results of (136) Assistants, and they represent (44.5%) of the sample size, among whom (65) were assistants at the Soran District Center, (71) were assistants at the outskirts of the Soran District Center.The researcher has resorted to conduct her study to the descriptive approach and the relational method as a method for this study, because it provides information that helps researchers identify the nature and strength of relationships between multiple variables, including the two research variables under study.For this purpose, the researcher built a measure for opportunistic behavior, the number of its paragraphs reached in the initial form of (34) paragraphs, the alternatives to the answer were formulated using the Likert five-way method, and the researcher also adopted to measure the narcissistic personality disorder (NPI) scale of Raskin, R. & Hall, CS) (1981), translated by (Abdul Raqeeb Ahmed Al-Behairi) (2012). This scale consists of (54) paragraphs designed with the method of compulsory selection, where in front of each paragraph there are two options (A) and (B), and after extracting the psychometric properties of both measures The number of items of the opportunistic behavior scale, in its final form, reached (33) items, while the narcissistic personality disorder scale was the final form. It has reached (48) test items.After confirming the clarity of the paragraphs and the instructions of the two measures by experimenting with a representative sample of the research community, which amounted to (30) managers and assistants, the two measurement tools were applied to the members of the sample for the period between (6 - 29/11/2019), and after collecting and sorting the valid responses, they were obtained The necessary data, then these data were statistically analyzed in order to identify the research objectives. The results showed the following:That members of the research community have opportunistic behavior. And to the presence of statistically significant differences between educational administrators and assistants in opportunistic behavior. And for the benefit of educational assistants. The results also showed that those in charge of educational administration in the basic and preparatory stages, whether from the principals or their assistants, suffer from narcissistic personality disorder. The results also indicated the presence of statistically significant differences between the principals and educational assistants in narcissistic personality disorder. And for the benefit of educational administrators. Finally, the researcher concluded, through her findings, that there is a strong direct correlation between opportunistic behavior and narcissistic personality disorder in the two educational administrators.The more individual narcissism becomes more disturbed, the greater the motivation for pursuing opportunistic behavior. Then the researcher reached the conclusions drawn from the results of the research. Finally, recommendations and suggestions were formulated.

Relationship between social education professionals with different levels of education working in institutions for persons with disabilities

Context Over the past 20 years, the Swiss social work education system has undergone profound transformations, including a multiplication of education levels. In the field of social education, there are now three different levels of diplomas: socio-educational assistant with a Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (SEA), social educator with an Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education (SEH) and social educator with a Bachelor’s degree (SEU). This article investigates the relationship between social education professionals with different levels of diplomas working in institutions for persons with disabilities in French-speaking Switzerland. Fourty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with employers and professionals regarding the recruitment practices, the division of labour and the collaboration among professionals. Findings Our study highlighted a balanced distribution between SEA socio-educational assistants, SEH social educators and SEU social educators within institutions. Two modalities of division of labour were also observed: ‘assimilation’ that makes no differences at a formal level between social education professionals and ‘differentiation’ that involves a distinction between SEA socio-educational assistants and SEH/SEU social educators. Finally, participants underlined a good collaboration between these professionals. Applications Both assimilation and differentiation revealed at first sight a divergence between the introduction of three levels in the Swiss social work education system and the reality of the division of labour and the collaboration between SEA socio-educational assistants, SEH social educators and SEU social educators in institutions for persons with disabilities. Considering the recent reforms of social work education as well as the economic and political uncertainties surrounding social institutions in the field of disability, further research is required to examine how the relationship between the three professional profiles evolves.

In-Service Teachers’ and Educational Assistants’ Professional Development Experiences for Inclusive Physical Education

Purpose: The objective of this study was to understand and learn about in-service teachers’ and educational assistants’ professional development (PD) experiences for inclusive physical education (IPE), individually and collaboratively. Method: Using a multiple case study design and hermeneutic inquiry, the experiences of three teachers and three educational assistants were investigated. Data sources included semistructured interviews, focus groups, observations, and researcher reflective journals. Results: The practitioners’ experiences with PD for IPE revealed the following major themes: (a) it is just not there: IPE-PD is rare, (b) taking initiative: maximizing consultants as IPE-PD, and (c) together we are better: desire for collaborative IPE-PD. Discussion/Conclusions: PD for IPE needs to be developed and implemented for teachers and educational assistants working as an instructional team together. Engaging these practitioners in collaborative IPE-PD can support their learning and the teaching of IPE and acts as a starting point to form communities of practice in IPE.