Educational practice,student experience,and the purpose of education—a critique of ‘Pedagogy in Practice’

The focus of the present paper is a critical discussion of the recently developed concept Pedagogy in Practice (PiP) with the intention of improving the concept for future research. PiP aims to understand ongoing educational practice from the students’ perspective by interviewing groups of students about their understanding of learning. By emphasising ‘pedagogy’ and ‘practice’ and drawing from a theoretical foundation that takes practice and action as key concepts, PiP is an appealing alternative to research in student voice, to which it is closely related. However, a critical analysis of PiP in relation to its stated theoretical sources (Bourdieu, Bernstein, Dewey) shows that the approach contradicts these sources in key areas. In PiP students’ understanding of learning is taken as basic for improving educational practice, however, PiP is developed without an explicit notion of what education is for. This paper introduces a specific formulation of the purpose and functions of education based on the work of Gert Biesta, and outlines how a revised version of PiP might contribute to future empirical research in education.     

The Most Integrated Hour in America: Reframing the Organizational Discourses of Church Purpose

Religious organizations have increasingly drawn the attention of communication scholars. This interest is due in part to the significant role these organizations have in building social capital – particularly in regard to improving racial/ethnic relations. This potential has remained largely unrealized, however, since the Civil Rights Movement over 50 years ago. Consequently, this study seeks to understand how church pastors frame the ambiguous discourse of organizational purpose. Building on an earlier research phase that included 42 pastoral interviews, this study adds to our understanding of framing practices via three dialectical tensions: integration-segregation, belief-practice, and vertical-horizontal. The analysis also reveals how these dialectics were framed through improbability, double bind, alternation, selection, connection, and transcendence, as well as their impact upon ethnic relationships. Theoretic and practical implications are provided.     

The Influence of Religiosity and Ethnic Identification on Media Use Among Muslims and Non-Muslims in France and Britain

This is an examination of the ethnic media use of French and British Muslims. A total of 677 Muslims participated in the study. Analysis reveals being an immigrant or a native of a nation does not significantly influence ethnic media use in France but does in Britain. Ethnic identification was also revealed as an influential predictor of ethnic media use among Muslims in France but not in Britain. Religiosity significantly predicted ethnic media use among British Muslims. The article argues religiosity and ethnic identification should be included in studies examining media use among ethnic groups.     

The Relationships between Driver Anger and Aggressive Communication Traits

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between college students’ level of driver anger and their aggressive communication traits. Driving anger is an individual's tendency to become angry while driving. In 1994 the driving anger scale (DAS) identified six dimensions of driver anger: hostile gestures, illegal driving, police presence, slow driving, discourtesy, and traffic obstructions. Results of Pearson correlations show that police presence, slow driving, discourteous driving, and traffic obstructions were positively related to all of the aggressive communication traits. “Hostile gestures” was related to assertiveness. Illegal driving was related to indirect verbal aggression and assertiveness.     

An instructor self‐disclosure scale

This ‐paper introduces the Instructor Self‐Disclosure Scale and reports on two initial studies that address the reliability and validity of the scale. The Instructor Self‐Disclosure Scale is an 18‐item measure of the amount of instructor self‐disclosure. In Study One, instructor self‐disclosure was positively related to the student motives of relational, excuse‐making, and sycophancy. In Study Two, instructor self‐disclosure was positively related to out‐of‐class communication, the student interest dimensions of meaningfulness and impact, and cognitive learning. Additionally, the Instructor Self‐Disclosure Scale appears to be a unidimensional, internally reliable measure.     

Homogenous Agendas,Disparate Frames: CNN and CNN International Coverage Online

Although CNN and CNN International represent just a fraction of global news coverage, the networks are widely viewed, crucial agenda-setting agents the world over. This study found that the online versions of these 2 networks were remarkably consistent in telling audiences in America and abroad what to think about. However, American and non-American online audiences received disparate amounts of coverage and were cued how to think about issues in unique ways. These findings and the high level of news homogenization in this content analysis are evidence of the influence that American news values have in global media culture.     

Value Systems of Two Academically Contrasted Groups of College Men

This study investigates the adequacy of predicting differential value systems of college students from their American College Test (ACT) scores. Sixty male college Ss were divided into two groups based on ACT scores: a.) high English-low math group, and b.) high math-low English group. The Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values, which measures six dominant values in personality, was administered to each of the two groups. Comparison of mean scores on each scale indicated that only the Theoretical scale distinguished between the two groups, scores for Group II being higher than scores for Group I. Stepwise discriminant analysis indicated, however, that scores on the Theoretical scale were highest for Group II, whereas scores on the Political and Social scales were highest for Group I. The Religious, Economic, and Aesthetic scales were not significantly different in the two groups.     

TEACHING JEWISH STUDIES “UNDER GENTILE AUSPICES” VERSUS THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF RELIGION,INCLUDING JUDAISM: RESPONSE TO ZACHARY BRAITERMAN

Zachary Braiterman's essay, “Teaching Jewish Studies in a Radically Gentile Space: Some Personal Reflections,” demonstrates the cost of pursuing a secular, postmodernist agendum rather than teaching about a discipline‐‐Judaism‐‐under auspices of the academic study of religion. Braiterman's students did not learn about the richness of Judaic thought, but rather learned about their own opinions. Braiterman's position demands revision.     

A critique of “unequal educational opportunity" 1

Using the 159 counties of Georgia as statistical units Osborne has presented data indicating (a) a positive relationship between percentage of non‐Whites and per pupil expenditures; (b) a negative relationship between per pupil expenditures and mean achievement and intelligence scores; and (c) a negative relationship between percentage of non‐Whites and mean intelligence and achievement scores. Osborne has interpreted these findings as indicating that the attempt to raise the achievement levels of previously deprived groups has been a failure, and has used this interpretation as a basis for a more general negative conclusion concerning the effectiveness of compensatory efforts. The present analysis indicates, however, that neither of these conclusions follows from his data. The evidence suggests rather that Osborne's negative correlations reflect in large measure long‐range effects of earlier conditions.