The teacher as manager in continuing and professional education

This paper presents a model dealing with the teacher as manager of self‐directed and interactive learning programs and discusses the value of this model for educators working within continuing and professional education contexts. It provides a framework for the planning, implementation and evaluation of learning programs which promote self‐directed and interactive learning and comprises an outline of phases of learning programs and the roles of teachers (and learners) in these programs.

Major goals related to the process of continuing and professional education today include: promotion of the learners’ ability to work and interact effectively together, fostering their commitment to lifelong learning and development of their self‐directed learning skills. The model presented in this paper is a means of promoting the achievement of these goals. It emphasises the development of skills of independence, self‐direction, interaction, communication, leadership, group membership and conflict resolution. Such skills can be transferred to the workplace to enable adults to accomplish their tasks effectively, achieve their goals, work co‐operatively in teams as leaders and team members and take greater responsibility for their work and continued learning.     

Use and evaluation of a technology-rich experimental collaborative classroom

In order to pilot a shift towards greater use of collaborative learning in our higher education programs, the University of Hong Kong has invested in the development of a prototype technology-enhanced collaborative learning space. The space was created by retrofitting a vacant studio, turning it into an innovative classroom space in which collaborative learning is promoted and facilitated both through the provision of technology and by the physical layout of the room. We have used the space to pioneer collaborative learning both by holding professional development workshops for faculty in the room and also by helping academic staff to run experimental courses in the learning space. The opportunity to offer professional development and support for academic staff in this environment is particularly valuable as it ensures they do not simply deliver traditional didactic lectures in a space designed to promote interactive student learning and engagement. By using the space as a ‘student’ they are able to consider how they may use collaborative learning environments with their students. This paper describes use of the room for professional development of academic staff and also provides two examples of the use and evaluation of the room by faculty who used the room to teach experimental classes.     

Early Childhood Education and Care Content for the Social Work Curriculum

Social workers are poised to play an important role in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings; however, they need the knowledge and skills necessary to make a meaningful contribution. This article presents learning activities that infuse ECEC content, centered on the following four areas for social work education: (1) history of the profession, (2) observation of current practice, (3) culturally competent service delivery, and (4) advocacy to enhance social justice. Through this infusion of content, social work educators can better prepare their students for the growing field of ECEC practice and for social work practice more broadly.     

Benefits of Brief Counseling Training for Master's‐Level Trainees in University Counseling Centers

Little has been addressed in the literature about the advantages of brief counseling training for master's‐level trainees working in university counseling centers. This article discusses the benefits that time‐limited treatment affords trainees and offers implications for training and research.     

Influences and Experiences Affecting the Pro‐environmental Behaviour of Educators

This paper examines the relative importance of various categories of influence and formative life experiences on the development of environmental educators’ knowledge and concern for the environment. The authors analyse the ways in which the importance of influences may change through time or be affected by the subject's age. Conclusions are drawn and discussed, including the crucial role of the family and of childhood experiences outdoors in promoting the development of concern for the environment and pro‐environmental adult behaviour.     

A Place to Protest

The national media converged on Baltimore, Charleston, and Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and 2015 to cover protests in response to police violence toward African American males. Although national and local media covered the events and the aftermath, alternative media sought to provide additional viewpoints and spur readers to respond. This study analyzed the practices, content, and public discourse connected to alternative weekly newspapers in Baltimore, Charleston, and St. Louis. The study examined whether the publications reflected ideal roles of alternative media, including representing different viewpoints, using non-traditional methods of content, and providing a space for the public to challenge systems of power and oppression. The authors also studied the online forums associated with all three publications, including each organization’s website and Facebook page, as potential spaces for alternative publics to emerge around a shared interest in collective action. The publications showed some characteristics of the ideal form of alternative media, but most lacked the diverse voices and critical calls to action needed to represent the normative standard. The discourse the news organizations spurred also fell short of the ideal. The forums lacked rational and critical engagement, and commenters largely failed to promote sincere attempts to engage in community conversation.     

For-profit schools in England: the state of a nation

Abstract

Trends towards the marketisation of the schooling sector have led to suggestions that state-funded schools in England will soon be allowed to operate on a for-profit basis. This article has two aims: to contribute to understanding of the regulation and characterisation of existing for-profit schools in England; and to assess the claim that for-profit schools ‘significantly outperform’ all independent schools by exploring the use of large scale databases including the National Pupil Database (NPD). This study highlights the growth of the for-profit sector, and the scarcity of legislation detailing the financial governance, educational oversight and staffing requirements of schools in the for-profit schooling sector. The for-profit schooling sector is found to be underperforming in terms of school inspection ratings at a level of statistical significance in comparison to the state funded schooling sector. Furthermore, performance indicators relating to GCSE and A level results suggest that the for-profit sector is underperforming compared to the not-for-profit independent sector. As such, the findings of this research have implications in undermining the neoliberal argument that has driven significant change in the schooling landscape in recent times.