Teachers’ Concerns About Biotechnology Education

The impacts of biotechnology are found in nearly all sectors of society from health care and food products to environmental issues and energy sources. Despite the significance of biotechnology within the sciences, it has not become a prominent trend in science education. In this study, we seek to more fully identify biology teachers’ concerns about biotechnology instruction and their reported practices. Consistent with the Stages of Concern framework as modified by Hord et al., we investigated teachers’ awareness, informational, personal, management, consequences, collaboration, and refocusing concerns about biotechnology teaching by employing a qualitative design that allowed for the emergence of teachers’ ideas. Twenty high school life science teachers attending a biotechnology institute were interviewed using an interview protocol specifically designed to target various Stages of Concern. Although the Stages of Concern framework guided the development of interview questions in order to target a wide range of concerns, data analysis employed a grounded theory approach wherein patterns emerged from teachers’ own words and were constantly compared with each other to generate larger themes. Our results have potential to provide guidance for professional development providers and curriculum developers committed to supporting initial implementation of biotechnology education. Recommendations include supporting teacher development of biotechnology content knowledge; promoting strategies for obtaining, storing and managing biotechnology equipment and materials; providing opportunities for peer teaching as a means of building teacher confidence; and highlighting career opportunities in biotechnology and the intersections of biotechnology and everyday life.     

What We Talk About When We Talk About Nepantla: Gloria Anzaldúa and the Queer Fruit of Aztec Philosophy

A particular twenty-first-century understanding of the Aztec concept nepantla, one which has recently taken hold in critical education thanks to the writings of Gloria Anzaldúa, does not accurately reflect traditional Aztec history and philosophy. This essay reveals why this is the case, demonstrating in detail the meaning of nepantla within the broader Aztec ontology. It then asks education researchers and practitioners to instead use the theoretical framework of malinalli, the Aztec philosophical concept which best aligns with transformative social justice goals.     

Just the Facts? The Separation of Sex Education from Moral Education

In this essay Sharon Lamb considers how progressives have begun to win the longstanding battle to shape sex education and what they have had to give up in the process. After framing the battle in historical context, Lamb uses discourse analysis to explore the hidden values in the “evidence‐based” (EB) curricula that progressives currently favor and that pass for neutral today. As her analysis reveals, EB curricula privilege three discourses — a discourse of science, a discourse of healthy choices (with an emphasis on individuals), and a discourse of efficacy — all of which are grounded in ideology and serve to legitimize certain kinds of knowledge while undermining other kinds. Lamb concludes by proposing eight tenets for the future of sexuality education, which are intended to displace the eight tenets codified by proponents of abstinence‐only‐until‐marriage sexuality education.     

你能区分Let's …与 Let us…吗?

Let’S…中的“’S”是us之意,但在Let’s中的us包含了所有在场的人;而Let us…中的us仅仅指在场的说话人一方,不包含在场的听话人一方。一般说来,Let’s的句中不出现you,your之词。疑问句的结尾一般用shall We。而Let us…的句中就有you,your之词,疑问句的结尾一般用will you。例如: Let’s go to school,shall we?(指我们一起去上学,包括在场的说话人和听话人。) Let us go out to play now,will you?(表示说话人对听话人的一种请求,不包括听话人。)意     

Let's Talk: Parents’ Mental Talk (Not Mind-Mindedness or Mindreading Capacity) Predicts Children's False Belief Understanding

Although one might expect parents’ mind-mindedness (MM; the propensity to view children as mental agents) to relate to everyday mental-state talk (MST) and theory-of-mind capacity, evidence to support this view is lacking. In addition, both the uniqueness and the specificity of relations between parental MM, parental MST, and children's false belief understanding (FBU) are open to question. To address these three gaps, this study tracked 117 preschoolers (60 boys) and their parents across a 13-month period (M_age = 3.94 years, SD = 0.53, at Time 1). Parental MM, MST, and theory-of-mind capacity showed little overlap. Both MM and MST were weakly associated with children's concurrent FBU, but in line with social constructivist accounts, only MST predicted later FBU.     

‘What Are We Talking About?’ Plural Education and Teacher Education

In this article some basic concepts in the field of education in a plural society are discussed and defined. A distinction is made between various forms of plural education, which is the generic concept for all educational reactions to the plurality of a society. This distinction is based on the target group, purpose and general orientation of these reactions. The ensuing discussion of the various forms of plural education results, among other things, in a critique of multi‐ and intercultural education and the proposal of a pluralist education. The third and last section deals with some perspectives for teacher education.

     

Sex Education through a Trauma-Informed Lens: Do Parents Who See Trauma as a Problem for Youth Support Trauma-Informed Sex Education?

Trauma-informed sex education is sensitive to students’ traumatic life experiences. Internet panel data for 600 Louisiana parents/caregivers of school-age youth were used to examine parental support for trauma-informed school-based sex education, and parental characteristics associated with supporting trauma-informed sex education. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of parents agreed that youth are exposed to high levels of trauma, and 86% reported interest in school-based sex education that supports emotional wellness. Of all parental characteristics, the perception that youth are exposed to high levels of trauma was most strongly associated with endorsement of trauma-informed sex education. Louisiana parents recognize the influence of emotional wellness on youth sexual health and support trauma-informed school-based sex education, which is becoming the new standard for youth sex education services.     

Elementary Teachers＇ Perceptions About Implementation of Inclusive Education

The Disabilities Education Act was introduced in June, 1997 in the Turkish Education System. The Act states that schools have a duty to educate children with disabilities in general education classrooms. All children with disabilities should be educated with non-disabled children at their own age and have access to the general education curriculum. The philosophy of inclusive education aims at helping all children learn in regular classrooms. Children learn at their own pace and style within a nurturing learning environment because schools are important places for children to develop friendships and learn social skills. Children with and without disabilities learn together and from each other in inclusive classes. On the other hand, when children attend classes that reflect the similarities and differences of people in the real world, they learn to appreciate diversity. The aim of this study is to examine the perceptions of teachers about implementation of inclusive education in elementary schools. In order to collect data for this study, a questionnaire which consisted of eight open-ended questions was developed and administered to 66 elementary school teachers. The teachers worked at primary schools and taught 1-5 grades. They were asked to write their opinions and experiences about the implementation of inclusive education in the elementary schools. Primary school teachers generally have a positive attitude about inclusive education and its philosophical and psychological foundation. However, they express that they encounter some difficulties in implementing inclusive classrooms. A crowded classroom is a main obstacle to obtain desired objectives in educational activities. The levels of students＇ disability are related to effectiveness of classroom management. The effectiveness of inclusive education depends on not only the teachers＇ quality but also the school administrators＇. Some superintendents assess the effectiveness of teachers in inclusive and regular classrooms in the same way.     

不能乱用的 How About…？

犯中式英语的错误或者是担心自己会犯中式英语的错误是广大英语学习者在英语学习过程中最普遍担心的问题,而在某些公共场合也不乏中式英语的身影。从本期开始,我们将为您讲解各种常见的中式英语错误,助您学习地道．准确的英语。     

Parents’ Expectations About Participating in Antenatal Parenthood Education Classes

Our objective was to assess parents’ expectations about participating in antenatal parenthood education classes and to determine whether their expectations might be related to gender, age, and educational level. Data from 1,117 women and 1,019 partners residing in three cities in Sweden were collected with a questionnaire in a cross-sectional study. Participants believed that antenatal education classes would help them to feel more secure as parents and to be better oriented toward childbirth. Men had more positive expectations about the childbirth than the women. The participants mostly wanted help in preparing for parenthood and in learning infant care skills, followed by help in preparing for childbirth. The participants’ expectations were affected by gender, age, and educational level. The expectant parents appeared to want more focus on preparation for parenthood than on childbirth.     

Giving Birth: “We Just Don’t Talk About It”

In this column, Alyson Grauer, a young woman recently embarking on her postuniversity career, shares her experiences with friends who do not talk about childbirth. She contrasts their fear and their unwillingness to talk and learn about birth with her own experience being the daughter of a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and doula. Grauer’s experiences provide a backdrop for a deeper understanding of young adults’ beliefs about childbirth. Judith Lothian provides insight related to when and why women and men stopped talking about birth and the implications for childbirth education.     

High School Students of Color Talk About Accusations of “Acting White”

Fordham and Ogbu (1986) have described fear of acting white as a significant factor that influenced the attitudes and often undermined the achievement of African-American students at Capital High in Washington, D.C. The present qualitative study investigated 38 relatively high-achieving African-American and Mexican-American students in various high schools, public and private, in a midwestern city. The respondents did not report avoiding academic achievement in order to avoid accusations of acting white. Most of the students we interviewed reported no loss of ethnic identity. The students felt strong resentment toward their peers' accusations of acting white and did not seem to be intimidated by the accusations, though they were bothered by the accusations. It would be useful if future research addressed the conditions under which avoidance of acting white is most likely to occur.     

Who Cares About Caring in Early Childhood Teacher Education Programs?

The ability to care for oneself, near and distant others, animals, plants, human-made objects, and even ideas is an antidote for violence in its many forms as experienced in childhood as well as adulthood. This article makes a case for facilitating the development of the ability to care as children develop. The authors emphasize the importance of teachers facilitating this development. However, early education teachers may not be able to nurture the ability to care in others without the ability to care being facilitated in their own development. This article emphasizes the importance of creating caring teacher education programs as a model to foster its development in preservice early education teachers.