Teachers' views of forgiveness for the resolution of conflicts between students in school

This study investigated teachers' views of forgiveness and institutional pardon for conflict resolution at schools. We asked, "Should teachers endorse student resolution of interpersonal conflicts at school by asking for forgiveness and forgiving?" "Considering that students' conflict led to behaviours that violated norms in the school, should schools pardon students' misconduct if students effectively used forgiveness for interpersonal conflict resolution?" Finally, "Is an internal and autonomous orientation for forgiveness related to social harmony or interpersonal ethics of care?" Fifty-three participants answered a background information questionnaire and two dilemmas. Findings showed that teachers endorse forgiveness as social expectation, a humanitarian, moral response to conflicts at conventional levels. Teachers do not endorse institutional pardon because they do not perceive forgiveness as being related to resolving social issues. Opposition to forgiveness and pardon was supported by authoritarian, discipli narian views of education.     

Fast Kids,Slow Kids,Lazy Kids: Framing the Mismatch Problem in Mathematics Teachers' Conversations

Abstract

This article examines the social nature of teachers' conceptions by showing how teachers frame the “mismatch” of students' perceived abilities and the intended school curriculum through conversational category systems. This study compares the conversations of 2 groups of high school mathematics teachers addressing the Mismatch Problem when implementing equity-geared reforms. Although East High teachers challenged conceptions that were not aligned with a reform, South High teachers reworked a reform mandate to align with their existing conceptions. This research found that the teachers' conversational category systems modeled problems of practice; communicated assumptions about students, subject, and teaching; and were ultimately reflected in the curriculum. Because East High teachers supported greater numbers of students' success in advanced mathematics, this study considers the relation between teachers' understandings of student learning and the success of equity-geared math reforms. In addition, this study contributes to the understanding of how teacher conceptions of students are negotiated and reified in context, specifically through interactions with colleagues and experiences with school reform.     

You've Got to Be Taught

ABSTRACT

The Council on Social Work Education's Handbook on Accreditation and Procedures (1991) reiterates the council's previous mandate for incorporation of knowledge of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity throughout both the undergraduate and graduate social work curriculum. This article presents an integrative cognitive and affective learning framework for multicultural social work education. The model encourages students' addressing the significance of their racial, ethnic, and cultural heritage and emphasizes the effects of this education and enrichment in developing an ethnic-sensitive social work practice.     

‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the social contract formulated between state and university, in the period 1850–1930. Using contemporary records – for example, legislation, parliamentary debates, university acts, newspaper articles, senate and professorial board minutes, and similar – this article examines how Australia’s early scholarly community contested and negotiated what it believed to be the purpose of higher education, with a sometimes-conflicting view held by the state. The analysis indicates that, from the outset, certain paradoxes have inscribed into these foundational negotiations. Conflicting narratives of opportunity and privilege positioned universities, simultaneously, as agents for social inclusion and maintainers of social privilege. The purpose of knowledge as either/both pure and practical has been another point of contestation. Consequently, universities vacillate between acts of social conservatism and progressivism. These tensions remain apparent in the modern purpose of higher education institutions.     

St. Ives Pathfinder Children's Trust: From Idea to Reality and Further

Abstract

As the formal arrangements for Pathfinder Children's Trusts across England come to a close, and many Authorities move to firm arrangements for integrated children's services, this is an opportune moment for one pathfinder project to reflect upon its experiences over the past years and to share some of its learning about process issues. This article traces the progress of social inclusion work from its inception in the St. Ives cluster of schools through to its present-day position as a Children's Trust. As well as explaining the underlying theory and rationale for the work, a number of sound, practical lessons and pointers are offered. The article also identifies celebratory high-points of the project and highlights some implications for future developments within the context of Every Child Matters, via extended schools and children's centres.     

Changing primary education in Palestine: Pulling in several directions at once

This article uses concepts from Bernstein's theory of curriculum and pedagogic practice (1971, 1977, 1990, 1996) in order to understand the micro-processes of schooling and, in particular, to locate and understand the type of pedagogy proposed for Palestinian schools by the Integrated Learning Project (ILP) whose introduction and trajectory in the wider social context is located, adopting Bernstein's model of cultural reproduction (1990). Three means were employed for data collection: non-participant classroom observation; informal and semi-structured interviews; and interrogation of secondary sources, relying heavily on official and school documents. A conversational modality of interview with key persons responsible for planning, training and monitoring of the ILP was also used in order to provide contextual data about policy processes. What was revealed suggested that even though there were some changes in particular areas in school practice, it does not seem that they can be regarded as amounting a child-centred pedagogy. There was little evidence to show that teachers in general were working effectively toward meeting pupils' different needs.     

Reconceptualizing Staff Development for Technology Diffusion

ABSTRACT

As educators are increasingly required to integrate new technology into classroom practice, the complex process of staff development becomes critical to the successful implementation of new technological innovations. This paper presents a staff development model for effectively diffusing technology. The interactive model, grounded within the framework of Maslow's theory of motivation and Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive domain, illustrates how affective needs of individuals influence cognitive processes and transfer of skills within a psychological/social context resistant to technological change.     

Public policy failure and fiasco in education: perspectives on the British examinations crises of 2000–2002 and other episodes since 1975

Abstract

This article is the first part of a debate with David Hargreaves about the ideas expressed in his article ‘Diversity and choice in school education: a modified libertarian approach’. It discusses the difficulties of using cost‐benefit analysis in education, examines in detail some of the documents on which Hargreaves's argument is based and traces the development of policy on school choice. It is argued that policy on choice must be understood within a consideration of the wider social and political context in which that policy has arisen. The article then documents the various new forms of selection that have accompanied increased choice and considers problems of social segregation. The article concludes with suggestions on how the system might be reformed.     

The Role of Functional Analysis in National Vocational Qualifications: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

The article provides a critical evaluation of functional analysis and its centrality in the competence philosophy underpinning reform of the UK's national system of vocational qualifications. Definitions and meanings of competence are examined to locate functional analysis in its theoretical context. The origins of the use and application of the term competence to the vocational qualification (VQ) system are also examined to provide an historical context. Finally, the conceptual model adopted to apply notions of competence and the process of functional analysis is evaluated as part of the critical appraisal.

The theoretical and conceptual analysis is supported by the findings of a small piece of primary research and published evidence from other sources. Both the conceptual analysis and the empirical evidence, in the view of the authors, argue towards a serious questioning of the appropriateness of functional analysis. The results of applying functional analysis are argued to be technical and narrow specifications of competence which fail to address the broader skills and social contexts influencing performance in the workplace.     

Queering Constructs: Proposing a Dynamic Gender and Sexuality Model

Abstract

Higher education educators commonly understand social identities, including gender, to be fluid and dynamic. Lev's (2004) model of four components of sexual identity is commonly used to demonstrate the fluidity of sex, gender, and sexuality for individuals, but it does little to address the fixedness of those constructs. Through a multipronged intersectional framework and by centering trans* -students, this article proposes a more dynamic model for gender and sexuality.     

Context,Participation and Discourse: The Role of the Communities of Practice Concept in Understanding Farmer Decision-Making

Abstract

This article contributes to the study of decision-making processes both at a farm systems level and at the level of agricultural research in partnership with commercial farms. It also highlights the way in which adoption and adaptation of innovation occurs in a socially rich context with information, group formation and connectivity converging to create a complex learning environment.

Design/methodology/approach. The methodology used in this research centres on the Communities of Practice (CoP) theoretical framework augmented by Gramsci's notion of Intellectual Communities and discursive analysis. A dairy farming systems project operating in Australia (3030 Project) provided the context for our study.

Findings. The group structures within the 3030 Project constitute CoP in which innovation is evolved, adopted and adapted. This process involves socially negotiated learning which is both processual and highly contextual. Discursive dialects are formed and interact within these CoP at the level of decision-making and can be analysed in context to further our understanding of the way in which farmers participate in learning opportunities and negotiate innovation.

Practical implications. This theoretical framework can be used to enhance the learning capabilities of these groups by developing a better understanding of how discourse is used to successfully transfer knowledge effectively and with authority.

Originality/value. The 3030 Project provided a unique opportunity for a comparative analysis of on-farm and research-based decision-making processes in a ‘real time’ situation from a multi-scale perspective.     

Can Irrational Become Unconstitutional? NCLB's 100% Presuppositions

This article identifies two presuppositions underlying No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) system of adequate yearly progress. The first is that each state must bring 100% of its students up to proficiency on state tests by the 2013–14 school year. The second is that each student's test score must effectively be treated by the state as if his or her school were 100% responsible for that score. The article demonstrates that these two 100% presuppositions are unsupportable and then explores the NCLB rules in the context of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, which prohibits the government from arbitrary exercises of power.     

Performing Allegiance: An Adolescent Refugee's Construction of Patriotism in JROCT

Drawing on a year-long qualitative study, this article examines how one refugee student from the Vietnamese Central Highlands negotiated social and cultural constructions of patriotism and citizenship in a Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps (JROTC) class at an urban high school. Data are analyzed using Butler's (1990) the theory of performativity, and illustrate how this student appropriated and transformed language and ritualized action to assert individuality in an otherwise rule- and routine-driven classroom context. I conclude by theorizing cultural practices of citizenship as they relate to the education of refugee and immigrant youth, and argue that researchers and practitioners must acknowledge the pedagogical and social impact of peripheral spaces in school, such as the JROTC classroom, in shaping many students’ trajectories in and beyond school.     

Strengthening the Signature Pedagogy of Social Work: Conceptualizing Field Coordination as a Negotiated Social Work Pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Although field education is considered the signature pedagogy of social work, the work of field coordinators appear to remain peripheral to other aspects of social work education, such as coursework and research. In this article, we suggest that field coordination requires a far more complex set of knowledge and skills than merely matching students with placements based on availability and interest. Using critical and relational theories, this article conceptualizes field coordination as a negotiated pedagogy in which the coordinators navigate complex and often competing needs among students, field agencies, and social work practice. In making visible its nuances and intricacies, we suggest that field coordination is a critical relational pedagogy essential to advancing social work education.     

An ecological exploration of young children’s digital play: framing children’s social experiences with technologies in early childhood

Abstract

This article outlines an ecological framework for describing children’s social experiences during digital play. It presents evidence from a study that explored how 3- to 5-year-old children negotiated their social experiences as they used technologies in preschool. Utilising a systematic and iterative cycle of data collection and analysis, children’s interactions with 24 technological resources were examined over a nine-month period and across three phases. Findings reveal that children played in clusters, exhibiting a multitude of social behaviours and interactions and varied degrees of social participation, and assumed various social status roles and technological positions. These behaviours formed part of a Digital Play System, which in turn was influenced by the Preschool System, which comprises children and practitioners as active agents, technological affordances, and the cultural systems, routines and practices of the early childhood setting. Ultimately, children’s social experiences during digital play cannot be determined by any single element of the ecological system.     

The Formulation of a Therapeutic Paradigm

ABSTRACT

This article describes the development of a therapeutic paradigm through the course of the author's career as a college psychotherapist. The paradigm that is described incorporates a variety of (sometimes disparate) theories, hut is essentially psychoanalytic. The paradigm is viewed by the author as a dynamic process that is subject to change and elaboration as the therapist's understanding of social and psychological factors grows and undergoes refinement.     

试论孔子的伦理思想之于行政人格的塑造

孔子处在礼崩乐坏的时代,为了恢复混乱的社会秩序,孔子创建了以仁为核心,包括忠恕之道、孝、宽、惠等的伦理思想。孔子的伦理思想对于为官者的人格塑造起了极其重要的作用。本文从对行政人格塑造的角度凝练出"仁"、"忠恕"两个范畴,"仁"的思想有利于官员抵御社会上种种"不仁"的现象,从"忠恕之道"中官员可以学习到责任以及公平原则。     

Technique of the Public School Survey

ABSTRACT

Using a realist grounded theory method, this study resulted in a theoretical model and 4 propositions. As displayed in the LINK model, the labeling practice is situated in and endorsed by a social context that carries explicit theory about and educational policies regarding the labels. Taking a developmental perspective, the labeling practice often results in some short-lived emotional responses and triggers an implicit theory–generating process that results in gradually formatted self-knowledge. This self-knowledge is what positive adjusting academic and social behaviors are contingent on. In this regard, the labeling practice reconciles a constructed reality (explicit theory) and a lived reality (implicit theory). It is imperative to note that implicit theory regarding an individual's educational label(s) is an ever-changing entity. In addition, a positive development of implicit theory may create a feedback that further reinforces the support system for others and/or contributes to the aggregate field knowledge.     

Drama activities as ideational resources for primary‐grade children in urban science classrooms

In this study we explored how dramatic enactments of scientific phenomena and concepts mediate children's learning of scientific meanings along material, social, and representational dimensions. These drama activities were part of two integrated science‐literacy units, Matter and Forest, which we developed and implemented in six urban primary‐school (grades 1st–3rd) classrooms. We examine and discuss the possibilities and challenges that arise as children and teachers engaged in scientific knowing through such experiences. We use Halliday's (1978. Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press) three metafunctions of communicative activity—ideational, interpersonal, and textual—to map out the place of the multimodal drama genre in elementary urban school science classrooms of young children. As the children talked, moved, gestured, and positioned themselves in space, they constructed and shared meanings with their peers and their teachers as they enacted their roles. Through their bodies they negotiated ambiguity and re‐articulated understandings, thus marking this embodied meaning making as a powerful way to engage with science. Furthermore, children's whole bodies became central, explicit tools used to accomplish the goal of representing this imaginary scientific world, as their teachers helped them differentiate it from the real world of the model they were enacting. Their bodies operated on multiple mediated levels: as material objects that moved through space, as social objects that negotiated classroom relationships and rules, and as metaphorical entities that stood for water molecules in different states of matter or for plants, animals, or non‐living entities in a forest food web. Children simultaneously negotiated meanings across all of these levels, and in doing so, acted out improvisational drama as they thought and talked science. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 302–325, 2010