Negotiating Academic Genres in a Multi‐disciplinary Context

The literature on higher education acknowledges the importance of context to the effective completion of research by postgraduate students but overlooks to study the importance of this factor for academics in higher education. The research reported here explores the extent to which academics in higher education sense that their research engages them in a collective effort, as against individualistic effort and the extent to which, in the latter case, they feel isolated. It also explores the extent to which their sense of teamwork or isolation is perceived as impacting on their abilities to perform effectively. The study reports on interviews with fifteen academics in a higher education institution (HEI) in the UK and reveals the widespread sense that, for the most part, research is not conducted in a teamwork setting, leading to feelings of isolation. The paper reveals the extent to which isolation is perceived as impacting negatively on the conduct of knowledge management and suggests that the kind of issues impacting on students appear to pertain also to academics. The article explores ways of overcoming these problems as well as future avenues for research.     

The Self‐concept as a Moral Control

Abstract:

Groups of twenty children, aged between 6 years, 7 months and 11 years, 3 months, attending either a traditional Catholic school or a Freinet school were compared on judgments involving moral concepts. Subjects in the two groups were matched for age, IQ, sex, school grade, religious affiliation, fathers’ occupational level, number of siblings and birth order. Moral conflict stories differed in the presence or absence of authority figures and peers, and were set either in the home or the school. Children attending the Freinet school exhibited the more advanced moral judgments for all stories combined. Stories involving peers only elicited more mature judgments than those involving authority figures. Freinet schools encourage democratic group self‐discipline and provide many and varied role‐taking opportunities. The results suggest that such practices accelerate moral development.     

The Development of a Multi‐media Distance Education Prototype

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to show the state to which the initial work, the development, and the production of a multi‐media prototype has advanced in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. This prototype was commissioned by the Commission for Distance Teaching of the Department of Public Instruction of Geneva.     

Moral Weakness,Moral Education and Self‐deception

Abstract

Despite the apparent advantages of incorporating logographic symbols in procedures intended to teach children with severe learning difficulties to recognise words, such procedures have never proved successful. Their failure has been attributed to a blocking effect that is induced by the additional cues. The blocking effect account predicts that any method that involves introducing additional stimulus cues will be inefficient for teaching word recognition, compared with a word alone method. A new technique was devised in an attempt to surmount this problem. The basis of the technique draws on a range of research areas. Children who had no reading skills and had previously failed to gain any sight vocabulary were taught to recognise 12 words. An experiment compared a word alone method with two variants of the new technique. Both versions were more successful than the word alone method at teaching the children to recognise the words. The findings refute the view that any procedure that incorporates additional cues will necessarily be ineffective. For students who have hitherto made no progress at all in learning to recognise words, the new technique offers an effective instructional procedure.     

The Role of Universities in a Multi‐Ethnic,Multicultural Environment‐‐Strategies and Implementation Mechanisms

International universities have a responsibility to provide students in a multi‐ethnic, multicultural environment with appropriate education. Bringing about understanding, tolerance, and liberal education to students of such backgrounds requires a common language of instruction, a good orientation, a liberal curriculum, special settings, and wise guidance. The experience of the Lebanese American University in this respect is cited as a unique example because of the nature of the institution and the uniqueness of Lebanon as a country with a long history of integration. The citizens of the Twenty‐First Century will need to learn how to deal with issues of diversity, of co‐habitation of different cultures, and of tolerance in order to fit into a global society.     

Community Reciprocity in the Work of African‐American Teachers

The scholarship on historical and contemporary African‐American teachers highlights the emphasis on community connections in their work. As such, the scholarship portrays African‐American teachers almost exclusively as givers without fully considering what teachers derive from community connections. This paper describes a qualitative study in which intergenerational African‐American teachers illustrate the dual nature of community connections and the ways in which constructs of community informed their work. Three distinct points along the professional spectrum—entry, career development, and long‐term career trajectories—illuminate the ways in which community reciprocity impacts and informs the teachers under study. Study findings elucidated a communal reciprocity in that community connections influenced professional entry contributed to feelings of personal and professional self‐worth and impacted long‐term career goals.     

Community‐level Responses to Disability and Education in Rwanda

This article explores the meaning of community and perceptions of disability in Rwanda, as revealed through a community‐based ethnographic study. This study took place in Rwanda in an educational policy context driven by international rhetoric about human rights, inclusion and the arguably unachievable Education for All targets. We argue that the emphasis on the inclusion of marginalised groups in Rwanda’s current education policy is a reality on paper, but not in practice. However, we explore the potential for a deeper understanding of community responses to disability, and ways in which the rhetoric and reality gap can be bridged. We consider some of the attitudinal and infrastructural barriers in educational settings and argue that Rwandan communities are resourceful, and can be supported to respond appropriately to children with disabilities.     

Moral education in Hong Kong: Confucian‐parental,Christian‐religious and liberal‐civic influences

A brief review of the social and educational context of Hong Kong shows that the publication of the General guidelines on moral education in schools in 1981, by the Hong Kong Education Department, marked a milestone in the development of moral education. The Guidelines explicitly asserted moral education as one function of schooling, whilst also formally recognizing the home and the community as two main influences. This paper narrates how three moral sources of influence – namely Confucian‐parental, Christian‐religious and liberal‐civic – have shaped the development of moral education in Hong Kong from 1973 to 2003. It then examines in more detail: parental influence at home – the Confucian moral source in Chinese family; schooling influenced by religious sources – taking Christian schools as an example; and the Independent Commission Against Corruption as an official agency for moral education – a liberal source calling for civic morality. In conclusion, the post‐colonial emergence of nationalistic influence in the recently constituted Chinese Special Administrative Region, advocating national identity as the new core value, is traced and the implications for future moral education in Hong Kong are considered.     

Changes in the Multi‐Level Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Reading Achievement in Sweden in 1991 and 2001

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school‐ and individual‐levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10‐Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between‐school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and reading achievement at school‐level are the two main focuses. Applying a two‐level structural equation modeling technique, it was found that the between‐school differences in reading achievement were greater in RLS 2001 than in RLS 1991, and the school SES effect has been strengthened over time. These changes indicate that educational inequality in Sweden has increased over time. Some possible explanations to these changes are discussed with reference to school reforms and demographic changes.     

Affect and the Moral‐Conventional Distinction

Abstract

The effect of inducing negative, positive or neutral affect on the recall of moral and conventional transgressions and positive moral and conventional acts was examined. It was found that inducing negative affect was associated with higher recall of moral transgressions while inducing positive affect was associated with higher recall of positive moral acts. Affect induction condition did not have a significant effect on the recall of the conventional transgressions or positive acts. The results are interpreted within the Violence Inhibition Mechanism model of moral development (Blair, 1995) and by reference to a new, hypothesised system, the Smiling Reward Response.     

Re‐conceptualizing Critical Thinking for Moral Education in Culturally Plural Societies

This paper critically examines the contemporary educational discourse on critical thinking as one of the primary aims of education, its modernist defence and its postmodernist criticism, so as to explore a new way of conceptualizing critical thinking for moral education. What is at stake in this task is finding a plausible answer to the question of how the teaching of critical thinking in moral education can contribute to leading young people to avoid moral relativism while at the same time to develop a coherent way of responding to cultural pluralism. The paper takes Bernard Williams's concept of ‘ethical reflection’ as a possible candidate and explores this concept as a means of accommodating these concerns.     

Moral Education for Post‐Conventional Thinking

Abstract:

Concern for values in education is growing. In Canada and other countries, educationalists are becoming more aware of the need for providing for full and open discussions about moral matters. Kohlberg in the United States, Beck in Canada, and Wilson in Great Britain are three leading theorists who are involved in experimental work in moral education. In this paper, some of the ideas of these theorists are compared with reference to the development of post‐conventional moral thinking in people.     

Equal Treatment and Cultural Difference in Multi‐ethnic Schools: a critique of the teacher ethnocentrism theory

ABSTRACT

This paper considers claims that students from minority ethnic backgrounds are treated less favourably than their white peers in schools because their teachers make negative, ethnocentric judgements of their behaviour. The paper challenges the empirical basis of these claims and the implicit model of good practice on which they are based. It goes on to examine some of the implications for teacher practice of this discussion. The aim is to try to clarify the meaning of equality of treatment in schools, a right we expect all citizens to enjoy, and to examine the way this principle should be operationalised by teachers in multi‐ethnic schools.     

Freethinkers’ Proposal for a Teaching Plan in Moral Education in Finland

Abstract

The paper which follows gives the historical and contemporary background to the present on‐going attempt of the Union of Freethinkers in Finland to gain acceptance for a new syllabus in moral education in the curriculum of Finnish schools. An outline is given of their linguistic approach to moral education which draws on many insights from thinkers and practitioners world‐wide and attempts to promote a positive identity among non‐believers. The proposal is offered as a possible model for other non‐doctrinaire teaching plans and the author would welcome any observations on its relevance and potential use in other countries of the world.     

A Case Study of a Community‐Based Transition Education Project∗

Abstract

In Australia, the needs of non‐tertiary bound students have been the focus of a number of special initiatives funded by the Commonwealth Schools Commission. One such intitiative, the Commonwealth‐State Transition Education Programme was designed to help students prepare for work while completing their schooling. In this paper, a particular transition education project is described and its effectiveness as an agent of whole‐school improvement is discussed.

     

Policy‐making in a cuts culture

The financial constraints imposed upon local government over the past decade have forced many authorities to make savings rapidly and in conditions of considerable uncertainty. Education, as the largest spender and with falling pupil numbers, has often provided the bulk of these savings. In many authorities these have been made in an unplanned, piecemeal fashion and have seriously damaged the service. This paper considers the possibility of a ‘cuts culture’ in which continuing contraction is planned for as part of corporate policy. It raises important questions about the nature of schooling, the relationship between schools and the community and control over the financing of education. It suggests that a case might be made for substantial change, but not unbridled, insensitive reform. The importance of defending, as well as reforming the system is stressed, and the organizational implications of this are considered.     

Where’s the Community Practice? Gaps in Community Practice Education in a Clinical-Community Social Work Program

Although the profession of social work has a rich history of supporting community organizing and engagement efforts, there has been a trend toward educational programs that focus heavily on the clinical components of social work. The purpose of this study was to perform an exploratory investigation of the potential need for more community-centered educational content at a school of social work in the Gulf Coast, which advertises itself as offering a clinical-community practice program. Researchers developed and administered a questionnaire to all current students of the School of Social Work to evaluate the program’s efforts to provide a balanced clinical-community practice education. Student responses to the questionnaire suggested that the community practice learning opportunities at the school were not represented equally in quality or quantity to the clinical material. Students reported limited access to field placements that focused on community practice. The researchers suggest that the results of this study are reflective of a potential national trend in social work education toward a narrower focus on clinical practice, and away from its roots in community organizing and advocacy.     

The Community School Curriculum 11‐16

This article addresses the responses of four mixed comprehensive schools to the apparent 'under-achievement' of boys. The issue is briefly placed in context, both nationally and locally through a consideration of the improvement trajectory in each school. Approaches are classified into one of (i) organisational (ii) individual (iii) pedagogical and (iv) socio-cultural, and the potential of each approach for raising the achievement levels of boys and girls is evaluated. A concluding discussion considers the extent to which these approaches might contribute to authentic school improvement.