Between a rock and a hard place: decolonising religious and human rights education

ABSTRACT

Human rights education and Islamic education are typically presented as finished products without room for critique that do not always align with local and personal realities, resulting in a phenomenon sometimes called ‘decoupling’. To examine the ways in which decoupling might occur in one setting, this proposed article reports on the results of a quantitative study that analysed the responses of 470 education students at a university in Kuwait who were asked to rate on a 4-point scale their level of agreement with statements of women’s rights in general terms and in specific situations. Mean differences in their responses to women’s rights in general were compared to their responses to women’s rights, in particular, using a one-sample t-test, along with comparisons of demographic differences in responses analysed using ANOVA. The results showed that the students agreed with women’s rights in general but there was significantly less agreement with women’s rights in particular, suggesting that even on an individual level, a decoupling effect takes place when translating universalised value systems, like human rights and religion, to local realities.     

Between a rock and a hard place: women and computer technology

This paper explores certain possible reasons behind the uneasy relationship between women and technology. The cultural identification of technology with masculinity has been well documented through previous research. However, we feel it is useful to revisit this complex relationship through the scope of a more subtle distinction between ‘users’ and ‘connoisseurs’, and the struggle over power, which revolves around a specific form of hegemonic masculinity. We draw on interviews that examine students’ experiences, emotions, and statements about gender, technology, mathematics, and education, and we try to offer an understanding of the ways women negotiate their position within the dominant discourse about computing and mathematics. Our analysis employs post-structuralist discourse theory.     

Creativity: a reaffirmation of its place in early childhood education

At a time when early years educators feel under increasing pressure from the government to adopt more formal approaches to learning, this article sets out to reaffirm the importance of developing each child's creative capacity to the full. The point is made that through the application of creative capacity a vital dimension of human intelligence is demonstrated. It is argued that creative growth is too often hampered by misunderstandings that continue to distort the relationship between creativity and education. Issues that are vital to the development of understanding about the nature of creativity are made explicit and the conditions most likely to promote creative thought and action are identified. In the interest of clarity the term ‘early years’ will be applied to children between the ages of three and eight in diverse educational settings.     

Between a rock and a hard place: Academic institutional change and the problem of collective action

This paper argues that some of the currenttrends affecting academe impede on keyinstitutional structures, or sets ofinterrelated norms for academic conduct, whichare necessary for sustaining collective actionamong academics. In this sense academics andacademic units may find themselves `between arock and a hard place', that is with newpressures for relevance, stakeholderintegration and commercialisation on one side,and on the other a number of withering socialconditions for actually doing good on these newrequirements from the point of view ofknowledge creation. The paper identifies andreviews four specific changes in this regard:secrecy and withholding behaviour, new notionsof `users', managerialism, and external PhDsponsorship. These changes are then related tothree forms of problematic institutionalchanges: (1) a fragmentation of the academicconstituency, (2) a bi-lateralization ofinformation sharing, and (3)deprofessionalization. Finally, a number ofpossible meta-institutional norms are suggestedfor academic conduct, which may ameliorateinstitutional fragmentation and stimulate acoherent professionalization of academiclife.     

Between a rock and a hard place: career guidance practitioner resistance and the construction of professional identity

Increased state intervention regarding the objectives and outcomes of career guidance leaves some practitioners deeply unhappy at the increased control this exerts over their work. In this article, I argue that practitioners are subject to the power and influence of the state’s economic and welfare agendas that are contrary to their preferred position of person-centred helping. Foucault argued that power cannot exist without resistance, yet those who identify with having a profession have few spaces for dissent. They express resistance through adherence to personal values. Strengthening the role of the professional body may provide them with a voice that needs to be heard.     

Artefacts and utilization schemes in mathematics teacher education: place value in early childhood education

In this article, I discuss a case of pre-primary and primary school teacher education concerning place value in number representation. In primary school (in Italy, in grades 1 and 2), the topic is usually introduced by means of manipulatives (for instance, abaci and base ten blocks). But it is well known that no artefact is transparent for mathematical meaning, unless the social practices of the mathematics classroom, initiated by the teacher, are effective. The aim of this study is to report on tasks given in a four-session (16 h) workshop for 27 prospective pre-primary and primary school teachers, where the use of artefacts in learning place value in base ten was tackled, within a suitable theoretical framework. Different sessions of the workshop are analysed, focusing on tasks related to different components of mathematics knowledge for teaching. Effectiveness for professional growth is reported, quoting documents written by students and by external evaluators. In a final paragraph, the implication for pre-primary school teacher education is addressed.     

幼儿教育小学化的现象及对策

高水准的幼儿教育为小学教育打下了坚实的基础,对孩子小学生活与学习起了很大帮助,并且对他们学习智力的培养也是不容忽视的。但是这样的智力培养指的并不是教学任务的加重,而是指在多方面进行教育和引导,然而现今的一些幼儿园却存在着幼儿教育小学化的现象,笔者针对这样的现象进行研究,找到产生该种现象的主要原因,并且相应的提出了一定的解决对策,以期对幼儿教育小学化的问题解决起到一定的参考帮助作用。     

Between a hard place and a hard place: A study of ethical dilemmas experienced by student teachers while on practicum

Assisting student teachers to understand the ethical nature of their work and developing the moral vocabulary to deal with ethical dilemmas of practice are vital components of initial teacher education. The study explores ethical dilemmas experienced by 100 student teachers in their final year of their teaching degrees while on practicum. The data examined were written reflective statements of each of the 100 students’ ethical dilemmas. The study found that, while some types of ethical dilemmas seem universal, a more situated theory of initial teacher education ethics is required to understand the particular sociocultural factors that inform the nature of teacher practice in context-specific environments. Our study highlights the need for preservice teacher education focusing on student teachers finding their own authentic ethical voice, through the examination of ethical dilemmas via critical thinking and the wider examination of the political, historical and social contexts that led to the dilemma. The dilemmas faced by the students were likely to be, in part, identifiable with fellow student teachers in other countries, but we argue that dilemmas are strongly contextualised. Our study is useful for educators working with student teachers in the practicum environment to instil confidence in student teachers to follow their own moral compass.     

RESEARCH SECTION: Between a rock and a hard place: parents' attitudes to the inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools

In this paper, Katherine Runswick‐Cole, a researcher at the Research Institute for Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University, engages with parents' attitudes to the placement of their children with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools. She sets her review of parents' views within the current policy and legislative context. She then moves on to explore parents' attitudes to inclusion by drawing on the social model of disability as an analytical tool and developing a typology of parental school choices. The study reported in this paper involved 24 parents who were contacted through voluntary organisations and interviewed, either in their own homes or on the telephone. The views of seven professionals were also gathered. The findings reveal that parents' attitudes to mainstream and special schooling are influenced by their engagement with models of disability. The parents' experiences suggest that, despite the shifts in policy we have seen since 1997, the process of inclusive education continues to be fragile.     

浅谈幼儿教育小学化倾向的有效治理

随着社会教育的深化发展,幼儿教育已成为社会各界着重关注的对象,但由于社会的过分强化与家长的错误认识,使得幼儿教育开始向小学化教育倾向,失去幼儿教育的原有精神内涵。本文立足当前幼儿教育小学化倾向的表现,找到其内在原因,通过科学有效的对策及方法有效规避此种错误倾向,从而使幼儿能够健康成长。     

Laura's story: Using Problem Based Learning in early childhood and primary teacher education

Increasingly, graduates across a range of professions are required to possess the ability to critically evaluate information, solve problems and participate in collaborative group work. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach to learning that emphasises student centred engagement with real problems or situations, involving learners in active decision making processes and in using theory to inform practice. This paper reports the perceptions a group of pre-service educators had to their participation in a unit of study conducted using a PBL scenario. The paper examines issues associated with teacher education, such as skills acquisition and the notion of the ‘gap’ between theory and practice. The findings reported here indicate that PBL offers the opportunity for pre-service educators to participate in a learning experience that supports them in developing skills appropriate to their profession and in understanding how theory may be related to practice.     

Building social capital in early childhood education and care: an Australian study

Mounting research evidence demonstrates that effective ‘early childhood education and care’ (ECEC) has short‐term and longer‐term social and educational benefits for children and families. An allied body of evidence attests to the contribution of social capital (i.e. social networks and relationships based on trust) to such benefits. The research reported in this article bridges these two bodies of evidence by researching the social capital of children, their families and community members in the context of a state‐wide initiative (in Queensland, Australia) of integrated early childhood and family hubs. Drawn conceptually from the sociology of childhood, a methodological feature of the research is a broadened focus on children, not just adults, as reliable informants of their own everyday experience in ECEC. Some 138 children (aged 4–8 years) in urban and rural/remote localities in Queensland participated in research conversations about their social experience in and beyond ECEC. Children's social capital was found to be higher in the urban community than in the rural community, highlighting the potential of child and family hubs to strengthen children's social capital in those communities with few social facilities.     

Toward a gender-sensitive model of science teacher education for women primary and early childhood teachers

Female teachers predominate in primary schools, and tend both to have more negative perceptions of their teaching skills in the physical sciences than males, and to expect girls to perform less well in these areas than boys, with likely serious consequences for girls. In this context the WASTE (Women and Science Teacher Education) Project sought to identify characteristics for teacher education programs which, in the opinion of their conveners, were productive in changing the attitude toward the teaching of science, or in changing the actual mode of teaching science, of women preservice and practising teachers. This paper reports the findings of the WASTE Project which surveyed the conveners of pre- and inservice programs and outlined the three models of exemplary practice used to classify responses:subject-centred, learner-centred andknowledge and person-centred. These models were based largely on differing explanations given for attitude change and on implicit concepts of knowledge, persons, and teaching and learning, and on the importance attributed to gender as a variable. Secondly, it shows how the Primary and Early Childhood Science and Technology Education Project, a gender-sensitive action-research project, was built on these findings. Finally, using these models, it offers a critique of the gender perspective of the Discipline Review of Teacher Education (DEET, 1989). Specializations: gender and science/science teacher education, feminist theory, curriculum theory.     

Quality early childhood education for disadvantaged children: an investigation in the MCD schools

Schools run by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) play a pivotal role in providing early childhood education to young children belonging to marginalized sections of Delhi. However, literature review reveals that low learning outcomes are common among children attending these schools. Low levels of learning are often associated with poor quality educational programmes. The present study was therefore undertaken in nursery, grade I and grade II of 36 randomly selected MCD schools to investigate their structural and process quality. Structural quality included infrastructure facilities like availability of drinking water and toilets, safety and cleanliness of the physical setting among others. Process quality included the experiences of the children in the school. Findings revealed that while many MCD schools had an average score on components related to structural quality, the process quality scores of the schools were below average. Significant differences were also observed in overall quality scores of grade II, grade I and nursery, with nursery scores being the highest. The decline in quality scores from nursery to grade II is a sign of decreasing quality and prevents a smooth transition of children from pre-primary to primary.     

The silencing of the knowledge-base in early childhood education and care professionalism

It is widely accepted that the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce is central to the quality of services. Modernist constructs of quality signal the importance of qualifications for quality, but the preoccupation with qualification levels silences questions about the knowledge required of ECEC professionals. Postmodern perspectives have opened up debates on understandings of professionalism and given voice to those who work in ECEC. However, sociological perspectives of knowledge challenge postmodernism as either creating a dichotomy between modernist technocratic models of professionalism and the ethical models implicated in postmodernism or at worst presenting knowledge as non-existent. Adopting a sociological perspective of knowledge moves away from the dichotomy, enabling a critical consideration of what is the knowledge-base for ECEC, how it is formed, legitimised and applied. Drawing on Bernstein contributes to the debates on professionalism through providing a model for the ECEC knowledge-base that identifies multiple forms of knowledge, representing both theoretical and experiential knowledge. Theoretical knowledge has strong boundaries that provides legitimacy. However, whilst the social origins of experiential knowledge offers legitimacy, it requires greater articulation and scrutiny.