Preventing radicalisation to extreme positions in children and young people. What does the literature tell us and should educational psychology respond?

Over the last five years the radicalisation of children and young people to extreme ideologies is fast developing as a new and important safeguarding issue for Local Authorities. Despite many high profile cases, there has yet to be a response from the educational psychology profession. This article seeks to explore the possible role for educational psychologists (EPs) in this area. This article sets out the findings of a recent literature review in which the authors propose Reactive Approach Motivation theory as a possible way in which EPs might formulate their understanding and response to this issue. Insights derived from the review are then discussed in light of the EP role in this new domain. Particular attention is paid to the PREVENT Agenda and some of the ethical considerations facing EPs seeking to undertake work in this area.     

How to ask about the date and the weather

一、询问日期用What's thedate...?句型。例: -What's the date today?今天几号? 一It’s April 2nd.4月2号。二、询问星期几用What     

Their fault or ours?: The contraction of work and the ‘radicalisation’ of young people

This paper examines two commonly held views of young people in relation to work and employment. The first has a low estimation of the capacities of young people, placing the blame for the lack of job prospects on young people themselves. The second places more emphasis on the lack of opportunities available to the young and sees young people as a new radical force in society, with rising levels of unemployment leading to their radicalisation. Evidence from a study of pupils in their last year of compulsory schooling suggests that both of these views are inadequate. Young people do not lack knowledge of, or interest in the world of work, neither does the growing level of unemployment seem to be generating increasingly negative and hostile attitudes to education and government schemes such as the YTS.     

Heroes and villains: the insistence of the imaginary and the novice teacher’s need to believe

This paper stems from research in Australia examining pre-service teacher and mentor teacher experiences on the practicum. The paper focuses on findings from the research, highlighting the tendency among the pre-service teachers to either valorise or demonise their mentor teachers, reflective of what we describe, following Kristeva and Britzman, as their powerful need to believe. The paper draws on psychoanalytic theory in order gain insights into this process, viewing the pre-service teachers’ accounts of their mentors as fantasies that serve a stabilising function in order to manage the intense emotional demands of schools and classrooms. The paper concludes with considerations of how teacher educators might ameliorate the ideality of novice teachers, reflecting the insistence of the imaginary, and hence enable them to benefit more from the practicum experience. We briefly suggest the use of tools that work within the symbolic register to exercise a mediating role in the context of these intense demands.     

How to improve the ability of listening and speaking

When you are giving the knowledge to the students,don't forget to teach them all the abilities of learning this language.Then how to improve the students' listening skill? We know the largest difference between mother lan- guage learning and foreign language learning is the envi- ronment.A child can soon learn his mother language well. He has heard a lot before he can say something and walk. Then after he is able to walk and say,he has a chance of listening to more.Before he goes to school,he has al- ready been a good listener and speaker.     

Hannah Arendt and the ‘freedom’ to think

ABSTRACT

Dissatisfied with the Western tradition of political philosophy, Arendt maintained a tension between the political, which she associates primarily with the freedom to act, and the philosophical, which she associates principally with the activity of thinking, throughout her works. Whilst Arendt's work is underpinned by a focus on political action, her work on the thinking/non-thinking dichotomy is of significant educational value. Taking a broadly phenomenological approach, and reading Arendt through an educational lens, this paper seeks to demonstrate how the thinking/non-thinking dichotomy and the perils of ‘non-thinking’ reveal the wider dangers of instrumentalism and the performative models of education that accompanies it. It is suggested here that Arendt's work exposes ‘non-thinking’ as a form of instrumental thinking, which is not only a threat to the development of the capacity for critical thought but also to the development autonomy and the capacity for moral judgement.     

Spatial and financial fixes and the global financial crisis: does labour have the knowledge and power to meet the challenge?

Five years after the global financial crisis, and trillions of dollars in stimulus spending later, the crisis not only remains unresolved, but risks entering a new deeper phase in southern Europe. The global turbulence, although experienced with differing degrees of intensity and dislocation around the world, manifests as high unemployment, industrial slow-down, extensive austerity measures and a range of health and financial pressures passed on to working and unemployed people. One response by governments has been a renewed emphasis on ‘skill’ as a means to work through the crisis and reposition the national economy for a post-crisis world. This paper questions this emphasis suggesting that if skill is the answer then the wrong question is being asked. The concept of ‘fixes’ is used to examine changes in production and work, before discussing the limitations of organized labour’s response to the crisis.

The crisis poses questions to the labour movement about its understanding of the changes taking place in the economy, and therefore work, and the alternatives it could be advocating for new less crisis-prone ways of governing the production of goods and services, and the education that might support that.     

Teachers’ beliefs about cues to deception and the ability to detect deceit

This study aimed to test beliefs about cues to deception and the ability to detect lies in a group of teachers with different teaching experience. Their results were compared with the results of non-teachers matched in age and with the results of educational studies and psychology students. Both the beliefs of deception indicators and overall truthfulness assessment did not differ between groups. Teaching experience had no effect on any of the skills tested. In accordance with expectations, the truth bias appeared in both the control group and in the group of teachers.     

Return of the ghost – to discipline or/and to teach?

This paper is a situated biographical reflection on the author's Hong Kong teaching experience written using a narrative inquiry approach, describing attempts to generate innovative pedagogical practices. The journey explores how autocratic, traditional Chinese cultural expectations in Hong Kong education have nurtured a commonsense belief in “discipline first and then teach”. This teacher/researcher adopted alternative approaches to authority through the use of developmental drama which made teacher image and teacher–student power relationships an object of talk and study. The aim of this paper is to bring together theories and pedagogical models based on the sociology of education, social psychology and drama pedagogy in an effort to change how we teach marginalized students in one distinctive Chinese cultural context.     

“Intermediate” Concepts and the Connection to Moral Education

This paper provides a brief overview of Rest's (1983) conception of the important processes that contribute to effective moral decision making, summarizes efforts to design and assess moral education programs based on Rest's Four-Component Model, and describes new directions in the assessment of moral judgment development that are specifically directed toward professional ethics education. Based on preliminary studies, we recommend that, in addition to measuring each of the processes in Rest's model, educators design profession-specific measures of moral concepts that better reflect the content of professional ethics education. Labeled intermediate concepts measures, these assessments attend to concepts that are more specific than the abstract moral schemas tested by Kohlbergian measures of moral judgment and more general than concrete codes of professional ethics.     

Isn''''t It Time to Save the Earth and Ourselves?

In the past few decades, great damage has been done to the earth.The earth is suffering. It's high time that we should save it.     

According to Plan? Examining the Intended and Unintended Treatment Effects of EL Classification in Early Elementary and the Transition to Middle School

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that classification as an English learner (EL) is consequential for students, with important effects on educational achievement and attainment. Yet we know little about the mechanisms that underlie the effects of EL classification. This study explores whether, and to what extent, EL classification results in the treatments it is designed to trigger, and also whether, and to what extent, EL classification triggers unintended treatments. The study uses longitudinal school district data and regression discontinuity analyses to evaluate the treatment effects of EL classification. It examines two moments: initial classification as students enter kindergarten, and retained EL classification as students transition into middle school. Findings suggest that EL classification, for students near the margin of classification, results in many treatments it is intended to trigger including language assessments in early elementary, and English language development instruction and modified content instruction in middle school. In addition, findings show that EL classification triggers two unintended treatments among students; Classification limits access to English speaking peers in early elementary, and negatively impacts enrollment in a full academic course load in middle school.     

Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K–12 Education in the United States: Findings Related to Research and Evaluation

The Panel on Educational Technology was organized in April 1995 under the auspices of the President's Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) to provide advice to the President on matters related to the application of information technologies to K–12 education in the United States. Its findings and recommendations were set forth in March 1997 in the Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K–12 Education in the United States. This report was based on a review of the research literature and on written submissions and oral briefings from a number of academic and industrial researchers, practicing educators, software developers, governmental agencies, and professional and industry organizations involved in various ways with the application of technology to education. Its most important finding is that a large-scale program of rigorous, systematic research on education in general and educational technology in particular will ultimately prove necessary to ensure both the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of technology use within our nation's K–12 schools. Finding that less than 0.1 percent of our nation's expenditures for elementary and secondary education are currently invested to determine which educational techniques actually work, and to find ways to improve them—an extremely low level relative to comparable ratios within the private sector—the Panel recommended that this figure be increased over a period of several years to at least 0.5 percent, and sustained at that level on an ongoing basis. Further, because no one state, municipality, or private firm could hope to capture more than a small fraction of the benefits associated with a significant advance in our understanding of how best to educate K–12 students, the Panel concluded that such funding will have to be provided largely at the federal level in order to avoid a systematic underinvestment (attributable to a classical form of economic externality) relative to the level that would be optimal for the nation as a whole. This paper originally appeared as Section 8 of the report.     

What do the public know about anatomy? Anatomy education to the public and the implications

Public knowledge of the anatomical “self” is lacking and evidence points towards a growing need for anatomy education to the wider public. The public were offered the opportunity to learn human anatomy and complete an anatomical knowledge survey afterwards. Sixty‐three participants volunteered to attempt to place 20 anatomical structures on a blank human body template. Responses were scored independently and then collated. A mixed effects logistic model was used to examine any associations with participants’ as a random effect and all other factors as fixed effects. Results showed a statistically significant quadratic trend with age. Participants in health‐related employment scored significantly higher than those not in health‐related employment. There was a significant interaction between gender and organ type with males scoring higher than females in identifying muscles, but not in identifying internal organs. The current study demonstrates the general public's eagerness to learn anatomy despite their limited knowledge of the human body, and the need for widening participation. Furthermore, it raises an awareness of the anatomical literacy needs of the general public, especially in school children and young adults. Furthermore, it emphasizes the value of health literacy as a focus in undergraduate medical education. Anatomy literacy appears to be neglected, and this experience provides an example of a possible mode of public engagement in anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 11: 117–123. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Students’ peer relationships and their contribution to university adjustment: the need to belong in the university community

Whilst new friendships and an active social life are commonly discussed features of ‘being a student’, there is limited empirical research that has quantitatively studied the contribution that social factors play in students’ university experience. Research that has been conducted shows that belonging and social integration are important factors in successful transition to university, and subsequent retention. This article presents research into students’ social relationships at university, their attachment to the university, and how these elements link to university adjustment. Undergraduates (N = 135) completed questionnaires measuring their attachment to university peers, attachment to the university, experiences of problematic peer relationships and quality of adjustment to university life. Students who reported strong attachment to their peers also demonstrated higher levels of adjustment to university life and attachment to their university. Students who reported difficulties in their relationships with other students had lower levels of peer attachment and university adjustment. Attachment to university peers was the strongest predictor of university adjustment, followed by attachment to the university. The research highlights the role of social relationships in institutional belonging, and the importance of nurturing peer relationships and institutional affiliation to create a positive student experience.     

Compulsory Schooling‐‐the Critical Dimension to Work and Learning in the New Millennium

This article discusses the need to better match education to the needs of redefined work. It considers some of the attitudes and personal characteristics required in the new millennium and holds that these should be imparted through compulsory schooling. It further considers the appropriateness of skills training, vocational education, and employment strategies in the changing arena of business; the impact on the Twenty‐First Century learner of internationalization and globalization; and current as well as potential innovative learning experiences and opportunities. International business and learning examples are cited.     

Higher education in Hong Kong — the approach to 1997 and the China factor

Hong Kong has two major economic assets: its geographical location and labour force. Shortage of educated manpower has created a bottleneck hampering economic growth. Substantial emigration flows relating to 1997 is also a problem. Development of higher education and infrastructure are means to ensure sustainable economic growth. The government plans to enable 25% of the relevant age group to attend degree and diploma courses in 1995 through rapid expansion and heavy subsidy.Most families are willing to work hard to provide for their children's education. They believe that their society is full of opportunities, and wealth and education important criteria determining one's social status. While Confucian ethics continue to influence attitudes and values, utilitarian considerations are now significant in the choice of disciplines, extra-curricular activities, staff-student relationship, etc.Rapid expansion of tertiary education creates a shortage of qualified staff and students. Fear of 1997 affects academics' dedication. They have to plan their insurance policy and signs of self-censorship emerge. Meanwhile, localization makes progress and the government begins to support research. Exchanges with China allowed local academics to help Chinese universities to renew their external linkages and establish new curricula.Higher education in Hong Kong has completed its take-off. It has achieved standards of developed countries. In the 1990s, it will attempt to consolidate and improve its quality.This is the updated and revised version of a paper prepared for the conference Hong Kong In Transition 1992 organized by the One Country Two Systems Economic Research Institute in Hong Kong     

Inclusion discourses in contemporary Slovak education policy – From the individual to the community and from right to performance

The study on which this article reports sought to explain the complexity of the relationship between inclusion policies and practices in education in Slovakia. Education policy in Slovakia is characterised by an enduring resistance to inclusion practices, despite the presence of humanist inclusion discourses. Accordingly, education policy and practices in Slovakia manifest a conflicting or parallel application of humanist and neoliberal discourses on inclusion. The analysis presented identifies three types of inclusion discourses in Slovak education policy today: (1) general individualised, (2) specified individualised, and (3) neoliberal discourses. Concrete examples are provided of each of the three types of discourses in Slovak education policy, to illustrate specific educational policies in different education sectors. Specific national challenges related to notions of inclusion and the associated paradoxes and differing perceptions of inclusion are discussed. The conclusion highlights the question of whether a truly democratic society can exist without humanistic and inclusive ideals.