An innovative model for collaborative reform in Elementary School Science Teaching

This article received the Innovations in Teaching Science Teachers award at the 1996 meeting of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science. The award is made possible by Delta Education.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. TPE-9050015). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.     

Exploring the Concept of ‘Habitus’ with Preservice Teachers Through the Use of Popular School Films

The thesis of this paper is that it is a productive venture to introduce preservice students to social theories that are typically not a part of teacher preparation programs. Examples of these theories are those associated with terms such as habitus, the carnivalesque, power / knowledge, seduction, detournement, the spectacle,la perruque, (the wig), and the art of making do,as well as others. In this paper, I describe a project that involved exploring the theory of habitus to problematize the tendency of preservice students to not think in terms of relations between what goes on in the classroom and what goes on in society. I introduced habitus by having preservice students read selected print materials and by having them view, analyze, and respond in writing to popular school films. Students also analyzed their experiences in classrooms in terms of habitus, making a connection between theory and practice.     

La Croissance des depenses publiques d'education en Allemagne: 1829–1989

Résumé Le retournement de conjoncture du début des années 1970 s'est traduit par un renouveau des travaux relatifs aux cycles longs de type Kondratieff. Face à la fluctuation atypique de certaines variables (prix, production, etc ...), les acquis théoriques antérieurs semblaient avoir épuisé leur capacité explicative. Il devenait nécessaire d'énoncer et de vérifier des hypothèses nouvelles pour expliquer les traits originaux de la crise de structure qui se dessinait. Les résultats des travaux développés au sein du groupe de recherche en Histoire Quantitative et Théories du Long Terme de l'Université de Montpellier I répondent à cette nécessité. Ils introduisent une relation entre les dépenses engagées pour le développement des hommes (salaires, éducation, santé etc ...) et celles consacrées à la croissance matérielle.

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The downturn in the economic situation in the early 1970s gave rise to new work on long-term Kondratieff cycles. Given the atypical fluctuation in some variables (prices, production, etc.), previous theories appeared to have exhausted their ability to explain events. To explain the original features of the structural crisis that was developing, it has become necessary to put forward and test new hypotheses. The results of work carried out by the research group on Quantitative History and Long-Term Theories at the University of Montpellier I meet this requirement. They introduce a relationship between expenditure on human development (wages, education, health, etc.) and that devoted to material growth.

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Zusammenfassung Die Verschlechterung der wirtschaftlichen Situation in den frühen 70ern gab der Arbeit an langfristigen Kontratieff — Zyklen Aufschwung. In Anbetracht der atypischen Fluktuation einiger Variablen (Preise, Produktion, usw.) schienen vorangegangene Theorien die Ereignisse nicht mehr erklären zu können. Um die Ursachen der sich entwickelnden strukturellen Krise erklären zu können wurde es notwendig, neue Hypothesen aufzustellen und auszuprobieren. Die Ergebnisse der von der Forschungsgruppe über Quantitative Geschichte und Langzeittheorien an der Universität von Montpellier I durchgeführten Studien erfüllen diese Anforderungen. Sie stellen Ausgaben für die menschliche Entwicklung (Lohn, Bildung, Gesundheit usw.) und Ausgaben für materielles Wachstum in Relation.

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Resumen La degradación de la situación económica a comienzos de los a~nos setenta ha originado un nuevo trabajo sobre ciclos Kondratieff de largo plazo. Dada la fluctuación atípica de algunas variables (precios, producción, etc.), las teorías previas aparentemente habían agotado su capacidad de explicar los hechos. A efectos de explicar las características originales de la crisis estructural que se estaba desarrollando, surgió la necesidad de adelantar y comprobar nuevas hipótesis. Los resultados del trabajo realizado por el grupo de investigación de Historia Cuantitativa y Teorías de Largo Plazo de la Universidad de Montpellier I satisfacen estos requisitos. Ellos introducen una relación entre los gastos y esfuerzos destinados al desarrollo humano (salarios, educación, sanidad, etc.) y aquellos dedicados al crecimiento material.

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Equity issues in local resourcing of education: Community financing of primary schools in Bhutan

Community financing is an important source of supplementary funds for education, particularly where governments are unable to meet all the needs of their peoples. While this is widely recognised, little empirical research has been conducted on the topic. This paper analyses patterns in Bhutan. It observes that until the 1990s few resources for education were provided by communities, but that the scale of financing has increased during the present decade. The paper notes that although communities have in general responded positively to government calls for local inputs, local resourcing has some problematic aspects. The paper focuses particularly on issues of regional, rural/urban and socio-economic equity, and shows how discussion of Bhutanese experiences contributes to the international literature.

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Zusammenfassung Finanzierungen über die Gemeinde sind eine wichtige Quelle der Bezuschussung von Bildung, besonders dort, wo Regierungen nicht in der Lage sind, den Bedürfnissen der Bevölkerung gerecht zu werden. Obwohl dies weitreichend bekannt ist, gibt es kaum empirische Studien zu diesem Thema. Dieser Artikel befaßt sich mit der Situation in Bhutan. Es wird festgestellt, daß die Gemeinden bis zu den 90ern kaum Gelder für die Bildung zur Verfügung stellten, daß aber der Rahmen der Finanzierung in diesem Jahrzehnt gestiegen ist. Der Autor beschreibt, daß trotz einer allgemein positiven Antwort seitens der Gemeinden auf Forderungen der Regierung nach lokalen Finanzbeiträgen, Probleme hinsichtlich lokaler Finanzierungen bestehen. Insbesondere befaßt sich der Artikel mit Themen über regionale, ländliche und städtische und sozialökonomische Gleichheit und zeigt, wie die Diskussion über die Erfahrungen in Bhutan zur internationalen Literatur beiträgt.

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Resumen La financiación a través de la comunidad es una fuente importante de recursos adicionales para la educación, particularmente allí donde los gobiernos son incapaces de satisfacer todas las necesidades de sus habitantes. Si bien este es un hecho ampliamente conocido, existen muy pocos estudios empíricos sobre este tema. El trabajo analiza los modelos existentes en Bhután y observa que hasta los años noventa, eran pocos los recursos financieros provistos por las comunidades, mientras que durante la década actual han aumentado estos niveles de financiación. El estudio observa que, a pesar de que las comunidades, en general, han respondido de forma positiva a las llamadas del gobierno a realizar inversiones locales, la creación de recursos locales tiene algunos aspectos problemáticos. El trabajo se concentra particularmente en problemas de equidad regional, rural/urbana y socioeconómica, demostrando cómo la discusión sobre experiencias bhutanesas presta su aporte a la literatura internacional.

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Résumé Le financement communautaire représente une source importante de fonds supplémentaires pour l'éducation, en particulier quand le gouvernement ne peut répondre à tous les besoins de la population. Bien que ce fait soit largement reconnu, il n'existe que peu de recherche empirique sur le sujet. Cet article analyse différents modèles existant au Bhoutan. Il constate tout d'abord que jusque dans les années 90, les communautés ne fournissaient qu'une faible partie des ressources de l'éducation, mais que cette forme de financement a augmenté au cours de la dernière décennie. Il relève également qu'en dépit de la réaction généralement positive de la part des communautés envers l'incitation du gouvernement à un financement local, ce modèle présente néanmoins des difficultés. L'article se concentre d'autre part sur les questions d'équitabilité entre régions, entre villes et provinces et entre niveaux socioéconomiques, et révèle que la discussion sur les expériences du Bhoutan contribue à enrichir la littérature internationale.

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The Changing Debate on Internationalisation of Higher Education

Internationalisation, the growing border-crossing activities between national systems of higher education is losing ground to globalisation, increasing border-crossing activities of blurred national systems which is often employed to depict world-wide trends and growing global competition. This article addresses recent issues of knowledge transfer. It points out tensions between increasing diversity in higher education and efforts to facilitate recognition of prior studies on student mobility. It shows the diversity of steering and management policies with respect to internationalisation and globalisation. Finally, it asks whether globalisation of higher education has to be viewed as a manifestation of turbo-capitalism or could be viewed instead as a move towards global understanding.     

A qualitative review of study behaviour before and during the first year of engineering studies

A review of the study behaviour of first-year Engineering students was undertaken in order to investigate two sets of influencing factors. The first part of the study reviewed these students' selfreported retrospective study behaviour in the context of secondary school Science, while the second part focused on their approaches to the study of Applied Mechanics as a core undergraduate degree course. Utilising qualitative interview data as the source of evidence, the study highlights the following important conclusions: (1) some traditional first-year students embark on their studies as much at risk academically as their nontradition counterparts; (2) many first-year Engineering students encounter workload pressures which lead to their adopting increasingly strategic approaches to their studies in individual courses; (3) the complex, qualitatively different learning needs of these students make it exceedingly difficult to design teaching programmes which will appropriately address these learning needs. The study suggests that these conclusions cannot, in spite of these difficulties, simply be ignored in the hope that they will resolve themselves.     

A two-dimensional analysis of student ratings of instruction

Student ratings of instruction were analyzed in terms of two global factors. One factor, which includes items on advanced planning, presentation clarity, and increased student knowledge, was named pedagogical skill. The other factor taps information about class discussion, grading, and the availability of help and was named rapport. Ratings on the skill factor did not covary with class size or the leniency of the instructor's grading but did correlate with a reasonable external criterion of student learning. Ratings of rapport correlated inversely with class size and directly with average class grade and showed only a weak relationship to the external criterion of student learning. The skill factor showed more interclass stability than the rapport factor. Previous research studies which have examined the reliability and validity of instructional ratings and their relationship to student grades and class size have reported inconsistent findings. These inconsistencies appear to result from an inappropriate unidimensional analysis of ratings which should be examined in terms of two of more separate attitude dimensions.     

The structure of subject matter content and its instructional design implications

This paper discusses the analysis of subject matter structure for purposes of designing instruction. The underlying assumption is that subject matter structures provide an important basis for deciding how to sequence and synthesize the modules of a subject matter area. Four types of fundamental structures are briefly described and illustrated: the learning hierarchy, the procedural hierarchy, the taxonomy, and the model. Then a theoretical framework is presented for classifying types of subject mater content — both modules and structures. Finally, some implications of these content classifications are discussed. The classification of modules is hypothesized to be valuable for prescribing strategies for the presentation of single modules, and the classification of structures is hypothesized to be valuable for prescribing strategies for selecting, sequencing, synthesizing, and summarizing related modules. The need to take into account more than one kind of structure in the process of instructional design is emphasized.     

The American mixture of higher education in perspective: four dimensions

Several nations are currently considering privatization of parts of their higher education systems. This paper, mainly based on the American experience, examines privatizing public institutions as an alternative to establishing solely private institutions.Institutions are analyzed along four dimensions: (1) ownership (public or private); (2) control (external or internal); (3) financing (public or private funds); and (4) mechanisms for public financing (who controls fund distribution and how). There are varying mixtures along these four dimensions both within countries and around the world, with the American system exhibiting the widest range of combinations. Six categories are described, including four common in the U.S.: I. Independent private, where institutions are independent in ownership, in control, and in basic financing; II. Dependent private, independent in ownership and financing but dependent in control; III. Independent public, dependent in ownership but independent in control and substantially independent in financing; IV. Semi-independent public (state/guild type), dependent in ownership, mixed in control, and heavily dependent in financing (less common in the U.S., but typical of Italy and Latin America); V. Semi-independent public (state/trustee/guild type), where control is shared among state, academic guilds and lay boards of trustees but with mainly state-controlled financing; and VI. Dependent public, the model in the Communist nations.Kerr traces the historical path that led to the mixed American system and examines some of its positive consequences, which include institutional autonomy, diversity, and flexibility. Negative results include possible over-responsiveness to short-term pressures, as from the labor market or student preferences for courses of study, and from supporting business or industry.The author concludes that the American experience with privatized public institutions may serve as a model for those elsewhere who now seek greater institutional differentiation, autonomy, and flexibility within national systems of higher education.     

Connecting Teacher Beliefs to the Use of Children’s Literature in the Teaching of Mathematics

This article presents examples that illustrate how teachers use childrens literature in the teaching of mathematics. The examples are related to four curriculum ideologies that have influenced mathematics education in the USA for the last 75 years. It discusses why it is relevant to help teachers understand the ideological positions that influence their use of childrens literature during mathematics instruction, summarizes the four ideological positions, and presents results of a study of how teachers ideological positions relate to their use of childrens literature in the teaching of mathematics. The study examines two research questionsCan an instructional tool be developed that will highlight for teachers the different ways in which they and others use childrens literature to teach mathematics? and Can that instructional tool stimulate teacher discussion and reflection about their own beliefs and the ideological nature of the instructional environment in which they learned (as students) and teach (as teachers)? Study results indicate that both questions can be answered in the affirmative.     

Certifying effect and consumer effect: Some remarks on strategies employed by higher education institutions

The term certification, as used in discussions concerning higher education, is clarified and a distinction made between terminal awards which do have a genuine certifying effect in the sense of procuring admission to a profession and those which do not. Institutions wishing to increase the value of the certifying effect of their awards, seek to do this by stimulating applications for entry to their institution. The longer the queue at the gate the greater the prestige of the terminal award. The ability to influence the certifying effect of an award does not, however, lie with the teaching institutions alone; business, the employers and the professions can, and increasingly do, determine the relative value of awards and of different ways of preparing for the exercise of a particular profession. The case of the business schools in France is described to illustrate how teaching institutions once they are established seek to increase the certifying effect of the diplomas they award by actually reducing the number of graduates. The numerus clausus, as applied to medical schools, provides another example of the same phenomenon. Such strategies lead to what the author describes as consumer effect. Once admittance to a prestige institution has been gained, entry to a position of influence and possibly affluence, is more or less assured. Students in such institutions, in both capitalist and communist countries, have exploited this by persuading teaching staff to acquiesce in a reduction of the demands made by the course, though some directors of institutions have begun to respond by failing more students, seeking to re-establish positions surrendered in the days of student unrest and by these and other means seeking to reduce consumer effect. Teacher training colleges provide an interesting example of institutions having a low but certain certifying effect, producing a high consumer effect. The possibility of deriving a general theory from the proposition put forward in the article is discussed.This is an improved version of an article published earlier in French: Effet certifiant et effet clientèle. Quelques remarques sur les stratégies des institutions d'enseignement supérieur dans les pays développés, ESPRIT, nov./dec. 1978. Translation: Sylvia Collot.     

The relationship between attributes of a children's radio program and its appeal to listeners

An approach was developed to investigate the link between attributes of a children's radio program and children's judgments of appeal. Program tapes were divided into 28 segments and were rated for the presence of 30 attributes. Through multidimensional scaling analysis, attributes were organized into six clusters of Superattributes on the basis of their co-occurrence across the 28 segments. Superattributes were labeled and assigned scores that reflected the degree to which each was present in the 28 segments. A sample of 42 children 8–12 years old listened to the test tapes and provided a written judgment of their interest in the program at each segment. Results revealed that the Superattributes Instruction, Intro Talk, and Jokes were negatively associated with children's interest, while Popular Music was positively correlated with interest. In planning programs and understanding the effects of radio on children, designers and researchers should pay special attention to those formats in radio programming that are familiar to children, especially popular music and instructional material.     

Torsten Husén: A case of ethnocentrism in U.S. educational research?

This paper documents and discusses the lack of reference by U.S. educational researchers to the work of noted Swedish social scientist and educational researcher, Torsten Husén. The paucity of U.S. textbook or journal citations of Husén's writings and research is interpreted as an example of cultural ethnocentrism and academic imperialism in U.S. educational and psychological research. Crosscultural perspectives, interdisciplinary analyses, and global learning are proposed as methods of overcoming the methodological parochialism, overspecialization, and international fragmentation Husén describes as characteristic of much educational and social scientific research.     

Safe Discussions Rather Than First Hand Encounters: Adolescents Examine Racism Through One Historical Fiction Text

summary This article presents a case study class response to Mildred Taylors now classic and widely read novel, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. Through data collected during one school year, the ways urban, adolescent students use their contemporary lenses to interpret the literary theme of confronting, overcoming and challenging racism are discussed. The participants responses are organized into four reader response categories that explicate the complex and interactive interpretations developed by the children while reading the novel. In addition to providing insights about the participants textual understanding, pedagogical findings indicate that the book can also be used to explore the nature of racism while creating a safe space to confront and more deeply understand racisms impact on the past as well as the students current reality.     

Whitehead and a new look at teaching elementary science

If Whitehead is right, science teachers who try to increase student interest by making the science they teach more pure and by covering more material are going about their work in just the wrong way. Science, for purposes of precision in measurement, translates the dynamic world of feeling and force, of causal efficacy (for example, the San Francisco earthquake), into a static representation spatialized and given presentational immediacy (for example, the Richter scale). But notice that the Richter scale isn't very interesting (even as abstract art) apart from its connection, via symbolic reference, to the earthquake. Such reference is essential to give both a sense of reality and a feeling of interes to the subject, but it makes the science less pure, and it takes more time to cover the material. An example of teaching pure and impure formal logic is given as a case study.     

“Did I mean what I said?” — A reply to McCormick

In this note, I argue that the distinction between what one says and what one means by it is no more problematic (and no less) than the equally important distinction between evidence and theory. Both, I suggest, take a particular form in literate discourse.     

Language factor: Does it affect children's performance on word problems?

48 children from primary 4 in private and public schools (24 from each) were asked to solve 10 arithmetic word problems (involving more or less as the cue word) presented in English and in their native language. Retrospective clinical interviews were also conducted to find out how each child analyzed the meaning of each problem, before deciding which operation to use to solve it. The results revealed that both public and private school children performed better both in skills and in strategies when problems were presented in their native language than when presented in English, but only public school had the result to be significant (P<.025). Also data obtained from the interviews are in accord with psycholinguistic theories concerning the polarized comparative pair of less and more.     

Minority aspirations and the revival of indigenous peoples

The growing world-wide sensitivity to the aspirations of indigenous peoples is to be welcomed. However, there is still a tendency which should be avoided: to lump the claims of indigenous peoples with those of minorities. Indigenous peoples are the heirs of long-established political, social and cultural communities which have been oppressed for centuries or victimized by policies of genocide or forced assimilation into the approved language and religion of the dominating community. These forms of destruction can only be truly ended by returning to indigenous peoples a degree of autonomy which will ensure that they have real control over their future. Indigenous peoples should be able to create institutions, including schools, where their languages, religions and cultures are permitted to flourish without interference.

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Zusammenfassung Wachsende weltweite Sensibilisierung gegenüber den Bedürfnissen einheimischer Völker sind sicherlich begrüßenswert. Vermieden werden sollte jedoch die Tendenz, die Ansprüche einheimischer Völker mit denen der Minderheiten gleichzusetzen. Einheimische Völker sind Erben langansässiger politischer, sozialer und kultureller Gemeinden, die jahrhundertelang unterdrückt oder Opfer politisch motivierten Massenmordes wurden, oder aber die dazu gezwungen wurden, sich der Sprache und Religion der dominierenden Gruppe zu unterwerfen. Diese Art von Zerstörung kann nur dann endgültig beendet werden, wenn einheimischen Völkern die für eine wahre Kontrolle über ihre Zukunft nötige Autonomie zugestanden wird. Einheimische Völker sollten die Möglichkeit bekommen, Institutionen und Schulen einzurichten zur Pflege und Weiterentwicklung ihrer eigenen Sprache, Religion und Kultur ohne Intervention von dritter Seite.

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Resumen La creciente sensibilidad que se registra en todo el mundo ante las aspiraciones de los indígenas es un hecho muy positivo. Sin embargo, aun subsiste una tendencia que debe evitarse: no deben agruparse las reivindicaciones de los indígenas con las exigencias de minorías. Los indígenas son los herederos de communidades políticas, sociales y culturales establecidas desde hace mucho tiempo, que fucron oprimidas durante siglos o víctimas de políticas de genocidios o de asimilación forzada a la lengua y a la religión oficial de la comunidad dominante. Estas formas de destrución solamente podrán suprimirse devolviendo a los indígenas un grado de autonomia que les asegure un real control de su propio futuro. Los indígenas deberían recibir la posibilidad de crear instituciones, e incluso escuelas, donde sus lenguas, religiones y culturas puedan florecer sin sufrir interferencias.

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Résumé La sensibilisation croissante au niveau mondial pour les aspirations des populations autochtones doit être encouragée. Une tendance reste cependant à éviter: confondre les revendications des peuples autochtones avec celles des minorités. Les premiers sont les héritiers de communautés politiques, sociales et culturelles implantées de longue date, qui ont été opprimées pendant des siècles, ou sont devenues victimes de politiques génocides, ou encore forcées à l'assimilation de la langue et de la religion autorisées par la communauté dominatrice. On ne pourra mettre un terme définitif à ces formes de destruction que si les populations autochtones recouvrent un minimum d'autonomie qui leur assurera une maîtrise véritable de leur avenir. Les peuples autochtones devraient pouvoir créer des institutions, dont les écoles, où leurs langues, leurs religions et leurs cultures seraient libres de s'épanouir sans ingérence.

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Reforming urban education: A review of recent reports and legislation

Following the National Commission on Excellence Report, A Nation at Risk, a number of additional reports were issued calling for major changes in American public education. Because advocates for poor and minority groups saw a class bias in the recommendations of these reports, there quickly followed a subset of reports arguing that the disadvantaged should not be overlooked in the education reform movement. Not surprisingly, these reports have received less attention than the mainstream ones. This article reviews recent urban education reform reports and legislation, paralleling them to determine whether the reformers have been able to influence policy and whether the reforms they advocate would be likely to benefit the disadvantaged.