Psyche and Society in Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen

While Where the Wild Things Are may be Maurice Sendak’s most popular book, In the Night Kitchen is arguably the greater work. Though his journey in Wild Things shares many of the elements of Mickey’s adventure in Night Kitchen—swinging between the protagonist’s initiatory verbal assertions and silent, completely pictorial spreads that indicate his eventual dominance over his environment—Max’s story is ultimately only a narrative of the self. Where the Wild Things Are is a beautiful exploration of how Max (the maximum boy) is able to use an imaginative journey to create an individual personality that fills the world around him. But Mickey must confront something more than merely a projection of his own desires. Mickey, unlike Max, is diminutive in his fantasy world, and his adventure is a true dream shaped willy-nilly by his lived experience, not a daydream tailored to defend the ego. The story told as Mickey learns to navigate the Night Kitchen is essentially a social narrative—more realistic, more challenging, and with greater overall dividends than Max’s adventure. We can see this in the ways In the Night Kitchen combines four sorts of ingredients—Sendak’s own life, the psychology of dreaming, popular culture, and the immigrant experience—into a subtle, captivating tale of the self and society.

What’s in the Sky?

Aboywaswalkingalongthestreet.Suddenlyhestoppedandlookedupintothesky.Ayoungmanpassedbyhim.Whenhesawtheboy,hefeltcuriousandlookedup,too.Justthenagirlcameupandsawthem.“Istheresomethinginterestinginthesky?”shethoughtandlookedup,too.Suddenlytheboyasked,“Hey,whatareallofyoulookingupat?”“Thatswhatweregoingtoaskyou,”saidtheyoungman.“Youwanttoaskme?ButIwasntlookingatanything,”saidtheboy,“Iraisedmyheadupwardbecausemynosebled.”What’s in the Sky?@程炜…     

What’s new in computers

Lately there has been a lot of excitement about disruptive forms of ‘money’ — cryptocurrencies. This article traces the evolution of cryptocurrencies focusing on the enabling technologies and some theoretical foundations. We shall also explore the challenges they pose to well-established monetary systems.     

Learning and the pandemic: What’s next?

PROSPECTS - This article highlights key points with respect to each of the following: 1) School systems around the world were stagnant before Covid-19 and had been for some time; 2) Therefore there...     

School climate in Mongolia: Translation and validation of the What’s Happening in This School

Learning Environments Research - School climate measures are important tools that assist educators in evaluating the “norms, values, and expectations that support people feeling socially,...     

What motivates enrolment in programming MOOCs?

Learners who enrol in massive open online courses (MOOCs) have different backgrounds and tend to have different motivations than learners in traditional courses. Based on value-expectancy theory, an instrument was developed to measure motivation for enrolling in a programming MOOC. A study with 1229 adult participants in Estonian-language programming course “About Programming” was conducted to validate the instrument. Results of confirmatory factor analysis validated the 7-factor scale named factors influencing enrolment in MOOC (FIEM). FIEM comprises three factors of expectancies, three factors of values and one factor of social influence. The highest and lowest rated motivational factors influencing enrolment in programming MOOC are discussed in the paper. Interest in and expectations for the course, personal suitability of distance learning and suitability for family and work are the highest-rated motivational factors for those who enrol in MOOC. Usefulness related to own children, social influence and usefulness to related to certification were the lowest rated. The results of this study can be useful for designers of programming MOOCs and the developed scale might be used in future studies.     

Correction to: School climate in Mongolia: Translation and validation of the What’s Happening in This School

Learning Environments Research -     

What’s in a name: dimensions of social learning in teacher groups

Induced by a literature review, this paper presents a framework of dimensions and indicators highlighting the underpinning aspects and values of social learning within teacher groups. Notions of social networks, communities of practice and learning teams were taken as the main perspectives to influence this social learning framework. The review exercise resulted in four dimensions: (1) practice, (2) domain and value creation, (3) collective identity and (4) organization. The indicators corresponding to these dimensions serve as the foundation for understanding social learning in practice. The framework of dimensions and indicators can be of assistance for researchers as well as teacher groups that aim to assess their views on social learning and analyse whether these views fit the learning goals of the group or that adjustments are required. In this way, learning processes within groups of teachers can be improved.     

What’s involved in ‘the work’? Understanding administrators’ roles in bringing trans-affirming policies into practice

ABSTRACT

Researchers have concluded that policy implementation is a process of mutual adaptation between policies and implementers. Our study draws attention to that relationship, especially with respect to policies that challenge assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality. We focus on how six administrators in one United States school district understood ‘the work’ of bringing the district’s Guidelines for Supporting Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students into practice. Our analysis of interview data focused these questions: How do administrators describe their motivation and commitment to engage in the work? What puzzles of practice do participants name? How do they talk about the work of implementation? What does that work mean/involve in everyday practice? What were their roles? We found that implementation was locally defined and enacted; participants’ sense-making, their roles in enacting the Guidelines, and the puzzles they negotiated were influenced by their unique contexts. We share examples of diverse cases in an effort to create policy knowledge.     

Beliefs About the Teacher’s Role in the Mathematics Classroom: One Student Teacher’s Explorations in Fiction and in Practice

This case study of a preservice secondary mathematics teacher focuses on the teacher’s beliefs about his role as mathematics teacher. Data were collected over the final 5 months of the teacher’s university teacher education program through interviews, written course assignments, and observations of student-teaching. Findings indicate that the preservice teacher valued classroom roles in which students, rather than the teacher, explained traditional mathematics content. As his student-teaching internship progressed, the teacher began to develop new roles and engaged students in additional mathematical processes. These results emphasize the need for preservice teachers to recognize how teacher and student roles impact interrelationships between understanding and mathematical activity, and illustrate the nature of teacher learning that can occur during an internship.     

What’s Cool?

旨在提高英语写作水平,互相交流,取长补短,我们开辟了"学生习作名师点评"栏目。如果你想看看自己的写作水平如何,请将习作邮寄给我们,我们会将其转交给省内各校名师点评;老师们如果想推荐自己学生的优秀习作,请按栏目要求邮寄给我们。     

What’s it name

1.Rabbit like_______very much.(兔子非常喜欢胡萝卜。)2.The white rabbit is picking_______.(小白兔正在采蘑菇。)3.Bear have a bottle of milk and a loafof_______.(小熊有一瓶牛奶和一个面包。)4.The hen laid a large_______.(这只母鸡下了一个大鸡蛋。)5.The bird is     

What’s the Bottom Line? Corporate Involvement in an Early Childhood Initiative

Using data from a qualitative case study of a statewide early childhood initiative, this article critically examines the budding relationship between one states early childhood initiative and the corporate community. The analysis is situated within assumptions about the benefits of public–private partnerships and early childhood and childcare as vital to the nations current and future workforce. Early childhood stakeholders courted the business sector to gain support for the program, and their actions resulted in unintended consequences, including privileging the perspectives of businesspersons above those of parents, service providers, and other stakeholders.