The Persistent Life of Oppression: The Unconscious,Power, and Subjectivity

The rise of standardization signals that Paulo Freire's critique of the banking concept of education continues to be relevant today. But Freire's theory of critical pedagogy has not gone without its critiques. On the one hand, the fact that these criticisms exist should not blind us to the fact that Freire's intention was to formulate an emancipatory pedagogy because of oppressive systems of education. On the other hand, we cannot continue Freire's project without heeding the warnings issued by these criticisms. In this paper, we address pressing issues concerning Freire's libratory pedagogy and the way it has been taken up by recent Marxist theorizing in education while at the same time maintaining the importance for thinking through an emancipatory pedagogy. We are clear: the real culprit in this situation is the persistent life of oppression itself. We utilize psychoanalysis and the theories of Michel Foucault in order to pinpoint and work through a specific problematic concerning Freire's theories – namely: oppression has an existence in the unconscious such that those who are oppressed form passionate attachments to the forms of power that oppress them. Indeed, such a problematic is not flattering for all who are concerned with forms of social oppression, but, we contend, that unless this problem is recognized and worked through, no real liberation is possible     

澳大利亚数学课程的最新变化、特点及启示

最新2011年澳大利亚全国统一数学课程标准征求意见稿的特点是:由各州制订过渡到全国统一;由过细的学习水平划分过渡到学段划分;各学段的学习要求明确;数与代数、测量与几何考虑了各州和地区已有课程标准,加强统计与概率内容。对我国数学课程建设的启示是:根据学生身心发展特点划分学段;注意学段内不同学习水平的划分;处理好继承和发展的关系。     

The teaching well: Experience, education, and counselling

Wellness classes based on Eastern and Western philosophical concepts were offered to graduate level counselling students as a means of helping them to integrate and clarify their views on counselling. Through experiential activities, students learned to more fully activate inner creative resources for an enhanced sense of wholeness. The concepts and methods learned have practical application to counselling.     

The genetic code: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

This issue is a tribute to Har Gobind Khorana who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 for the elucidation of the Genetic Code. Here we present our view of the changing and ever-challenging perception of the genetic code over the last 50 years.     

Calculator-Available Assessments: The Why,What, and How

In the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989) advocated that "appropriate calculators should be available to all students at all times" (p. 8) and that calculators (or any instructional tool) should be allowed in the assessment of those students. In response, large-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Scholastic Achievement Test, American College Testing, Advanced Placement, and a variety of state-mandated tests moved to incorporate the allowance of calculator technologies in the assessment scheme. Although rhetoric and large-scale assessments have embraced the allowance of technology, classroom teachers may have difficulty developing their own assessments that permit calculator use. This article discusses the factors involved in h e design and implementation of calculator-available assessments. In particular, four issues associated with calculator-available assessments are examined. (a) the benefits and problems associated with calculator use in assessment, (b) the components of various types of calculator-available assessments, (c) the construction of calculator-available assessments, and (d) the need for additional examination of items included on calculator-available assessments. From this examination, teachers and test developers are provided with a set of recommendations that focus on developing calculator-available assessments and minimizing difficulties arising at the item 1evel.     

The Mexican Telesecundaria: Diversification,internationalization, change,and update

The Telescundaria of Mexico has arguably been, since the late 1960s and 1970s, among the most successful providers of educational television-based middle school programs. It now has over 1,050,000 students following the formal middle school academic curriculum in Mexico, together with some 30,000 students in other Central American countries whose governments have adopted the system as a way of meeting middle school educational needs. It is also being adopted in countries of the Andean region. The Telesecundaria generally serves communities of under 2500 inhabitants that cannot support a conventional school. The instructional system, based on educational broadcasting by satellite, print, and tuition, is outlined, along with the changes that might arise from the development of online educational services. Evaluation shows that the results obtained by students are on a par with or better than the conventional schooling system in Mexico, and that these results are obtained at very little additional cost per student, compared with the conventional system. The Telesecundaria also plays an important role in non-formal education within the community.     

The Alphabet Children: GT,ADHD, and More

This research examined the relation of school-level changes in the reading performance of students in general and in special education to school environmental variables associated with effective schools reforms in 56 Southern California schools. Applying a joint production model of outcomes, we predicted that school-level general and special education performance change related inversely to one another and differentially to effective environ- mental characteristics. Results showed inverse relations between changes in general and special education students' performance in sample schools. Inconsistent and differential relations between environmental characteristics associated with effective schools and the performance changes of the two groups of students were also evidenced. The implications of these findings for the educational opportunities of students with mild disabilities in the context of contemporary general and special education reforms are discussed.     

The expert learner: Strategic, self-regulated, and reflective

Reflection on the process of learning is believed to be an essential ingredient in the development of expert learners. By employing reflective thinking skills to evaluate the results of one's own learning efforts, awareness of effective learning strategies can be increased and ways to use these strategies in other learning situations can be understood. This article describes how expert learners use the knowledge they have gained of themselves as learners, of task requirements, and of specific strategy use to deliberately select, control, and monitor strategies needed to achieve desired learning goals. We present a model of expert learning which illustrates how learners' metacognitive knowledge of cognitive, motivational, and environmental strategies is translated into regulatory control of the learning process through ongoing reflective thinking. Finally, we discuss the implications that the concept of expert learning has for instructional practices.     

The global auction: The broken promises of education,jobs, and incomes

International Review of Education -     

The Environmental Movement: Consensus,Conflict, and Change

Given the growth in scuba diving activities and the importance of environmental education programs to alleviate the potential impacts on coral reef ecosystems, there is a need to better understand the diving community, its environmental knowledge, and subsequent behavioral actions. The purpose of this study was to explore the role or influence of specialization in scuba diving (as a moderator and mediator) on the relationship between marine-based environmental knowledge and behavior. Four hypotheses were formulated and empirically tested. Data from 370 scuba divers were collected (May-September 2002) in the St. Petersburg/Sarasota region of southwestern Florida. Marine-based environmental knowledge (11 items) and behaviors (16 items) were employed, along with recreation specialization (17 items) adapted from the literature. Specialization in scuba diving acted as a strong partial mediator but failed to be significant when tested as a moderator. Among scuba divers, marine-based knowledge did predict overall and specific proenvironmental behaviors; however, the level of specialization played a strong role in mediating the relationship.     

Speech: The wedemeyer award, 1989

Beyond the Text: Contemporary Writing on Distance Education. Edited by Terry Evans and Bruce King (Geelong, Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press, 1991, 264 pp., $25.50 Australian Dollars).