How Teachers Help Children Resolve Moral Dilemmas

Abstract

The present study investigated the strategies that elementary school teachers employ when they help other people resolve moral dilemmas. Thirty‐six elementary school teachers were randomly assigned to one of three groups and administered the ‘Defining Issues Test’ (DIT). Teachers in Groups One and Two were instructed to respond to the DIT as if they were helping a ‘10‐year‐old child’ or a ‘40‐year‐old adult’ resolve a number of difficult moral problems. Teachers in Group Three were instructed to respond to the DIT with their own opinions concerning the resolution of the same moral problems.

Results revealed that teachers made no differentiation between their own views as to the resolution of moral problems and the advice that they gave a 10‐year‐old child or a 40‐year‐old adult attempting to solve the same problems. The implications of these findings for moral education are discussed.     

‘Reading drop‐outs’: Can they be predicted?

Abstract

In the Netherlands many pupils in grade one have difficulties in beginning reading. Approximately 7.5% of all children do not succeed in learning to read well enough to be able to proceed to the following school‐year together with the other pupils. These children either have to repeat a year or have to go back to kindergarten; alternatively, they are referred to special education. These children are called ‘reading drop‐outs’.     

CORRECTIONAL POST‐SECONDARY EDUCATION: THE EXPANDING ROLE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES

More than 75 percent of post‐secondary institutions offering education programs in prisons are community and vocational/ technical colleges. The predominance of community colleges among correctional education providers is a major change from the early 1970's when two‐thirds of such programs were provided by four‐year institutions.

Over 260 community colleges provide programs and services to the 26,000 inmates participating in higher education. Results of a survey on correctional post‐secondary education indicate that these programs are in many ways different from those educational institutions provide on their own campuses. For example, they generally, have different admission standards, are administered by part‐time staff, and rely upon part‐time and adjunct faculty.

Community and junior college administrators are urged to closely examine the operation and quality of their correctional programs and the need for evaluative research on the long‐term effects of these programs is also stressed.     

Wireless laptops in English classrooms: a SWOT analysis from Singapore

This paper presents illustrative findings from a one‐year pilot study undertaken in the English department of a high school in Singapore that was in the first year of implementing a one‐to‐one wireless laptop programme. The findings show that learning was often constrained by lecture‐style presentations and overt test preparation. Despite widespread access, the students rarely explored new media as alternative sources of legitimate knowledge and missed opportunities to investigate mobile technologies as sites for meaning‐making and knowledge construction. The paper concludes with a call for teachers to design language learning and assessment tasks that embrace a wider set of twenty‐first century skills, knowledge and dispositions.

Radiolaptops in englischen Klassenzimmern: eine SWOT‐Analyse aus Singapur

Dieses Papier präsentiert beispielhafte Ergebnisse einer einjährigen Pilotstudie, die in der englischen Abteilung einer Höheren Schule in Singapur im ersten Jahr der Einführung eines drahtlosen Laptop‐Programms durchgeführt worden ist. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Lernen häufig durch vorlesungsartige Präsentationen und offenkundige Test‐Vorbereitung behindert wurde. Trotz des breit‐möglichen Zugangs erforschten die Studenten selten neue Medien als alternative Quellen legitimer Kenntnisse und verpassten so Gelegenheiten, bewegliche Technologien als Mittel für bedeutsames und kenntnissbildendes Lernen zu untersuchen. Das Papier schließt mit einem Aufruf an Lehrer, für das Fremdsprachenlernen aktuelle und den heutigen technischen Möglichkeiten angemessene Beispiele zu entwickeln.

Les ordinateurs portables sans fils dans les classes d’anglais: une analyse SWOT (forces et faiblesses) à Singapour

Cet article présente les résultats significatifs d’une étude expérimentale d’un an lancée dans le département d’anglais d’un lycée de Singapour qui se trouvait dans la première année de mise en place d’une programme d’ordinateurs portables sans fil individuels. Ces résultats montrent que l’apprentissage était souvent gêné par des présentations en forme de cours magistral et un bachotage avoué en vue de l’examen. En dépit de la grande facilité d’accès, les élèves ont rarement exploré les nouveaux medias comme autant de sources nouvelles d’un savoir authentique et ils n’ont pas saisi l’occasion d’étudier si les nouvelles technologies pouvaient être des lieux de production de sens et de construction du savoir. L’article se termine sur un appel aux professeurs pour qu’ils conçoivent des tâches d’apprentissage et d’évaluation de la langue qui couvriraient un éventail plus large de compétences, de connaissances et d’attitudes propres au 21^e siècle.

Los ordenadores portatiles inalámbricos en aulas de inglés: un analísis SWOT (puntos fuertes y debilidades) en Singapur

Este artículo presenta unos resultados ilustrativos de un estudio piloto de un año llevado a cabo en el departamento de inglés de un colegio de Singapur que se encontraba en el primero año de la aplicación de un programa de ordenadores individuales inalámbricos. Esos resultados muestran que el aprendizaje fué frecuentemente dificultado por presentaciones de tipo «lección magistral» y preparaciones dirigidas solamente a los examenes. Aunque el acceso era muy fácil, los alumnos han poco explorado las posibilidades de los nuevos medios como fuentes alternativas de conocimientos legítimos y no consiguieron aprovechar oportunidades de examinar el potencial de las tecnologías móviles como lugares de producción de sentido y de construcción de conocimiento. La conclusión del artículo contiene un llamamiento a los profesores para el diseño de tareas de aprendizaje de idiomas y de evaluación que abarquen una gama más amplia de competencias, conocimientos y aptitudes del siglo 21.     

Attitudes of higher education faculty toward distance education: A national survey

Abstract

Although distance education is growing in importance in the United States, little research has focused on the attitudes of American college and university teachers toward college‐level distance education and toward the use of specific media in distance education provision. The attitudes of both participating and nonparticipating faculty toward distance education need further examination, since teaching innovations cannot succeed without their support. This study examines the receptivity to college‐credit distance education of faculty members in two‐ and four‐year higher education institutions. The research questions focused on general receptivity to distance education, the relationship between professional characteristics and attitude toward distance education, the connection between previous distance education experiences/ familiarity and receptivity, and on attitudes toward different distance education media and methods.     

Media literacy and audiovisual languages: a case study from Belgium

This article examines the use of media in the construction of a “new” language for children. We studied how children acquire and use media literacy skills through their engagement in an educational art project. This media literacy project is rooted in the realm of audiovisual media, within which children’s sound and visual worlds are the focus of inquiry. Using an ethnographic approach, we examined the engagement in the project of participating children, and we analyzed how they used this “new” discourse as a tool to express themselves. Our analysis focused on how the project was received by children, and on the potential for educational media art projects to stimulate media knowledge.

Connaissance raisonnée des medias et langages audio‐visuels: une étude de cas en Belgique

Cet article étudie l’usage des medias dans la construction d’un nouveau langage pour les enfants. Nous avons étudié la façon dont les enfants acquièrent et font usage de compétences liées à la connaissance raisonnée des medias en s’impliquant dans un projet artistique éducatif. Ce projet sur la connaissance raisonnée des medias s’enracine dans les médias audio‐visuels au sein desquels les mondes visuels et sonores des enfants font l’objet de notre enquête. En ayant recours à une approche ethnographique, nous avons examiné l’implication dans le projet des enfants qui y participaient et nous avons analysé la façon dont ils utilisaient ce nouveau discours comme instrument de leur propre expression. Notre analyse a mis l’accent sur la façon dont le projet a été reçu par les enfants et sur le potentiel des projets artistiques reposant sur les médias éducatifs pour stimuler la connaissance des medias.

Medienkompetenz und audiovisuelle Sprachen: Eine Fallstudie aus Belgien

Dieser Artikel untersucht die Nutzung von Medien in der Entwicklung einer “neuen” Sprache bei Kindern. Wir untersuchten wie Kinder Medienkompetenzen bei ihrer Auseinandersetzung mit einem pädagogischen Kunstprojekt erwarben und verwendeten. Dieses Medienkompetenzprojekt basierte in dem Bereich der audiovisuellen Medien, wobei die auditorischen und visuellen Welten der Kinder im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung standen. Durch die Verwendung eines ethnographischen Ansatzes untersuchten wir, wie sich die an dieser Studie teilnehmenden Kinder mit dem Projekt auseinandersetzten. Wir analysierten zusätzlich, wie die Kinder diesen “neuen” Diskurs benutzten, um sich selbst auszudrücken. Unsere Analyse konzentrierte sich darauf, wie das Projekt von den Kindern aufgenommen wurde, sowie auch auf das Potenzial von pädagogischen Medienprojekten für die Förderung von Medien‐Wissen.

Alfabetismo mediático y los lenguajes audio‐visuales: un estudio de caso de Bélgica

El presente artículo examina el uso de los medios en la construcción de un nuevo lenguaje para los niños. Hemos estudiado como los niños adquieren y aprovechan sus competencias en alfabetismo mediático cuando se involucran en un proyecto artístico educativo. Este proyecto de alfabetismo mediático está arraigado en el reino de los medios audiovisuales en el cual los mundos sonoros y visuales de los niños son el foco de la presente encuesta. Utilizando una metodología etnográfica, hemos examinado la implicación en este proyecto de los niños participantes y analizado como aprovechaban este « nuevo » discurso como una herramienta para expresarse. Nuestro análisis enfoca la manera de acoger el proyecto por parte de los niños y el potencial de los proyectos artísticos basados en los medios educativos para incentivar el conocimiento de los medios.     

Development and challenges of the credit point system in Dutch higher education

Abstract

This article will focus on the credit point system and especially on the Dutch system. In many countries such a system has a long history, but in others it is a relatively new phenomenon. In the first section, the objectives of credit point systems will be introduced. In the second section the emergence and characteristics of the credit point system in the Netherlands will be presented. In the third section, some results of student behaviour in the first year in Higher education will be shown for different groups of students, such as how many credit points on average they earned and how many hours per week on average they studied. The findings demonstrate how empirical results from student behaviour, combined with the norms of the credit point system, can be used to evaluate the accountability of the academic programmes. In the last section, some challenges for the use of credit point systems in the nearby future will be discussed. Recently, one can see a rapid change from the traditional ways of testing to the assessment of competencies of students and student portfolios.     

A Model for Media Education Research in Russia and the US

This paper briefly outlines key similarities and differences in approaches to media education in Russia and the US, followed by explication of a suggested approach to improving research on the means of introducing media education concepts to adolescents in cross‐cultural public school settings. Although much has been written about the value of media education in schools, there is little research evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific media education concepts or methods. There is little evidence that media education curricula have actually been adopted beyond very limited trials in a few schools. The authors propose a model for research on media education that focuses on the identification of effective learning strategies for media education, as well as the integration of effective methods for teaching such strategies in public schools.

Un modèle de recherche sur l’éducation médias en Russie et aux Etats Unis. Cet exposé se réfère aux ressemblances et différences de l’éducation médias en Russie et aux Etats Unis, suivi par l’explication de quelle manière il est possible d’améliorer la recherche sur les moyens de faire connaître les concepts d’éducation médias aux adolescents dans les écoles publiques des milieux interculturels. Bien que beaucoup a été écrit sur la valeur de l’éducation médias en classe, il n’y a que peu de preuves de recherches concernant l’efficacité de concepts ou de méthodes spécifiques d’éducation médias. Il est évident que les programmes scolaires d’éducation médias n’ont été adoptés en réalité que par quelques écoles avec des essais très limités. Les auteurs proposent un modèle de recherche sur l’éducation médias qui se concentre sur l’identification de stratégies de formation effectives pour l’éducation médias, ainsi que l’integration de méthodes effectives d’enseigner ces stratégies dans les écoles publiques.

Ein Modell für Medienerziehungsforschung in Rußland und den USA. Dieses Papier umreißt kurz zentrale Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede im Ansatz zur Medienerziehung in Rußland und den USA, gefolgt von der Erläuterung eines empfohlenen Ansatzes, Forschung dadurch zu verbessern, Medienbildungskonzepte für Jugendliche in interkulturellen Public Schools zu berücksichtigen. Obwohl viel über den Wert von Medienbildung in Schulen geschrieben worden ist, gibt es nur geringe Forschungsbeweise über die Wirksamkeit bestimmter Medienbildungskonzepte oder Methoden. Es gibt wenig Beweise, dass Lehrpläne für Medienerziehung tatsächlich – außer während sehr beschränkter Versuchsphasen – von einigen Schulen übernommen worden sind. Die Autoren schlagen ein Modell für Forschung über Medienbildung vor, das sich auf die Identifizierung wirksamer Lernstrategien für Medienbildung konzentriert, als auch auf die Integration effektiver Methoden, solche Strategien in Öffentlichen Schulen zu lehren.     

Issues in the Growth of Media Education in Jordan and the Arab Countries

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present some issues that led to the proposal for a media education pilot project that will be introduced into the Jordanian school system and later applied in other Arab countries. Media education as a school subject was seen as one of the measures that can be taken to confront threats to Arab identity, civilization and integrity through the imported media products that play a critical role in the Arab region. The training of an educator and the production of four experimental television programmes were the first steps towards implementation of the project. It is hoped that these will be followed by a whole television course on media literacy that aims at teaching media awareness in systematic and controlled steps, applying carefully selected techniques and using expert advice in the field of media and communication.     

Digital neocolonialism and massive open online courses (MOOCs): colonial pasts and neoliberal futures

ABSTRACT

Through evaluating dominant MOOC platforms created by Western universities, I argue that MOOCs on such platforms tend to embed Western-centric epistemologies and propagate this without questioning their global relevance. Consequently, such MOOCs can be detrimental when educating diverse and complex participants as they erode local and indigenous knowledge systems. Arguing that the digital divide is an exacerbation of historical inequalities, I draw parallels between colonial education, specifically across Sub-Saharan Africa, and ‘digital neocolonialism’ through Western MOOC platforms. I analyse similarities in ideology, assumptions, and methods of control. Highlighting evolving forms of coloniality, I include contemporary problems created by neoliberal techno-capitalist agendas, such as the commodification of education. Balance is needed between the opportunities offered through MOOCs and the harms they cause through overshadowing marginalised knowledges and framing disruptive technologies as the saviour. While recommending solutions for inclusion of marginalised voices, further problems such as adverse incorporation are raised.     

The road not taken: Frank Aydelotte and the thought approach to engineering writing

Frank Aydelotte's English and Engineering (1917) is one of the first anthologies in technical communication. Developed at MIT, this book attempted to broaden the education of undergraduate engineering students by using the tenets of the thought movement. This movement, which Aydelotte first articulated while directing Indiana University's first‐year English program, modified for universities in the United States the education that he had received at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Rather than emphasizing matters of form and correctness, the thought approach required engineering students to think and write about issues important to their education and future careers.     

Broadening the base of a technical communication program: An industrial/academic alliance

Developing alliances with industry may be one of the primary factors in creating a technical communication program that blends sound rhetorical theory and pedagogy with the discourse knowledge of technical communication practitioners. Creating an Advisory Board is one way to forge this alliance. This article describes how such a board was created, the influence it had upon program development, and the insights both industry and academia gained from this alliance. Although industry and academia are not the same, both had overlapping goals: to develop a symbiotic relationship that would provide students and faculty with the technological expertise practicing technical communicators could offer, but, at the same time, to provide a construct true to the missions of a liberal education.     

Audit cultures and quality assurance mechanisms in England: a study of their perceived impact on the work of academics

Abstract

Acceptance of the legitimacy of post‐modern theories on education implies a need to reconceptualise the professional development of graduates in the area of educational leadership. This paper reports on the first year of an innovative professional doctorate programme focusing on educational leadership at the Queensland University of Technology. A problem‐based learning approach was integrated with and underpinned by post‐modern imperatives such as the valuing of the self‐empowerment of students, the acceptance of multiple realities as reality, and a view of knowledge as arising out of interdependence and contextualised by discontinuous change. The focus of this paper is on students’ and teachers’ views of the development of individual empowerment, processual competencies and interdependence in the first cohort of students.

     

Extended Routes and Delayed Transitions Amongst 16‐19 Year Olds: National Trends and Local Contexts∗

Abstract

A decade or so ago, the choices facing British 16 year olds seemed relatively straightforward; either they stayed on in education or they left to enter the youth labour market. The subsequent rise in youth unemployment and the consequent series of government‐led responses have complicated the picture. But how complex has the post‐16 transition from school actually become? Does it still make sense to talk of the dominant ‘routes’ young people follow and, if so, how differentiated are they?

The paper uses the detailed survey data from the four areas in the ESRC's 16‐19 Initiative and further data on large nationally‐representative samples of young people drawn from the Youth Cohort Study to explore the opportunity structures that have been emerging in Britain during the eighties.

     

School leaving certificates and the selection of pupils for secondary technical schools

Abstract

Concentrating upon the pre-entry phase of vocational education and training for 16–19 year olds in the United Kingdom, Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany. Three models of the phase are identified before the system of each country is reviewed. The vocational education and training systems are seen to reflect the societies in which they have developed.     

Critical inquiry into emergent‐oriented curriculum practice

Abstract

This theoretical paper characterizes and explores emergent‐oriented curriculum practice through the experiences of an early childhood education (ECE) prospective teacher, in the context of the U.S., as she co‐constructs the meaning of emergent‐oriented curriculum with culturally diverse pre‐K (4–5‐year‐old) children during her field experience. The paper examines how the prospective teacher understood emergent learning, how she and the children created and shaped their curriculum, and what critical aspects pertain to emergent‐oriented curriculum work from the perspective of developmentally meaningful and culturally responsive practice.     

Dewey called them Utopians,I call them ancestors

Abstract

In this article, I will describe how the Utopians whom John Dewey once referenced are possibly the ancestors of Indigenous peoples, in this case, ancestors of the Diné. I will describe a Diné philosophy of education through the Kinaa?dá ceremony which was the first ceremony created by the Holy People of the Diné to ensure the survival of the people. I frame this ceremony as an educational experience that illuminates the similarities between the Diné and Utopian philosophies of education. It is through an understanding and experiencing of the Kinaa?dá that one can fully experience a real example of the ‘Utopian schools.’ It is through an upbringing within a non-acquisitive paradigm, ontologically and epistemologically, that one can fully envision this society that William Schubert explains through a compilation of various philosophers and theorists in order to make it understandable to an acquisitive society. The oral teachings from my ancestors through songs, stories and ceremonies that have been passed down to the current generations prove that the utopia once existed and that some ‘Utopians’ still exist. This explanation of a Diné philosophy of education through the Kinaa?dá ceremony is my lived example of what Dewey seemed to have dreamt or found in another dimension. I claim that the Utopians Dewey witnessed were possibly Indigenous peoples.