Telematics for Teacher Education: issues from a European conference

ABSTRACT

The world Information Superhighway is under discussion in many countries. Within Europe the discussion is also very active as is the promotion of the use of telematics for trans‐European communication and co‐operation in various areas. For education and training, representatives of European teacher trainers, teachers, students, parents, policy and decision makers discussed their needs and views on a trans‐European network at a conference held in May 1994 in Luxembourg. This paper presents a selection of various issues raised at the conference regarding the use of telematics for teacher education and illustrates the discussion and the method of discussion. It also describes and discusses the conference programme model, as it offered innovative on‐line activities to facilitate appreciation of telematics. The case is argued that teacher education can benefit greatly from telematics and some points are put forward for further discussion.     

A navy video teletraining project: Lessons learned

Abstract

This paper discusses two modifications to the conduct of computer‐conference‐based master's degree courses: a maximum length for conference messages was suggested and, more importantly, conference moderators, or topic leaders, were appointed from among the student cohort. Drawing on previous work on conference moderation, it is argued that the differing power relationships between student and student and between instructor and student result in a context in which instructor and student moderators can perform complementary functions to ensure a more productive conferencing environment.     

Undergraduate research as a student engagement springboard: Exploring the longer-term reported benefits of participation in a research conference

ABSTRACT

Background: Undergraduate research is evident in many forms across higher education: in journals, at conferences and on research placements. It is widely reported that undergraduate research can encourage the development of discipline-specific and transferable communication skills and, in some cases, a more complex development of higher-order critical appraisal. Recent studies of extracurricular undergraduate research conferences have also found that participants report a development of self-authorship and an appreciation of the conference as liminal and transformative space. With many published studies measuring immediate feedback surrounding conference events, there is also a need to explore participants’ reflections over a longer term period of time.

Purpose: This small-scale project investigated participants’ self-report of whether and in what ways participation in a non-assessed, extracurricular undergraduate research conference had impacted their academic and professional practices, one year after their involvement in the conference.

Method: The qualitative study took place over two academic years with participants from an undergraduate conference which was held annually. The investigation adopted an action research methodology and completed two cycles of research. Data were collected firstly through an online survey with open questions, yielding feedback from 44 respondents. Focus groups were then conducted with nine of these students to explore this data further. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data.

Findings: The two cycles of data collection and analyses resulted in the identification of four central themes: (1) general positive impact on studies or career; (2) the development of presentation skills and personal confidence; (3) the development of research skills and perspectives; (4) an increased engagement with extracurricular opportunities.

Conclusions: Overall, our analysis identified that participants reported a development in communication skills and an enhanced relationship with the concept of ‘research’ and self-authorship. Students’ report that participation directly led to increased engagement with additional extracurricular activities is particularly noteworthy, as it contributes something new to the growing body of literature surrounding undergraduate research. More widely, the study suggests the potential for undergraduate conferences to act as springboards for increased extracurricular engagement.     

The difficulties of a Labour educational policy: The failure of the Trevelyan Bill, 1929–31

Abstract

The middle‐market tabloid newspapers in Britain help to shape a perception of teachers and state schools that is mostly negative and derisory. This article provides examples of this bias in newspaper reportage based on a case study of an annual teacher union conference and journalists’ different interpretations of events generally.     

FEFC Funding: research on 12 colleges

Abstract

This article is based upon the research undertaken by Dan Taubman of NATFHE, Tom Leney and Norman Lucas of the Post‐16 Education Centre, Institute of Education, University of London. The research focuses on the impact of the FEFC funding on colleges’ curricula, teaching and internal management. The full report of the findings was presented to a NATFHE conference in January 1998 entitled Learning Funding: the impact of FEFC funding, evidence from twelve FE colleges (Leney et al., 1998). This article summarises the main findings of the research — the full version and report of the conference can be purchased from NATFHE or the Post‐16 Education Centre.     

Core‐explore‐more: A structure for planning enrichment activities

A framework for planning enrichment activities within a self‐contained classroom is described through the structure of Core‐Explore‐More. At the Core level, activities systematically introduce students to concepts, generalizations and basic skills related to an important curriculum theme. Explore activities allow follow‐up experiences for those students who have been excited and motivated by what they have done at the core level. More activities require greater commitment and individual student initiative because of their specialization.     

A model for teaching criminal justice ethics

Questionnaire data from 137 panel chairs at the 2003 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences meeting in Boston reveal respondent perceptions of the conference site, overall impressions of the conference, as well as panelist attendance, and the quality of information presented by panelists. The findings reveal high marks for the conference space, hotel rooms, and the city of Boston itself, resulting in an overall positive conference experience, but responses also highlight several areas of concern, including panelist attendance problems and presentation etiquette. Recommendations are provided, which may foster positive, incremental change at future ACJS annual meetings.     

The First Postgraduate Experience Conference ‘97: a personal perspective

Abstract

This issue of the Journal of Further and Higher Education includes selected papers from the First Postgraduate Experience Conference ‘97, which was held in Cape Town in December 1997. This article seeks to contextualise these papers by offering a summary of the key themes that were threaded through the conference sessions. The paper is structured according to the subtitle of the conference into three sections: Approach; Access; and Management. ‘Approach’ considers the student approach to postgraduate study, and in particular focuses on the student experience and the student‐supervisor relationships. ‘Access’ is concerned with approaches to widening access to postgraduate study and the embedding of a research culture in academic institutions on which such a culture has not been previously valued or encouraged. ‘Management’ deals with broader institutional and strategic issues, that might support the creation of quality research capacity.     

Education as philosophies of engagement

Abstract

This is Introduction to the PESA conference 2014 held in Hamilton, NZ, is devoted to the conference theme of ‘Education as philosophies of engagement’. We provide a brief analysis of the modern history of ‘philosophies of engagement’ since the Second World War examining the notion of socially responsible writing and teaching.     

COPING WITH THE RABIN MURDER: A SOCIAL WORK POINT OF VIEW

Acknowledgments

It is an exceptional pleasure for me to greet you at this conference of the National Council for Jewish Education. In the first place, I deeply appreciate the honor of being able to do so as your president. Secondly, all of us involved in making the policy decision to have this separate conference were a bit anxious about the degree of membership participation and attendance. To see the full attendance here is both a vindication of our judgment and an endorsement of the idea that the NCJE needs occasions to meet as a group.     

Religious Education: Race,Dreams, and the Guild

Abstract

Introducing dreams of new centers for the guild, this article responds to the 2018 Religious Education Association's annual conference, "Beyond White Normativity." After remarks on embedded whiteness within religious education, I ask, "Can people of color be the center of the guild?" There is an opportunity if the guild focuses on love (specifically self-love for people of color) for a radical transformation of its practices, activities, behaviors, and dreams for religious educators of color and the guild. Can the nightmares caused by white systems of power be turned into dreams for scholars of color to experience love and community?     

Media Education in a New Context

Abstract

The ICEM Conference which was held in Lisbon in October 1997 was entitled ‘Education for Media’. This article presents some reflections from one of the Portuguese representatives, a TV researcher and producer, on the discussions which took place during the conference, and looks at some of the implications which can perhaps be felt world wide     

New Features of Educational Media Development in Hungarian Secondary Education

Abstract

In 1994 Eger, a city of long standing cultural and educational tradition, hosted the Agria Media ‘94 ICEP Conference. The conference aimed at providing an analysis of new challenges gradually emerging with the development of educational media. The present paper will look at the main subject, giving an overview of new features of educational media in Hungarian secondary education.     

POST‐COMPULSORY EDUCATION IN THE 1980s INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN LANCASTER

From 29 August to 1 September 1978 the 4th International Conference in Higher Education “Post‐Compulsory Education in the 1980s” was held at the University of Lancaster. The conference which drew some 250 participants from 25 countries and representatives of several international organizations concentrated on the following problems of higher education in the context of their implications for the future development in this field: structures of post‐compulsory education; higher education and working life; staff development; student learning; role of the media in higher education; and priorities for the 1980s.

The work of the conference was carried out in plenary and working party sessions. In the sessions of the working parties, each group discussed one of the above‐listed conference issues. During the plenary sessions the following addresses were presented:

• the opening address on the present problems of higher education and their implications for its situation in the 1980s, by Lord Briggs, Worcester College, Oxford;

• On “The many faces of academic coordination”, by Professor Burton R. Clark, Director of the Higher Education Research Group, Yale University;

• “Evaluating recurrent education reform or reforming recurrent evaluation in higher education?” by Professor Urban Dahllof from University of Upsala; and

• a summary of the work of the conference by Lord Vaizey,. Brunel University

The conference identified a number of problems, e.g. demographic changes affecting potential student populations in the 1980s, changes in the structure and content of university level education (mainly in the context of higher education systems in the developed countries. We present below the views expressed at the conference, concentrating on those given during the plenary sessions.     

Parents' views on sexual debut among pre‐teen children in Washington,DC

Objective: Present US parents' perceptions about factors leading to early intercourse and strategies for overcoming them.

Methods: Conducted analysis of eight focus groups with 78 male and female African‐American and Hispanic caregivers of fifth‐graders and sixth‐graders (ages 10–12).

Results: Participants gave the following primary reasons for early sexual activity: lack of structured activities, adult supervision, and communication; and influence of peers, society, and media. They suggested strategies targeting these reasons, and the need for parents, schools, and the community to work together.

Conclusion: Incorporating parents' perspectives would help tailor interventions to the needs of the target population and increase parental support.     

‘The danger of a single story:’ a reflection on institutional change,voices, identities,power, and outcomes

ABSTRACT

What role does academic development have to play in responding to radical cultural shifts in the global landscape? Whose voices and identities are contributing to institutional change? This reflective essay encompasses the perspectives of the four international panellists in the opening plenary of the International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED) 2018 conference in Atlanta, Georgia, USA – Torgny Roxå on ideologies; Chng Huang Hoon on agency and empowerment; Joy Mighty on voices and identities; and Mary Deane Sorcinelli on evidence and outcomes. These perspectives set the stage for the conference, and, brought together in this paper now, they address key conference themes, offer coordinates for reflection, and pose further questions about our profession.     

Making Movies Matter or Whatever Happened to the Sabre‐Tooth Curriculum?

This paper argues that media education has developed its own orthodoxies that are preventing it both from addressing the realities of the media as they exist today, and from being taken seriously by policy‐makers. The example of Making Movies Matter, the 1999 report of the Film Education Working Group, shows how a policy‐making ‘window’ can be exploited, not only to make new arguments for media education, but also to construct new frameworks for teaching and learning. The report had also provided the British Film Institute with a new agenda for UK‐wide activities designed to develop education about the moving image media. A version of this paper was originally presented at the Summit 2000 conference in Toronto, Canada, in May 2000.     

Teachers’ Self Training Activities on Computer Networks in Japan

Abstract

In‐service teacher training programmes in Japan are conducted by various organizations including local education boards, the Education Ministry, and public foundations. Pre‐service teacher training is extensively offered at national, public and private colleges and universities. These formal programmes fulfil the basic needs of teachers and they have little link to distance education systems. Teachers’ spontaneous energy to teach themselves is now directed towards using personal computer networks and the Internet. These telecomputing activities are reviewed and future directions suggested     

‘A Long-Legged Fly Upon the Stream’: Poetry,Memory and the Unconscious

Abstract

In this paper I introduce some concepts from psychoanalysis, a poem, a clinical vignette and a personal anecdote. I am asking what light the knowledge of unconscious processes can throw on the memorisation of poems and therefore what use to the individual can be derived from learning poems by heart. A version of the paper was first given at the Poetry, Memory and Performance conference at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, in March 2015.     

Design and Evaluation of a Programme to Promote Prosocial‐Altruistic Behaviour in the School

Abstract

This article describes a programme of educational intervention aimed at the development of prosocial‐altruistic behaviour, and presents a study which evaluated its efficacy. The sample comprised 110 subjects, aged between 10 and 12 years, from four class‐groups. The intervention, which consisted of a series of activities intended to encourage empathy, perspective‐taking, having the concept of a person, and co‐operation, was carried out by the teacher‐tutor of each group in 15 weekly sessions. The pre‐test/post‐test comparisons showed a significant increase in prosocial‐‐altruistic behaviour (measured by a sociogram on “Consoling and Defending” behaviour and a questionnaire on Prosocial behaviour), as well as an improvement in the capacity for perspective‐taking and in the climate in the classroom.