Habermas,lifeworld and rationality: towards a comprehensive model of lifelong learning

Major supranational organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union, and the World Bank have used lifelong learning as a strategy to boost economic competitiveness both at individual and national levels. In the literature related to lifelong learning this is characterised as the economistic model of lifelong learning. The humanistic model of lifelong learning, which appears as an alternative of the economistic model, takes education and learning as a fundamental human right for all individuals irrespective of their age, gender and class. However, this model is criticised as a vague, rhetorical and utopian ideal with little potential for informing educational policy decisions at national level. Using some key Habermasian conceptualisations, mainly the colonisation of the lifeworld and communicative rationality, this paper argues that three major dimensions of human learning informed by Habermas – transformative, citizenship and intersubjective – can contribute towards the development of a more comprehensive model of lifelong learning.     

The relationship of childhood upbringing and university degree program to environmental identity: experience in nature matters

Education has been proposed as an important way to increase environmental concern. Beyond providing information, education could also encourage a stable sense of oneself as connected to the natural world, or environmental identity (EID), which is a predictor of environmental concern and behavior. This study explored the relative roles of environmental education at university and previous personal characteristics on the level of individual EID. Results from a questionnaire distributed to 919 French students in different academic curricula (ecology, other sciences and political sciences) showed significant difference in levels of EID for students in ecology compared to others, but also that EID was strongly influenced by personal experiences of nature and social context regarding conservation. These results suggest that academic curriculum is more a result than a cause for high environmental identity. We discuss the results in terms of education and access to nature for children and young people.     

From the body to the city: participatory action research with social cartography for transformative education and global citizenship

ABSTRACT

In times of globalization we are facing a crisis of care. The invisibility of relations of domination and oppression against nature, women and girls, as well as the elderly, generate inequalities and structural problems that increase the unsustainability of life on the planet. The uncertainty towards the future, generated by climate change, pollution and scarcity of water resources, is leading us towards war or revolution – a revolution that requires the involvement of the new generations to transform reality and confront contemporary problems. In this sense, it is necessary to educate, raise awareness and empower girls and boys in citizen participation, in overcoming gender inequalities and in the development of fairer and more sustainable practices and behaviours. The participatory action-research experience with social cartography ‘From the Body to the City’, promoted by the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management – INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) in collaboration with the primary school CEIP Vicente Gaos of Valencia (Spain), developed together with the students of 4th primary grade, intended to reflect and act collectively on our territories from the principles of transformative education and global citizenship.     

Ecopedagogy and Citizenship in the Age of Globalisation: connections between environmental and global citizenship education to save the planet

Teaching the connections between environmentally-harmful acts and social conflict is essential but is often ignored in education. This article presents two ways in which these are not taught because of the policies of those who benefit from the ignorance of these connections: first, the avoidance of teaching global-local connectivity and second, the devaluing of non-dominant cultures. Ecopedagogy is a democratic, transformative pedagogy centred on increasing justice by critically teaching the politics of environmental issues. I argue that global citizenship education (GCE) must be an element of ecopedagogy to contextually learn globalisation's effects upon local communities. In addition, GCE's goal is to increase students' understanding of diverse cultures to respect them. Ecopedagogy is also essential to GCE to fully teach social conflicts resulting from environmentally harmful acts. I offer policy and pedagogical changes to disrupt reproductive environmental pedagogies that help to sustain environmental ills for ecopedagogy-GCE models to emerge.     

Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions

Preparing students for informed and active citizenship is a core goal of education and schooling in Australia. The ways schools educate and prepare young Australians for citizenship involves a range of processes and initiatives central to the work of schools, including school ethos, mission, extracurricular activities and community-based participation. With regard to the formal curriculum, the recent introduction and implementation of the first ever Federal Australian Curriculum includes provision for a new subject – Civics and Citizenship. Research evidence from other nations suggests that schools understand, approach and enact education for citizenship in a multitude of ways, yet how Australian schools construct this aspect of their work is currently under-researched. In this context, and drawing on data from interviews with school leaders and teachers of Years 6–8 (11–14 year olds) students in a small sample of South Australian primary and secondary schools, we explore perceptions and current approaches to education for citizenship. Our findings suggest (1) that while school leaders and teachers value education for citizenship, they do so for different reasons; (2) that schools place values as central to education for citizenship; and (3) that community involvement is typically understood as occurring within rather than beyond the school.     

Evaluating the effects of repeated reading and continuous reading using a standardized dosage of words read

Repeated reading (RR) is a common fluency intervention, but recent studies comparing RR to continuous reading (CR; i.e., wide reading) found no significant differences in effects. This prompts the question of whether the mechanism that improves skills is repeatedly reading portions of connected text, or simply reading connected text. The current study examined the differential effectiveness of RR and CR for increasing oral reading fluency rate (ORF) and comprehension of 40 students in second and third grades, randomly assigned to receive the RR or CR intervention. Students in both conditions received a standardized amount of practice (dosage) in the form of number of words read during each intervention session. All but two participants increased their ORF and there were no significant differences between groups on posttest ORF or broad comprehension. Moreover, students with the highest pretest scores made slightly more growth regardless of condition. Students in the RR group demonstrated significantly higher comprehension of practiced passages and students in the CR condition reported significantly higher levels of intervention acceptability. Implications for reading fluency intervention research and practice are discussed.     

Ethical reconstruction of citizenship: A proposal between the intimate self and the public sphere

ABSTRACT

When, in societies today, civic commitment decreases, there is a call for the need to strengthen citizenship education, identified uniquely with its public dimension and, on the other hand, the requirement for character education has been advocated, which is a cultivator of the most strictly private dimension. Setting out from the recognition of the new social conditions, mediated by the phenomenon of globalisation and of the place that people have in these new contexts, we ask ourselves about the new profile which the construction of citizenship must adopt. We endeavor to show that the moral dimension is the core of reconsidering the link between the private and the public, so it would currently be meaningless to propose an education of citizenship exclusively focused on its public dimension.     

Construction and validation of a Chinese SRL-based reading instruction questionnaire

The purpose of the study is to construct and validate a Chinese self-regulated learning (SRL)-based reading instruction questionnaire (CSRIQ) and to examine the relationship between Chinese reading instruction and Hong Kong students' reading development from the SRL perspective. A total of 339 Grade 10 students completed the initial CSRIQ in Study 1. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analyses were used to assess the psychometric quality of the questionnaire, and the original CSRIQ subscales were then revised. Study 2 comprised 1,121 Grade 10 students. The factor structure of the revised CSRIQ was supported by the findings of confirmatory factor analysis. The findings of structural equation modelling indicated significant relations between SRL-based instruction and various reading-related variables. Among the four aspects of instruction, teacher support was the most positive factor facilitating Chinese students' reading development, whereas student autonomy seemed less favourable. Cultural and curricula factors affecting Chinese reading instruction in Hong Kong were discussed.     

英美报刊选读课教学中的几个问题

我国从20世纪80年代兴起的英美报刊选读课,作为英语专业高年级学生的选修课之一已有不短的时间了,但针对其教法与学法的研究数量较少。为了提高这门课的教学质量和学习效果,笔者结合自己的教学实践,对这门课教什么、怎么教、为什么学和怎么学的问题提出自己的一点见解。     

Goals,data use,and instruction: the effect of a teacher professional development program on reading achievement

In this paper, we investigated whether student reading comprehension could be improved with help of a teacher Professional Development (PD) program targeting goals, data use, and instruction. The effect of this PD program on 2nd- and 3rd-grade student achievement was examined using a pretest-posttest control group design. Applying propensity score matching, 35 groups in the experimental condition were matched to 35 control groups. Students in the experimental condition (n = 420) scored significantly higher on a standardized assessment than the control condition (n = 399), the effect size being d = .37. No differential effects of the PD program were found in relation to initial reading performance or grade. Different model specifications yielded similar albeit smaller effect sizes (d = .29 and d = .30). At the end of the program, students in the experimental condition were more than half a year ahead of students in the control condition.     

Key skills for science learning: the importance of text cohesion and reading ability

To explore the importance of text cohesion, we conducted two experiments. We measured online (reading times) and offline (comprehension accuracy) processes for texts that were high and low cohesion. In study one (n?=?60), we manipulated referential cohesion using noun repetition (high cohesion) and synonymy (low cohesion). Students showed enhanced comprehension accuracy and faster comprehension responses for text that were high in referential cohesion. In study two (n?=?52), we examined connective text designs (‘because’, ‘and’ and ‘no connective’). Students demonstrated enhanced reading times for text using a ‘because’ connective. Additionally, we examined the individual differences (reading ability, science self-concept and self-esteem) as predictors of achievement with science comprehension tasks. Across both experiments reading ability predicted comprehension with both high (noun-repetition text and ‘and’ text) and low cohesion text (synonym text and ‘no connective’ text). These findings highlight the importance of good reading abilities and text cohesion for promoting science comprehension and learning.     

A re-assessment of factors associated with environmental concern and behavior using the 2010 General Social Survey

The associations between social and psychological influences and environmental attitudes, intentions and behavior have generated considerable interest, both in the fields of environmental behavior and of environmental education. We use the 2010 General Social Survey (GSS) to study these associations and expand the scope of earlier studies by including additional measures across social demographic, social psychological and behavioral blocks. The findings highlight the relationships between social psychological constructs and environmental concern and behavior, as well as the relationships between social demographic characteristics and environmental values and beliefs. The findings from this study will be useful to environmental educators and communicators interested in studying the social psychological and social demographic bases of environmental concern and behavior.     

Learning outdoors or with a computer: the contribution of the learning setting to learning and to environmental perceptions

ABSTRACT

Background: Outdoor learning and computer-based learning are two different alternatives to in-class conventional teacher-centered learning.

Purpose: This study compares the outdoor learning setting with computer-based learning in class. It examines the influence of the two different learning settings on academic achievements, the learning experience, and pro-environmental perceptions.

Sample: A total of 90 elementary school students (third and fourth-grade classes) participated in the study.

Design and methods: The academic knowledge of the study participants was tested through identical exams for both learning settings. In addition, in each group the students’ perceptions were examined by means of a questionnaire about environmental values and the learning experience.

Results: The study demonstrates that academic achievements in the two settings were similar, but the students expressed more enthusiasm about the outdoor learning experience than about in-class learning. In addition, the outdoor learning setting contributed more to promoting positive environmental perceptions even though students did not learn directly about environmental issues and sustainability.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that learning in the natural environment is valuable: Alongside the fostering of computerized learning, it is also important to promoteoutdoor learning settings and integrate both settings by implementing mobile technologies in the outdoor teaching.     

Evidence of efficacy of the Integrated Literacy Study Group professional learning program to enhance reading instruction for students with emotional and behavioral disorders

This article reports on a pilot study of the Integrated Literacy Study Group, a digitally delivered professional learning intervention to prepare elementary school teachers to provide evidence-based reading instruction and behavioral strategies to students with or are at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Using broadcast methods, we recruited 72 teachers across five states in the western United States to participate in the randomized controlled trial. Intervention teachers, relative to controls, made significant gains in self-efficacy and use of the reading and behavioral strategies learned in the professional learning program. Students with or at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders served by participating teachers made significant improvements in academic competence and engagement. Teacher professional learning can improve teacher knowledge of evidence-based reading and behavioral strategies for students with (or at risk for) emotional and behavioral disorders, teacher self-efficacy, and teacher practice, with positive impacts on student early literacy and academic competence.     

Barriers to the implementation of specialized reading instruction in secondary co-taught classrooms: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT

This exploratory research underscores Bandura’s social learning theory on collective agency to investigate co-teaching partners’ collaboration regarding reading instruction for students with disabilities. Students whose Individualized Education Programs stipulate reading are dependent on special educators to deliver such instruction. In the current research, we investigate barriers to implementation of specialized reading instruction in co-taught classes. One hundred seven secondary special education co-teachers across the United States, who primarily teach students with learning disabilities, responded to a questionnaire about their co-teaching experiences and delivery of specialized reading instruction. Emphasizing the impact that co-planning has on barriers to the implementation of reading, our results indicate the moderating role of special educators’ perceived co-teaching benefits. Empirical findings are discussed, and implications for research and practice are offered.     

Reflections on the role of metacognition in student reading and learning at higher education level

Abstract

This article represents a literature review and interpretation pertaining to the role that metacognition is seen to play in student performance. It begins by providing evidence from research reported in the literature which indicates that not all students are able to accurately assess their capabilities, and suggests that this lack is linked to insufficiently developed metacognitive skills (MS). The concept of metacognition, as well as its role in academic learning and reading, is discussed. On the basis of evidence from research reported in the literature, which has shown that explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies can result in improved performance among students, the article concludes by suggesting practical ways in which lecturers can help their students develop key MS.     

Cultivating an ‘earthly paradise’: nature,informal education,and the contested politics of youth citizenship, 1910s–1940s

ABSTRACT

This article discusses contested discourses of youth citizenship in Birmingham, UK, in the early twentieth century. It explores how socially committed Quakers and labour and co-operative activists in the city drew on transnational social and political critiques of the urban, and a powerful discourse of nature as facilitator of a morally and physically healthier citizen, to adopt pedagogic responses aimed at securing a more peaceful and egalitarian world. Taking the British Camp Fire Girls and a local fellowship of the Woodcraft Folk as case studies, the article considers the role of the natural world in the pedagogy of youth citizenship, and how organisational rhetoric at a national level was translated into practice locally. It analyses the political and religious motivations of the adults who developed these initiatives, and argues that suburban south Birmingham provided a very particular pedagogic landscape in which alternative conceptualisations of youth citizenship were possible.     

Environmental action and student environmental leaders: exploring the influence of environmental attitudes,locus of control,and sense of personal responsibility

The Student Climate and Conservation Congress (SC3) is a joint educational effort between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Green Schools Alliance that aims to develop the next generation of conservation leaders through fostering action competence in youth. Data from SC3 participants was used to investigate four predictors of adult environmental behavior (environmental attitudes, locus of control, sense of personal responsibility, intention) to explore their predictability of environmental action and intention toward future involvement in environmental action in student environmental leaders. Of the four variables explored, pre-program levels of environmental attitudes was a significant predictor of environmental action. Additionally, changes in levels of environmental attitudes significantly predicted environmental action, with an increase in environmental attitudes being associated with a decrease in environmental action. Pre-program levels of environmental attitudes and sense of personal responsibility, and an interaction between the two, potentially were predictors of intention toward future involvement in environmental action. Changes in pre- and post-program levels of environmental attitudes, locus of control, and sense of personal responsibility did not significantly predict intention toward future involvement in environmental action, nor did environmental action. Implications for programming and research, in light of the study’s limitations, are discussed.     

Community-level environmental projects as learning tools for planners: a case study of graduate planning students

Despite the potential environmental impact of urban planning, there is little research on Environmental Education (EE) in the context of urban planning curricula. This study follows graduate planning students’ learning experience during group projects assigned as part of a planning course at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. These participatory projects, characterized as project-based learning and service learning, took place in several communities in Israel. We examined the types of learning impacts the projects engendered by analyzing the reported experiences of the students using parameters from the field of EE. The main goal of this research is to understand the contribution of such practical, hands-on project exercises to the course curriculum for inculcating environmental education themes. Findings indicate that projects helped students acquire and/or improve professional tools. They enhanced motivation to consider environmental concerns in their work and in some cases changed students’ personal environmental behavior.