When the Exception Is the Rule: School Shootings,Bare Life,and the Sovereign Self

Much discourse on school shootings tends to imply a binary separation between what is considered normal and exceptional, between an expected course of human events and sociohistorical aberrations. In this article Harvey Shapiro suggests the need for new directions in our responses: First, he shows how responses to school shootings tend to expropriate and (paradoxically) dismiss certain kinds of violence in order to articulate a vision of the self as sovereign, exerting power over bodily life, exercising a self‐removal from community conversations, and thus claiming what Giorgio Agamben and others call the “sovereign exception.” Second, he suggests how Agamben's development of Walter Benjamin's concept of “divine violence” can unmask prevailing states of exception and can inform education's efforts to challenge binaries of good and evil, urban and suburban, individual and community, justice and law, normal and exceptional, that confound our deliberations and long‐term responses to mass shootings.     

Acquisition of the same/different concept by an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): Learning with respect to categories of color,shape, and material

An African Grey parrot, previously taught to use vocal English labels to discriminate more than 80 different objects and to respond to questions concerning categorical concepts of color and shape, was trained and tested on relational concepts ofsame anddifferent. The subject, Alex, replied with the correct English categorical label (“color,” “shape,” or “mah-mah” [matter]) when asked “What’s same?” or “What’s different?” about pairs of objects that varied with respect to any combination of attributes. His accuracy was 69.7%–76.6% for pairs of familiar objects not used in training and 82.3%–85% for pairs involving objects whose combinations of colors, shapes, and materials were unfamiliar. Additional trials demonstrated that his responses were based upon the question being posed as well as the attributes of the objects. These findings are discussed in terms of his comprehension of the categories of color, shape, and material and as evidence of his competence in an exceptional (non-species-specific) communication code.     

Reputation Differences in Like-Sex Twins

The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule was used in an attempt to formulate a stable image of the ideal special educator in terms of the personality characteristics such a teacher should exhibit. Ss were asked to rank order fifteen personality “needs” to describe “the ideal teacher of exceptional children.” A hierarchy of needs with a high degree of consistency evolved from the responses of college faculty, special educators, and students of special education.     

The College as a Social System: Student Perceptions of Students,Faculty, and Administration

Abstract

This is a report on a new instrument for institutional research, (Transactional Analysis of Personality and Environment-(TAPE), based on the semantic differential and unique in its potential for analysis of the integration among students, faculty, and administration in a college, A total of 3,016 students from twenty-one colleges rated the following concepts on the 52 scales in Form A or the 52 scales in Form B: “My College,” “My Self,” “Students,” “Faculty,” “Administration,” and “Ideal College.” Ratings of satisfaction with aspects of college life also were made. The data presented indicate that individuals who perceive great discrepancies between themselves and their college tend to be dissatisfied and consider dropping out. Furthermore, those colleges which have large mean Self- College discrepancies also tend to have high mean dissatisfaction scores. Data are also presented to exemplify the intra- and inter-institutional research comparisons possible with TAPE.     

Transgender Issues in Counselor Preparation

The emergent consciousness and political activism emanating from the transgender community have important implications for counselor education. Treatment issues are no longer exclusively centered on aiding “gender dysphoric” individuals to assume either a “male” or “female” gender but rather on exploring alternative gender identifications and options. Counselor educators and supervisors need to model for their students a “trans‐positive” approach to counseling that affirms and celebrates individuals with nontraditional gender identities.     

The Impact of Expertise on Performance: illustrations from developmental research on memory and sports 1

Research on the impact of expertise on cognitive performance mostly conducted with adult samples has yielded impressive results, documenting the outstanding role of domain knowledge for memory and problem — solving skills. In this paper, the available research on the development of expertise in children and adolescents is reviewed in order to explore the respective roles of domain knowledge and basic intellectual abilities in determining exceptional performance. Most developmental studies conducted in different fields such as memory or sport seem to validate findings obtained from adult samples in that individual differences in domain knowledge account for the lion's share of variance explained in the performance variables. However, a closer analysis of effects reveals that individual differences in aptitude cannot be ignored and seem reliable even in homogeneous (expert) samples. Thus the developmental findings do not completely support the view proposed by Ericsson and colleagues that “deliberate practice” is the only predictor of exceptional performance. Instead, “threshold” or “partial compensation” models seem more appropriate to describe the interplay between aptitude and domain knowledge in predicting peak performance

     

博士生跨学科课程实施:内在逻辑、现实困境与突破路径

在国家大力实施创新驱动发展战略和知识生产模式转型背景下,实施跨学科课程对提高博士生培养质量具有很强现实意义。在实施博士生跨学科课程中,需要遵循知识体系中“博大”与“精深”的平衡、教学过程中“个体”与“团体”的互动、教学内容中“教学”与“科研”的协同三对逻辑关系。囿于传统博士生教育的路径依赖影响和博士生跨学科课程的内在逻辑衍生出的现实需要制约,高校实施博士生跨学科课程面临诸多困境。从成立跨学科组织、以实践为导向开展教学、改进课程评价机制、完善学术交流平台等几个方面提出了我国高校博士生跨学科课程实施的突破路径。     

A critique of neo-Hahnian outdoor education theory. Part one: Challenges to the concept of “character building”

Abstract

Within the diverse and sometimes amorphous outdoor education literature, “neo-Hahnian” (NH) approaches to adventure education are exceptional for their persistence, seeming coherence, and wide acceptance. NH approaches assume that adventure experiences “build character”, or, in modern terminology, “develop persons”, “actualise selves”, or have certain therapeutic effects associated with personal traits. In social psychological terms NH thought is “dispositional”, in that it favours explanations of behaviour in terms of consistent personal traits. In this paper I critically review NH OAE in an historical context, and draw on Ross' and Nisbett's (1991) seminal review of dispositional social psychology to argue that OAE programs do not build character, but may provide situations that elicit certain behaviours. For OAE research and theory, belief in the possibility of “character building” must be seen as a source of bias, not as a foundation. The conceptual analysis I develop provides not only a basis for critique, but also offers a way forward for OAE.     

Children’s and Adults’ Views of Punishment as a Path to Redemption

The current work investigated the extent to which children (N=171 6- to 8-year-olds) and adults (N = 94) view punishment as redemptive. In Study 1, children—but not adults—reported that “mean” individuals became “nicer” after one severe form of punishment (incarceration). Moreover, adults expected “nice” individuals’ moral character to worsen following punishment; however, we did not find that children expected such a change. Study 2 extended these findings by showing that children view “mean” individuals as becoming “nicer” following both severe (incarceration) and relatively minor (time-out) punishments, suggesting that the pattern of results from Study 1 generalizes across punishment types. Together, these studies indicate that children—but not adults—may view punishment as a vehicle for redemption.     

The Feminization of American Culture: Through the Glass,Partly

The 1999 Columbine High School tragedy triggered an unprecedented intensification of school militarization and student criminalization. In response to the murder of thirteen individuals by the self-proclaimed “Trench Coat Mafia,” schools across America adopted new and improved “safety” measures. In the name of security, information technologies and psychological profiles were deployed, heightening the abilities of the school to act as a sophisticated tool of surveillance and discipline. The logic that drives the implementation of these safety measures is far from ideologically neutral.     

Indigenous STEM success stories as disquieting decolonization: thoughts on new times and,old thoughts about place-ness

Cultural Studies of Science Education - While some Indigenous individuals have achieved “success” in STEM careers, persistent questions from many Indigenous scholars and communities...     

Determination of the opinions of individuals aged 65 and over on aging in place: the case of Ankara

ABSTRACT

This study was planned to determine the opinions of individuals aged 65 years and older on “aging in place” and was conducted with 506 elderly individuals living in the Çankaya district of Ankara. In order to determine the level of satisfaction of the elderly with the environment they live in, the “Aging in Place Scale,” consisted of 15 items and three sub-dimensions, was used. In the study, the score received from the scale indicates the level of satisfaction of elderly individuals with the environment they have lived for a long time. In the study, the elderly were observed to receive scores well above the averages in all three sub-factors, and this situation demonstrated that their satisfaction levels were high. There was no statistically significant difference between the Aging in Place Scale and its sub-factors scores of the elderly and gender and housing ownership. A statistically significant difference was found between the “Attainable Social Support” sub-factor and the level of education and income, and Aging in Place Scale, “Perceived Social Support” and “Physical Competence” sub-factors with living situation. Furthermore, in the study, the relationship between marital status and Aging in Place Scale, its all sub-factors were also statistically significant. The obtained results were discussed within the framework of the studies in the literature, and suggestions were made to individuals, the related institutions and organizations for elderly individuals to age in place successfully.     

ICT水平对学生数字化阅读素养的影响--基于PISA跨国学生评估项目的多层次模型比较

本研究旨在利用PISA2018跨国学生测评数据,通过多层次模型方法系统刻画与评估个体-学校-国家层级的ICT水平对数字化阅读素养的影响路径及其效应。实证研究发现,不仅各层ICT水平对学生数字化阅读素养具有显著正向效应,且不同层级间存在显著的跨层交互调节效应;同时,“一带一路”国家与发达经济体在ICT水平上的发展差距在短期具有拉大数字化阅读素养差距的“马太效应”,但长期来看“一带一路”国家更快的ICT发展速率又将“平抑”技术分层导致的差异固化问题。中国应积极利用自身ICT发展优势,参与全球教育治理,引领“一带一路”沿线国家ICT水平与国民数字化阅读素养的协同发展,为全球教育发展开辟新的发展道路,贡献中国力量。     

进化论与20世纪的安乐死运动

19世纪末到20世纪初,进化论取代传统医德观念成为安乐死运动新的理论基础,这既是进化论最重大的社会影响之一,也是安乐死运动发展历史上的一个意蕴深远的转折。“适者生存”的理论将安乐死运动同优生学结合在一起,改变了安乐死的含义和目的,牢固确立了个体生命价值依赖于个体能力,以及社会整体发展的目标绝对地高于个体权益的观念,最终导致了纳粹安乐死和优生学。基于对历史的反思,二战后的安乐死运动切断了与进化思想的关联,重新确立了尊重人类内在价值的理念,并通过对“死亡的权利”的论述推动了现代人权理论和实践的发展。     

Cowboys,Angels, and Demons: American Exceptionalism and the Frontier Myth in the CW's Supernatural

The CW network series Supernatural (2005–) draws its text from the horror and fantasy genres as well as religious mythology. Concurrently, it transmits a core “American” mythos. As its protagonists keep watch along a supernatural frontier and eradicate threats to the American way of life, this program both reinforces and alters aspects of the frontier myth and the myth of American exceptionalism by depicting its main characters as representations of America writ large whose mission has grown from an appointment by God to being equals to God. In this manner, Supernatural forwards a new American exceptionalism through the notion that America is exceptional because it is not just divinely appointed by God, but is divine itself.     

Uncomfortable encounters between elite and “shadow education” in India—Indian Institutes of Technology and the Joint Entrance Examination coaching industry

India’s elite sector of engineering universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), are seen as safe gateways to a life in the politically hyped “new India” of the global knowledge economy. The Indian entrance exam coaching industry each year enrolls hundreds of thousands of students in classes strictly directed at “cracking” the institutes’ famous Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Vast majorities of students at IITs are by now former coaching students, and coaching is increasingly supplanting performance in secondary education as the perceived prerequisite for IIT admission. This poses serious questions about the ability of the institutions to autonomously steer student selection and recruit the select exceptional students whom until now have kept “IITians” in the center of imaginaries of India’s future. This article explores the case of residential pre-entrance exam coaching to assess the coaching sector’s role in shaping India’s future technological leaders. It assesses the educational structure of the sector, its effect on student lives, the life aspirations it relies on, and how it is shaping IIT education itself. The case of entrance exam coaching in India, it is argued, prompt a reassessment of the concept of “shadow education” in order to begin a more thorough research agenda focused on the educational production and policy consequences of this “shadow” industry as an integrated (even if unwanted) and co-constitutive part of the higher education sector.     

Brown Bodies,White Coats: Postcolonialism,Maori women and science

In Aotearoa New Zealand journeys of discovery and colonization were also scientific journeys that brought “Maori woman” under the intellectual control of the emerging “scientific” academy. This paper argues that the historical construction of “Maori woman” through the discourses of Enlightenment science continues to affect the constitution of the subjectivities of Maori women scientists today. The paper draws on a doctoral thesis that used literary historical techniques to investigate the imperial archives and feminist narrative interviews with 16 Maori women scientists to collect the research data. I explore the conditions by which the subject “Maori women scientist” emerges and how the Maori women experience these conditions in relation to how they see themselves. I conclude by arguing that the identity of “Maori woman scientist” appears to be “impossible fiction” due to the fragmented nature of the sign “Maori,” “woman,” and “scientist”, which can be “traced” to the historical construction of the signs.     

The “Autodidact”, the Pursuit of Subversive Knowledge and the Politics of Change

This paper contrasts two types of “autodidact” located in the UK in different historical periods, which utilised different learning/research technologies to different ends. From the 1920s to the 1960s some working-class activists committed to the Communist Party of Great Britain became “educated” in Marxism (and more) through the processes intrinsic to their politics. This radical acculturation was undertaken outside the universities in consequence of both an absence of access to higher education and because of the relatively enclosed social world of British Communism. The widening of educational opportunities and the decline of political Marxism effectively extinguished this kind of autodidact. New technologies have meant that the 21st century is witnessing individuals and cyber-communities that are creating knowledge-based challenges to professional and institutional power in the face of personal/family “medical” crises. The paper outlines the characteristics of these two categories of autodidact and a new terrain of counter-hegemonic learning.     

Comparison of the PPVT-R and WISC-R: A validation study with second-grade students

The present investigation compared the PPVT-R/WISC-R scores of a “normal” or “nonexceptional population,” as well as whether prior administration of either of these instruments affected scores on the other. Forty public school second-grade students served as subjects and were randomly assigned to one of four groups, with the order of test administrations determined by group assignment: WISC-R/PPVT-R (Form L): WISC-R/PPVT-R (Form M); PPVT-R (Form L)/WISC-R; PPVT-R (Form M)/WISC-R. The results indecate that, as with exceptional populations, normal school children tend to score lower on the PPVT-R than on the WISC-R. Scores from these two tests are moderately correlated, and prior adminstration of one of the instruments does not appear to alter scores on the other. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Those who can,teach: the academic quality of preservice students in teacher education programmes in Taiwan

Difficulty in recruiting high-calibre individuals into teaching is a perennial issue in the field of teacher education. In some countries, students in teacher programmes are in general found to be lower in academic standing than their counterparts in other fields, which might lead to belief in the old saying that “those who cannot, teach.” In contrast to such discouraging phenomenon, based on analysis of a nationally representative data set, preservice students in Taiwan are found to be academically more outstanding than their nonteaching peers. Underlying policy and sociocultural contexts of such a positive phenomenon of “those who can, teach” are explained and implications for educators are discussed.