The teacher is a learner: Dewey on aims in education

Abstract

In Chapter VIII of Democracy and Education, Dewey objects to all three of the following propositions: (1) education serves predefined aims; (2) Education serves aims that are external to the process of education; and (3) Education serves aims that are imposed by authority. From the vantage point of policy-makers and authors of curriculum guides, these three propositions seem plausible, even self-evident. In this paper, I set forth a critical interpretation and evaluation of Dewey’s objections to them and argue that he saw the aims of education from another point of view, that of a learner. From a learner’s point of view, propositions 2 and 3 are only half-true because external aims that are not shared by the students cannot successfully guide educative activities. As regards proposition 1, Dewey’s philosophy does not accommodate the birds-eye view required to make it literally true. As learners, we cannot have an external view of our entire progress. Some of our aims are, therefore, not predefined but discovered on the way. Dewey’s stance on the role of aims in education is worth serious consideration, because the view of curriculum development and school administration that these three propositions engender is as deeply problematic today as it was when Dewey wrote against them a century ago.     

Primary student teachers' conceptions of the nature of science

An understanding of current views of the nature of science continues to be regarded as an important outcome of school science. Studies of the conceptions of the nature of science held by primary school teacher education students is therefore important. This article reports the conceptions held by 73 preservice primary teachers. There were elements in the conceptions of the nature of science articulated by this group which clearly were not in accord with modern views. For example, one in five, in many instances, chose responses which would be unacceptable to many modern philosophies of science. Further, many chose 'don't know' as a response to a variety of specific propositions about science, ranging from a low of 1.5% to 3.15% of respondents. The responses of school leavers and mature age students did not differ in any substantial way. In addition, the use of newspaper science reports is described as a novel means to probe conceptions of the nature of science.     

Some propositions for guiding the reform of syllabuses in engineering

Summary

In this paper, some ideas are put forward, developed by the writer from his own experience as an engineer and teacher, which it is thought might lead to improved engineering courses giving a better scientific education and a broader cultural outlook. The aim is to reduce the tendency to materialistic thought which inevitably arises from a narrow pursuit of efficiency. It is hoped that these propositions might stimulate some thought and discussion when new courses are framed or existing syllabuses are revised.     

Strengthening the Signature Pedagogy of Social Work: Conceptualizing Field Coordination as a Negotiated Social Work Pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Although field education is considered the signature pedagogy of social work, the work of field coordinators appear to remain peripheral to other aspects of social work education, such as coursework and research. In this article, we suggest that field coordination requires a far more complex set of knowledge and skills than merely matching students with placements based on availability and interest. Using critical and relational theories, this article conceptualizes field coordination as a negotiated pedagogy in which the coordinators navigate complex and often competing needs among students, field agencies, and social work practice. In making visible its nuances and intricacies, we suggest that field coordination is a critical relational pedagogy essential to advancing social work education.     

Motivations for postsecondary correctional educators

Previous correctional education research focuses on assessing impacts on recidivism, on outlines of program structures, and on investigating effects on inmate-students' psychosocial functioning. As the foundation for the development of a fourth field of inquiry—the examination of experiences for those who deliver prison-based education—this paper discusses the motivations that lead correctional educators to work in postsecondary correctional education. Through interviews with 40 prison-based college faculty members and qualitative field data, five primary motivations are identified: alternative career paths, academic idealism, institutional objectives, educational expansion, and social reform.     

The assessment of work integrated learning: Symptoms of personal change

Work placements are an accepted part of academic curricula. In order to assess their value it is important to clearly identify what such programs offer that is different from existing courses. It is also necessary to develop assessment instruments that take their unique features into account. This analysis, which must be seen as a work-in-progress, advances a number of propositions about experiential learning and then uses them as a framework to establish criteria for evaluating student work. These criteria emphasise experiential learnings and the way academic concepts are applied in the field as individuals move from students to novice professionals.     

An Investigation into Staff and Pupils' Knowledge,Attitudes and Beliefs about Bullying in an Inner City School

In this article the writer explores the importance of and difficulty surrounding dialogue between students and teachers. This discussion is set within the wider context of a debate about the education of the emotions in our society and the argument is that this dialogue has a part to play in the education of the emotions. Thinking in the field of psychotherapy is drawn on as well as the writer’s experience as an educator, counsellor and trainer. She is currently working in higher education and concerned with teacher education and research. This background is relevant in that this experience is drawn on and it also shows up the focus of much of the work. This is concerned with personal, social and emotional development in education and with making this integral to education and organizations.     

The Use of Sound Cassettes in the French Systems of Higher Education at a Distance

Abstract

Among the many distance education systems in France, one is the oldest in the world in higher education. Back in 1963, the first system was created as an extension to the five universities to which they belonged and others were created year after year so that there are now 22 such systems, called Centres de Télé‐Enseignement Universitaire (CTU).

At first they made use of correspondence, books and radio, and later they adopted sound cassettes, thus becoming the first multi‐media systems in the field. Still later, other media such as TV, computer software and courseware, and telematics were added, but sound cassettes remain one of the basic tools. Accordingly I have decided to devote this article to them.     

Considering Inclusive Education through the Independent Living Movement: Lessons for Improvement?

Abstract

In this article, we focus on the life and accomplishments of Ed Roberts, leader of the Independent Living Movement for people with severe disabilities, to consider ways he envisioned and enacted a radical shift in professional practices within the field of rehabilitation. Using the field of rehabilitation as an adult parallel to the field of Special Education, we invite readers to contemplate ways in which the independent living movement can hold potential lessons for how inclusive education is conceptualized and implemented, as well as offering some suggestions of our own.     

Contradictions of power and identity: Whiteness studies and the call of teacher education

In this review essay, the author situates five recent articles on white identity and teacher education within the emergent fields of whiteness studies and critical race theory. He maintains that while the authors of these articles make a significant contribution to the field of race studies by expanding theories and methodologies of whiteness studies to education that there is a consistent failure to theorize race in the five articles. McCarthy argues instead that any effort to theorize racial identities must address the deep-seated contradictions that are produced in the unequal racial experiences that define modern education and society. He argues, ultimately, that we cannot understand race by studying race alone. It is vital in thinking about whiteness to consider factors of class, gender, sexuality, and nation - dynamics of social and cultural stratification that cut at right angles to narrow specifications of racial or ethnic community. These dynamics take on a particularly poignant quality of overdetermination and coarticulation in the modern context of the rapid movement of economic and cultural capital across borders summarized in the term "globalization."     

Myth of the Inferior Status of Vocational Education: The Case of Hong Kong

Abstract

In this article, factors contributing to the poor perceptions and inferior status of vocational education in Hong Kong are discussed. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed as the methodology in examining the discursive construction of vocational education in the policy context. A total of five policy documents published between 1970 and 2015 are included. Our findings show that the socioeconomic transformation of Hong Kong in recent decades, massification of higher education, and cultural factors such as parental expectations are pertinent to the stigmatization observed in vocational education. This article discusses the implications from the findings and concludes with possible solutions for the future development of vocational education in Hong Kong under the novel vocational and professional education and training (VPET) initiative launched by the government.     

Towards a theory of curriculum implementation with particular reference to science education in developing countries

Improving science education is often regarded as a priority for developing countries in order to promote longterm economic development. Thus initiatives, both government and foreign-aid sponsored, aimed at improving science education in developing countries abound. However, all too often the focus of such initiatives is limited to the development of science curricula, while the details of how the curricula will be implemented at school level are often neglected. This paper represents an effort to lay the groundwork for a theory of curriculum implementation with particular reference to developing countries. We have drawn on school development, educational change, and science education literature in order to develop three constructs that could form the heart of such a theory, namely, Profile of Implementation, Capacity to Innovate, and Outside Support. Six propositions are offered to suggest how the constructs may inter-relate as a basis for the development of the theory. The implementation of the natural sciences learning area of the South African Curriculum 2005 is used to illustrate the emerging theory.     

The Professoriate and the Future of Higher Education Kinesiology

ABSTRACT

This article broadly addresses academic freedom and higher education in America, accentuating the viewpoint that change is not new. A historical overview of the state of the professoriate and social contexts are examined to situate the field of kinesiology into the context of the university. Ideas regarding the future of the field are addressed with an emphasis on the conduct of higher education scholars within this context. It is hoped that this article will not become an autopsy documenting the assault on the field, marginalization of the academy, and end of kinesiology in higher education, but will rather be a call to action for moving forward as a profession.     

Reclaiming Commitment to Social Justice through Relevant Adult and Continuing Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Reclaiming commitment to social justice through widening access to education, using the medium of relevant adult and continuing education, requires people to have the ability to initiate ideas, to act and to take their destiny in their own hands. This article postulates that deploying relevant adult and continuing education in the quest for social justice leading to freeing oppressed Sub-Saharan Africans is possible. It was partly for this reason that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) came up with standard setting instruments measuring the effectiveness of inclusive education among its member states and, towards that goal, sponsored a limited study to assess how much has been done globally. The outcomes of that study have influenced the propositions made in the article that is structured against the background of the opportunities and/or challenges posed by the demand for social justice by way of widening access to education and learning. The article makes suggestions for ensuring that relevant adult and continuing education provides valuable service in reclaiming the needed commitment to social justice.     

Higher education: core skills in a learning society

This paper is based on the initial findings of the ESRC study on the acquisition and development of core skills in higher education and employment. The context for the study is provided by contested notions of a learning society apparent in the mismatch between the skills and knowledge that universities currently provide and what employers state that they want. The paper takes the form of a series of propositions and questions relating to the perspectives of those in higher education. It discusses the multiple interpretations, and lack of clarity, of the vocabulary of skills, and the difficulties for higher education in meeting the demands of a learning society. It is suggested that changes must be grounded in a more developed approach to the conceptualization of student provision and an enhanced understanding of how students learn.     

Liberal education and the criminal justice major

New perspectives on the impact of college on students, on linking general education, the major, electives and extra-classroom experiences toward the goal of “integrated learning,” and renewed emphasis on the importance of producing liberally educated college graduates, present opportunities for criminal justice educators to make their field a keystone in the architecture of a liberal education. In this essay, I argue that the multidisciplinary perspectives that characterize the field of criminal justice, as well as its core intellectual concerns, make criminal justice well-suited to serve as the infrastructure for a high-quality undergraduate liberal education program.     

La calidad en la educación abierta y a distancia en México

Abstract

Since 1947, distance education in Mexico has had an important role for nonconventional populations. Considering that distance education is a heterogeneous and dynamic field, it is important to reflect on the need to improve quality as measured by our own standards. With that perspective in mind, a national meeting was organized to start a self‐diagnosis in which quality and access were the main concerns. Five hundred and twenty specialists from fifty‐one institutions participated in a national interactive synchronous meeting held in four regions. As a result of the meeting, thirty‐five criteria and 230 parameters of quality were established. The main conclusion of the meeting refers to the need for the elaboration of our own indicators for open and distance education.