Beyond the ‘two cultures’ in the teaching of disaster: or how disaster education and science education could benefit each other

Abstract

Looking at the current discourse on how to teach disaster, one apparent gap is that the scientific aspect of disaster is discussed and taught mostly in isolation from its human aspect. Disaster educators seem to be primarily interested in addressing issues such as social vulnerability, community resilience, personal action-related knowledge and emotion rather than the scientific basis of disasters, whereas science educators often fail to make connections between the scientific accounts of disasters and the social and political contexts that surround them. In this theoretical paper, I claim that this disconnect is problematic and that overcoming it is a key to understanding and teaching disaster in a more nuanced and comprehensive manner. Drawing primarily on science and technology studies (STS) on disaster, I explore the potential of interpreting disasters as failures of socio-technical systems, which helps us unearth the inner workings of the complex network of science, technology and society in the wake of calamities. STS challenges the dichotomous understanding of the material and social worlds and takes a view that they shape each other to constitute socio-technical systems. Taking such an approach to disaster allows a synthetic understanding of the natural, technological and human-made disasters that we are faced with in the age of uncertainty and complexity. Based on the ideas of STS and examples of recent disasters in East Asian countries, I argue that disaster education and science education can cross-pollinate in tackling the post-disaster hardship and cultivating responsible citizens.     

浅析如何加强高校教学秘书队伍建设

教学管理是高校教学活动能够顺利开展的保障,而高校教学秘书是教学管理队伍中的重要组成部分。加强高校教学秘书队伍建设应提升教学秘书自身的综合素质,组织教学秘书参加培训和交流,引入激励机制来加强竞争。     

如何提高少年网球队员的单打战术水平

战术水平是检验训练水平的重要标志,也是运动技术水平的最终体现,“练与战”相结合,技术与战术同步发展是网球训练的特点,如何提高少年队员训练和比赛的战术水平,有效的学习和掌握战术运用的规律,在训练和比赛中形成良好的风格打法,树立先进的战术意识,是网球训练过程中十分重要的环节,文章根据自身多年训练的总结,对如何提高少年网球队员的单打战术水平进行探讨。     

Two deaths, one blind eye, one imprisonment: child abuse in the guise of corporal punishment in Nigerian schools

An examination of reported cases of child abuse in Nigerian schools was carried out against the backdrop of the legal framework for the protection of pupils. The objective was to highlight the deficiency in Nigerian law on child protection in the light of UN Conventions which Nigeria has ratified.     

某高校师资队伍状况调查与分析

目前,许多高校人力资源配置不当,教师结构不合理,影响学校的整体建设和发展.笔者于2005年7月对某高校进行了师资队伍状况有关问题的问卷调查,旨在通过调查结果分析,了解师资队伍状况,为制订师资队伍管理措施提供依据.     

Reframing resilience: Pilot evaluation of a program to promote resilience in marginalized older adults

ABSTRACT

Resilience has been described as a paradigm for aging that is more inclusive than models that focus on physiological and functional abilities. We evaluated a novel program, Resilient Aging, designed to influence marginalized older adults’ perceptions of their resilience, self-efficacy, and wellness. The multiweek group program incorporated an inductive definition of resilience based on group members’ lived experiences. Outcomes evaluation for this pilot study included pre/postassessments on resilience, self-efficacy, and six wellness variables. Twenty-nine participants completed the program. Pre/post-assessment indicated a statistically significant multivariate change across the eight outcome variables. Increases in resilience, physical wellness, and emotional wellness, and decreases in social wellness and intellectual wellness accounted for most of the multivariate change. Resilient Aging is a participant-centered and strengths-based program that has potential for enhancing participants’ perceptions of resilience and wellness. The program can be administered within community settings to promote resilience and wellness among marginalized older adults.     

论人本管理思想在思想政治教育中的运用

思想政治教育以“人”为出发点和归宿,是建构在“人”的基础上、以解决“人”的思想立场观点问题为核心的一种社会实践活动。不能摆正“人”的位置是造成思想政治教育地位和功能下降的关键症结所在,充分运用人本管理思想创新思想政治教育的方法是使思想政治教育继续发挥“生命线”的强大功能和作用的必由之路．     

Embedding resilience within the tertiary curriculum: a feasibility study

Mental health problems can significantly impact on the ability of university students to both meet their individual potential and contribute positively within society. This study evaluates the feasibility of embedding a strength‐focused resilience‐building seminar within a university curriculum. Participants were 247 students enrolled in an undergraduate psychology subject. The Staying on Track seminar, consisting of six building blocks for resilience, was delivered within a normal lecture period. Students completed post‐measures on satisfaction and usefulness, as well as follow‐up reflective journals entries noting changes made as a result of seminar participation. The seminar received high scores for satisfaction and 90% of students reported at least one of the six building blocks as being useful to them. Satisfaction also translated into self‐reported positive behaviour change for many students. Implications for the role of curriculum‐based resilience‐building programs within universities are discussed.     

Putting the child first how one student teacher negotiated the moral landscape of teaching

Abstract

One student teacher's moral development process is uncovered, using a case study approach to capture the participant's internal processes and the constructed social context. The participant was in the first eight‐week placement of her semester‐long student teaching assignment, a kindergarten classroom in a rural public elementary school with a diverse student body. The participant believed that her professional moral responsibility was to “put the child first.” She believed this included protecting the child's dignity and autonomy, creating a close classroom community, establishing trust between teacher and child, fostering productive communication among all adults in the child's life, and safeguarding the child's health and safety. The participant maintained these priorities in her daily teaching practice and used them in her decision‐making process. However, the decisions that she was required to make during her early weeks of student teaching led to a modified understanding of her values. Democratic discourse and professional autonomy were associated with the process of moral development in this case. Theoretical and practical implications are described.     

Beginning teacher resilience in remote Australia: a place-based perspective

Enhancing resilience is key to reducing teacher attrition and addressing the challenges of the profession but scant research exists on resilience in regional and remote settings, where there is a shortage of quality, specialist and lead teachers. The aim of this study was to combine ecological and relational perspectives on resilience to examine pre-service and early career teacher resilience in the remote context of central Australia. The findings suggest that beginning teacher resilience in central Australia involves a particular set of enablers and constraints which are characterised by teachers’ capacity to build connections to place, connections as a learner and connections in relationships. A transactional systems model is presented that articulates the dynamism of the resilience processes and offers a way to better understand the ecological interdependencies unique to a particular context and culture. This understanding will enable teachers, initial teacher educators, school leaders and policy makers to better address the challenges facing this profession.     

Faculty Activities and Rewards: views from education administrators in the USA

The heads of education divisions of 245 colleges and universities in the USA were surveyed regarding their opinions about faculty activities and reward procedures. Tenure, which was viewed as having the greatest effect on faculty behavior, received significantly more attention from decision‐making bodies in the colleges, and merit pay received significantly less. Education administrators at top universities and larger universities viewed the desire for reputation as more motivating than did other education administrators. The department chairs believed that internal satisfaction was more of a motivating factor than did deans. The deans rated merit pay, contract renewal, promotion and tenure higher as motivators than did the department heads. Although evaluations of teaching were considered the most important for year‐to‐year contract renewal, article and book publication were the most important considerations in merit pay, promotion and tenure. A factor analysis grouped faculty activities into three factors: teaching, service, and publication.     

RESCUR Surfing the Waves: an evaluation of a resilience programme in the early years

ABSTRACT

RESCUR Surfing the Waves is a recently developed resilience curriculum for early years and primary schools in Europe. It seeks to develop in marginalized young learners the requisite competences needed to overcome the various challenges in their lives to achieve academic success and social and emotional wellbeing. The competences include developing a growth mindset, making use of one’s strengths, self-determination, effective communication skills and healthy relationships, and overcoming challenges and obstacles. This paper presents the findings of a study on the implementation of the programme in five kindergarten centres in Malta over a 1-year period. A pre- and post-intervention study in 20 classrooms (97 children) showed an improvement in resilience skills, prosocial behavior and learning engagement, but not in internalized and externalized problem behaviors. A small scale study in two nurture classes at two of the schools found similar findings. The findings suggest that there are indications that the programme as a proportionate universal intervention for early years leads to an improvement in social and academic behaviours, but more rigorous research is needed to substantiate these findings.     

School placement and conductive education: the experiences of education administrators

A placement at the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE) in Birmingham for children with motor disorders is strongly preferred over mainstream or special schools by some parents, but it has been noted that this is usually refused following the current statementing process. Although funding constraints have been articulated, Angela Morgan, a Research Fellow at the Wolverhampton University Policy Research Institute, and Kevin Hogan, also at the University of Wolverhampton, contend in this article that other explanations are possible, as variability remains in placement decisions. The experiences of education administrators working within the special educational needs departments of local education authorities who make the ultimate decision regarding school placement have hitherto been unexplored. This study offers findings from an exploratory qualitative study, which suggests that administrators are working from disparate understandings of conductive education within an arena fraught with conflict. Recommendations derived from the study include further in-service training for education administrators and prior training for individuals seeking a career in education administration to enhance collaborative working partnerships between administrators and parents.     

高校教学管理者的创新意识培养

高校教学管理既不是一般意义上的行政工作,也不是一般意义上的服务工作.其管理人员的管理理念、管理效能将直接影响高校的教学水平,因此,高校教学管理必须与高等教育改革同步,必须具备与时俱进的创新意识.文章从教学观、课程观、质量观、人才观和学生观等五个方面探讨了高校教学管理者的创新意识培养,以及适应新形势需求所必备的一些能力要求.