The nanny in the schoolhouse: critical reflections

What can narratives do for us? In this response to Grimes’ article, I endeavor to answer this question, considering the author’s story as both a space for unpacking and the complex intersection of identity, teaching and learning and as an effort to name herself in the midst of such complexity. Specifically, I address the raced, gendered, classed nature of the relationships that Grimes’ suggests facilitate science learning in her classroom, asking “What is gained or lost when students’ success is attributed to such relationships?”     

Science in the schoolhouse: an uninvited guest

Science and scientific thinking have not made a substantial impact on educational practice. In this discussion, we examine the relationship between science and education and delineate four reasons for characterizing science as an uninvited guest in schools: (a) Science is not highly regarded in society; (b) good science and bad science are often mistaken for one another; (c) the amount of current data is overwhelming; and (d) science is not easy for those who practice it (researchers), those who translate it (teacher educators), or those who consume it (teachers). We suggest several strategies to improve this relationship, including promoting standards of educational practice, emphasizing the role of teacher educators as translators of the research base into classroom practice, and linking student outcomes with the use of effective instructional practices.     

Science in the schoolhouse: the critical role of the school leader

School-level administrative support has been identified as an essential component of programs that promote research to practice. In this discussion, I address the critical role that school leaders play in supporting special educators and ensuring effective instruction for students with learning disabilities. Emphasis is placed on the need for teachers to be supported by administrators who are knowledgeable about special education and for administrators to receive the preparation and guidance they require to support science in contemporary schools.     

Co-teaching as science in the schoolhouse: more questions than answers

The concept of science in the schoolhouse combines knowledge of research-based practices with the complexities of day-to-day life in schools. In this discussion, co-teaching is offered as an example of how advocacy for a practice can outpace the science that supports it. There is a push for co-teaching in contemporary schools, and special educators in great numbers are being asked to join with general educators in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. However, the science behind co-teaching to date is very limited. Studies have examined the implementation of co-teaching as a general service delivery option, but much less attention has been paid scientifically to the character and quality of the co-taught instruction or to the impact of co-teaching on student outcomes. Within this context, I also examine how Crockett's four recommendations to support science in the schoolhouse could address the questions about co-teaching for which there are few answers.     

Transforming administration to support science in the schoolhouse for students with disabilities

I examine the role that administrators play in facilitating the development, adoption, use, and evaluation of scientifically based interventions within the school culture to support the educational outcomes of students with learning disabilities (LD). Two ways of transforming the administrative role to support science in the schoolhouse are presented; one considers the importance of including language in future legislation that acknowledges the role of administrators in school reform, and the other focuses on establishing a national research agenda addressing issues of leadership and special education. I argue that these 2 venues should serve to identify and to stimulate the use of evidence-based administrative practices that ultimately increase educational outcomes for students with LD, improve teacher instruction, and transform the leadership mission.     

Taking stock of science in the schoolhouse: four ideas to foster effective instruction

In the opening discussion of this special issue, I take stock of science and schooling for students with learning disabilities (LD) before probing four ideas to foster effective instruction in contemporary schools: (a) Turn to science as the best trick we know for solving educational problems; (b) specify clearly what we hope to achieve in our instructional decisions for students with LD; (c) rely on instruction as the best tool we have for improving student performance; and (d) cultivate-and keep-competent and caring personnel. I invite commentary, from the perspectives of researchers, practitioners, and those who prepare teachers and administrators, to assess the status of science in the schoolhouse and to offer practical strategies for how the scientific orientation of schools might be enhanced.     

The nanny in the schoolhouse: the role of femme-Caribbean identity in attaining success in urban science classrooms

A growing body of teacher identity-based research has begun to embrace that the development of self-understanding about being a teacher is critical to learning how to teach. Construction of a professional teacher identity requires much more beyond mere content, skills and a foundational pedagogy. It also includes an intersection of the personal and professional self, which gives way to the emergence of multiple identities in the classroom. An educator’s gender, nationality, language and interests among other tenets all permeate the classroom field and coexist alongside the professional role identity. This paper aims to use narrative as a way to discuss how science educators can mediate holding several identities in the classroom in order to create an environment characterized by successful teaching and learning. Drawing from an array of sociocultural theoretical perspectives, complementary constructs of identity by Jonathan Turner (Face to face: toward a sociological theory of interpersonal behavior. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2002) and Amartya Sen (Identity and violence: the illusion of destiny. W. W. Norton, New York, 2006), George Lakoff’s (Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980) work on metonymy, and David Bloome’s (2005) theorization of the power of caring relationships, I explore the ways in which my Black female Caribbean identity has transformed the science classroom field and created positive resonance for some of my privileged White students who have Caribbean caretakers at home. To begin, I unpack how Afro-Caribbean immigration to urban centers in the United States continues to produce childcare occupational opportunities in places like New York City. Being a first generation Trinidadian immigrant, my many identities have structured my science teaching praxis and consequently transformed the way my students learn science. A significant part of this paper is a reflexive account of experiences (primarily dialogue) with science students situated both within and outside the science classroom. Conversations with students who were raised through the hired help of Caribbean nannies have revealed that there is a strong resemblance to the way they perceive their caretakers as they do me—their instructor. These conversations serve as a backdrop to illuminate the dynamic nature of identity construction and its relationship to the development of ongoing dialogue. The hope is that this autoethnographic work illustrates the salience of student lifeworlds in affording opportunities for success in the science classroom. Additionally, this research seeks to illustrate how understanding the unconscious ‘backgrounding’ and ‘foregrounding’ of certain identities in the classroom can improve one’s praxis in the urban science classroom and possibly increase student success in science. It is also hoped that this story reiterates the importance of using stories for purposes of scholarship, for moving towards better understandings of the social situations we are concerned to investigate as researchers and for better communication of those understandings.     

新加坡案例:拓展国际教育 建设世界校园

1980年代中期以来,新加坡开始关注作为知识服务产业的国际教育服务。1990年代后期,新加坡政府将国际教育服务作为教育产业纳入了国民经济发展之中。教育服务市场的发展,奠定了新加坡实现"世界校园"梦想的基础。     

The Swedish schoolhouse: a case study in transnational influences in education at the 1870s world fairs

At the world exhibitions of the 1870s Sweden displayed a schoolhouse, with examples of teaching material and student work. How did Sweden ship an entire schoolhouse to these exhibitions? What impact did the schoolhouse have on visitors to the exhibition? The purpose of this article is to shed light on the transnational influences operating between Sweden and other countries at the world fairs of the 1870s, regarding both policy and practice formation. In this paper, we will explore the exhibited school, the Swedish schoolhouse, as a major political and educational intervention in the growing market of educational goods, into the group of advanced industrial nations, and into the space of leading education nations. The schoolhouse was internally focused while at the same time demonstrating advanced education thinking, closely linked to Sweden’s national future as a leading economy. Exhibitions were not just events or spectacles. They had effects.     

Beyond the Head of Year

Abstract

This paper explores current tensions in the role of the Head of Year in the light of recent changes in schools' contexts. Three broad themes are explored to consider the implications for the role of the Head of Year: a sustained and sharper emphasis on improving the attainment or performance of young people, a change to some of the deeper structures of the school, and the changing relationship of the school to the community. This is discussed using the example of five schools that worked together to explore the role so that it more closely served their purposes, a group that met to discuss what lies ‘beyond the Head of Year’.     

“颜”外之意

颜色词语除了表示具体而实际的物理色彩(physical color)外,还会在人们的视觉和心理上引发相应的联想(association of ideas).而对于来自不同民族和文化的人而言,各种颜色的文化内涵和象征意义(cultural connotation and symbolization)也自然不尽相同.本期就来看看英语中关于红、绿、蓝的文化背景与各自的引申义.     

Beyond the Head of Year

This paper explores current tensions in the role of the Head of Year in the light of recent changes in schools' contexts. Three broad themes are explored to consider the implications for the role of the Head of Year: a sustained and sharper emphasis on improving the attainment or performance of young people, a change to some of the deeper structures of the school, and the changing relationship of the school to the community. This is discussed using the example of five schools that worked together to explore the role so that it more closely served their purposes, a group that met to discuss what lies 'beyond the Head of Year'.     

形象大于思想--兼谈音乐作品欣赏

音乐创作是一项艰苦、复杂的脑力劳动。作曲家是运用特定的音乐语言来表达特定的思想内容。而这种表达因为音乐自身的特质而不如文学及其它艺术门类那样清晰,在面对不同的欣赏者时,音乐作品的艺术形象就远比作曲家寄予作品之中的丰富得多。音乐欣赏是一种高级的审美活动,音乐欣赏的终极目的是获得审美享受,音乐欣赏本身也是一种创造活动。