Shaking the “Magic 8 Ball”: Reflections of a First-Time Teacher

Social work doctoral candidates and others without much or any formal teaching experience or training are frequently invited to teach a variety of graduate-level social work courses. This beginning teaching experience can be quite challenging both personally and professionally. Yet, it is seldom discussed in the literature, especially from a personal perspective. This paper seeks to address that gap by providing a narrative account of the author's first-time experience teaching an Advanced Clinical Practice course to fifteen second year social work masters students. Included is an examination of influences on the experience of teaching, with particular attention to the importance of attending to student needs, teaching techniques, and to who the “self” is that one brings to teaching. Implications of the author's experience, including an appended “list” of what might have been done differently is presented as a general guide for other new social work educators as well as for those who mentor them.     

“Look Out for the Football Players and the Frat Boys”: Autoethnographic Reflections of a Gay Teacher in a Gay Curricular Experience

This article draws upon the history of teacher education to provide an introduction to 4 competing pedagogical philosophies. These 4 philosophies battled for control over curriculum for teachers during the period from 1890 to 1930. I begin by defining curriculum for teachers to include the liberal, the professional, and the experiential dimensions. Then, I identify 4 interest groups that sought to gain power over curriculum for teachers. I categorize these interest groups as the traditionalists, the integrationists, the technicians, and the romantics. Then, I explain how leading individuals from each interest group answered questions regarding human nature, the purpose of schooling, and curriculum for teachers. Finally, I argue that education schools should revitalize the integrationist tradition within pedagogical philosophy. This view has been forgotten for nearly 50 years, and the profession of teaching has suffered because of it.     

Am I a woman? The normalisation of woman in US History

The curriculum of US History has improved substantially in its presentation of women over the 40 years since Trecker's 1971 study of US History textbooks. While studies show increased inclusions, they also suggest that women have not yet claimed their own place in the school curriculum. This paper seeks to better understand the woman who is presented to students and how she is normalised through a US History curriculum. Feminist analysis of the curriculum exposes a concept of woman attached to the domestic sphere and reified through her presentation in the political and economic realms. When considering the images of woman available to young people, it is important to examine the full context around these images that shape the deeper meaning students take from curricular encounters.     

Reflections on “Paideia of the Soul”

This essay reminisces on the contributions of Professor Kazamias to my own thinking and assesses the imperative for comparative and international education to foster more complete and egalitarian societies across multiple historic and cultural contexts. “Paideia of the soul” is acknowledged as connected not only to the humanities but also to the social sciences, within which education is embedded. The broadening of the mind enabled by “paideia of the soul” challenges current trends toward a narrowing of the curricula in schools and encourages us to be reflexively critical of current global education policies and practices.     

“Still Finding the Ground:” A Self-Study of a First-Year Physical Education Teacher Educator

While decades of research have documented the socialization of inservice physical education teachers, the socialization of physical education faculty members has only recently become a research focus. Self-study of teacher education practices is becoming increasingly popular when exploring the lived experiences of physical education faculty. We used self-study of teacher education practices to understand the experiences of Kevin, a beginning physical education teacher educator in a visiting assistant professor position at Northern Illinois University. Kevin’s experiences differ from those of many other teacher educators as he had not taught in school settings before moving into higher education. He did, however, have a strong background in higher education pedagogy through work in a center for teaching and learning. Data were collected through journaling, documents and artifacts, and exit slips, feedback forms, and focus group interviews completed by Kevin’s students. Qualitative data analyses resulted in the construction of three first-order themes: (1) developing appropriate pedagogy, (2) developing and maintaining relationships with students, and (3) managing an identity as a teacher educator. Kevin’s journey was non-linear and marked by both successes and challenges, but at the end of the year he felt that he had grown as a teacher educator. Further, while Kevin’s youth and lack of teaching experience influenced his teacher education practice, it was not always negative and he found ways to compensate for what he lacked in direct teaching experience. Results are discussed with reference to Kevin’s socialization and future directions for research are provided.     

Restructuring the Industrial Trades in Australia: the dark side of post‐Fordism

Abstract

Debate concerning industrial restructuring in Australia has mainly focused upon the attributes of post‐Fordist as opposed to Fordist forms of work organisation. However, the Industrial trades, which are also undergoing restructuring, have not been adequately considered in this debate. This paper argues that an important characteristic of the industrial trades, both in terms of economic efficiency and the nonalienating character of the work, has been the integrity of the work culture. It further argues that, while this form of work organisation already provides a viable alternative to Fordism, it will be diminished by restructuring based upon post‐Fordist criterion. The paper concludes that underlying the debate about the qualities of post‐Fordism is a postmodern ideology of autonomy which encourages the disintegration of conventional forms of association and communication and, thus, is oblivious to the merits of the tradesperson cultural identity.     

Making the written word “speak”: Reflections on the teaching of correspondence courses

Abstract

Learning outcomes for an interactive television‐based distance learning course in introductory high school Japanese were evaluated in three successive years by comparing student achievement in the distance learning course to that in traditional classes. Year‐end achievement tests of listening and written language competency were administered to students in both the distance and face‐to‐face courses. Results in the first two years showed that test scores of students in the distance learning course were higher than those of students in the face‐to‐face classes; however, possible group differences in motivation, general ability, and experience as language learners could not be ruled out as explanations for the difference. Therefore, achievement measures were supplemented in the third year with data on students’ perceived efficacy as Japanese language users, their grades, and their previous foreign language learning experience. The achievement data again showed differences favoring the distance learning group; trends were consistent for students with differing levels of school success and amount of prior language learning experience. Factors that could account for these results are hypothesized and suggestions for future research are proposed.     

Widening participation in higher education: constructions of “going to university”

Progress towards the British Government’s goal of 50% of young people undertaking higher education has been slow, particularly among pupils from working‐class backgrounds.

This study examines the range of viewpoints held by 53 Year 12 pupils in a former coalfield area, all of whom were eligible to apply for university. Each completed a Q‐sort on 60 statements concerning “going to university”. By‐person factor analysis yielded five viewpoints termed “positive”, “put off”, “perplexed”, “pragmatic” and “other plans”. Detailed analysis of these viewpoints provides new insights and practical implications for raising educational aspirations in disadvantaged areas.     

‘We need a woman,we need a black woman’: gender,race, and identity taxation in the academy

In 1994, Amado Padilla used the phrase ‘cultural taxation’ to describe the extra burden of service responsibilities placed upon minority faculty members because of their racial or ethnic background. In this paper, we expand upon Padilla's work and introduce the concept of ‘identity taxation’ to encompass how other marginalised social identities (such as gender, race and gender, and sexual orientation) may result in additional non-academic service commitments for certain faculty. Using qualitative interviews with faculty members at a large, public university in the Midwest, we examine identity taxation involving gender and the intersection of gender and race to demonstrate how women faculty (in general) and women of colour (specifically) feel their gender and racial group memberships influence their experiences in academia.     

Grounding practice in scholarship,grounding scholarship in practice: Knowledge of a mathematics teacher educator–researcher

Despite the acknowledged complexity of the expertise of teacher educators (Cochran-Smith, M. (2003). Learning and unlearning: the education of teacher educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19, 5--28), there is limited research attending to what teacher educators need to know and how they develop this expertise. This self-study draws from multiple frameworks of teacher knowledge to investigate knowledge content, structure, and growth of a novice mathematics teacher educator-researcher (MTE-R) from her doctoral program into her third year of a tenure-track faculty position at a large southwestern United States university. Narrative inquiry was used to both examine past artifacts and create new data. The findings highlight how the multiple roles of MTE-Rs elicit different kinds of knowledge and how frameworks for studying mathematics teachers can be utilized for studying teacher educator-researchers.     

“On the Nature of Institutional Research” Revisited: Plus ça Change… ?

In reconsidering the three “tiers of institutional intelligence” needed for effective institutional research practice he first offered 20 years ago (Terenzini in Res Higher Educ 34:1–10, 1993), Terenzini suggests that those forms of intelligence retain their overall relevance today, but that they also require some important redefinition. The major changes deal with adapting to the dramatic transformations in information technologies and analytical power; greater awareness and responsiveness to the changing state, national, and international educational and political scenes; the need for more extensive familiarity with the research literature, and subtler and more savvy political skills.     

The Development of Dalton’s Atomic Theory as a Case Study in the History of Science: Reflections for Educators in Chemistry

The inclusion of the history of science in science curricula—and specially, in the curricula of science teachers—is a trend that has been followed in several countries. The reasons advanced for the study of the history of science are manifold. This paper presents a case study in the history of chemistry, on the early developments of John Dalton’s atomic theory. Based on the case study, several questions that are worth discussing in educational contexts are pointed out. It is argued that the kind of history of science that was made in the first decades of the twentieth century (encyclopaedic, continuist, essentially anachronistic) is not appropriate for the development of the competences that are expected from the students of sciences in the present. Science teaching for current days will benefit from the approach that may be termed the “new historiography of science”.     

A woman＇s Inner World in“the Mark on the Wall”

As is known to all, Virginia Woolf＇s concern with feminist thematics are dominant in A Room Of One＇s Own （1929）, however, her another short story —— ＂the Mark on the wall＂also best presents us a woman＇s world at the beginning of 20th Century.     

Reflections on “Science Teaching and the Nature of Science”

Science &; Education -     

“Spitting in the wind?”: the demise of a school–business partnership

This paper begins from the premise that school–business partnerships are part of marketization and privatization trends within education and the broader public sphere in several western industrialized countries. In contrast to a dominant construction of partnerships as necessary, benevolent, and unproblematic, I consider the idea that they represent a potential threat to democratic participation. I do this through a case analysis of a partnership between a high school and corporation in Alberta, Canada that was dissolved in 1996. Through interviews, I reconstruct some of the events leading to the dissolution and provide insights into the social processes that are revealed in the case. I conclude by arguing that while the case highlights the problematic aspects of this particular partnership, it also raises more general questions about the goal congruence of private and public institutions and about the implications of such generally lop-sided relationships for schools as public institutions.     

The stark reality of the ‘White Saviour’ complex and the need for critical consciousness: a document analysis of the early journals of a Freirean educator

While the anglophone academic literature has long engaged in analysis of the role of privilege in the work of educators in the Global North, this article represents an initial foray into such analysis in non-formal educational settings in the Global South. Through a cultural-textual document analysis of 12?months of personal journal entries written by the author while working as a Freirean adult educator in Mozambique, this article documents a lack of recognition of social privilege exhibited by the author in these entries, which is here referred to as the ‘White Saviour’ complex. This article also documents how the pursuit of what Freire calls ‘critical consciousness’ can effectively problematise this privileged mindset.     

Students’ Reflections on the Benefits of a Financial Simulation Through “Thank You Notes”

Abstract

As an instructional strategy, simulations have become common in the field of education. While they have been effective at imparting knowledge and skills, not all simulation experiences meet their objectives. This study determined the effectiveness of a financial simulation, the Reality Store®, aimed at teaching financial literacy and life skills to youth. Data were collected from Thank You notes written by middle school students who had participated in the simulation. These notes were combined with data from post-simulation surveys to ensure trustworthy results. Overall, students were satisfied with the simulation experience and learned that: adult life is hard; children are expensive; and the need for budgeting and saving money is essential. Recommendations for teaching financial literacy and life skills using simulations are provided.