Acculturation and teacher ratings of hispanic and Anglo‐American students∗

Robert Albert examined key conceptual shifts in the pertinent professional literature language over the first part of the 20th century in his 1969 American Psychologist article, “Genius: Present‐Day Status of the Concept and Its Implications for the Study of Creativity and Giftedness. “ His findings indicated profound changes in pertinent terminology in the professional knowledge base after 1945 from an emphasis on concepts such as genius, eminence, fame, and distinction to giftedness, talent, and creativity.

The goal of the current project was to investigate empirically changes in conceptions of exceptional ability and performance, as reflected in the professional literature published since 1969. Over 28,000 articles were culled from three data bases: Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycINFO and Exceptional Children Educational Resources (ECER). Conceptual themes and types of research were analyzed for a sample of the articles, drawn from the midpoint year of each decade.

Significant results include: an increase in the number of articles relating to creativity; a rise in the number of practice‐oriented articles; and a small but steady increase in the number of articles employing qualitative research methods. Articles were also analyzed for evidence of a “paradigm shift” also discussed in the literature; however, the paradigm shift was not significantly reflected in practice. Implications are addressed relative to the conceptual trends in the literature and qualities of the knowledge base.     

Towards social progress and post‐imperial modernity? Colonial politics of literacy in the Anglo‐Egyptian Sudan, 1946–1956

This article explores the politics of literacy in late colonial Sudan. Drawing upon hitherto untapped archival sources in English and Arabic, it focuses on two key questions: What were the purposes and uses of literacy in the eyes of colonial authorities? What means were used to spread literacy skills among Sudanese people? Positioning these issues in the context of British imperial policy in Africa, it is argued that mixed teams of British and Sudanese educationists came to view literacy as a central tool to foster social progress and political modernity. The analysis puts special emphasis on literacy campaigns and follow‐up literature as experimental means used to promote and perpetuate Arabic literacy in Northern Sudan. Examining both ‘nationwide’ and provincially based magazines, it highlights their multifaceted role as pedagogic materials, vehicles of political, cultural and ideological representations, social networks, as well as public platforms of expression for young Sudanese literates.     

Intercultural constellations in adult education: observations on the state of Anglo‐German relations before and after the First World War

Under today's conditions of rapid social modernization, adults concerned to keep their balance while striving for authentic identity are constantly confronted by the need to redefine where they stand with respect to the familiar and the strange. Here the task of adult education, as an institutionalized presence, is to explore links and to offer mediation, to interpret and to decipher. Indeed, one of its central leading paradigms today is interculturality. How, then, can adult education, as a vocational group and as a specialized field, attain and increase its proficiency in matters connected with intercultural and international communication and co‐operation? The following study attempts to trace out the background historical conditions against which such endeavours are likely to succeed. A large number of documents are reviewed in order to reveal relevant patterns of reciprocal perception, understanding and misunderstanding. The advantage of this research perspective is that it brings out the intricate way in which transnational endeavours of a cultural or pedagogic nature are bound up with the wider field of international relationships, such as these developed in the course of recent British‐German history.     

Open‐mindedness and the University Curriculum

This paper discusses the conditions for selecting and structuring media education in the Swedish comprehensive school, with citizenship education at the core. With reference to John Dewey and Walter Lippmann, different conceptions of the nature of the public are elaborated, which also have inherent in them the tension between a modern and a postmodern interpretation of communication. These conceptions, called ‘communication discourses’, affect the selection and structuring of the content of media literacy when interpreted on the basis of curricula, syllabuses and teaching materials. In the paper communication discourses are also considered from a more overarching angle of socialization ‐ how education and media affect the individual's conceptions of his/her own and other individuals’ relationship to society. The question put here is to what degree differing (social) subjects ‐ identities defined on the basis of social class, gender, race and so on ‐ are found in the texts of the institutions: how are subjects presented and represented?

If one wishes to realize the distance which may lie between ‘facts’ and the meaning of facts, let one go to the field of social discussions.

(John Dewey, 1991: 3)

     

NCVQ and the 16‐19 Curriculum

Abstract

In Britain, the National Council for Vocational Qualifications is developing a new framework of vocational qualifications (NVQs). This paper presents an analysis of the place of this emerging system within the broader context of 16‐19 education. The needs for reform of 16‐19 provision are identified, and the potential contribution of NVQs to meeting them is analysed. Firstly, it is suggested that NVQs may not contribute sufficiently to student/trainee empowerment, because of employer control of the system. Secondly, while NVQs may be well suited to the training of adults in employment, it is suggested that they are ill‐equipped to meet the needs of students on full‐time vocational courses. Based on this analysis, three alternative future scenarios for 16‐19 education and training are presented, and the strengths and weaknesses of each identified. It is concluded that the extensive use of NVQs within 16‐19 education and training is likely to be counterproductive.     

Affect and the Moral‐Conventional Distinction

Abstract

The effect of inducing negative, positive or neutral affect on the recall of moral and conventional transgressions and positive moral and conventional acts was examined. It was found that inducing negative affect was associated with higher recall of moral transgressions while inducing positive affect was associated with higher recall of positive moral acts. Affect induction condition did not have a significant effect on the recall of the conventional transgressions or positive acts. The results are interpreted within the Violence Inhibition Mechanism model of moral development (Blair, 1995) and by reference to a new, hypothesised system, the Smiling Reward Response.     

Lifelong learning and the low‐skilled

This article is a combined result of a three years research project on low‐skilled learners’ experiences as participants of various kinds of adult training and education in Denmark, and the findings of a three years research consortium on workplace learning, summing up and generalizing our various findings as to how low‐skilled adults function in relation to participation in training and education activities, how they feel about it, what is important to them, and consequently what works in practice in relation to this very important but often neglected group of adult learners.     

Jonathan Swift and the conversation of the coffee‐house

The stereotype concepts of the way women speak offer a rich variety of hypotheses to test. Some of these hypotheses are that women talk more than men, have a more limited vocabulary, have a more irregular sentence structure, ask more questions, and use more adjectives, adverbs, and hyperbole.     

WISC‐IV and low IQ: review and comparison with the WAIS‐III

The WISC‐IV is likely to be in common use for the assessment of children with low intellectual ability for the next 10–12 years. There are several concerns about its uses with these children. Some children may not understand the instructions on some subtests, notably for letter‐number sequencing. There may be an unacknowledged floor effect that will result in an overestimate of intellectual ability. The percentile ratings given in the manual are inaccurate for percentiles below 1%. Evidence is presented that the WISC‐IV may systematically give lower IQ scores than the WAIS‐III when assessing low IQ.     

Spur‐of‐the‐moment speeches

This study investigated the degree to which applicants' perceptions of interview behaviors differed from interviewers' perceptions. Data were drawn from 188 actual employment interviews conducted under the auspices of a university‐operated placement center. Data analyses revealed applicants rating themselves and the interviewers significantly higher than the interviewers' ratings of either themselves or the applicants.     

Discrimination of the language behavior of college‐and middle‐aged encoders

Language samples of college and middle‐aged respondents were syntactically analyzed in order to determine if the use of college students is appropriate for generalizations to other elements of the population. Multiple Discriminant Analysis was employed to determine correct classification of written language samples based on syntactic categories. Twenty‐two college‐aged subjects and 22 middle‐aged subjects responded to a TAT‐type photograph. The correct classification of college and middle‐aged subjects was 93.18%. A second MDA calculated on a three‐way distinction (college/nursing home employees/educators) yielded 90.91% discriminability. Utilizing a four‐way distinction (freshmen/sophomores/nursing home employees/ educators], the correct classification was 81.82%. Finally, an MDA calculated for male/female resulted in 68.18% discriminability. These results cast doubt on the validity of a “science of sophomores.”