Objectivism and Education: A Response to David Elkind's ‘The Problem with Constructivism’

This paper responds to David Elkind's article “The Problem with Constructivism,” published in the Summer 2004 issue of The Educational Forum. It argues that Elkind's thesis—teacher, curricular, and societal readiness lead to the implementation of constructivism—is conceptually problematic. This paper also critiques constructivism and supports objectivism as a viable philosophy of education.     

A Potential Case of Linguistic Prejudice: The Expression of Identity in ‘Black and White’

The existence of a race-based stigma has been well documented among adolescents and young adults within higher educational settings; however, similar studies among students at historically Black universities are rare. Specifically, the ‘acting white’ accusation is a common, and yet seldom openly discussed phenomenon that exist within the African American community. This type of stigma is often relegated to certain characteristics (i.e., behaviors, preferences, etc.) that may defy individual and collective assumptions regarding African Americans. Utilizing nearly 200 student questionnaires, this study identified the extent to which speaking correct English as well as other specific behaviors are associated with being accused of acting white. This process incorporated the use of bivariate correlation and regression models. Findings suggest that speaking correct English as well as the existence of other factors (i.e., preferences in dress, associations, etc.) are significantly related to the accusation. This includes both experiential and nonexperimental student responses. In determining predictor variables, those who experience as well as how they respond to the accusation revealed statistical significance. The study concludes by offering areas of further research as well as suggested policy implications within higher educational settings. This includes an examination of complex and multilayered aspects of identity among minority groups within academic environments.     

The Research Community Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education: A Retrospect of Collaborative Research over Two Decades. Continued—Part Two

The Research Community ‘Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education’ was established in 1999. First an overview is given of the two main areas into which the more than 180 chapters published in 12 books can be grouped. In general the papers are addressing ‘internal’ educational research topics and more ‘external’ relations. The suite of papers in this issue continues the selection of material presented during the 2017 and 2018 meetings and follow on from the suite published in an issue of this journal earlier this year (54:3). Next, the suite of papers appearing in this issue is introduced. In this, and the preceding suite, aspects of the production and acceleration, as well as of the (re)presentation, dissemination and reception of educational research are brought into focus.     

Historical Experiments in Students’ Hands: Unfragmenting Science through Action and History

Two students, meeting together with a teacher, redid historical experiments. Unlike conventional instruction where science topics and practices often fragment, they experienced interrelatedness among phenomena, participants’ actions, and history. This study narrates actions that fostered an interrelated view. One action involved opening up historical telephones to examine interior circuitry. Another made sound visible in a transparent air column filled with Styrofoam bits and through Lissajous figures produced by reflecting light off orthogonal nineteenth century tuning forks crafted by Koenig and Kohl. Another involved orienting magnetic compasses to reveal the magnetism of conducting wires, historically investigated by Oersted and Schweigger. Replicating Homberg’s triboluminescent compound elicited students’ reflective awareness of history. These actions bore pedagogical value in recovering some of the interrelatedness inherent in the history and reintroducing the wonder of science phenomena to students today.     

Multiple Outcomes of Class Visits to Natural History Museums: The Students’ View

The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the range of outcomes of class visits to natural history museums. The theoretical framework is based on the multifaceted process of learning in free choice learning environments, and emphasizes the unique and individual learning experience in museum settings. The study’s significance is in highlighting several possible cognitive as well as non-cognitive learning effects in museums class visits, by providing the student’s point of view. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews with 50 students in grades 6–8 on the day following the visit. We present evidence that students expressed several learning outcomes, connected directly and indirectly to the scientific content of the visit. Content oriented outcomes included acquiring scientific knowledge and making connections to prior knowledge; social oriented outcomes were identified in students’ statements regarding communicating knowledge and social aspects of learning; and interest oriented outcomes were evidenced by students’ expressions about emotions, interest and curiosity. The aggregate data addressed the common outcomes and the impact of class visits to natural history museums in the short term. Comparisons between two types of museums show significant differences in several aspects, regarding the exhibit and/or the activity type. Practical ideas for structuring the ultimate experience are included.     

A Measure for Pupils’ Inconsistency of Response to a Self-Report Instrument of Attitudes toward School

A scale was developed to measure pupils’ inconsistency in replying to a self-report questionnaire regarding attitudes toward school (Israeli Quality of School Life Scale–IQSL). The effect of inconsistency on the scale’s validity was examined empirically at both class and individual levels. A student was scored for an inconsistent answer whenever a response to a pair of items was contradictory. Eight such pairs were identified on the IQSL by independent judges. Subjects were over 6,000 pupils from 245 classes in approximately 70 randomly selected elementary, junior, and senior high schools in Israel. Results indicated that inconsistency could lower the internal consistency of the IQSL subscales. Direction of inconsistency differences between pupils in advantaged and disadvantaged schools and at various grade levels led to the conclusion that inconsistent behavior in answering the self-report measure is more a result of unwillingness to cooperate than an inability to cooperate.     

The Problem of ‘Power’: Metacritical Implications of Aetonormativity for Children’s Literature Research

This article takes as its starting point the concept of aetonormativity (the adult normativity germane to the discourse of children’s literature), coined by Maria Nikolajeva (2010) in an attempt to unify the increasingly power-oriented theories of children’s literature criticism within the past few decades. Acknowledging the usefulness of this concept, but wary of the fact that it could imply an easy transference of “adult” power theory to the study of children’s literature, I argue that an aetonormativity-centred system of children’s literature criticism crucially needs to reconceptualise the notion of “power” which lies at its heart. Any automatic connection between adult normativity and adult “power” would thus be questioned and critiqued. I propose a first conceptual split of “power” into “authority” and “might”, and a consequent redistribution of these two concepts to the adult and child parties in the children’s book. I then investigate the critical and metacritical implications, within the framework of an aetonormativity-centred criticism of children’s literature, of an increased subtlety in the use and handling of the concept of power when referring to the complex medium of the children’s text.     

The Project in Intergroup Education and Sarason’s Modal Process of Change: A Historical Exemplar of Educational Reform

In 1971, Seymour Sarason published his now classic book on educational reform entitled, The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change. In the text, Sarason devotes an entire chapter to what he terms the modal process of change. The characteristics of this process, unfortunately, remain salient in today’s educational climate. The Project in Intergroup Education was an educational reform that attempted to bring issues of intolerance and discrimination into K-12 classrooms during the post WWII era. In this article, I contend that using the conceptual lens suggested by Sarason’s modal process, the examination of the Project offers a historical exemplar of an educational change and illuminates ways in which we might seek to challenge the typical implementation of change. Specifically we can see counterevidence to the modal process in the Project’s emphasis on the significance and inclusion of the classroom teacher, the importance of school contexts and particular needs of students, and in the ways in which the curricular work of participating teachers evinced the changes sought by Project leaders.

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The Neuroscience of Art: A Research Program for the Next Decade?

Works of art can be viewed as elements of a human‐specific nonverbal communication system, distinct from language. First, the cognitive abilities and skills required for art creation and perception are built from a cascade of events driven by a “genetic envelope”. Essential for the understanding of artistic creation is its epigenetic variability. Second, artistic contemplation and creation may be tentatively viewed as a discrete and singular conscious synthesis taking place within the personal global neuronal workspace of external perceptions, internal memories and stored emotions. Third, there is a need for rules that constrain and restrict in a top‐down manner the selection of representations generated by the artist's brain. Finally, artistic creation is a part of the personal history of the artist and stems from an anterior historical evolution.     

The Transition to Kindergarten for Typically Developing Children: A Survey of School Psychologists’ Involvement

Research suggests that a large percentage of kindergarten children do not successfully transition to school (Rimm-Kaufman et al. 2000). As a result, a number of school transition initiatives have been developed by educators and policy makers to address the difficulties young children may experience upon kindergarten entry. Despite this attention, our review found no studies examining the involvement of school psychologists in kindergarten transition practices. The present study reports the outcomes of a national survey of the membership directory of the National Association of School Psychologists examining school-based involvement in kindergarten transition activities; school psychologists’ perceived involvement with and training in kindergarten transition activities; and school psychologists’ perceived barriers to engage in kindergarten transition activities. Results showed that most schools engaged in at least one kindergarten transition activity per year, with half of the responding sample reporting involvement. School psychologists were more likely to be involved in kindergarten transition activities if they were employed in an urban locale or a large to moderate-sized school setting. School psychologists most frequently reported involvement with kindergarten screenings and collaborating with kindergarten and preschool teachers. Implications and recommendations for practice among early childhood and other educational professionals are delineated.     

Can Science Education Research Give an Answer to Questions posed by History of Science and Technology? The Case of Steam Engine’s Measurement

According to the principle of virtual velocities, if on a simple machine in equilibrium we suppose a slight virtual movement, then the ratio of weights or forces equals the inverse ratio of velocities or displacements. The product of the weight raised or force applied multiplied by the height or displacement plays a central role there. British engineers used the same product in the eighteenth century in order to measure steam engines’ effectiveness. The question is whether this measure was obviously empirical or had its origin in theory of mechanics and particularly in the principle of virtual velocities. According to science education research, this measure is not likely to have arisen intuitively and most probably could not have been formulated without any acquaintance with theory of mechanics.     

Replication and Pedagogy in the History of Psychology V: The Metronome and Wilhelm Wundt’s Search for the Components of Consciousness

Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) believed that consciousness was represented by the interconnection of psychical processes comprised of temporal elements and compounds. To explore these processes, Wundt used a metronome to measure the amount of information that passed into consciousness across time. The current project replicated some of his procedures, to better understand the role of introspection and the complexity of the metronome task for experimenters and observers. The results of the replication were mixed, but the replication helped provide insights into Wundt’s procedures and their relationship to his theories. This study originated as a class assignment in the Spring of 2004 (see Tweney, this issue).

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