Placing photovoice under erasure: a critical and complicit engagement with what it theoretically is (not)

While there have been multiple breaks, shifts and developments within the theories that shape photovoice (i.e. praxis and feminist standpoint theory), they are rarely accounted for in the ways in which photovoice is (re)constituted. In this paper, I ask and engage with the questions: what might it mean to reconceptualise photovoice through a substitution of these similar yet different iterations of these theories? What is produceable in turn? By placing these (mis)readings of theory in conversation with concepts key to photovoice, empowerment and voice, I provide not what photovoice should be but rather possible possibilities for what it could be.     

To blog or not to blog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course

Blogs have the potential to increase reflection, sense of community and collaboration in undergraduate classrooms. Studies of their effectiveness are still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of blogs in a large lecture class would enhance students' perceived learning. Students in an undergraduate nutrition course were required to engage in blog conversations over the course of the semester to promote reflective learning. Sixty-seven undergraduates responded to a survey with dimensions on perceived learning and sense of community. Sense of community and computer expertise were identified as significant predictors of perceived learning, when controlled for age, gender, and previous blogging experience. While a majority of the students reported that blogging enhanced their learning and led them to think about course concepts outside the classroom, fewer perceived value in peer comments. Implications for integrating blogging into undergraduate classrooms are discussed.     

Improving teaching and learning: a thermos bottle keeps things hot and cold, but how does it know?

Jim Ysseldyke, Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes at the University of Minnesota, who gave a keynote address at 'isec 95', argues that in order to improve teaching and learning we need to know where we are going, how to get there, and the extent to which we are achieving educational goals. He contends that in most countries we have clearly articulated educational goals and provides evidence that we know how to achieve these goals, but asserts that we have no information on the extent to which students with disabilities are achieving such goals.     

Understanding policy: why health education policy is important and why it does not appear to work

Drawing on research investigating the impact of health imperatives around obesity, diet and exercise on the actions of teachers and pupils in schools, this paper offers a reflexive account of the relationships between the ‘noise’ of obesity discourse in the public domain, policies forged to tackle health issues and the realities of teaching in schools. Our analyses suggest that intersections of bio‐policies, body pedagogies and human agents forge assemblages of meaning that frame and regulate but cannot determine either teachers' or young people's lives. Teachers and pupils experience the capriciousness of policies as they flow through specific school contexts and intersect with ‘local’ institutional cultures, expectations and interests. We suggest that Basil Bernstein's concepts and poststructural social theory prove useful when addressing how the aforementioned processes are emplaced, enacted and embodied.     

Learning outdoors or with a computer: the contribution of the learning setting to learning and to environmental perceptions

ABSTRACT

Background: Outdoor learning and computer-based learning are two different alternatives to in-class conventional teacher-centered learning.

Purpose: This study compares the outdoor learning setting with computer-based learning in class. It examines the influence of the two different learning settings on academic achievements, the learning experience, and pro-environmental perceptions.

Sample: A total of 90 elementary school students (third and fourth-grade classes) participated in the study.

Design and methods: The academic knowledge of the study participants was tested through identical exams for both learning settings. In addition, in each group the students’ perceptions were examined by means of a questionnaire about environmental values and the learning experience.

Results: The study demonstrates that academic achievements in the two settings were similar, but the students expressed more enthusiasm about the outdoor learning experience than about in-class learning. In addition, the outdoor learning setting contributed more to promoting positive environmental perceptions even though students did not learn directly about environmental issues and sustainability.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that learning in the natural environment is valuable: Alongside the fostering of computerized learning, it is also important to promoteoutdoor learning settings and integrate both settings by implementing mobile technologies in the outdoor teaching.     

The contribution (or not) of UN higher education to peacebuilding: an ethnographic account

This paper examines the role of United Nations (UN) peace academics in teaching for peace within the UN higher education system, and questions what contribution, if any, UN peacebuilding education makes to the broader field of peace and conflict studies education, and in the lives of the people it touches. The study draws on ethnographic data collected over a six-month period at one UN university in 2015. The data collection period involved participant observation, interviews with faculty and postgraduate students, document analysis, and surveys with learners. Findings suggest tensions and contradiction in the university around issues of UN mimicry, Western-centrism, state domination, and institutional capitalism. Implications are briefly addressed and recommendations provided.     

“To be,or not to be,that is the question:”的翻译

莎剧《哈姆莱特》中的著名独白"To be,or not to be,that is the question:"的翻译,历来是译者关注的焦点,由此产生了众多不同的译文。本文试图通过对众多译文的比较分析,进一步探讨这句独白的翻译方式。     

Visualising weekly learning outcomes (VWLO) and the intention to continue using a learning management system (CIU): the role of cognitive absorption and perceived learning self-regulation

Education and Information Technologies - This research, using goal setting theory, proposes a new educational intervention to improve the perceptions of a Learning management System (LMS) as an...     

The story of representation (or not) in contributing to the development of a school subject curriculum

This paper prompts us to consider ‘representation’ with respect to a committee structure ‘managing’ the development of the Irish senior cycle physical education framework. The paper is timely due to the national interest in the senior cycle subject development in Ireland and complements work undertaken on the development of policy in senior physical education internationally. Bernstein's [(1990). Class, Code and Control: Volume 4. The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse. London: Routledge] construction of ‘pedagogic discourse’ and Pitkin's [(1967). The Concept of Representation. University of California Press] notion of ‘representation’ provide a framework for exploring the process by which Senior Cycle Physical Education (SCPE) was ‘managed’ by the Physical Education Course Committee. Interviews were conducted with nine stakeholders who were members of the Committee and the constant comparative method was used to analyse the interview data. The results revolved around representation of individual views in favour of representative roles, interacting within the remit of the Committee structure and activity outside of the formal meetings. A number of conclusions arise in examining the extent to which ‘representation’ provides a framework for exploring the process by which curriculum development within Irish SCPE was ‘managed’ by the appointed Committee. Such a study provides significant points for discussion for those charged with drawing together groups to advise on curriculum development.     

Rights not restrictions for learning disabled adults: a response to Spiecker and Steutel

What follows is a response to an article by Spiecker and Steutel in which they pose the question of whether sex between people with "mental retardation" (sic) is morally permissible and in which they argue that since many such people cannot give "valid consent", the additional consent of caretakers may be required. However, we argue that the term "mental retard" is offensive and that either the UK terminology ("the learning disabled") or the internationally accepted term ("intellectually disabled") are more acceptable. Moreover, we point out that Spiecker and Steutel are mistaken. Many "learning disabled" people can and do give "valid consent". In any case, their question is itself dubious. Why should two learning disabled people who want to have sex together need anyone else's consent? In addition, we briefly address the rights of the learning disabled to the same sexual freedom as others, on the one hand, and to freedom from sexual exploitation on the other hand. Finally, we consider the implications of these issues for moral education. We suggest that carers need to develop empathy and, where necessary, advocacy skills. We point to the existence of training programmes on sexuality and protection issues.     

Socratic teaching is not teaching,but direct transmission is: Notes from 13 to 15-year olds' conceptions of teaching

We studied what 13–15-year-olds believe teaching's components are. Thirty-six children viewed two films: direct transmission (DT) and Socratic teaching (ST) and a third film of a non-teaching conversation (C). We investigated the participants' understanding of teaching's components and the role of intentionality in teaching. All children judged that DT was teaching and that ST and the C were not. After revealing the teacher's intention to teach or its lack, nobody changed their judgments. Two explanations for these are the extent of exposure to teaching and that very young children in early childhood already hold a DT view of teaching.