The Cross-Curriculum Manager: Maximizing the Potential of Learners

Mike Reading happened to visit the NAPCE stand at the Education Show, and commented that his school had found the NAPCE resource pack From Head of Year to Year Curriculum Coordinator? very useful in their developments. So a while later he was contacted to write an account for the journal!
This account gives a sense of the particular flavour of the school, which Mike himself suggests is unusual, and also the ways in which one role can become more highly connected and central to the school, especially if it is contributing to an explicit focus on learning.
Mike is Key Stage Manager at George Spencer Foundation School and Technology College. He trained at The University College of Ripon and York St John, and started his career in education as a Religious Education teacher in Oldham before being Head of Department in Grantham. From this position he was appointed to a senior role in his present school. He has studied the contribution which Quality Management makes to secondary school management and gained a Masters degree at Nottingham Trent University.     

Pastoral Care: Past,Present and Future

Chris Watkins was a member of the first NAPCE executive in 1982, and has continued on that committee and on the London committee ever since. He was chair of NAPCE from 1992 to 1994, and is currently chair of the Publications Committee. He has been a maths teacher in a large secondary school, a teacher in charge of a unit for pupils whose effect on school was disruptive, and a trained school counsellor.

He is now head of the academic group ‘Assessment, Guidance and Effective Learning’ at the University of London Institute of Education, where his current areas of work include school behaviour, mentoring, tutoring, personal–social education – all centrally linked to effective learning in classrooms and school. He is course tutor to the MA in Effective Learning and the MA in School Development, and is involved in consultancy to schools and training others in consultation. Current research projects include ‘The Violence-resilient School’ and ‘Learning about Learning’.     

Inclusion: on the move?

Mike Gordon is an ex-president of the former National Association for Remedial Education (NARE), now NASEN. He began his teaching career in 1958 in a boys' secondary modern school in Hull. Following national service (1960–62) and a posting in Malaya, he was given responsibility for an ‘Opportunity Class’ in a co-educational secondary modern. He was fortunate to be seconded in 1966–7 to do Alec William's (great guru) Diploma in the Education of Handicapped Children course. He was then appointed Head of Remedial Studies in a new comprehensive school in Hull. From 1970–73 Mike was a lecturer in Hull College of Education but left to teach in a social priority primary school for five years. He then moved to Scarborough to lead the area learning support service team before becoming North Yorkshire's Head of Special Teaching Support Services. In the early 1970s he obtained a Diploma in Education and an M.Ed. After retiring in 1997 he was NASEN's media officer and was then appointed as the Association's first Executive Secretary in 1999.     

Teachers’ Attitudes towards Disruptive Behaviour and their Use of Internal Referral

This study offers a very neat demonstration of something which conventional wisdom holds: that our actions reflect our beliefs. But the topic under investigation is a challenging one – teachers’ uses of ‘referral systems’ in school. The evidence suggests that referrals reflect teachers’ beliefs – not, therefore, the pupils’ behaviour. We do not know of a study of this sort anywhere in the literature on school behaviour, yet these findings have major implications for those pastoral systems which have become distorted into discipline systems. Michael examines these with care, taking pains not to be simply ‘pointing the finger’.

Michael Evans has been teaching physical education and mathematics in London for seven years. Currently in his second secondary post as Head of Year, Michael is working to complete his MA at the University of London Institute of Education. In his spare time he heads for the hills, wind and rain of Scotland.     

The Development of the Year Curriculum Coordinator at Burntwood School

This article gives an account of a school in which Year Curriculum Teams were created, consisting of a planned combination of tutors across subject clusters. An enhanced role and perspective for the tutor is described. Subsequent changes were accommodated well by the new system, even though the position regarding tutor continuity was changed. As with other school accounts in this issue, a sense of the particular flavour of the school comes through, alongside the structural themes which may have wide application.

Charles Harper and Yvonne Barry are both members of the Senior Management Team at Burntwood School, which has recently been awarded Beacon status. Charles has taught in a number of schools including in Pennsylvania, USA. He was a Head of Art before moving into senior management. Yvonne has taught in two large comprehensive schools and was a Year Curriculum Coordinator before becoming a senior manager. Both have been involved in training staff and in giving presentations at the Institute of Education, CSCS, QME and various London schools. Charles and Yvonne are members of various working groups and advisory bodies including the Open University and the QCA.     

A sociocultural perspective on mediated activity in third grade science

This ethnographic study of a third grade classroom examined elementary school science learning as a sociocultural accomplishment. The research focused on how a teacher helped his students acquire psychological tools for learning to think and engage in scientific practices as locally defined. Analyses of classroom discourse examined both how the teacher used mediational strategies to frame disciplinary knowledge in science as well as how students internalized and appropriated ways of knowing in science. The study documented and analyzed how students came to appropriate scientific knowledge as their own in an ongoing manner tied to their identities as student scientists. Implications for sociocultural theory in science education research are discussed. John Reveles is an assistant professor in the Elementary Education Department at California State University, Northridge. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005. Before pursuing his Ph.D., he worked as a bilingual elementary school teacher for 3 years. His research focuses on the development of scientific literacy in elementary school settings; sociocultural influences on students' academic identity; equity of access issues in science education; qualitative and quantitative research methods. Within the Michael D. Eisner College of Education, he teaches elementary science curriculum methods courses, graduate science education seminars, and graduate research courses. Gregory Kelly is a professor of science education at Penn State University. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer and physics teacher. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1994. His research focuses on classroom discourse, epistemology, and science learning. This work has been supported by grants from Spencer Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Education. He teaches courses concerning the uses of history, philosophy, sociology of science in science teaching and teaching and learning science in secondary schools. He is editor of the journal Science Education. Richard Durán is a Professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara. His research and publications have been in the areas of literacy and assessment of English Language Learners and Latino students. He has also conducted research on after school computer clubs, technology and learning as part of the international UC Links Network. With support from the Kellogg Foundation, he is implementing and investigating community and family-centered intervention programs serving the educational progress of Latino students in the middle and high school grades.     

The Case for Restructuring the UK Secondary School

Chris Watkins was a member of the first NAPCE executive in 1982, and has continued on that committee and on the London committee ever since. He was chair of NAPCE from 1992 to 1994, and is currently chair of the Publications Committee. He has been a maths teacher in a large secondary school, a teacher in charge of a unit for pupils whose effect on school was disruptive, and a trained school counsellor.
He is now head of the academic group 'Assessment, Guidance and Effective Learning' at the University of London Institute of Education, where his current areas of work include school behaviour, mentoring, tutoring, personal–social education – all centrally linked to effective learning in classrooms and school. He is course tutor to the MA in Effective Learning and the MA in School Development, and is involved in consultancy to schools and training others in consultation. Current research projects include 'The Violence-resilient School' and 'Learning about Learning'.     

Transforming the College through Technology: A Change of Culture

In this article we address the implementation of sustainable technological change among the faculty, staff, and students in the College of Education and Human Services at a mid-western urban institution. We examine cultural factors common to institutions of higher education and then describe particular planning and implementation processes employed at one institution to move faculty and staff from a state of minimal technology use to one of substantial technological competence over a period of years. The process turns out to be robust and stable despite growth over time. We conclude with recommendations for other educational institutions facing similar needs for cultural change in the use of technology. James A. McLoughlin has been Dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Cleveland State University since 1995 and Interim Provost from 2000 to 2001; he received his Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Arizona. Lih-Ching Chen Wang is a Fulbright Scholar. She is currently an Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Foundations at Cleveland State University. Her work focuses on the integration of technology into teacher education. She holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from Kent State University. William A. Beasley is a Professor of Education who specializes in Educational Technology and runs the Center for Teaching Excellence at Cleveland State University. He holds an Ed. D. in Gifted Education from the University of Georgia.     

From Head of Year to Year Curriculum Coordinator and Back Again?

This article is an account of the development of the course From Head of Year to Year Curriculum Coordinator? The story of its origins, its development and outcomes provides an opportunity to explore the impact of educational changes on conceptions of pastoral care, its management and organization, and how NAPCE has had to change the pattern and nature of its activities to support its members. It allows us to consider the enduring but changing role of the Head of Year.
Caroline Lodge worked for 25 years in urban comprehensive schools in Coventry and London, in many different roles (including Head of Year) before moving on. She is now occupied with earning a living as lecturer, writer, researcher, teacher, consultant and trainer and is also a student.     

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’.     

Teachers' Attitudes towards Disruptive Behaviour and their Use of Internal Referral

This study offers a very neat demonstration of something which conventional wisdom holds: that our actions reflect our beliefs. But the topic under investigation is a challenging one – teachers' uses of 'referral systems' in school. The evidence suggests that referrals reflect teachers' beliefs – not, therefore, the pupils' behaviour. We do not know of a study of this sort anywhere in the literature on school behaviour, yet these findings have major implications for those pastoral systems which have become distorted into discipline systems. Michael examines these with care, taking pains not to be simply 'pointing the finger'.
Michael Evans has been teaching physical education and mathematics in London for seven years. Currently in his second secondary post as Head of Year, Michael is working to complete his MA at the University of London Institute of Education. In his spare time he heads for the hills, wind and rain of Scotland.     

Graphite into diamonds: Using teams to strengthen intracollegial interaction

In an information-processing organization, it is essential that lines of communications stay open and fluid, and that can best be accomplished through cooperative teamwork. In science, when graphite is subjected to extreme heat and pressure, it is converted into a diamond. When pressure is applied to a collegiate bureaucracy through retraining key personnel, it can be transformed into a team promoting unity and interaction. Strategies for developing teams are discussed.Mark D. Weber earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in Zoology, from the University of South Florida, his Master of Arts degree, with a major in Secondary Science Education, from Oral Roberts University, and his Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from Oklahoma State University. After a career in which he provided orthopedic services to physicians and medical facilities, he taught in private schools and Tulsa Junior College before joining Oral Roberts University where he is Assistant Professor of Anatomy in the School of Medicine.Thomas A. Karman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, with majors in History and Political Science, from Albion College, his Master of Arts, with a major in East Asia Regional Studies, from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Toledo. After serving The Defiance College as a faculty member and administrator, he joined Oklahoma State University, where he is Professor and Head of the department of Educational Administration and Higher Education.     

Teaching Physics to In-Service Primary School Teachers in the Context of the History of Science: The Case of Falling Bodies

Our paper presents an in-service primary school teachers’ training program which is based on the idea that the history of science can play a vital role in promoting the learning of physics. This training program has been developed in the context of Comenius 2.1 which is a European Union program. This program that we have developed in the University of Athens is based on socioconstructivist and sociocultural learning principles with the intention of helping teachers to appropriate the basic knowledge on the issue of falling bodies. Moreover, it has the aim to make explicit through the exploitation of authentic historical science events, on the above topic (Aristotle’s, Galileo’s and Newton’s theories on falling bodies) the Nature of Science (NoS), the Nature of Learning (NoL) and the Nature of Teaching (NoT). During the implementation of the program we have used a variety of teaching strategies (e.g. group work, making of posters, making of concept maps, simulations) that utilize historical scientific materials on the issue of falling bodies.

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NewsLetter

Colin Conner, University of Cambridge Institute of Education, Learning: Principles, Processes and Practices, Rosemary J. Stevenson and Joy A. Palmer. London: Cassell, 1994. 216 pp. pb ISBN 0 304 32563 5, £12.99

Caroline Lodge, NAPCE National Committee, Life Goes On, Two training videos from St Margaret's Somerset Hospice. Taunton, Somerset: Emerald Films Production. £50 each, £75 for two +£1.75 p + p.

Caroline Lodge, NAPCE National Committee, Chasing Rainbows: Children, Divorce and Loss , by Brynna Kroll. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing Limited, 1994. 187pp. pb ISBN 1 898924 10 4, £14.95

Carrie Herbert, Carrie Herbert Consultancy, Cambridge, Bullying and the Dysfluent Child in the Primary SchoolA pack to help teachers with a dysfluent child in their class and speech and language therapists working with small groups of dysfluent children. Produced by Siobhan Mooney and Jim Lewis for The British Stammering Association, 15 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PJ. £18.90.     

Student interviews: A vital role in the scholarship of teaching

Participation in a national study, sponsored by the American Association of Higher Education, on the use of Peer Review of Teaching Effectiveness, allowed us to engage in several nontraditional methods of peer collaboration. The method having the greatest value for us involved a faculty peer interviewing the students in another faculty member's classes. Through these student interviews, we obtained in-sights into how to enhance the learning environment created inside and outside the classroom. In this article, we present a summary of how we conducted student interviews, why such interactions with students are worthwhile, and what the implications of these interviews are.Jere W. Morehead received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia in 1980. After serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for six years, Professor Morehead returned to the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business as a faculty member. Professor Morehead has been an active member in the Academy of Legal Services in Business. Currently, he serves as Senior Articles Editor of theAmerican Business Law Journal. Throughout his academic career, Professor Morehead has been recognized for his excellence in teaching. He is a coauthor ofThe Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business, the leading textbook in his field, and he has received a University teaching award. During the past two years, he has been an active participant in the AAHE's national project on the peer review of teaching. Peter J. Shedd earned both an undergraduate B.B.A. and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia. After graduating from law school, he clerked for Anthony Alaimo, who was then the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. In 1978, Professor Shedd returned to the University of Georgia as a faculty member where he is currently a Professor of Legal Studies in the Terry College of Business. In recognition for outstanding teaching, he was one of the recipients of the Meigs Award last year and was named the Georgia Professor of the Year in 1993 by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Professor Shedd has served as the Associate Dean of the College of Business, as Executive Assistant to the University President, and been active in numerous University committees. In 1994, Professor Shedd was elected to the Executive Committee of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. A certified mediator and arbitrator, Professor Shedd is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American Arbitration Association.     

Viewpoint on distance education ‐ towards a focus and a future. ICDE World Conference, 11 August 1988. Oslo,Norway

Professor Charles Wedemeyer has appropriately been called the father of American distance education; he could also be termed an uncle of the British Open University, having acted as a consultant before the University opened to students.

As William Lighty Professor of Education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison he broke the ground for much subsequent research in the field of distance education. His most familiar published work is his book Learning at the Back Door (University of Wisconsin Press, 1981).

His long and distinguished career has included the Presidency of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE), and the award of an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University in 1975.

He has attended many ICDE World conferences over the years, and in Oslo in the summer of 1988 gave a viewpoint on distance education for the future. Professor Wedemeyer has indicated that perhaps this paper will be the last he writes in this area; “This does not indicate a lack of interest... but at 77 years... I find it difficult to keep up with the volume of reading alone that must be maintained if I want to write among the best in our burgeoning field’.     

How can evaluation contribute to educational policy? the uses of information in Australia

Conclusion There are volumes of data and much other information potentially available for school systems and schools for evaluating performance and modifying policy and practice. There is always a risk of injudicious data gathering that creates more information than can sensibly be used. We often known more than we understand. Careful selection of the data to be used and appropriate analysis and interpretation can turn information into understanding and perhaps, finally, wisdom. Original language: English Barry McGaw (Australia) Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Since 1986, Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Originally trained as a secondary science teacher. After completing a post-graduate B.Ed. Honours degree, he joined the Research and Curriculum Branch of the Queensland Department of Education. Following a period of further study in the United States, he became Head of that Branch. In 1976, he was appointed Professor of Education at the Murdoch University in Western Australia. Research interests are in measurement, learning and research policy. He has been engaged in a number of projects for UNESCO and the OECD Presentation at the joint UNESCO: International Bureau of Education and Brazilian Ministry of Education and Sport,International Seminar on Educational Evaluation, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 30 November–3 December 1997.     

Newton and the age of reason

During the spring semester of 1987 a mathematician and a physicist from Oberlin College went with twenty-one undergraduates to London to use the resources of England as the basis for a course with the above title. This unusual interdisciplinary course is described, with emphasis on its experimental, experiential nature and the challenges and satisfactions which it provided.Joseph L. Snider is Professor of Physics at Oberlin College. He received his undergraduate degree in physics from Amherst College in 1956 and his Ph.D. in experimental physics from Princeton University in 1961. He has taught and done research at Harvard University and at Oberlin College. His areas of interest are solar physics, astrophysics, relativity, and the history and philosophy of science. Recently he has become interested in working to improve the teaching of physics and astronomy to pre-college students.Bruce Pollack-Johnson is Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Oberlin College, where he is responsible for the operations research program. He received a B.A. in sociology with a minor in education from Brandeis University in 1975, an M.A. in mathematics from Temple University in 1979, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in operations research from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980 and 1983, respectively. He has published in the areas of human resource modeling, forecasting, educational planning, simulation, and project management, and his current research includes project scheduling and conflict resolution. He has helped develop new courses for liberal arts students on introductory computer science and educational philosophy, as well as the course described in this article, and is also Co-Director of the Lorain County Peace Education Project.     

The difference of literature: Writing now for the future of young readers

CLIE is pleased to print the 1992 Sidney Robbins Lecture, given at the Annual Conference of The International Association of School Libraries at The Queen's University, Belfast. Sidney Robbins founded this journal in 1970, arising from the series of Children's Literature Conferences which be had initiated at St. Luke's College, Exeter, where be worked. He died in 1971.Aidan Chambers began his career as a secondary school teacher of English and drama. For the last twenty-seven years he has been an author of fiction for young readers and a part-time tutor of pre-and inservice teachers. In 1969, with his wife Nancy, he founded Thimble Press, publisher of the magazineSignal and various guides to and monographs on children's books. He is a visiting lecturer in literature for children at Westminster College, Oxford.     

An Experiment Attempting to Determine the Effectiveness of Frequent Testing as an Aid to Learning in Beginning College Courses in American Government

Abstract

While for many years a part of the student body of American university summer sessions, the “special” or credit-non-degree student has rarely been studied in terms of background, courses taken, and academic achievement while in summer school. A random sample of 289 such students enrolled in University of Wisconsin-Madison summer sessions in 1965, 1966, and 1967 was studied. Data were drawn from the admission applications submitted by the “specials” and from their end-of-summer grade reports.

The majority of students were found to be regular year students at other colleges and universities. A smaller number were teachers or school administrators during the rest of the year. Enrollment was concentrated almost exclusively in the College of Letters and Science and School of Education. Academic performance during the summer term was generally good.