Reading/Literacy – For the Lower Orders?

The second part of this account of struggles over literacy begins in the later seventeenth century. From the 1670s, the new dissenting academies, backed by rising business classes, made teaching in English for a wider curriculum their goal. Thus was Defoe’s mastery of a new spoken style developed, while in Scotland, the eighteenth century achievements of the Scottish Enlightenment heralded Modern Subjects. But the labouring peasantry and new urban working classes had to wait for revolutionary tribunes like Tom Paine and Cobbett to speak directly to them. Even then their prolonged struggles for a literacy in their own terms continued – and met a new setback, when the 1870 Act promised them universal education, but in tests dominated by Payment by Results. The struggles resumed.     

Pete's Tool: Identity and sex-play in the design and technology classroom

ABSTRACT The paper explores the 'interactional work' of one boy in a technology lesson as he elaborates, through 'play' with workshop tools, a sexual fantasy of masturbation and penetration. This action is contextualised by his relations with others, and by the dominance of a prevailing myth of male sexuality in his construction of a masculine identity in the classroom. The role of the teacher in interpreting pedagogic style is considered. It is suggested that the dominance of hegemonic masculinity does not erase differences amongst boys; that it is 'taken up' differently by groups and individuals in the interplay of other cultural texts/discourses. It is suggested that viewing the work of identity as both a personal and a social project, in which individuals act distinctly and yet 'within pattern', provides a starting point for understanding the contingent but committed construction of heterosexual gender relations of domination.     

COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES: A SURVEY OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

The present article describes an exploratory study regarding the preferred cognitive assessment practices of current school psychologists. Three hundred and twenty‐three school psychologists participated in the survey. The results suggest that the majority of school psychologists endorsed that they base their assessment practices on an underlying theoretical framework, specifically Cattell‐Horn‐Carroll (CHC) theory. Despite this finding, the majority of those sampled continue to engage in traditional assessment practices that are not consistent with CHC theory. Furthermore, the majority of those sampled reported that they assess culturally and linguistically diverse students and modify their practices when doing so. Unfortunately, the modifications endorsed by those surveyed might be discriminatory. The implications of these findings are discussed herein.     

The discussion examination: Making assessment match instructional strategy

This article focuses on a personal classroom experience that led to the development of a discussion examination as a strategy for making assessment match classroom practice in a class for secondary verbally gifted students. The literature read in the courses and the levels of thought emphasized in class discussion inspired the author to use an assessment format that more closely mirrored what went on in the classroom experience. An example of the grid used to assess the process as well as a point system for evaluation are provided. Encouragement for the process and cautions for precision in using it are included.     

The West Wing and Depictions of the American Presidency: Expanding the Domains of Framing in Political Communication

This study uses framing to assess how the office of the President of the United States is depicted on NBC's The West Wing. This work represents a theoretical and empirical domain extension of framing in political communication, an area of study dominated by analyses of news content. Three distinct presidential depictions are analyzed: chief executive, political candidate, and private citizen. This quantitative content analysis of the 2001–2002 The West Wing television season addresses the frequency with which the fictional president performs these three roles and posits several hypotheses concerning the relative presentation of personality characteristics across contexts. All three roles are represented with substantive frequency, with the chief executive role dominating. Principled character traits are evident more often when the fictional President Bartlet is acting as chief executive than as a private citizen. Conversely, Bartlet presents more engaging personality traits when acting as a private citizen than as either chief executive or political candidate. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed.     

Reading/Literacy – For the Lower Orders?

The first part of this account of struggles over literacy begins with the later middle ages and follows issues in the construction of a literacy addressed to the lower orders through to the seventeenth century. After the suppression of the Lollard Bible had left the English peasantry without that spur to literacy, the sixteenth-century formation of Renaissance grammar schools, with their classical education based on rhetoric, created a new cultural and linguistic gap from the lower orders. Only the most original English writers, steeped in this classical tradition, managed occasionally to bridge the gap. But after 1650, Hobbes led the way in avoiding figurative language, at least for philosophical and scientific discussion, and Lucy Hutchinson, from a dissenting family, showed in her autobiography how a fondness for the servants’ stories could open the way to a colloquial idiom.     

Biomechanical response to systematic changes in impact interface cushioning properties while performing a tennis-specific movement

Abstract

It is currently not known whether human responses across typical sports surfaces are dependent on cushioning or frictional properties of the interface. The present study assessed systematic changes in surface cushioning (baseline acrylic, rubber, thin foam, and thick foam) as participants performed tennis running forehand foot plants wearing a basic neutral shoe (plimsolls). It was hypothesized that systematic decreases in peak rates of loading, heel pressures, and perceived hardness would be yielded as surface cushioning increased (impact test device). A common acrylic top surface provided consistent frictional properties across surfaces. Kinetics (AMTI, 960 Hz and Footscan Pressure Insoles, 500 Hz), kinematics (Peak MOTUS, 120 Hz), and cushioning perception were assessed. Peak and mean loading rates of vertical ground reaction force, peak horizontal force, peak heel pressure, and rates of loading demonstrated significant correlations (P < 0.05) with the participants' perceived levels of cushioning and matched mechanical rankings of surface cushioning. In contrast, peak impact force was lowest on the least cushioned surface. Kinematic responses were not significantly different between surfaces. Present evidence supports ‘‘peak rate of loading'' as a more suitable indicator of surface cushioning than peak impact force. Although cautionary, biomechanical support is also provided for mechanical methods of surface cushioning assessment.     

Checking,highlighting, adding and ticking off: Year 6 students’ understandings of and responses to the use of goals in the New Zealand writing classroom

Understanding the goals for learning is fundamental to students’ success as writers. We investigated how Year 6 students in New Zealand experienced, understood and responded to goals during a writing unit. The study took place over seven weeks. Data were gathered through interviews with two teachers and six student participants; field notes from lesson observations; informal chats with students; and the collection of teacher documents, resources and student artefacts. Student selected goals, success criteria and rubric statements served as points of reference for a number of writing experiences. Findings indicated that the discourses underpinning students’ goals and the way they were framed resulted in the checking, highlighting, adding and ticking off of elements of persuasive writing. It was concluded if writing is to be understood and practised as an art rather than a technical activity, goals for learning need to address the more substantive aspects of the genre and the writing process.