The high-tech,post-Fordist school

In many parts of the world, including Victoria, Australia, public schools are undergoing changes to the way they are administered, funded, and staffed and are being asked to accept a different mission and a different set of responsibilities. This paper points out that these structural changes to public school systems are explained and legitimized by their proponents through reference to post-Fordist arrangements of labour, capital, and technology, not through reference to educational discourses per se. At the same time computer-based technologies are being asked to play an increasingly prominent role in education, and it is argued that this computing-in-education project is a key strategy in moving aspects of post-Fordist reform from the administrative wing, down the corridor and through the classroom door. Finally, it is argued that both structural and technological change in school systems contribute to and are nurtured by the prevailing culture, best understood as the postmodern condition.This paper generalizes arguments arising from a case study of laptop computer use in schools (Arnold & Gilding, 1994).     

Approaches to learning by undergraduate students: A longitudinal study

The purpose of this study was to determine if the success of students at a highly selective combined baccalaureate/MD degree program is affected by their different approaches to learning. One hundred freshmen students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (UMKC) were surveyed using the Lancaster Approaches to Studying Inventory (short survey by Entwistle, 1981). Analysis of the data indicates that the learning styles of students from this combined-degree school tend to be similar to the learning styles of students from other baccalaureate-degree programs in medicine. It appears there are some relationships between approaches to learning and success in the program. This association between learning styles and success also appears to be related to gender differences.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Louisville, KY, May 13–16, 1990.     

The use of corporal punishment in child rearing in the West Indies

The West Indian child is usually loved by its parents or caretakers, but is frequently subjected to corporal punishment unsuitable to the age and stage of its development and excessive in relation to the alleged offence. The debate on whether the persistent use of what is considered excessive punishment as the means of instilling obedience in children, centres around the parents' African heritage or learned behaviour from the institution of slavery. Socially and economically disadvantaged parents under stress seem to displace their frustrations and anxieties on the children through corporal punishment which often assumes ritualised characteristics. The community in general and the parents in particular need help through appropriate education, to change their attitudes of accepting excessive corporal punishment as the means of imposing discipline upon children.     

Cultural and religious experiences: do they define teaching and learning for pre‐service teachers prior to teacher education?

This study examines the interaction between indigenous culture and modern religious practices of teaching and learning, and how this contributes towards shaping the preconceptions of teaching, learning, a teacher's role(s), students as learners, and knowledge of three secondary school pre‐service teachers who were just commencing their teacher education program at the only university educating teachers for post‐primary and post‐vocational educational institutions in Papua New Guinea. Data were obtained through a semi‐structured interview questionnaire. Data analysis revealed a dialectical and a mutually constitutive relationship between cultural and religious practices of teaching and learning. This made a significant contribution towards the construction of the three secondary school pre‐service teachers' preconceptions. These practices defined and fashioned the perceptions of teaching and learning the three pre‐service teachers held prior to becoming students of teaching.     

Recreational Activity Clustering among Adolescents

Abstract

Data on participation in 15 recreational activities were obtained from a sample of 2,760 junior and senior high school students. Interrelationships among activities were examined by use of a hierarchical clustering procedure for males and females within each of the following four age groups: 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18.

The data indicated that the two a priori designated clusters of outdoor recreation and competitive recreation activities were of limited value for categorizing interrelated activities. However, the clustering procedures suggested that if the outdoor recreation and competitive recreation clusters were defined more narrowly, many of the activities within them did interrelate. A third group of activities emerged which had a very low relationship to the other two clusters and to each other. They were given the generic title “unique recreation activities” to indicate their relative independence.     

Children's knowledge of the earth's shape and its gravitational field

Abstract

One hundred and eight children aged between seven and 11 took part in a cross‐sectional study of the development of their concepts of the Earth and the direction of its gravitational field. A new form of ‘Earth drawing classification’ (EDC) was found to be drawn by 36% of the sample, together with the five classifications established in earlier work. This new EDC is conceptually contradictory and appears to be a critical development stage. It is the result of the pupils’ attempts to reconcile scientific information with their own common‐sense knowledge base. The educational implications of this are discussed. The relationship between the developmental sequence of their Earth drawings and the quality of their human figure drawing was also investigated. It was established that restricted drawing ability does not explain their non‐scientific early EDCs.     

Theorising on-site teacher education: Philosophical Project Knowledge (PPK) 1

Working within the general framework of Habermas and Shulman, the research reported here probes new directions of teacher education and school–university partnerships. The paper presents preliminary evidence of the theorising of teaching practice by pre-service teachers and university staff as they work together with the praxis inquiry protocol and preliminary data regarding the generation of Philosophical Project Knowledge. The project attempts to open up the question of epistemological equity for lower socio-economic children in particular by describing and theorising practice involving pre-service teachers so that communities of practice are established in all classrooms. The research stance is one of democratic practitioner research so that generalised ideas emerge from professional practice and are embedded in the reality of classroom problems and experience. In adopting a general research methodology of autoethnography, the authors critically reflect on, analyse and change their own practice without being judgemental of others. Reported examples of practice are paraphrased and de-identified with protocols regarding privacy and confidentiality followed. Ongoing discussion of ethical conduct is a central aspect of self-critical professional practice.     

The Journey to an Inaugural Chief Diversity Officer: Preparation, Implementation and Beyond

In this article, we discuss the necessary components for successfully creating and implementing a chief diversity officer (CDO) position within a four-year public institution. We explore information about critical stages of the process such as the creation of the position, the recruitment process, and compatibility with the institution’s mission. Our research emphasizes the need for modeling intercultural competence at all stages of the process. We underscore the significance of infusing institutional values into a position that is meaningful to all constituencies. We suggest ways of keeping the politics, structures, and culture of readers’ own institutions at the forefront of the planning and implementation process.