Co-designing a civics curriculum: young people,democratic deficit and political renewal in the EU

Contemporary discussion of the ‘crisis in democracy’ displays a tendency to see young people as the problem because they are ‘apolitical’, ‘apathetic’ and ‘disengaged’, or point to deficiencies in institutions deemed responsible for civic education. This discussion normally comes as a prelude to calls for more civics education. This article points to a renewal of politics at the hands of young people relying on new media, and draws on evidence like survey research, case studies and action research projects. This political renewal is occurring largely in response to the assumption of political elites that a ‘politics-as-usual’ will suffice to address the major political challenges of our time. Against the assumption that teachers, curriculum experts and policy-makers already know what kinds of knowledge and skills students need to become good citizens, we make a case for co-designing a contemporary citizenship curriculum with young people to be used for the professional development of policy-makers. We argue that such an intervention is likely to have a salutary educational effect on policy-makers, influence how they see young people’s political engagement and how they set policy agendas. The article also canvasses the protocols such a project might observe.     

The Effect of Cognitive Style on the Preferred Format of Instructional Material

Abstract A total of 90 15‐16‐year‐old female pupils from a single‐sex secondary grammar school did the Cognitive Styles Analysis which assessed their position on the Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery learning style dimensions. They were asked to select their preferred format of a single‐sheet handout on study skills which was offered in three modes: Unstructured‐Verbal, Structured‐Verbal and Structured‐Pictorial. Each mode contained the same information and differed only in format. On the format preference, there was a significant effect of the Verbal‐Imagery dimension (p = 0.002), with the majority of Verbalisers choosing the Structured‐Verbal sheet and the Imagers opting for the Structured‐Pictorial version. There was a smaller effect on the Wholist‐Analytic dimension, where Wholist had a preference for the Structured‐Pictorial and the Analytics for the Structured‐Verbal version (p = 0.056). The findings were discussed in terms of their practical implications for a differentiated approach to instruction.     

Telling tales of torture: repositioning young adults' views of asylum seekers

This paper explores the changing attitudes of a group of young adults towards asylum seekers in the UK. Based on the experience of sixth form students attending a workshop hosted by a former refugee from Pinochet's Chile, it argues for the importance of personal stories and their wider contexts and suggests that each is necessary to enable understanding of the other. The paper addresses the ways in which these students were enabled to confront and contest the populist anti‐asylum discourse prevalent in the UK. The deconstruction of socially constructed barriers that had filtered their perceptions of communities beyond their own immediate environment was central to their shift from initial hostility through sympathy to greater understanding. This is analyzed in terms of risk. The paper concludes by acknowledging the power of the dominant discourse on asylum seekers and by suggesting that time must be made for tolerance.     

Rhetorical legacies of the National Woman's Party: Shuttling rhetorics,endurance, and survival

ABSTRACT

This contribution explores “shuttling rhetorics” to help explain why the story of the National Woman's Party (NWP) framed many suffrage centennial celebrations. Drawing parallels between the tactics of the NWP and the Greenham Common Peace Camp of the 1980s and 1990s, this essay puts forth shuttling rhetorics as a way to trace movement as a mode of resistance. As an analytic, shuttling rhetorics allow critics to unsettle traditional understandings of protest rhetorical situations and understand how (mostly white) protestors’ expectations of violence and survival expose their inherent dependence on body privilege.     

Evaluating online CPD using educational criteria derived from the experiential learning cycle

A set of educational evaluation criteria for online continuing professional development (CPD) courses is developed using Kolb's (1984) experiential learning cycle theory. These criteria are used to evaluate five courses provided by online CPD websites. It was found that these online CPD courses neglect parts of the learning cycle. Suggestions for improvements in these areas are given.     

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Services for Young Children with Disabilities Using the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA)

Because young children with special needs frequently experience unequal access to quality education worldwide, understanding characteristics of services currently provided to them is critical to identifying practices that work as well as gaps in services and the reasons behind these trends. Two studies were conducted using the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) to investigate the access to and quality of special education services in early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs across eight countries in the Americas and Asia. Study I included 138 participants in 69 programs across five Latin American countries and Study II included 336 participants in 168 programs across four countries and six sites. Results from both studies indicate that ECCE programs strive to provide equal access to young children regardless of ethnicity, religion, language, gender, and socio-economic status. However, insufficient resources and policies were cited as a barrier to services for children with disabilities. This situation was especially true in rural communities. Therefore, national policies are needed to improve the quality of service and to make funds consistently available for services for young children with special needs. This finding is congruent with international reports.     

Encounters with the Unexpected: From Holbein to Hirst (and Back Again)

Learning through art in the museum is a Masters’ level module established in 2006 through collaboration between the School of Education at Roehampton University, London and Interpretation and Education staff at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. On completion of the module, participants were asked to reflect on how the experience had altered their perspectives on the collection and their strategies for teaching and learning in art and design. The aim of this article is to explore some of the themes that emerged from these interviews and from other dialogue between tutors and students on the module, themes that are then discussed within the wider context of museum and gallery education. The article concludes by reflecting on broader notions of knowledge and understanding in the context of museum and gallery education. It is argued that the juxtapositions of historical, modern and contemporary art that have been a distinctive feature of Tate's curatorial strategy since 2000 have shed fresh light on older works in the collection and provide opportunities for art educators to reappraise the emphasis currently placed upon the interpretation of modern and contemporary work. It is suggested that developing knowledge and understanding of art is partly about embracing notions of ambiguity and mystery: that engaging with multiple and shifting interpretations of artworks should play a more central role in art education and that part of the process of engaging with art is the experience of not knowing and not understanding.     

Re-viewing student teamwork: preparation for the ‘real world’ or bundles of situated social practices?

Research in Australian business education continues to emphasise the importance of students learning teamwork as an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum. However, entrenched conceptual and practical confusion as to what the term ‘teamwork’ means and how it ought to be enacted remains a vexed issue capable of distorting and diminishing teamwork, learning and related pedagogy. In this paper, we critically re-examine the view that developing teamwork in an undergraduate business degree equips students for work in the real world. By focusing on the ‘real world’ metaphor-in-use in a cross-disciplinary business capstone subject, we interrogate the spatio-temporal dimensions of teamwork and its realist conceptions and performance. The research draws upon the perceptions of interviewed academics conducting teamwork activities in undergraduate business courses and the lived experiences of the authors. The findings highlight how the use of multiple models of teamwork, constructed by competing discourses and linked to the dualities and invocations constructed by ‘the real world’ metaphor, further exacerbate confusion. We suggest re-viewing and re-valuing student teamwork as the performance of situated, social practices opening new spaces for student teamwork, learning and pedagogical practice.     

Who Am I? The Social Construction of Ethnic Identity and Self-Perceptions in Latino Preservice Teachers

The Urban Review - Because of the changes in the demographics, it is important for Latino teachers to relate to the educational and psychological needs of language minority children who are...