The Buddhist approach to education: an alternative approach for sustainable education

This article is based on research undertaken as part of a study of sustainable school design in Thailand. Since school design solutions are inevitably affected by educational theory and practice, in the search for appropriate building solutions, it has been necessary to review Thai educational theories and practices that relate to the sustainability approach. Recently, there have been several attempts at the international level to respond to sustainability concepts and practices in both educational and architectural fields. These have included changes to the physical building through the introduction of techniques like passive solar cooling, and curriculum changes such as the use of native plants in the school grounds for science teaching. In Thailand, sustainable practices in both fields appear to be in their infancy. This article aims to explore one current Thai educational practice that presents the possibility of responding to sustainability concepts via culturally sensitive education. The practice is based on the three Buddhist principles of learning: sila sikkha (moral conduct); samadhi sikka (mind training); and panna sikkha (wisdom development). In this holistic approach, the principles are practised simultaneously and can be applied to many dimensions, including personal, family, school and communal levels, to cultivate responsive sustainable living practices for the learners. Because the majority of Thai people are Buddhists, this approach may be an alternative way of developing sustainable education in Thailand. It also presents a way to apply local knowledge to promote sustainable ways of living in particular contexts. This may be the first step in the development of sustainable school design in Thailand and could become an integrated part of the country's sustainable systems.     

German and UK higher education and graduate employment: the interface between systemic tradition and graduate views

This article presents a comparative analysis of the German and UK higher education systems and their relationship to graduate employment. It scrutinizes the complex interconnections between (1) higher education systems and traditions; (2) the role of higher education in the state, society and the economy; and (3) the views of graduates as expressed in interviews. We explore how far and in what ways opinions, expectations and experiences are shaped by (1) national traditions and culture and (2) current economic, social, political and educational developments. We find that today’s student expectations and perceptions are shaped and transformed by economic, political and social factors, including potent higher education beliefs dating back to earlier centuries, as illustrated by the reflections of graduates five years after graduation. The analysis explores the commonalities within each country grouping which lead to striking differences between the countries that transcend the mostly country‐independent disciplinary differences. The analysis has possible implications for the Bologna protocol and issues of European comparability.     

UK Work Placements: A Choice Too Far?

Tertiary Education and Management - Increasing expectations are being placed on higher education institutions to ensure the economic relevance of research and knowledge creation as well as...     

Crossing cultural borders into science teaching: Early life experiences,racial and ethnic identities,and beliefs about diversity

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore the development of belief systems as related to racial and ethnic identities of preservice teachers as they crossed cultural borders into science teaching. Data were collected throughout a yearlong teacher preparation program to learn how early life experiences and racial and ethnic identities of preservice teachers influenced both their beliefs about diversity in science classrooms and science teaching pedagogy. Case studies of three preservice teachers from diverse racial and ethnic background are presented: Asian American, African American, and Rural Appalachian. Using Bank's ethnicity typology, findings suggest that racial and ethnic identity, developed in early life experiences of preservice teachers, provided clarity on the rigidity of their beliefs about diversity and how they view science teaching. By learning about the border crossing experiences of preservice teachers in relation to their beliefs about diversity as related to racial and ethnic identities, the researchers hoped to provide insight on preparing preservice teachers for the challenges of working in diverse classrooms. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 119–141, 2004     

Letter processing in reading and spelling: Some dissociations

We describe the complex pattern of spared and impaired performance observed in a neurologically impaired subject on a number of letter processing tasks including: written letter naming, alphabetization, matching across typecase and font, oral and written spelling to dictation, and across-case letter priming. The observed dissociation in performance between the naming of written letters and the naming of letters in oral spelling as well as the dissociation between oral spelling and written spelling are shown to support a model of letter processing in which a distinction is drawn between visuo-spatial and abstract levels of letter representation. We also describe symmetrical deficits in the reading and writing of letters. These can be understood: in reading, as the result of an impairment to the processes which mediate the conversion of visuo-spatial letter representations to abstract representations, and in writing, as a deficit to the processes which negotiate the apparently reverse operation. This finding is interpreted within the context of the notions of neural and functional proximity and we raise the possibility that processes which perform distinct computations may, nonetheless, share certain computational resources.Requests for offprints should be addressed to Brenda Rapp or Alfonso Caramazza. The research reported in this paper was made possible through the support of NIH (NINCDS) NS22202 and the Seaver Institute. We would like to express our appreciation to J. E. for his participation in this study and we thank Roberta Ann Goodman-Schulman and Cristina Romani for their helpful comments and Paul Mullin for his generous programming assistance.     

Child peer sexual abuse: preliminary data on outcomes and disclosure experiences

OBJECTIVE: This study compared experiences of children sexually abused by peers to those of children abused by adolescents/adults. Variables examined included perceived negativity of the abuse, self-reported outcomes, overall psychological functioning, and disclosure. METHOD: An archival data set containing retrospective reports of childhood sexual experiences was culled for instances of sexual abuse by child peers and adolescents/adults. An equivalent nonabused comparison group was identified. The Self-Report Outcome Checklist (SROC; Gilbert, 1994b), the MMPI-Hugo Short Form (Hugo, 1971) and a disclosure survey were also retrieved from these data. RESULTS: Compared to abuse by peers, abuse perpetrated by adolescents/adults was more intrusive and intrafamilial. Both groups rated their experiences as equally negative, and reported equally pervasive outcomes. Those abused by adolescents/adults reported significantly higher scores on the Psychopathic Deviate, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia scales compared to nonabused controls; similar findings did not emerge for those abused by child peers. Less than a fourth in either abuse group reported disclosing their experience to a parent. Among those who did not disclose, participants abused by child peers anticipated less support from both parents and more anger from their mothers. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that child peer sexual abuse may be associated with adverse outcomes.     

Risk factors for the perpetration of child sexual abuse: a review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: Since the late 1980s, there has been a strong theoretical focus on psychological and social influences of perpetration of child sexual abuse. This paper presents the results of a review and meta-analysis of studies examining risk factors for perpetration of child sexual abuse published since 1990. METHOD: Eighty-nine studies published between 1990 and April of 2003 were reviewed. Risk factors were classified into one of the following six broad categories: family factors, externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, social deficits, sexual problems, and attitudes/beliefs. Sex offenders against children (SOC) were compared to three comparison groups identified within the 89 studies: sex offenders who perpetrated against adults (SOA), non-sex offenders, and non-offenders with no history of criminal or sexual behavior problems. RESULTS: Results for the six major categories showed that SOC were not different from SOA (all d between -.02 and .14) other than showing lower externalizing behaviors (d=-.25). Sex offenders against children were somewhat different from non-sex offenders, especially with regard to sexual problems and attitudes (d=.83 and .51). Sex offenders against children showed substantial differences from non-offenders with medium sized effects in all six major categories (d's range from .39 to .58). CONCLUSION: Child sex offenders are different from non-sex offenders and non-offenders but not from sex offenders against adults. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study suggests that the presence of general risk factors may lead to a variety of negative behavioral outcomes, including the perpetration of child sexual offending. Family factors were strongly related to the perpetration of child sex offending (vs. non-sexual offending or non-offending) and may be valuable intervention points for interrupting the development of child sex offending, as well as other negative behaviors. Other potential points for intervention may focus on the development of appropriate social and emotional skills that contribute to sexual offending.     

Student Teachers’ Lay Theories and Teaching Identities: their implications for professional development

This paper provides a detailed analysis of student teachers’ lay theories of teaching, and teaching identities, and assesses their implications for student teachers’ and teachers’ professional development. Understanding the critically formative influences in student teachers’ lives and the extent to which these are reinforced, reproduced and recast in and through student teachers’ lay theories has major significance for initial teacher education and ongoing professional development of teachers. The paper draws together the threads of this analysis around issues of teaching identities, their formation, continuity, tenacity and openness to change and assesses, through a postmodern lens, their implications for professional development of student teachers, beginning teachers and experienced professionals.