The promise and peril of education: the teaching of in/tolerance in an era of globalisation

This article addresses the pedagogical implications and possibilities that globalisation poses for educational policy and praxis as it relates to teaching about difference in an ever more diverse world. Among the most salient questions in an era of accelerated globalisation is how seemingly different cultures, civilisations, nationalities, ethnicities and races are to coexist peacefully in an increasingly borderless world, or whether they are forever destined to experience conflict based on cultural chasms in the guise of a ‘clash of civilisations’. This article highlights the tension between two perspectives on education: education as a force in cultivating intolerance and education as a panacea for intolerance. While not negating the potential for education to remedy social ills, we consider the extent to which education can produce change in the opposite direction. In the following pages, we present a context for our discussion of in/tolerance by providing an overview of the double‐edged, or Janus‐faced, qualities that both education and globalisation possess. We then draw on social‐psychological, anthropological and sociological literatures in bringing together three theoretical constructs—moral exclusion, the genocidal continuum and symbolic violence—in examining how intolerance is created and reproduced within educational settings. Following this overview, we present three vignettes to exemplify the teaching of intolerance in different historical and geo‐political contexts, namely, Nazi Germany, Rwanda and Israel. Finally, we conclude with recommendations that pay particular attention to the kind of education that that teaching of tolerance necessitates.     

Students' Early Mathematical Representation Knowledge: The Effects of Emphasizing Single or Multiple Perspectives of the Rational Number Domain in Problem Solving

This study examined changes in 26 fourth-grade students' early conceptions of rational number representations as a function of receiving one of two curricular interventions. The first group of 12 students received a curriculum that emphasized constructing knowledge through extended problem solving with a single perspective of the rational number domain based on part-whole relations. A second group of 14 students received a curriculum that emphasized a more conceptually diverse multiple perspective view of the domain through problem solving with operator and ratio relations. Analyses of the students' rational number knowledge before and after the interventions indicated that students in the single perspective group produced organizations of knowledge that more frequently diverged from a formal domain analysis than those produced by students in the multiple perspective group. Further, students in the single perspective group increased their focus on superficial surface features. Alternatively, students in the multiple perspective group demonstrated an increased focus on operations that more frequently reflected the underlying mathematical relation conveyed by the representation. The findings indicate that an early exposure to more diverse perspectives of rational numbers assists students in developing more interconnected and viable representation knowledge for rational numbers.     

Professional development for university scientists around issues of equity and diversity: Investigating dissent within community

We investigated the role of dissent in a community of university scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and social scientists engaged in a 2‐year professional development project around issues of equity and diversity. Members of this teacher learning community explored issues related to gender and ethnicity in science education, and attempted to develop course materials and instructional strategies inclusive of students from underrepresented groups. We focused our attention on those professional development sessions (6 of the 19) devoted to a contentious yet integral topic in science education: the gendered and multicultural nature of science. We examined conversations initiated by a member's concerns to learn how dissent led (or failed to lead) to new insights into feminist science studies scholarship or to greater understanding of ways to address equity issues in undergraduate science education. We also explored how teacher learners' resulting views of feminist science studies scholarship informed (or failed to inform) changes in their own educational practices. From our qualitative analyses, we highlight the challenges in balancing respect for members' individual voices with collective progress toward project goals, and in structuring conversations initiated by dissent to provide adequate space for deliberation and movement toward deeper understanding of equity and excellence. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 738–771, 2002     

Nestedness of beliefs: Examining a prospective elementary teacher's belief system about science teaching and learning

This study, conducted from a constructivist perspective, examined the belief system of a prospective elementary teacher (Barbara) about science teaching and learning as she developed professional knowledge within the context of reflective science teacher education. From an analysis of interviews, observation, and written documents, I constructed a profile of Barbara's beliefs that consisted of three foundational and three dualistic beliefs. Her foundational beliefs concerned (a) the value of science and science teaching, (b) the nature of scientific concepts and goals of science instruction, and (c) control in the science classroom. Barbara held dualistic beliefs about (a) how children learn science, (b) the science students' role, and (c) the science teacher's role. Her dualistic beliefs formed two contradictory nests of beliefs. One nest, grounded in lifelong science learner experiences, reflected a didactic teaching orientation and predominantly guided her practice. The second nest, not well grounded in experience, embraced a hands‐on approach and predominantly guided her vision of practice. The findings accentuate the complexity and nestedness of teachers' belief systems and underscore the significance of identifying prospective teachers' beliefs, espoused and enacted, for designing teacher preparation programs. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 835–868, 2003     

Attitudes toward science and science knowledge of intellectually gifted and average students in third,seventh, and eleventh grades

A questionnaire regarding attitudes toward science and scientific knowledge (Yager & Yager, 1985b) was administered to 143 intellectually gifted (IQ > 130) and intellectually average third-, seventh-, and eleventh-grade students. Measures of internal reliability on four attitude subscales and a content knowledge subscale are reported. Three-way ANOVAs comparing grade, sex, and ability revealed significant differences between average and gifted students in attitudes toward being a scientist, usefulness of science, and, as might be expected, in knowledge of science. Similarly, there were significant differences between grades on attitudes toward teachers and toward science classes, with the most favorable attitudes expressed in third grade, next most favorable in eleventh grade, and clearly more negative attitudes expressed by students in seventh grade. There also was a significant interaction between grade level and ability regarding attitudes toward science classes. In contrast to what might be expected from reported differences between males and females in attitudes toward science, gender as a separate variable did not have a significant main effect in any of the comparisons.