Teaching and nurturing: changing conceptions of self as teacher in a case study of becoming a teacher

Interest is growing in better understanding how teachers think and how they come to think like teachers. From a theoretical orientation informed by insights gained from symbolic inter‐actionism, recent research in the role metaphors play in self‐understanding, and schema theory, the authors present a case study of the first year of teaching of a divorced mother of five young children. Over the course of the year this teacher's understanding of herself as teacher changes, as indicated by changes in her personal teaching metaphor, teacher is nurturer. The reasons for these changes are explored. Of particular note is the struggle this teacher has balancing the demands of home and work. Finally, some implications for teacher education are discussed.     

The learning worker,organizations and democracy

A current turn of interest in notions of the ‘learning economy’ and the ‘learning society’ is fuelling discussions on promoting education, training and learning in contemporary organizations and workplaces. Although the education of workers has been variously theorized and practised throughout the 20th century, the current debates are marked by a prevailing economic perspective that places emphasis on constructing ‘learning organizations’ and on ‘human resource’ learning in service of organizational strategies for innovation and competitive advantage in economic activities. Critics point out that economic and managerial models scarcely attend to the human subjectivity of the learner‐worker and the worker's diverse learning interests. Broader socio‐cultural ends of worker learning such as lifelong human development and participatory citizenship in democratic society are very often overlooked. This article offers a critical discussion of current conceptions of learning organizations and learning workers. It argues that the prevailing focus on techno‐economic imperatives and of obscured managerial elite interests in organizations currently circumscribe and delimit learning in production organizations. It proposes that a more comprehensive approach to learning in organizations attends explicitly to the needs and interests of workers as learning persons. Taking a longer view, it proposes that organizational and worker learning may generate not only improved work practices but may regenerate links between lifelong learning, societal democratic citizenship and civilized organizations.     

Policy discourse analysis: negotiating gender equity

This analysis of activists' and bureaucrats' politicking for gender policy in Australia demonstrates the utility of discourse analysis. Feminist policy initiatives are special: they challenge hegemony and they circulate counter discourse. Policy elites try to manage and discredit them. Traditional policy frameworks are used to identify policy with policy mechanisms, policy communities, value shifts and the like. But the use of policy discourse analysis for this Australian story elicits key strategies for constructing and managing a counter narrative and maintaining a counter public of outsiders using insiders to institutionalize gender policies even as equity and social justice value priorities recede.     

Understanding student article retrieval behaviors: Instructional implications

This study evaluates the use of full-text databases amongst 425 undergraduate and graduate students in western New York. A review of literature implicated convenience, time issues, article retrieval option knowledge, and the appreciation and understanding of research article quality as potential predictors of full-text reliance. These variables were then evaluated via survey response and frequency counts, by conducting correlations, a one-way ANOVA, and stepwise regression analyses. The findings suggested that convenience, appreciation and understanding of research quality, and time management issues played a significant role in the prediction of student full-text reliance. These findings as well as the relationships among independent variables are discussed. Implications for instruction are then addressed.     

Medical informatics: the Pittsburgh experience

This column reports the results of a survey conducted of medical librarian participants in medical informatics training at the University of Pittsburgh. This small study was undertaken in order to identify issues in training different kinds of library and information science practitioners in medical informatics.