Would increasing engineering literacies enable untapped opportunities for STEM education?

The main focus here is to examine the benefits of defining and developing an engineering curriculum for elementary schools. Like many other international educational systems, Australian educational settings have been seeking to effectively implement science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. However, current assumptions and expectations of STEM education are broad, poorly defined and intangible. This article deliberates on possible contributions and impediments that are preventing teachers from achieving engineering education in their classrooms. Using positioning theory, this article offers possible ways that the specific literacies of engineering can be better realized in teacher practices. A closer alignment will be necessary between the visions and expectations of STEM education, as perceived by governments, business, industry, and schools, to ensure a realization of the potential of STEM education. Engineering education in elementary school settings warrants the investment of time to understand what it proffers, and to enable teachers to identity and refine their practices to optimize the many benefits afforded.     

The future direction of schooling

This chapter provides a cross-societal discussion of the findings of the Schooling for the future study, the case studies. It examines why senior educators and policy leaders in each of the six case study societies believe that bureaucratic school systems are the most likely scenario for future even though these are not the most desired. It examines some of the key factors that account for senior educators and policy leaders’ views, and the changes they argue are needed to achieve the desired scenario for the future. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the contribution and the implications of the study for the usefulness of the OECD scenarios as policy tools.     

Responding to the challenges of student-staff partnership: the reflections of participants at an international summer institute

This article contributes to the growing scholarly literature about students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education by describing an initiative designed to support partnership and a study investigating international staff and student perspectives. The initiative – an international summer institute – is a four-day, professional development experience that brought together students and staff from seven countries to learn about partnership and develop specific partnership projects. Participants in the institute were invited to contribute to a qualitative study exploring their experiences of students as partners work and their perceptions of the institute’s capacity to support it. Given that much existing research on this topic tends to be celebratory, we focus here on the challenges participants ascribed to student-staff partnership, and on the features of the summer institute they thought particularly useful in helping them to navigate these difficulties. Looking beyond the summer institute, we consider the implications of these findings for those looking to support partnership more broadly.     

What about the tertiary climate? Reflecting on five decades of class climate research

Learning Environments Research - Although studies on, and reviews of, class climate have flourished in the past decade, little is known about how student perceptions of the learning environment are...     

A Study of the Career Perspectives of Male Teachers of Young Children

One of the aims of ‘equal opportunities’ policies is to encourage teachers into non‐traditional areas. Consequently, the early years of schooling has witnessed an increase in the number of men teachers opting for this age‐group. This article focuses on the experiences of 11 early years male teachers. The findings suggest that men teachers undertaking a non‐traditional career option will do little to effect a positive change in female educational inequalities. It will be argued that individual and institutional patterns of masculinity and femininity are so entrenched that as more male teachers enter nursery/infant education, male power secures an even deeper hold.     

Diversity around the Profile of the `Good' Candidate within French and German Universities

Diversity may occur amonginstitutions that are considered to be similar.This is one of the arguments developed in thispaper through the empirical analysis of facultyrecruitments in history and mathematics withinGerman and French universities. This studyshows that the definition of what constitutes a`good candidate' varies greatly from onedepartment to another and affects the criteriato be taken into account and their respectiveweight in the decision. These variations are tobe explained by the internal dynamics of theparticular national academic labour market, thespecific situation of the department and alsoby its development strategy.     

Evaluating the Social Validity of Project TEAM: A Problem-Solving Intervention to Teach Transition Age Youth with Developmental Disabilities to Resolve Environmental Barriers

Project TEAM teaches transition-age youth with developmental disabilities (DD) to identify physical and social environmental barriers and supports, generate solutions to barriers, and request modifications to increase participation. Establishing the social validity of this environment focused intervention with youth and their parents is critical, given the significant shift the intervention represents from rehabilitation’s more traditional focus on body structures and function. University researchers and youth research collaborators conducted a participatory evaluation of the purpose, procedures, and perceived benefits of Project TEAM. Youth with DD (n = 42) provided feedback using three methods: activity voting, a survey, and a focus group. Parents (n = 37) also provided feedback. Results suggest that both youth and parents find Project TEAM acceptable and relevant to youth’s current and future lives. The majority of youth and parents felt Project TEAM fostered independence and empowerment, although some youth and parents reported challenges with the unique environment-focused approach.     

A multivariate examination of parent involvement and the social and academic competencies of urban kindergarten children

The primary objective of this study was to obtain a multidimensional picture of parent involvement in kindergarten. Participants in this study were 307 low‐income, ethnic minority children and their primary caregivers in a large, urban school district in the Northeast. Results revealed that kindergarten parent involvement dimensions (i.e., from the Parent Involvement in Children's Education Scale; Fantuzzo, Tighe, McWayne, Davis, & Childs, 2002) were congruent with those established with preschool (Head Start) parents. Multivariate relationships were found between kindergarten parent involvement dimensions and children's social and academic competencies. Parents who actively promote learning in the home, have direct and regular contact with school, and experience fewer barriers to involvement have children who demonstrate positive engagement with their peers, adults, and learning. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 363–377, 2004.