Four spheres of knowledge required: an international study of the professional development of literacy/English teacher educators

This paper reports on a research study of 28 literacy teacher educators (LTE) in four countries: Canada, the USA, England and Australia. It identifies three main forms of professional development: informal, formal and communities of practice and four spheres of knowledge: research; pedagogy of higher education; literacy and literacy teaching; and current school district and government initiatives. The study reveals the sheer scale of knowledge required to be an effective LTE and demonstrates how participants used the three forms of professional development to enhance their knowledge in each sphere. It concludes that the professional development of teacher educators is not conducted systematically; rather, it is quite ad hoc with much of it occurring through learning while doing. All had to construct their own programmes for professional development, which added yet another layer to their responsibilities.     

Establishing Influential Decision Making Factors for University Library Opening Hours: An Exploratory UK Regional Study

Many factors and pressures affect decisions made in UK university libraries on opening hours especially 24/7. This article reports on a project to examine the decision making process, influential factors, and stakeholders. A workshop for senior library managers in the East Midlands was held to gather data and share experiences. From analysis of the workshop a framework of influential factors was devised and the decision making process was examined. Although each library had different priorities, important factors overall included pressure from undergraduates and the student's union, and provision during exam periods. Further research to examine the framework nationally is required.     

An exploration of mothers' attitudes towards their daughters' menarche

Menarche is a significant milestone for young women, representing an important juncture between girlhood and maturation. The limited literature that exists suggests that a mother's reaction to her daughter's first periods can shape her experiences and perceptions of menstruation which, in turn, may impact on her self-image and, consequently, sexual risk taking. However, very little is known about UK mothers' attitudes towards their daughters' menarche. This paper aims to add to the body of knowledge by applying a postmodern critique, a Derridian deconstructive analysis, to a discussion thread found on mumsnet.com – a UK parenting website. The thread is concerned with a mother's response to her daughter's menarche to which other mothers respond. The deconstruction revealed a number of meta-narratives and themes within the text: secrecy, sorrow, a lack of competency and knowledge, power, gender and motherhood. Unwittingly, the women appear to be socialising their daughters to comply with and perpetuate the menstrual taboo that they endured themselves, thus repeating the cycles of shame associated with menstruation. The findings of this critique suggest that menstrual education is an area that requires more attention, particularly in the context of perceived menstrual shame and its impact on sexual decision-making.     

The application of RFIDs in libraries: an assessment of technological, management and professional issues

This paper starts by outlining the technologies involved in RFIDs and reviews the issues raised by their general application. It then identifies their potential application areas within the library sector based on a generic process view of library activities. Finally it highlights the issues that are raised by their application in libraries and provides an assessment of which of these issues are likely to raise ethical concerns for library professionals. The purpose is to provide an overview of the technology within the context of the library process and to highlight issues which may raise ethical concerns for the profession. A second paper will focus specifically on these concerns within the context of the professional obligations of the librarian.     

The Effects of Class Size on Classroom Processes: 'It's a Bit Like a Treadmill – Working Hard and Getting Nowhere Fast!'

Despite current moves in the UK to limit class sizes for young children in school, there is still a disturbing lack of research evidence on the effect of class size differences on pupils' educational progress and experience. Past research has concentrated on the effects on outcomes such as pupils' school attainments in basic areas. Much less is known about classroom processes that might mediate any such effects, though such knowledge is more useful for practice and policy. Drawing on a current programme of research at the Institute of Education, University of London, this paper identifies five processes likely to be connected to class size: within class grouping practices, the nature and quality of teaching, pupil attention in class, pupil adjustment to school and effects on teachers' morale, stress and enthusiasm. Relevent research is reviewed, and in line with this research the paper concentrates on the primary school years.     

Turning to case studies as a mechanism for learning in action learning

Case studies are a useful means of capturing and sharing experiential knowledge by allowing researchers to explore the social, organisational and political contexts of a specific case. Although accounts of action learning are often reported using a case study approach, it is not common to see individual case studies being used as a learning practice within action learning sets. Drawing on a network action learning (NAL) project, this paper explores how the process of coaching, articulating, authoring, sharing and editing case studies provided a vehicle for learning and research within a NAL set. The intended contribution of this paper to the theory of action learning is to extend the range of learning practices to include the case study within the NAL set. It discusses how case studies act as boundary objects, which are artefacts that can be used to cross boundaries between groups in order to facilitate learning that might not otherwise occur.     

Sensitivity to auditory and visual stimuli during early reading development

An investigation was conducted into the visual and auditory temporal processing profiles of two groups of 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children: pre‐alphabetic children, who showed no alphabetic ability (failing to read any non‐words in a test), and those who demonstrated some alphabetic ability. This alphabetic group showed higher scores in reading and spelling attainment than the pre‐alphabetic group. They were also faster than the pre‐alphabetic group in reacting to the onset and offset of auditory and visual stimuli. However, when age was used as a covariate, only reaction times (RTs) to the offsets of visual stimuli were found to be faster in the alphabetic than the pre‐alphabetic group. This suggests that responses to the offset of visual stimuli are becoming more rapid during the same developmental period when alphabetic ability is beginning to be acquired. Within the alphabetic group, after accounting for age, visual and auditory onset RTs were strongly correlated, whereas within the pre‐alphabetic group there were high correlations between visual and auditory offset RTs. It is therefore suggested that a strong association between RTs to visual and auditory onsets may be beneficial during early alphabetic acquisition, when phoneme–grapheme associations are established. Multiple regression analyses showed visual offset RT as the only variable to account for a significant amount of variance in spelling attainment after age was taken into account, which may relate to Frith's (1985) contention that spelling is important in driving early alphabetic ability.     

Study of Extended Opportunity Programs and Services in California Community Colleges

Abstract

A two-phase study of Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) in California Community Colleges, involving comprehensive questionnaire surveys in 93 EOPS-funded colleges and site visits at 12 colleges, reveals that EOPS has proven successful in providing assistance to many who would not otherwise have been able to attend college. However, existing resources are not sufficient to meet the financial needs of many students in the colleges and many more potential students in the communities. The survey concludes that the colleges are successfully balancing the competing demands of financial assistance, to enable students to attend school, and services and assistance, to help students once they get to school.     

Gaining ‘Raw Insider Knowledge’: The Benefits and Challenges of International Study Tours for Creative Industries Students

International short‐term study tours are a fast‐growing format for outbound education and provide exciting experiential learning opportunities for students in the creative industries disciplines. This success has encouraged researchers to seek a comprehensive view of the various concrete experiences that contribute to student learning during study tours. To that end, this article presents evidence from a qualitative online post‐tour questionnaire administered with students studying various art and design disciplines who participated in short‐term international study tours at a large Australian university in 2015. Using Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory as a framework, data collected explored student perceptions of which concrete experiences on a study tour are most impactful and which may actually hinder learning. Findings revealed: experiencing key industry venues are the most significant aspects of a study tour, rather than networking or personal growth; poor itinerary planning and travel issues are the least liked aspects of a tour, yet are often the most easily addressed with better tour management and planning; and students were positively impacted by unexpected gains in knowledge about their creative industries discipline. This study, therefore, provides unique insights into which concrete experiences may be most impactful as part of the experiential learning cycle within an international study tour for creative industries students.