Fostering children’s working theories: pedagogic issues and dilemmas in New Zealand

Working theories and learning dispositions are key learning outcomes in the early childhood curriculum in New Zealand. However, while there has been a focus on learning dispositions in recent years, less is known about the development of children’s working theories or the pedagogy to support this. The aim of this study was to explore children’s working theories in action in a number of Playcentre settings. The authors were interested in children’s problem‐seeking and ‐solving, theorising, acting and interactions as they engaged in everyday inquiries and conversations with others. This paper discusses some of the dilemmas for educators, including defining and recognising working theories, and deciding what to respond to, and how to respond. When attention was paid to the subtle nuances of moment‐to‐moment interactions it provided new insights into pedagogy. The findings have implications for early childhood educators as they seek to develop episodes of sustained shared thinking and support the development of children’s working theories over time.     

Developing a ‘leading identity’: the relationship between students’ mathematical identities and their career and higher education aspirations

The construct of identity has been used widely in mathematics education in order to understand how students (and teachers) relate to and engage with the subject (Kaasila, 2007; Sfard & Prusak, 2005; Boaler, 2002). Drawing on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), this paper adopts Leont’ev’s notion of leading activity in order to explore the key ‘significant’ activities that are implicated in the development of students’ reflexive understanding of self and how this may offer differing relations with mathematics. According to Leont’ev (1981), leading activities are those which are significant to the development of the individual’s psyche through the emergence of new motives for engagement. We suggest that alongside new motives for engagement comes a new understanding of self—a leading identity—which reflects a hierarchy of our motives. Narrative analysis of interviews with two students (aged 16–17 years old) in post-compulsory education, Mary and Lee, are presented. Mary holds a stable ‘vocational’ leading identity throughout her narrative and, thus, her motive for studying mathematics is defined by its ‘use value’ in terms of pursuing this vocation. In contrast, Lee develops a leading identity which is focused on the activity of studying and becoming a university student. As such, his motive for study is framed in terms of the exchange value of the qualifications he hopes to obtain. We argue that this empirical grounding of leading activity and leading identity offers new insights into students’ identity development.     

Play in the house of order: The Necessary Stage's BrainStorm

Abstract

This article opens up the question of modernity in relation to Yan’an woodcuts by recounting the Matisse debate among artists in Yan’an circa 1942, during the War of Resistance against Japanese occupation. Yan’an woodcuts did not move in a direction akin to the stylistic reform engaged by Western modernism; instead they pushed modern Chinese woodcuts to develop according to the requirements of ‘national form.’ Yan’an woodcut artists’ exploration of ‘national form’ involved a synthesis of folk aesthetics and woodcut techniques with the creation of modern‐style woodcuts, and a synthesis of revolutionary content with the artistic expression of national form. In this way a new kind of artistic ideal was realized. Compared with contemporary artistic questions in the West, the formal questions of Chinese revolutionary art surpassed the artistic as such to support rich social content and revolutionary discourse. The establishment of national language in art accords with the desire and imagination to construct of a new kind of modern nation‐state.     

帮助运动员支持1天进行2次训练

1天2次的训练通常是美国橄榄球进行比赛季节早期身体条件训练和许多其他运动项目进行常年运动训练的一部分。额外的训练有助于加速身体条件训练，给力量训练和技能发展留出时间，还有助于在队友中发展同志合作精神。1天2次训练的特点是强调体质的适应性。在夏季训练时，运动员频繁地置身于附加的湿热环境应激下。我们专家组就1天2次训练中的高能量需要、有限的恢复时间和“制造伤口”的心理应激问题进行讨论，基于科学理论和临床经验提出帮助运动员在1天2次的训练中获得最大的成效的策略。     

The lady goes to court: Paperbacks and censorship

Arguing that the First Amendment does not allow for the suppression of ideas, constitutional scholars and historians have long been concerned about legal attempts to censor books in the United States. In this article Kenneth C. Davis explores the complex relationship between pivotal court cases on censorship, congressional committees, various movements, and secular and religious organizations in attempts to curtail the publication and distribution of certain types of books in this nation. Davis's trenchant analyses enrich our understanding of censorship and the history of the book in the United States. Most of the publishers engaged in this sordid competition operate in the field of cheap reprints selling [for] from 10 to 75 cents. —Reports of the Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials (1952)It is not so much the publisher's right to publish that needs protection as the reader's right to read. —Douglas M. Black, President, American Book Publishers Council (1952) Kenneth C. Davis is the author of the definitiveTwo-Bit Culture: The Paperbacking of America in which this article originally appeared.