Multicultural tensions in England,France and Canada: contrasting approaches and consequences

This article considers multicultural education policies in relation to recent political and social events in England, France and Canada. The authors start from the assumption that the promotion of multiculturalism is thought to be a beneficial aim in schools. In light of this, they contrast this aim with the large civil unrest witnessed in 2005 in England and France, along with a recent 2006 court decision in Canada regarding minority rights in schools. They contend that effective multicultural policies must be developed at both the state and local levels, otherwise multicultural education policies will remain superficial at best.     

Managing spaces: (re)working relations of strategy and spatiality in vocational education and training

The adoption of a more ‘open’ national training market in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia has led to considerable changes in VET organizations and considerable challenges for VET managers. Recent research has established the critical role that ‘strategy’ plays in leading and managing these organizations and the significance of strategic management as a field of managerial practice within VET. In this article, I further examine the role of strategy in the management of VET organizations by giving attention to issues of space and spatiality. Deploying concepts from actor-network theory and drawing on case data collected from VET organizations, I address strategy as a spatializing project. The argument is made that strategy is an accomplishment of a network of relations rather than an individual manager or an individual organization and can take radically different forms (‘Big S’ strategy; ‘small s’ strategy) and produce radically different effects (economic, educational). More specifically, spatial relations play a constitutive role in strategy formation in VET. Relations of spatiality and strategy are created and sustained together, and where this complex relationship is understood space can serve as a ground for critique. The paper promotes a theoretical and empirical imperative to look keenly to the spaces filled by frontline managers. Essentially interrogatory, these spaces open up the possibility of the negotiation of managerial and organizational identities across differences of strategic management and operational management and, more broadly, of enterprise and education.     

Establishing an online community of inquiry at the Distance Education Centre,Victoria

This pilot intervention focused on three courses that were redesigned to utilize the online environment to establish an online community of inquiry (CoI). The setting for this research study was the Distance Education Centre, Victoria (DECV), an Australian co-educational school with approximately 3000 students who, for a variety of reasons, are studying one or more subjects via distance education. Despite the availability of information and communications technology, many students at the DECV remain socially isolated from their peers. The DECV recognizes that online student collaboration has the potential to bridge this divide. Results of this study suggest that the adaptation of these courses had led to improvements in students’ perception of their educational experience. These findings may be of use to other P–12 education providers who are attempting to promote online collaboration and student connectedness.     

Images of school principals' information and communications technology leadership

This article describes a qualitative study designed to investigate information and communications technology (ICT) leadership by considering the lived experiences of principals in 10 carefully selected ICT-enriched schools in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. To encourage further discussion regarding the impact of ICT on educational leadership practice, I have outlined a framework that suggests eight categories of ICT leadership. Although this study focussed on principals of ICT-enriched schools, the practical wisdom of the study participants has potential to assist other educational leaders who are expected to ensure that ICT becomes a tool to enhance learning, teaching, and leadership.     

Multiple Measures: Alternative Design and Analysis Models

The use of multiple measures is emphasized by legislation regulating the distribution of Title I funding to states, as well as by professional and industry standards regarding the use of test scores in high-stakes decisions. There are a wide variety of methods with which multiple measures can be designed and analyzed, and these methods have different implications for conclusions that will be reached. Recognizing the complexities associated with the implementation of a multiple measures approach to system evaluation, this article provides an overview and discussion of alternative models that may be considered in an accountability system and their applicability relative to the goals of the system evaluation. The article concludes with an example of the use of multiple measures with regard to No Child Left Behind legislation.     

Seeing a World in a Grain of Sand: Science Teaching in Multicultural Context

This paper briefly describes two unusual curriculum plans: the Imagining Nature Project at Deakin University in Geelong, Victoria, Australia and the Native Eyes Project at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico Among other things, both projects entail the teaching of science and technology studies to non-science majors of highly diverse cultural origin. Both projects also incorporate innovative strategies designed to make science and technology more credible and relevant to indigenous people.     

Between a “ROC” and a School Place: The Role of Racial Opportunity Cost in the Educational Experiences of Academically Successful Students of Color

Despite numerous reform efforts, schools have not achieved equitable academic outcomes for all students. To better identify where schools have failed, research has sought to understand the complex role the school environment plays in mediating academic success, particularly for students of color. In this article, we forward the concept of racial opportunity cost and then use it as a lens to encapsulate the price academically successful students of color pay in their pursuit of school success. Through individual and focus group interviews, 18 African American and Latina/o students revealed nuances of the costs their academic achievement brought in the racialized, White-normed spaces that often permeated their school cultures. The purpose of this article is to provide theoretical support for the racial opportunity cost concept using existing interdisciplinary scholarship and to describe the racial opportunity costs that emerged from our analysis of student interviews.