Disaffected Pupils: reconstructing the sociological perspective

During the last 25 years, the study of disaffected pupils has been a central topic in the sociology of education. Yet despite its popularity in academic circles the impact of the sociological perspective on policy has been negligible; today the individualised, psychologically orientated approach stills holds sway in most parts of the educational profession. This paper suggests that part of this failure at least is attributable to theoretical inadequacies in the sociological research that has been carried out to date, much of which is based on a one‐dimensional notion of social structure and an over‐rationalistic view of individual psychology. Three key ‘educational structures’ are introduced (the production of ability, the production of values, the production of occupational identity) and a more appropriate model of human personality is outlined.     

Estimulación precoz: una experiencia en una guardería de educación especial

RESUMEN

Se describe un programa de estimulación precoz llevado a cabo en un centro de educación especial, programa que se marcó dos objetivos principales: ofrecer al niño un ambiente rico en estímulos y mejorar la relación afectiva de los padres. El diagnóstico se hace a través de un enfoque multidisciplinar y se trabaja en cuatro áreas: desarrollo personal, control motor grueso, control motor fino y lenguaje. Es muy importante integrar a los padres en el programa educativo, ya que son los principales agentes educativos. En este sentido se trabaja a nivel tanto informativo (de forma individual y con sesiones programadas en la Escuela de Padres) como formativo (asesoramiento familiar individual).     

Adquisición de morfemas del español

Resumen

Se han aplicado dos pruebas de palabras reales y palabras artificiales (semejante a la de Berko, 1958) a 109 niños hispano-parlantes de tres a seis años de edad, a fin de establecer la evolución en el uso de morfemas de plural, aumentativos y diminutivos, gerundio, pretérito imperfecto de indicativo y pretérito indefinido. Los resultados indican un progreso importante entre los tres y los cuatro años, siendo la curva posterior del desarrollo más suave. Se establece un orden de dificultad de estos morfemas, y se realiza un análisis de los errores cometidos, encontrándose también sobrerregularizaciones con verbos reales irregulares. Se extraen implicaciones acerca del proceso de adquisición de morfemas.     

Modificación de los hábitos de estudio a través de técnicas de autorregulación: estudio de un caso

Resumen

El propósito de este estudio fue diseñar un modelo válido para la adquisición de unos adecuados hábitos de estudio, basado en una combinación de estrategias de autorregulación y técnicas de estudio. Se procedió mediante un diseño exploratorio de línea de base múltiple, con un único sujeto que incluía: a) fase de pretest, b) primera fase de intervención, en la que se introdujeron las estrategias de autorregulación, c) segunda fase de intervención o de introducción de las técnicas de estudio, y d) fase de postest. El resultado fue un cambio experimental y terapéuticamente significativo en los hábitos de estudio y en las conductas exponentes de: tiempo de estudio, desatención, y velocidad y comprensión lectoras, las calificaciones experimentaron un ascenso progresivo. Estos cambios se mantuvieron y consolidaron en el seguimiento, las estrategias de autorregulación se han mostrado útiles para aumentar la probabilidad de ocurrencia de la conducta deseada y disminuir la de la no deseada.     

Developmental changes (14–21 years old) in binge drinking patterns and their explanatory factors / Cambios evolutivos (14–21 años) en los patrones de ingesta puntual de alcohol en exceso y en sus factores explicativos

Abstract

In order to design prevention programs, it is important to understand the evolution of drinking behaviour patterns among adolescents and young people. The aim of this paper is to analyse the changes in these patterns based on age and their role in explaining this behaviour in the Theory of Planned Behaviour framework. We used 273 participants divided into three sub-samples (3^rd and 4^th ESO [Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, ‘Compulsory Secondary Education’] students and university students). For older ages, the frequency of binge drinking is higher and the attitudes were also more positive towards alcohol consumption. Structural equation analyses show that drinking behaviour is explained by a different model in each age-group: in older groups, the role played by positive attitude and perceived control is more important than in the younger; by contrast, the influence of reference groups decreases with age. Results show significant differences between age groups regarding the reasons that young people report for engaging or not engaging in this behaviour.     

Learning trajectories: travelling towards a learning society? 1

This paper uses the results of a large‐scale study of patterns of participation in post‐compulsory education and training over the past 50 years to identify some of the social determinants of adult participation in formal learning experiences. The patterns of participation are presented in the form of predictable lifelong ‘trajectories’, and the predictability of these patterns of participation is as important a finding as their determinants. The key predictors themselves can be discerned quite early in an individuals life since they comprise the period in which the person was born, their place of birth and subsequent migration patterns, their gender, their family background, their experience of initial schooling, and the interactions between them. The patterns of participation and their changes over time are used to reinforce doubts about the wisdom of seeing a Learning Society as simply a worthwhile future goal, towards the implementation of which current policy is directed, and towards which the UK is travelling in linear fashion by apparently increasing opportunities for, while removing barriers to, lifelong participation.

     

Continuities and discontinuities in the life histories of teacher educators in changing times

Although teacher education has undergone radical reforms in many jurisdictions, who teacher educators are, their lives, and their work, continue to be a somewhat underexplored area internationally, while remaining a ‘secret garden’ in the Irish context. In order to address this lacuna in Irish research, this paper adopts a life history, phenomenological approach to the exploration of teacher educator identities. It considers the articulation of identity relative to prior teacher identity and current roles and institutional context. From nine in-depth interviews with teacher educators in a college of education in Ireland, we examine continuities and discontinuities between past and present roles and responsibilities, and identities. We tentatively explore the diverse pathways, values and experiences that construct them as teacher educators in the present, and gain insight in to the strength of former teacher identities: the old overshadowing the ‘new’. We conclude that privileged primary school teacher identities continue to shape teacher educator practices and values despite global and diverse influences at play. The implications of these findings for initial teacher education are considered.     

Effects of Active Learning on Enhancing Student Critical Thinking in an Undergraduate General Science Course

To enhance students’ critical thinking in an undergraduate general science course, we designed and implemented active learning modules by incorporating group-based learning with authentic tasks, scaffolding, and individual reports. This study examined the levels of critical thinking students exhibited in individual reports and the students’ critical thinking level change over time. Findings indicated that students’ average critical thinking level fell in the category of “developing”, but students’ scores on individual reports revealed a statistically significant increase. The study suggested that the active learning strategies employed in the study were useful to promote student critical thinking.     

The National Grid for Learning: A curriculum without walls?

The aim of the British Government's National Grid for Learning policy is to harness the power of information and communications technology (ICT) in order to create a 'curriculum without walls', where the riches of the world's intellectual, cultural and scientific heritage are available to all. Central to this vision are the assumptions that: all pupils will in the future have appropriate access to computers at home and at school; that there is a common conception between home and school as to what actually constitutes learning. In this paper the authors draw on preliminary findings from a 2 year study of how young people actually utilise ICT at home and at school to raise important questions about the realisation of the Government's policy objectives.