Education in the affluent society: Problems and conflicts

The author starts from the observation that in an affluent society, education loses its primary significance as an investment and increasingly assumes the nature of a commodity for private consumption. He discusses the problems resulting from this change and relates them to the development of an educational policy which, in the Federal Republic of Germany, is characterised by a conflict-laden contradiction between egalitarian and meritocratic goals.The social character of modern societies, with its preponderant orientation towards the market and towards conformity, transforms the school into an institution in which the pupils are guided by the principle of economic rationality, pluralistic educational contents are offered and consumed as goods, and good school marks and diplomas are seen as scarce commodities. School education takes on the nature of a methodically guided process of consumption tending to produce a lack of interest that has to be overcome by constant re-stimulation.To enable critically selective use to be made of the abundance of general and cultural opportunities offered by an affluent society with plenty of leisure time, it would be necessary to develop the individual's capacities in the artistic and spiritual sphere with no less care than has hitherto been lavished on productive capacities. At present, however, educational institutions are hardly able to do this. Being themselves dominated by the commodity character of education, they lack the necessary freedom. Furthermore, the excessive emphasis on achievement which influences all areas of education, including the artistic/cultural ones, inhibits the development of new skills in consuming, and in the use of leisure time. Current educational policy, on the one hand, aims at mass education oriented by the goal of equality with the optimal promotion of the individual, but on the other hand, allows for selection based on the supremacy of academic norms and standards, thus giving educational institutions a counterproductive dual orientation.

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Zusammenfassung Der Autor geht von der Beobachtung aus, daß Bildung in der Wohlstandsgesellschaft ihre vorrangige Bewertung als Investitionsgut verliert und zunehmend Eigenschaften eines privaten Konsumgutes erlangt. Er diskutiert die daraus resultierenden Probleme und stellt sie in den Zusammenhang einer bildungspolitischen Entwicklung, die in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland durch einen konfliktreichen Widerspruch zwischen egalitären und meritokratischen Zielsetzungen gekennzeichnet ist.Der in starkem Maße durch Markt- und Konformitätsorientierung gekennzeichnete Sozialcharakter moderner Gesellschaften verwandelt Schule in eine Institution, in der sich Schüler am ökonomischen Rationalprinzip orientieren, in der pluralistische Bildungsinhalte als Ware angeboten und konsumiert werden und schulische Gratifikationen als knappe Güter fungieren. Unterricht erhält die Qualität eines methodisch geleiteten Konsumptionsprozesses, der tendenziell Interessenlosigkeit produziert, die mit ständig neuen Motivationsakten überwunden werden muß.Um die Vielfalt der Konsummöglichkeiten und kulturellen Angebote in der Wohlstands- und Freizeitgesellschaft kritisch-selektiv nutzen zu können, wäre es notwendig, die individuellen Konsumfähigkeiten als geistiges Gut nicht weniger sorgfältig zu entwickeln wie bislang die Produktionsfähigkeiten. Die Bildungseinrichtungen dürften dazu derzeit jedoch kaum in der Lage sein. Teils fehlt ihnen die erforderliche Souveränität, da sie selbst vom Warencharakter der Bildung beherrscht werden, teils blockiert ein überdehntes Leistungsprinzip, das alle Bildungsbereiche — einschließlich der musisch-kulturellen — beeinflußt, die Ausbildung neuartiger Konsum-und Mußefähigkeiten. Es ist Bestandteil einer Bildungspolitik, die zwar einerseits eine am Gleichheitsziel orientierte Massenbildung mit optimaler Förderung des einzelnen anstrebt, aber andererseits zugleich einer mit dem Vorherrschaftsanspruch akademischer Normen und Standards gekoppelten Auslese Raum gibt, wodurch den Bildungseinrichtungen eine kontraproduktive Doppelorientierung angesonnen wird.

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Résumé L'auteur part de l'observation que, dans une société aisée, l'éducation perd sa signification première d'investissement pour devenir de plus en plus un produit de consommation individuelle. Il discute les problèmes qui découlent de cette modification et les rattache au développement d'une politique éducative qui est caractérisée en R.F.A. par une contradiction grosse de conflit entre les objectifs égalitaires et les buts méritocratiques.Le caractère social des collectivités modernes, essentiellement tournées vers le marché et la conformité, transforme l'école en une institution où les élèves sont guidés par le principe de la rationalité économique, où les contenus éducationnels pluralistes sont offerts et consommés comme des denrées, où les bonnes notes et les diplômes sont regardés comme des produits rares. L'éducation scolaire se transforme en un processus de consommation méthodiquement guidé et tendant à provoquer un désintérêt qu'il convient de surmonter par une constante stimulation.Pour permettre le choix judicieux et l'usage approprié des chances générales et culturelles offertes en abondance par une société aisée jouissant de nombreux loisirs, il faudrait développer les capacités de l'individu dans la sphère artistique et spirituelle avec autant de soins que l'on en a prodigués aux capacités productives. Actuellement, les institutions éducatives n'en sont guère capables. Etant elles-mêmes dominées par le caractère de denrée que présente l'éducation, elles manquent de la liberté nécessaire. De plus, l'accent excessif placé sur le résultat, qui influence tous les domaines de l'éducation, y compris ceux artistique et culturel, empêche le développement de nouvelles capacités à la consommation, et à l'utilisation des loisirs. La politique éducative générale tend, d'une part, à une éducation de masse orientée vers un objectif d'égalité avec promotion optimale de l'individu mais, d'autre part, elle tient compte de la sélection basée sur la suprématie des normes académiques et techniques, donnant ainsi aux institutions éducatives une orientation double et contre-productive.

     

Are older adults satisfied with their sexuality? Outcomes from a cross-cultural study

ABSTRACT

The present study intends to analyze older adult perspectives on what determines sexual satisfaction in old age. Four hundred and twenty-one non-institutionalized older parti- 10 cipants from three different nationalities aged 65 to 97 years were interviewed. All narratives were submitted to content analysis. This study’s outcome originated five themes: positive communication (k =.94, p <.01); supportive partner (k =.82, p <.01); feeling attractive (k = 81, p <.01); good sexual activity (k =.97, p <.01); and eroticism (k =.98, p <.01). 15 This study highlighted different determinants of sexual satisfaction in old age and emphasized the importance of positive communication and a supportive partner for older adults.     

Education as habitus transformations

Unlike a conventional reading of Bourdieu, this article focuses on his work with regard to the transformation of social structure. In the context of a rereading, from an educational theory perspective, the article proposes an approach that allows for the linking of empirically informed social theory, on the one hand, and biography research oriented to educational theory, on the other. Education, here, is generally conceived of as habitus transformation. For reconstructing the societal conditions of the possibility of education one needs to go beyond the habitus theory and its focus on actors and groups of actors. From the perspective of a theory of practice as proposed by Bourdieu, the concept that comes to mind is that of social field, largely neglected in the theory-of-education discourse. Based on a combination of biography analysis and discourse analysis is, then, presented as a perspective for a relational theory of education. The article aims to outline an empirical reconstruction of transformation processes between habitus and field.     

Teaching Teamwork: Electronics Instruction in a Collaborative Environment

ABSTRACT

The Teaching Teamwork Project is using an online simulated electronic circuit, running on multiple computers, to assess students’ abilities to work together as a team. We pose problems that must be tackled collaboratively, and log students’ actions as they attempt to solve them. Team members are isolated from one another and can communicate only through an online chat channel, but modifications to the circuit made by any team member, insofar as they alter the behavior of the circuit, can affect measurements made by the others. We log all relevant student actions, including calculations (using an online calculator), measurements (using an online multimeter), inter-student communications, and alterations made by the students to the circuit itself. Automated analysis of the resulting data sheds light on the problem-solving strategy of each team, sometimes with surprising results.     

Applying the High Involvement Framework to Local Management of Schools in Victoria,Australia

ABSTRACT

This article assesses the policy strategy for local management of schools in Victoria, Australia within the high involvement framework for creating high performance organizations. The high involvement framework as adapted to education hypothesizes that a decentralized strategy for improving educational performance requires decentralizing four key resources: power over the budget and personnel functions; information about revenues, expenditures, costs and best practices; knowledge and skills including both technical and business knowledge; and rewards including compensation and other incentives. The framework also includes an instructional guidance framework of curriculum standards and student assessment to those standards, and facilitative principal leadership. Based on two years of data collection at both the state and school levels, focusing on governance, management, finance, and curriculum and instruction, the study found that Victoria's Schools of the Future ranked high on all six variables, and that the decentralization process was working smoothly and major changes were being made in curriculum and instruction when school sites also ranked high on the six variables

     

International networking for sexuality education: a politically sensitive subject

In 2007, six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) commenced work on a project to harmonise public policy on school sexuality education (SE) and the prevention of HIV. Inter-sectoral management committees for SE involving ministries of education, ministries of health and civil society were established, national policies and work plans were formulated and implemented, and SE/HIV prevention activities were carried out. The strengths and weaknesses of implementation were assessed. After this, the beginnings of a community of practice were created, with national focal points. This paper analyses the above process using qualitative data generated through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews, with a focus on the perceived contribution of regional collaboration to the development of national policies, national curricula and implementation. Overall, the initiative reached 83,000 teachers and 1,500,000 pupils. Training materials and national curricula and policies were developed, introduced and implemented. Regional collaboration improved political institutionalisation, information exchange, inter-sectoral collaboration, civil society participation, programme legitimacy and the perception of SE as a young person's right. The initiative offers a model for other countries, with regional collaboration helping to establish the case for SE both normatively and institutionally at the political level, mitigate obstacles in the context of such a politically sensitive topic as SE and provide a forum for discussion and the exchange of information which in turn helped legitimise and operationalise national SE policies.     

Biographical Sketch of Frederick G. Kilgour Librarian,Educator, Entrepreneur, 1914–2006

The article traces the career of Frederick G. Kilgour (1914–2006), who is widely recognized as one of the leading figures in 20^th-century librarianship. He founded the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) and from 1967 to 1981 was its first president and chief executive officer, presiding over OCLC's rapid growth from an intrastate network to an international network. In 1971, under Kilgour's leadership, OCLC introduced an online shared cataloging system and an online union catalog (WorldCat) that is today the world's foremost bibliographic database. In 1978, he created the OCLC Office of Research, and in 1979, under his direction, OCLC launched its online interlibrary loan system. The author of 205 scholarly papers, Kilgour received numerous awards and honors over the course a career that took him from Harvard University Library, to the Office of Strategic Services in World War II, to Yale Medical Library, to OCLC, and finally, to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he spent his final years on the faculty of the School of Information and Library Science as a Distinguished Research Professor.     

History

EXHIBITING ELECTRICITY by K.G. Beauchamp (IEEE “History of Technology Series No. 21,”; IEEE Publishing and Information Services, 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855–1331—$85.00, ISBN 0–85296–895–7, 338 pp., photos, diagrams, tables, references, index)

WCFL: CHICAGO'S VOICE OF LABOR 1926–78 by Nathan Godfried (Urbana: University of Illinois Press “History of Communication Series,”; 1997— $49.95/19.95, ISBN 0–252–02287–4 hard, 0–252–06592–1 paper, 390 pp., photos, notes, bibliography, index)

THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS: FRED COE AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION by Jon Krampner (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1997—$32.95, ISBN 0–8135–2359–1, 243 pp., photos, notes, bibliography, appendices, index)

SPECIAL EDITION: A GUIDE TO NETWORK TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY SERIES AND SPECIAL NEWS REPORTS, 1980–1989 by Daniel Einstein (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997‐$110.00, ISBN 0–8108–3220–8,928 pp., several indexes)

TECHNOLOGIES OF SEEING: PHOTOGRAPHY, CINEMATOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION by Brian Winston (London: British Film Institute/ Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996—$49.95/24.95, ISBN0–85170–601–0 hard, 0–85170–602–9 paper, 176 pp., diagrams, notes, index)

RADIO VOICES: AMERICAN BROADCASTING, 1922–1952 by Michelle Hilmes (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997‐$49.95/19.95, ISBN 0–8166–2620–0 hard, 0–8166–2621–9 paper, 353 pp., photos, notes, index)

WRITTEN OUT OF TELEVISION: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CAST CHANGES AND CHARACTER REPLACEMENTS, 1945–1994 by Steven Lance (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996—$89.50, ISBN 0–8108–2902–9, 528 pp., photos, index)

A REPORTER'S LIFE by Walter Cronkite (New York: Knopf, 1996— $26.95, ISBN 0–394–57879–1, 384 pp., photos)     

PubMed Instruction for Medical Students: Searching for a Better Way

In 2007, Duke University Medical Center Library instituted an interactive, online PubMed tutorial and quiz for medical students to replace an in-person lecture. This article describes the events leading to this educational paradigm shift and how the tutorial was implemented. Important concerns in the switch to an online approach to PubMed training were student satisfaction and the extent to which searching skills would improve. To determine the effectiveness of the online model, two years of student quizzes and evaluations were examined. Results indicate that students benefit from and appreciate the interactive tutorial.     

The use of rewards and punishment in early childhood classrooms

Abstract

Much has been written about the problems associated with reliance on extrinsic rewards and punishment in controlling behavior and motivating students. This study explores the use of extrinsic rewards and punishment by prekindergarten ‐ grade 3 teachers in Missouri. The purpose of the study was to (a) determine the most common motivational practices and classroom management strategies being used by prekindergarten ‐ grade 3 teachers; (b) determine the range of costs of rewards given to children and the source of these funds; (c) determine administrative and parental support; and (d) determine what influenced the teachers’ choices of behavior management strategies. Results of the study indicated that a significant majority of the respondents chose good instructional practices of the teacher as having the most positive influence on child behavior. However, most of the teachers responding continued to use extrinsic rewards and punishment to achieve acceptable behavior management and student motivation. In addition to reviewing the recent literature on extrinsic rewards and punishment, the authors discuss the implications of the findings for teacher educators and for those responsible for professional development programs for teachers. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.