The vocational turn of adult education in Denmark – an analysis of adult education policy from the late 1990s

ABSTRACT

Denmark has a strong and versatile tradition of adult education. Over a long historical period, adult education for public enlightenment and leisure, for continuing study and for vocational and professional competence have been developed, been made part of state policy and been used by citizens. But in recent years the public and political presence of Danish adult education has changed. While education policy issues generally abound in public and political debates, adult education is given much less attention than earlier. In this article, we trace the causes of this and conclude that it reflects a turn towards focusing on vocational types of adult education and a relocation of adult education policy to networks linking the state and the social partners. Drawing on theories of policy streams, policy networks and the competition state, we provide a historical analysis of Danish adult education reforms during the past two decades and document how the vocational turn has manifested itself.     

Television and foreign policy us response to the Beijing and Kwangju pro‐democracy movements

This study examines US network television coverage of the 1980 Kwangju and 1989 Beijing‐Tiananmen Square incidents in relation to American policy towards those East Asian nations and the increasingly global impact of television on foreign policy. Both episodes involved pro‐democracy movements, imposition of military force, violence, and implications for US policy. While both were covered by television, Beijing became a global media event while Kwangju was accorded more perfunctory coverage. The study documents heavy reliance on official sources in coverage of both events, but greater attention to pro‐democracy demonstrators in Beijing as more ‘worthy’ victims than those in Kwangju. It also points to the difficulty language poses for Western news organizations in East Asia, and the tendency of television to serve as a reference point for all reporting. The hypothesis that media index their coverage according to mainstream government debate must take into account such factors when being tested in an era of global television. When television is less actively engaged in covering an event, as in Kwangju, policymakers have greater power to shape the public dialogue. A broad question for the future regards the evolution of institutions to promote civil versus statist discourse.     

General Mass Communication

Richard W. Budd and Brent D. Ruben, Beyond Media: New Approaches to Mass Communication (Rochelle Park, N.J.: Hayden Book Company, 1979—$9.95, paper)

Robert F, Rich,"Knowledge Production and Utilization," a special issue of American Behavioral Scientist 22:3 (January/February 1979)

James and Jean Morrow The Grammar of Media Kit (Rochelle Park, N.J.: Hayden Book Company, 1978—$295 for the complete set which includes 5 super-8mm films, 4 LP records, 20 comic books, 20 student workbooks, and one teacher's handbook, all available on a 30-day examination basis).

Charles U. Larson Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing, 1979– S9.95, paper)

Frank Brady and Joann Lawless' Brady & Lawless's Favorite Bookstores (Mission, Kansas: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, 1978—$12.95)

Alan Wells, Mass Media and Society (Palo Alto, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1979—price not given, paper)

John L. Hulteng The News Media: What Makes Them Tick? (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979—$7.95, paper)

Patrick Williams and Joan Thornton Pearce, The Vital Network: A Theory of Communication and Society (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1978—$13.95)

Jack Nachbar, Deborah Weiser, and John L. Wright, eds. The Popular Culture Reader (1978, 323 pp.—S14.95/7.95)

Susan S. Tamke and William H. Cohn, History and Popular Culture (1977, 151 pp.—$3.00, paper)

Daryl Jones, The Dime Novel Western (1978, 186 pp.—$8.95/3.95)

C. David Mortensen, ed. Basic Readings in Communication Theory (New York: Harper & Row, 1978—$7.95, paper)     

Inquiring into children’s experiences of teacher feedback: reconceptualising Assessment for Learning

Few previous studies have explored in detail how children respond affectively and cognitively to feedback in the normal interactions of the primary school classroom and how they relate feedback to their sense of autonomy. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of nine ‘profile’ children aged 9 to 10 years in a UK school. They were observed and video-filmed in threes, twos or individually during literacy and numeracy lessons across two terms from January to July 2010. The video-recordings were shown later the same day to the children who had been filmed, being stopped at frequent intervals to allow the participants to comment on specific feedback incidents. The children claimed that learning was frustrated by overly directive feedback and that their learning benefited when the teacher’s feedback included substantial but not burdensome detail. The children felt their learning was supported by feedback reminder cues and they noticed that negative and positive feedback provoked emotions which could interfere with or support learning. The article concludes by suggesting that Assessment for Learning might be conceptualised as a classroom conversation in which children as well as teachers assess how teacher feedback relates to children’s learning, which would itself constitute a major contribution to their autonomous learning.     

Knowledge Construction and Personal Relationship: Insights About a UK University Mentoring and Coaching Service

This article examines interview data from 12 mentors/coaches and eight of their clients in order to explore a mentoring and coaching service among UK university staff. Both mentors/coaches and clients were administrative or academic employees of the Institute of Education or affiliated colleges at London University, UK. Their roles related to the administration for, or leadership of, teaching programs as well as educational research and consultancy projects pursued by the institute. The mentors/coaches in this service aimed to construct or co‐construct knowledge with their clients rather than to transmit advice to them. The author explores the learning of mentors/coaches and clients, conceptualizing their “co‐construction” of knowledge as either collaborative construction or as participation. She examines the link between the construction of knowledge and personal relationship, considering the personal relationship both of mentor/coach with clients, and among mentors/coaches themselves. Additionally, the author draws on the divide between functional and personal. She concludes by considering implications from the findings about mentoring and coaching. Emphasized is their potential to play a subversive role within the established functional systems of an institution, if mentoring and coaching prioritize personal relationship.     

Striving for contribution: the five Cs and positive effects of cross-age peer mentoring

This article explores the relationship between cross-age peer mentoring and positive life outcomes as defined by the Five Cs: competence, character, confidence, connection, and compassion. Qualified high school juniors and seniors were randomly assigned groups of 4–5 freshmen to mentor through the challenges of transitioning to secondary school. Through a qualitative interview process, 12 former mentors discuss the benefits they have experienced in their lives as college students or productive members of the workforce, ranging from 1–4 years removed from the experience. All mentors found some value to the program as outlined by the Five Cs.