Studying Children's Conceptions of Life: An Example of Research Carried Out by Preservice Science Teachers

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Causality and Teleology in High School Biology

Responses of close to 2000 twelfth grade biology majors in Israel were analysed with special reference to their ability to distinguish between causal and teleological explanation. Ability to make the distinction was found to be dependent on the context, namely the knowledge base of the students and the extent to which the teleological explanations resemble everyday common sense logic. Inability to distinguish between causal and teleological explanations is considered to be the reason of students misconceptions peculiar to learning of biology. Special attention of teachers to this problem in terms of opportunties provided for students to make the distinctions while studying pertinent topics is highly recommended. There are indications that the ability to distinguish between causal and teleological explanations can be acquired with relatively little effort by students who comprehend concepts and principles commonly taught in biology classes.     

STAYING IN CONTROL; OR,WHAT DO WE REALLY WANT PUBLIC EDUCATION TO ACHIEVE?

In this essay, Yuli Tamir argues that the growing interest in public education in the developed world in general and in the United States in particular is grounded in a fear of losing global hegemony. The most rational approach to slowing down these hegemonic shifts is to empower public education and allow the neglected human capital vested in presently excluded communities to flourish. However, moves to improve public education are met by the unspoken though persistent resentment of those who fear the transformative power of education and would like to preserve the present social order. Here Tamir reviews some of the moves commonly taken to preserve these “social gaps” and concludes by suggesting that alongside vocal public support for school reforms promoting equal opportunities, silent yet very effective social strategies have developed that undo the benefits of such reforms and maintain the present social gaps.     

FIFA seen from a postcolonial perspective

FIFA was created in Zurich in 1904 in order to oversee international football competitions among eight European states. The fact that FIFA was created by eight European states at the turn of the twentieth century is significant. The geopolitical context of the period is important for understanding FIFA’s pro-colonialist roots. With the exception of Switzerland, all the founding countries of FIFA were colonial powers. FIFA’s foundation coincided with the birth of the study of geopolitics and the perpetuation of control of territories and populations into the twentieth century. These pro-colonial foundations of FIFA are relevant because it would be European powers that originally controlled global football and also sought to block rival countries from other regions within the organization’s power structures. Europeans controlled FIFA through the selection of World Cup places that favoured Europeans. In addition, former colonial powers or ‘historically ‘aggressive racialized states’ have won all World Cup competitions.     

The retention question in context-specific teacher education: Do beginning teachers and their program leaders see teachers' future career eye to eye

This paper discusses the challenge of retaining teachers in hard-to-staff schools by examining how it is addressed in three context specific teacher education programs, which prepare teachers to teach in urban public, urban Catholic, and Jewish Day Schools in U.S.A. The findings of this study suggest that counter to teaching force trends teachers from the three programs that we studied expressed high motivation to serve as teachers or leaders in their particular schools and communities. In particular, we found that teachers' career commitments developed around the religious or civic missions promoted by their respective programs. Finally, teachers' career perceptions seem to correlate, though not entirely match, with those of their program leaders.