Aims of education in South Africa

The first part of this paper gives a historical account of the aims of education under Apartheid, and discusses the ideological success of Apartheid education. The second part argues that a significant discussion — that is one which could have some purchase on schooling policy and educational practice — of aims of education in South Africa is not possible at present because the historical preconditions for such a discussion are not satisfied. It is argued that Apartheid has generated a political perspective which is unsympathetic to a discussion of aims of education; that the dominance of a social engineering model of schooling distorts a discussion of aims of education; and that a shared moral discourse, which is a necessary condition for a significant discussion of aims of education, does not yet exist in South Africa.

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Zusammenfassung Der erste Teil dieses Artikels enthält einen historischen Bericht über Erziehungsziele unter dem Apartheidssystem und untersucht den ideologischen Erfolg dieser Apartheiderzichung. Im zweiten Teil wird erläutert, daß eine sinnvolle Diskussion — nämlich eine, die einen gewissen Einfluß auf die Schulpolitik und die erzieherische Praxis nehmen könnte — über Erziehungsziele in Südafrika zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt nicht möglich wäre, da die historischen voraussetzungen für eine solche Diskussion nicht gegeben sind. Im weiteren wird ausgeführt, daß die Apartheid eine politische Perspektive erzeugt hat, die einer Diskussion über Erziehungsziele nicht förderlich ist, daß das herrschende Erziehungsmodell, das hauptsächlich der Strukturierung der Gesellschaft dient, eine solche Diskussion verzerrt und daß ein gemeinsamer moralischer Rahmen, der die notwendige Voraussetzung für eine sinnvolle Diskussion über Erziehungsziele ist, in Südafrika bisher noch nicht existiert.

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Résumé La première partie de cet article présente un exposé historique des objectifs de l'éducation sous l'apartheid et examine le succès idéologique de l'éducation de ce système. Dans la deuxième partie, on affirme qu'une discussion importante (c'est-à-dire qui aurait une certaine influence sur la politique et la pratique éducatives) sur les objectifs de l'éducation en Afrique du Sud n'est pas possible à l'heure actuelle attendu que les conditions préalables à une telle discussion ne sont pas remplies. On souligne que l'apartheid a engendré une perspective politique qui n'est pas favorable à une discussion sur les objectifs de l'éducation; que la dominance d'un modèle éducatif social manigancé fausse la discussion sur les objectifs éducatifs; et qu'un discours moral partagé, qui est le préalable à une discussion pertinente sur les objectifs de l'éducation, n'existe encore pas en Afrique du Sud.

     

Institution-wide use of undergraduate teaching assistants

In 1973 Illinois State University initiated a campus-wide program in which junior and senior undergraduates were selected to assist faculty teaching freshman-sophomore courses. One or more Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) positions were assigned to all but three departments in the university. Although similar in purpose to smaller programs at other institutions, the sheer size of the program at Illinois State posed a variety of unique questions about administrative procedures, acceptance, and effectiveness, which are answered in this report. In general, the program was deemed highly successful by the faculty and student assistants and has been continued and expanded.     

A method to quantify major themes of scientific literacy in science textbooks

Science textbooks are frequently used to convey a great deal of the information that students receive in science courses. They influence how science teachers organize the curriculum and how students perceive the scientific enterprise. An overreliance on these teaching aids often results in an overemphasis on terminology and vocabulary, and presents a false impression of the nature of science. As a result of their importance, a method was developed to assess the curricular emphasis in science textbooks. The procedure is explained in a 25-page manual to train researchers to determine the relative emphasis that has been given to (a) science as a body of knowledge, (b) science as a way of investigating, (c) science as a way of thinking, and (d) the interaction among science, technology, and society. Textbooks in the areas of life science, earth science, physical science, biology, and chemistry were used in the analyses. Interrater agreements of at least 80% and kappas of at least 0.73 were achieved in the content analyses among two experienced researchers and one science teacher who were given the training manual to learn the assessment procedure.     

Campus Strategic Action in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fisher</Emphasis> Case: Organizational Stakeholder Advocacy Across the Field of Higher Education

Using a census sampling, this analysis evaluates the campus structures and practices that are predictive of a campus being affiliated with stakeholder legal advocacy regarding the Fisher Supreme Court affirmative action case of 2013. Findings reveal that a campus utilizing selective admissions operated as a sufficient, but not a necessary, requirement to prompt stakeholders to take a legal position in the case. Also, campuses that enrolled and graduated the largest percentages of nonwhite students were inclined to have stakeholders submit amicus briefs advocating support for UT-Austin and the use of race in selective college admissions.     

Can central registries improve substantiation rates in child abuse and neglect cases?

Central registries for child abuse and neglect have been criticized because the high proportion of unsubstantiated cases are alleged to represent an unwarranted intrusion into family life. The response to this criticism is usually a spirited defense of the social worker investigation and data distinguishing false ("fictitious") claims from unsubstantiated cases. This article asks what a reasonable substantiation rate would be in a system that operates flawlessly and examines the impact on substantiation rates of noninvestigatory variables, such as technical, legal, and policy factors. The research concluded that technical factors, such as number of maltreatment categories and number of disposition categories, did not affect substantiation rates. Legal factors, such as standards of proof, provision of notice and right to review records, were somewhat associated with lower substantiation rates, but changes in legal standards are definitely not recommended as a method of increasing substantiation rates. Of the policy factors, use of risk assessment models is an excellent way to improve substantiation rates without compromising due process safeguards.