A follow-up study of students in Slovenia: The 1976 generation

The paper presents the main results of nearly nine years of a follow-up study. All Slovene secondary school students, who in scholastic year 1975/76 were in the last class of at least four-year secondary schools were followed-up during higher education from 1976/77 to 1983/84. Study efficiency is analyzed by gender, family educational background, type of secondary school, delay of the first enrollment, abilities, early scholastic achievement and regional development.     

The Conduct of Concern: Exclusionary discursive practices and subject positions in academia

Drawing on material collected amongst Danish and Australian humanities and social science academics, the article illustrates and problematises a particular and recurring discursive practice amongst academics: 'the conduct of concern'. Conceptualising the conduct of concern as an exclusionary and de-legitimising discursive practice, the article offers a (mis)reading of some of the storylines and constructions it could be seen to invoke and reproduce—amongst others, the idea of the autonomous, rational academic subject. The author discusses the conduct of concern, as a particular kind of subject position and positioning, in terms of Donna Haraway's figure 'the modest witness'. The author suggests that the conduct of concern as a readily available exclusionary discursive practice in academia 'smuggles in' and naturalises constructions and positionings associated with the autonomous rational subject, and participates in masking the discourse mobiliser's subjective and political investments. In that way, by appropriating the ubiquitous discursive practice academics might contribute to upholding constructions and practices they otherwise seek to disrupt.     

Predictors for Mathematics Achievement? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study

Numerical processing has been extensively studied by examining the performance on basic number processing tasks, such as number priming, number comparison, and number line estimation. These tasks assess the innate “number sense,” which is assumed to be the breeding ground for later mathematics development. Indeed, several studies have associated children's performance in these tasks with individual differences in mathematical achievement. To date, however, most of these studies have cross‐sectional designs. Moreover, the few longitudinal studies either use complex tasks (e.g., story problems) or investigate only one of these basic number processing tasks at a time. In this study, we examine the association between the performance of children on several basic number processing tasks and their individual math achievement scores on a curriculum‐based test measured 1 year later. Regression analyses showed that most of the variance in children's math achievement was predicted by nonsymbolic number line estimation performance (i.e., estimating large quantities of dots) and, to a lesser extent, the speed of comparing symbolic numbers. This knowledge about the predictive value of the performance of 5‐ to 7‐year‐olds on these markers of number processing can help with the early identification of at‐risk children. In addition, this information can guide appropriate educational interventions.     

‘Wow,this is where I'm supposed to be!’ Rethinking gender construction in teacher recruitment 1

This paper focuses on how understanding male gendered ways of experiencing the teaching profession might help us address the current shortage of male diversity in teaching. The study discusses the factors that may influence males to enter teaching and proposes the possibility of considering the participation of males in teaching as a way to contribute to education without essentialising notions of gender, but rather by acknowledging the gendered experience of becoming and being a teacher. An analysis of interviews with male teachers and teacher candidates indicates that the most salient aspect that drove the male participants into teaching is their desire to give back to the community and to promote social justice. The author thus proposes a set of guiding directions for how to begin the process of rethinking gender construction and attracting males into the teaching profession in a way that addresses gender balance and teaching quality.     

Development of teaching in ni-Vanuatu children

Teaching is an important mechanism of social learning. In industrialized societies, 3-year-olds tend to teach through demonstrations and short commands, while 5-year-olds use more verbal communication and abstract explanations. However, it remains unclear whether this generalizes to other cultures. This study presents results from a peer teaching game with 55 Melanesian children (4.7–11.4 years, 24 female) conducted in Vanuatu in 2019. Up to age 8, most participants taught through a participatory approach, emphasizing learning-by-doing, demonstrations, and short commands (57.1% of children aged 4–6 and 57.9% of children aged 7–8). Contrary to Western findings, abstract verbal communication only became common in children aged 9–11 (63.6%), suggesting that the ontogeny of teaching is shaped by the socio-cultural environment.