Traditions and Tensions in Leadership: the Ghanaian experience

This paper will explore some of the tensions that arise for Ghanaian headteachers in trying to resolve traditional and tribal expectations with ‘Western’ conceptions of leadership roles and competencies. These are particularly acute in rural communities where expectations of school leaders often reflect, and are constrained by, ascribed status in the tribe or village. Gender issues illustrate these tensions as successive governments initiate strategies to ensure that gender equality concerns are integrated into all their policies and programmes. The starting point for this paper—the process of research itself—sets the scene for an exploration of a complex multi-faceted leadership culture.     

The Last Ten Years of English Poetry

Mr. Mac Beth, the poet and BBC producer, spoke informally to members of the poetry commission, and read a number of poems. The following account has been reconstructed from notes and a recording of that session.     

清华大学和美国大学在学习过程指标上的比较:一种高等教育质量观

本研究对目前各种高等教育质量评估取向加以了分析和批判,指出学习过程性指标对于高等教育质量评估和保障的重要意义.在引进、修订美国当前最有影响的一套大学学习过程性指标NSSE(National Survey of Student Engagement)的基础上,本研究对清华大学和美国大学的本科教学进行了比较.研究结果显示,在整体水平上来说清华大学的本科教学和美国同类院校乃至美国总体大学水平之间不存在根本差异,但和美国最优异的本科教育相比清华还存在一定差距.     

A Response to the Emperor's New Clothes

In reply to Alschuler's commentary on their original article, the authors argue that portfolios are reliable, valid means for assessing students' progress and for program evaluation.     

Engineering Education Today: The Need for Basics or Specialization

The Engineering profession is as old as mankind itself. It evolved from the work of the mason, the blacksmith and the millwright; but the modem profession was shaped mainly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The profession itself and the professional bodies played vital roles in the development of the education and training of new engineers. They set standards for competence to practise, which the educational establishments followed by necessity. In a rapidly changing world and a swiftly evolving technology, ideal educational curricula are difficult to establish. Nevertheless, most educators support the thesis that the emphasis of the curriculum should be on the basic and engineering sciences and on humanities, in order to create open-minded engineers, capable of adapting to the new challenges of technology. Training in specialized topics should be left to industry (on-the-job training) and advanced courses. But some professionals do not agree with this, advancing the theory that the new engineer should be able to cope with current industrial problems. The current trends in engineering education appear to be; a broad educational approach in science and technology as well as in the humanities, together with an emphasis on computer applications in every engineering discipline, both for education and for design. More consideration should also be given to engineering design and applications throughout the whole curriculum. In those countries with well-developed technological infrastructures, it is better to keep the basic engineering degree (BSc) to 4 years and enhance the advanced level and specialization degrees (MSc, PhD, etc) to promote the technology appropriate to the country. In less developed countries with limited employment markets and without developed technology, over-specialization may lead to unemployment and an unjustified waste of money. Participation of the students in design and/or research projects should always be encouraged, A comparison between the European and the North American engineering educational systems shows that in Europe undergraduate education is stressed more, whereas in North America advanced courses are better developed. Some comments on the Greek engineering education system are also made.     

Physical Dimensions of Counseling: Perspective for the Helping Professions

Fifteen graduate students in the helping professions registered in a course that teaches helpers to use physical fitness as a counseling medium. The enrolled graduate students were matched with controls in four relevant areas, and both groups were pretested on 7 physiological and 11 psychological variables. The experimental students were given a 10-week treatment of physical fitness training, counseling in health habits, a life-style of well-being, and instruction in how to deliver these kinds of treatments to clients. For eight weeks the students used the skills in working with real clients. The experimental and control groups were posttested on the same variables; and multivariate and univariate analyses revealed significantly positive changes made by the experimental group. This article reports implications for graduate programs in the helping professions.