Developing Scientific Literacy in a Primary School

The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.     

English secondary students’ thinking about the status of scientific theories: consistent,comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world – or just ‘an idea someone has’

Teaching about the nature of science (NOS) is seen as a priority for science education in many national contexts. The present paper focuses on one central issue in learning about NOS: understanding the nature and status of scientific theories. A key challenge in teaching about NOS is to persuade students that scientific knowledge is generally robust and reliable, yet also in principle always open to challenge and modification. Theories play a central role, as they are a form of conjectural knowledge that over time may be abandoned, replaced, modified, yet sometimes become well established as current best scientific understanding. The present paper reports on findings from interviews with 13–14 year olds in England where target knowledge presents theories as ‘consistent, comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world’. Student thinking reflected a two-tier typology of scientific knowledge in which largely unsupported imaginative ideas (‘theories’) became transformed into fairly definitive knowledge (such as laws) through relatively straightforward testing. These results are considered in relation to research into intellectual development which indicates that effective teaching in this area requires careful scaffolding of student learning, but has potential to contribute to supporting intellectual development across the curriculum.     

‘I'm just there to ease the burden’: the parent support adviser role in English schools and the question of emotional labour

In 2005, the Department for Education and Skills announced a £40 million investment in a new school support worker role, the parent support adviser (PSA), for 20 English local authorities. A pilot project ran from 2006–2008 and resulted in the establishment of 717 PSAs in 1167 schools. The national evaluation of the project forms the evidential basis of this paper, with interviews conducted with 69 PSAs, 85 PSA line managers and 105 parents and a database recording casework with nearly 21,000 parents. This paper focuses on the nature of the PSA role as the first centrally funded parent support role in English schools. The theoretical framework provided by the concept of ‘emotional labour’ and the development of the concept represented by the 4Ps typology provides the conceptual structure. This paper argues that although the characteristics of the PSA role appear to place it within the category of work requiring emotional labour, PSAs and parents regard that aspect of the role in a positive light. For the PSAs there was little evidence that emotional labour necessary for the role of PSA led to dissonance between role and worker or alienation from the product of PSA labour.     

A venture in industrial education

Early Conceptions and Tests of Intelligence. By Joseph Peterson, Professor of Psychology at George Peabody College for Teachers. Yonkers‐on‐the‐Hudson, N. Y.: World Book Co., 1925. Price, $2.16.

Creative Youth. By Hughes Mearns. Garden City: Doubleday, Page &; Co., 1925. Pp. xv + 234. Price, $2.50.

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Roads to Social Peace. By Edward Alsworth Ross (University of Wisconsin). Chapel Hill, N. C: University of North Carolina Press, 1924. Pp. 133.

A School History of Tennessee. By S. E. Scates (West Tennessee State Normal School). Yonkers: World Book Co., 1925. Pp. xii + 395.

Frontier Law. By William J. McConnell and Howard R. Driggs (New York University). Yonkers, N. Y.: World Book Co., 1924. Pp. xii+ 233. Price, $1.20.

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Fiber and Finish. By E. E. Dodd. Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1925. Pp. x + 196.

Modern Mathematics. By Raleigh Schorling and John R. Clark. Yonkers: World Book Co., 1924. For seventh grade, pp. xv + 256; for eighth grade, xvii + 254.

History of Economic Progress in the United States. By Walter W. Jennings (University of Kentucky). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1926. Pp. xvi + 819. Price, $4.50.

Out in the Kitchen. By James Woodward Sherman. Boston: Little, Brown &; Co., 1925. Pp. x + 133. Price, $0.70.

A History of Minnesota. By William Watts Folwell (University of Minnesota). St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1921. Pp. xvii + 533.

The Junior‐College Movement. By Leonard V. Koos (University of Minnesota). Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1925. Pp. xii + 436. Price, $2.40.

Principles and Practices of Secondary Education. By John Addison Clement (University of Illinois). New York: The Century Co., 1925. Pp. xxi + 503. Price, $2.50.     

Participation and equity in higher education: are we going back to the future?

The December 2008 special issue of the Oxford Review of Education provided a review of education policy during Tony Blair’s tenure as Prime Minister. This paper forms a response to the ten contributions to that special issue and discusses some of the issues raised in them. While a few positive aspects of education under New Labour were identified in the special edition, it focused more on the failures of New Labour than its achievements. A common theme to emerge from the papers included the government’s pursuit of neo‐liberal market policies at the expense of its professed commitment to social justice. While accepting that the government’s failure to tackle the differences in educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils constitutes a major failing, the present author argues that significant achievements, such as early years provision, were neglected in the special issue. He also discusses the electoral considerations facing New Labour and the personal role of Tony Blair in determining policy. The paper goes on to consider whether New Labour’s education policy has changed since the departure of Blair and identifies some hints of a potentially more progressive approach developing under Brown. It concludes by suggesting that contributing towards a debate about alternatives to Blairite policies should now become a priority for the ‘educational establishment’.     

Relationship between an editor in chief's commentary publications and the impact factor of cardiovascular medicine journals

Journal impact factor (IF) inflation is suggested as a problem resulting from commentaries published by the editors in chief (EiCs) of their respective journals. However, it is unclear whether this is a systemic problem across the top thirty cardiovascular medicine journals. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between the number of commentaries written by an EiC and their journal''s IF and Eigenfactor (Ef). Utilizing Spearman rank partial correlations controlling for length of service as the EiC, significant moderate correlations were found between the number of commentaries and the number of first-author commentaries by the EiC and the IF of their journal (r=0.568, p=0.001 and r=0.504, p=0.005; respectively). A weak but still significant correlation was found between the number of commentaries by the EiC and the Ef of their journal (r=0.431, p=0.020). The reason for these correlations is unclear, and whether the methodology used to compute the IF and Ef should be modified needs further research.     

Teaching Statistics through Resampling

This paper describes experiences of teaching statistics without mathematical theory but using computer-intensive re-sampling methods. The method is relevant to statistics teaching at all levels.