A futures orientation in the Australian Curriculum: current levels of teacher interest,activity and support in Western Australia

The soon to be implemented Australian Curriculum aims to integrate a futures orientation across subject areas. Guidelines and support for this specific initiative are being finalized. Only a little is known about the current teaching of a futures orientation or of secondary teacher interest, understanding and support for this important but challenging direction. This initial study surveyed 115 teachers from twelve secondary schools in Western Australia and aims to provide a basis for implementing the futures oriented elements into the year 7 to 10 curriculum. Most questions of respondents related directly to elements of the Australian Curriculum’s cross-curriculum priority of sustainability and of the general capabilities; these were extended to include a general appraisal of teachers’ interest in broader global issues, their self-efficacy in pursuing their interests and their suggestions for curriculum support. In overview, this initial study has shown that many Western Australian teachers are very receptive to developing a futures orientation into their classrooms in keeping with the rationale in the new national curriculum. It provides a foundation for follow up studies, supporting existing school interest and exploring specific opportunities for enhancing a futures orientation. It raises the possibility of engaging further with highly motivated teachers and schools in implementing the futures orientation components of the Australian Curriculum through its cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities.     

Remember people's education? Shifting alliances,state‐building and South Africa's narrowing policy agenda

Following the 1994 democratic elections, education policy in South Africa has moved from collective and transformational priorities, salient during the 1980s period of resistance, to a centrist and pro‐human capital position. While the democratic movement talked much about core reforms in the social relations inside classrooms, the new Government of National Unity is focusing on system‐wide rationalisation (including a unified qualifications scheme), developing management information and incrementally changing spending patterns. School quality is being addressed but with much less emphasis on democratising social relations and changing the character of classrooms than anticipated during die years of resistance. This paper describes this dramatic shift in education policy priorities, focusing on central government and two contrasting provinces. It employs two theoretical frameworks ‐‐ political economy and institutional theory ‐‐ to explain the causes and forms of this new set of policy priorities.

     

“LIVING” EDUCATION: ACTION RESEARCH AS A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION

Action research as an educational strategy suggests that educators engage in an intentional, collaborative cycle of observing, reflecting, planning, and acting. This approach deliberately attempts to bring theory and practice together in praxis. Action research may be helpful for religious educators who wish to improve their educational practice. This article focuses on ways in which action research might be employed by congregationally based educators.     

高等教育的政治学——关于高等教育财政的普遍误解

在高等教育领域,随着入学率的不断提高和教育成本的快速上涨,政府资金难以单独支撑高等教育的发展,所有国家都在寻求非政府资金来分担一部分教育成本,高等教育成本分担成为世界性的趋势.然而,高等教育财政是极其复杂的,与成本分担政策相关的一系列问题仍需厘清,包括学生与家庭分担的成本比例问题、学费问题、学生贷款问题等.本文分十个命题详细讨论了上述问题,试图以此指出并廓清高等教育财政政策中存在的普遍误解.     

SMS Text Reference Comes of Age: The My Info Quest Collaborative

The advent of the nationwide My Info Quest text message reference collaborative not only helped propel United States libraries' use of telephone text messaging to a new standing, it also demonstrated the effectiveness of a nationwide non-hierarchical librarian collective built on an organic foundation of radical trust. Much of the collaborative's development parallels similarly probing steps taken years earlier by instant messaging reference librarians, albeit with profound organizational differences. This article reports on important contrasts and commonalities with earlier services and describes some of the day-to-day workings of My Info Quest during its 2009–2010 pilot phase.     

Research in Academic Reference Librarianship: Review of the 2008–2012 Published Research

This article reviews the research literature of three major journals in reference librarianship. The texts of 494 articles were analyzed and classified as research versus nonresearch. Articles such as news, commentary, book reviews, editorials, meeting announcements, and opinion pieces were excluded from the analysis. A total number of 162 (30.49%) articles were determined to be research articles and were examined to collect data on numerous variables including but not limited to authorship, affiliation, topic, type of research, data collection, and data analysis techniques.     

Evaluating Usage and Impact of Networked Electronic Resources through Point-of-Use Surveys: A MINES for Libraries™ Study

This article presents a literature review of methods for evaluating serials, or networked electronic resources, usage, and focuses on point-of-use intercept Web surveys. In the context of the MINES for Libraries protocol administered by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and derived from the indirect cost study methodologies developed by Franklin and Plum, the article discusses a variety of point-of-use Web survey implementation methodologies used in libraries. It discusses sampling plan options and articulates issues related to the mandatory and optional versions of the point-of-use Web survey protocols with an emphasis on nonresponse bias. The article provides a set of methods that libraries can use to continue to evaluate their networked electronic services in innovative ways to better serve the research, teaching, and learning needs of their users.     

A closer look at the non‐television household

The growth in percentage of American homes with television over the past dozen years has outstripped even the adjectives used to describe the phenomenon. Although the period of greatest growth was between 1950 and 1955, the proportion of U.S. homes with television has climbed from two out of every three in June of 1955 to nine out of ten today.

The non‐television owner has become something of a rare bird, not necessarily needing sanctuary, but certainly worthy of study. At the time this research was performed, the Census Bureau reported 85% set ownership in the sample area (a figure in excellent agreement with findings in the present study).

This study was financed in part by a grant‐in‐aid from the National Educational Television and Radio Center. Field work was conducted by students of Professor Ralph O. Nafziger. Dr. Richard F. Carter, now of Stanford University, also contributed to the study.