Using e-mail to support reflective narration

This article presents an exploratory study of e-mail use for reflective narration. Narration is viewed from three perspectives: the narrating act, the narrative statement, and the story. These perspectives are used to characterize the 69 e-mails that were exchanged between 13 groups of children from three primary schools. The findings show that e-mail narration has monologic and dialogic qualities, and leads to cognitive and personal reflections on the learning task. We conclude that e-mail can serve a meaningful function in a narrative curriculum aimed at experiential inquiry. In addition, we suggest a need for future research that adopts a broad view of learning that includes different kinds of dialogues and values affective as well as cognitive aspects of these dialogues.     

Does homework behavior mediate the relation between personality and academic performance?

Past research has consistently shown that there is a relation between personality and academic performance, but much less work has focused on explaining this relation. The present study examined whether three aspects of homework behavior, namely homework time, procrastination, and learning strategies, mediate the relation between personality and academic performance, controlling for cognitive ability, track level, gender, and ethnicity. We investigated this in a nationally representative sample of about 9000 secondary school students in The Netherlands (average age 13 years). Results indicated that all personality traits were related to homework behavior, and that both personality and homework behavior were related to end-of-year grades in math and Dutch language. Nevertheless, homework behavior only partially mediated the relation between personality and grades.     

Lernen an zwei Orten: das Problem des ‘Dualen System’ in der lehrerausbildung

On the basis of a study of the literature and of empirical research, the article puts forward suggestions for the improvement of teacher training programmes within a dual system.

A consecutive approach to training implies that a student spends a part of the training period in an educational institution and a part in a practical situation (i.e. on teaching practice). However, the consecutive system presents considerable problems in respect both of organisation and of the psychology of learning. Organisationally, there is the question of sequence to be faced, if the elements of theory and practice are to be brought together.

On the basis of a study of the literature of other forms of professional training, the following suggestions are made:

1. students’ activities in the school must re‐inforce their learning and be integrated with their work in the training institution;

2. their educational studies must support the acquisition of the competences needed by the teacher at the outset of his/her professional career;

3. attention must be paid to the learning needs and the potential of each student.

The article describes how a teacher training programme may follow these guidelines, leading to a ‘concurrent’ set of cycles bringing together elements of theory, practice and reflection upon practice, and in which a student may alternate between the academic institution and school practice.

After giving an overview of possible models of training the author focuses upon a specific example and provides a model of the institution‐practice link. What is important is that the learning style of the student be taken into account. Each student selects from four alternative programmes, namely: instructional variants, reflection variants, selfstudy variants, and practice variants. The contents of these four programmes are explained, and the learning outcomes of students from these differentiated programmes compared with those of students from undifferentiated, ‘normal’ programs. In summary, it is claimed that in the research project described there are positive indications for a theory‐practice link which gives students a choice of approaches and a better integration of their learning into the practical classroom situation.     

DEN HERBARTSKE PEDAGOGIKKS INNFLYTELSE I NORGE

Gill, P. E. 1976. The Relationship Between Mental Ability and Eight Background Variables. Scand. J. educ. Res. 20, 135‐145. Multiple regression is seen as a search technique when applied to IQ. test data. The results from such a search are stochastic rather than deterministic. Because of this it is imperative that comprehensive samples be studied. The sample in this study (n = 3,695) was representative of the population of Irish 6‐ to 12‐year‐olds. The results are surprising in that the total variance explained by predictors such as SES, sex, family size, position in family, absenteeism and urbanity is never more than 8 %. Differences in how predictors behave with IQ and Vocabulary are noted. SES, family size and urbanity are the most significant predictors. When Vocabulary is the criterion, sex differences (in favour of girls) emerge consistently. It is contended that pupils of low intelligence go absent more often than their peers. The total variance explained was increased when homoscedasticity was reduced by stabilizing criterion variance (by reducing age span).     

A nine‐country survey of youth in Europe: selected findings and issues

A nine‐country survey of the life orientations, values and institutional trust of 8948 young people at the upper end of the secondary school age range was set up at the University of Würzburg in the year 2000. Key findings demonstrate that these young people value personal autonomy and are orientated to success in their professional lives and that they especially trust human rights and environmental groups. Religion is associated positively with humanitarianism and in some countries negatively with modernity. These findings provide an indication of the typical life stances of future opinion‐formers and illustrate methodological issues thrown up by international research.     

Between education and care? Critical reflections on early childhood policies in Germany

This article identifies the responsibilities for early childhood care and education (ECCE) in the German child and youth welfare system and shows the expansion of children's services. The official German statistics demonstrate that almost every child from the age of three to school age attends ‘Kindergarten’. Current policies and measures are therefore mainly focused on extending provision for the under‐threes. There are still enormous differences in the number of places available for children under three years of age between the eastern and western parts of Germany. Due to the increased significance of early education and the educational curricula drafted in all 16 Länder over the past few years, the qualifications required of professional pedagogues today have changed considerably. There is a broad consensus in Germany that it is necessary to redefine the course content and structure and put them on a theoretical basis. The article pinpoints the problems of children with special needs, and especially of those whose family language is not German. Despite some positive developments in German ECCE little progress has been made with regard to effectively implementing the conceptual unity of education, care and upbringing.     

Legitimacy Seeking among New Private Institutions of Higher Education in Central and Eastern Europe

The quest for legitimacy is particularly acute for organizations that are in the initial stages of their lifecycles. Without recognition and acknowledgment of the ‘right to exist’, new institutions may falter or fail because of lack of acceptance. Surmounting the barriers that block the road to legitimacy can be very difficult, but there are steps that can be taken to overcome such obstacles. This article examines the paths that new institutions of private higher education in Central and Eastern Europe have taken to assume a level of legitimacy that allows for their continued operations and future success. Its focus is to dissect the forces and factors that affect the movement of such new institutions along a described legitimacy continuum. Examination of key legitimacy factors as identified by private sector rectors in both Poland and Hungary reveals that there are country‐specific means that enable new institutions to transit the given legitimacy continuum expeditiously.