Individual Differences in Children's Corepresentation of Self and Other in Joint Action

Previous research has shown that children aged 4–5 years, but not 2–3 years, show adult‐like interference from a partner when performing a joint task (Milward, Kita, & Apperly, 2014). This raises questions about the cognitive skills involved in the development of such “corepresentation (CR)” of a partner (Sebanz, Knoblich, & Prinz, 2003). Here, individual differences data from one hundred and thirteen 4‐ to 5‐year‐olds showed theory of mind (ToM) and inhibitory control (IC) as predictors of ability to avoid CR interference, suggesting that children with better ToM abilities are more likely to succeed in decoupling self and other representations in a joint task, while better IC is likely to help children avoid interference from a partner's response when selecting their own response on the task.     

A Quantum Measurement Paradigm for Educational Predicates: Implications for validity in educational measurement

Abstract

The outcomes of educational assessments undoubtedly have real implications for students, teachers, schools and education in the widest sense. Assessment results are, for example, used to award qualifications that determine future educational or vocational pathways of students. The results obtained by students in assessments are also used to gauge individual teacher quality, to hold schools to account for the standards achieved by their students, and to compare international education systems. Given the current high-stakes nature of educational assessment, it is imperative that the measurement practices involved have stable philosophical foundations. However, this article casts doubt on the theoretical underpinnings of contemporary educational measurement models. Aspects of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy and Bohr’s philosophy of quantum theory are used to argue that a quantum theoretical rather than a Newtonian model is appropriate for educational measurement, and the associated implications for the concept of validity are elucidated. Whilst it is acknowledged that the transition to a quantum theoretical framework would not lead to the demise of educational assessment, it is argued that, where practical, current high-stakes assessments should be reformed to become as ‘low-stakes’ as possible. This article also undermines some of the pro high-stakes testing rhetoric that has a tendency to afflict education.     

Homo Economicus at School: Neoliberal Education and Teacher as Economic Being

This article extends the ongoing critique of neoliberalism's encroachment upon public education by highlighting how neoliberal ideas such individualism, accountability, governmentality, and the marketization of public life are recasting teachers today primarily as competitive economic beings. I contend that teachers are increasingly compelled to act as modern homo economici, working in an education system that conforms to the rules of the neoliberal market. As such, teachers are incentivized to act as self-entrepreneurs, rational individuals who are beholden to a governmentality that requires them to be accountable to the strictures of the neoliberal market. The neoliberal transformation of public schools has led to teaching becoming a strictly controlled and hyperindividualized entrepreneurial activity that compels teachers to focus on their own productivity, while rendering them eminently governable beings.     

Online Schooling in the United States: A Response to Saultz and Fusarelli

In this paper, we discuss some concerns and recommendations of Saultz and Fusarelli (2017), offering nuanced and detailed views of online schooling from a different perspective. This includes addressing challenges regarding online learning such as fluctuating enrollments, financial concerns, quality assurance, and accountability. In addition, we propose recommendations related to funding, better quality data, and oversight and monitoring. We conclude with a short discussion of the need for differentiated research for specific online learning contexts.     

中药的新面貌

东京——流行病学专家长期以来一直疑心，中国东南部癌症发病率低是由于那里的人们喜欢食用薏苡(车前子，一种类似玉米的禾本科植物植物)，此地区的人们喜欢将薏仁作为饭食的成分，薏苡也是许多中药的关键成分之一。但没有人比药理学家李大鹏更确信薏苡的作用。李大鹏自1975年就开始从这种植物的种子中提取抗癌药物，20年后，     

Reflections on the Academic Policy Analysis Process and the UK Identity Cards Scheme

There is an increasing rhetoric from politicians for universities to become more involved in policy analysis and policy research. In this article, we reflect on our experiences of the analysis we conducted into the legislation to introduce biometric identity cards in the United Kingdom. We highlight how our work had direct consequences for the ongoing policy deliberation around this controversial piece of legislation. In particular, we highlight our role in the debate surrounding the government's figures for identity fraud and the concerns about the likely cost of the scheme to the government and taxpayer. We end the article by discussing some of the practical realities of such a foray into real politik.     

The treatment of uncertainty in the sciences

For some 300 years the modelling of uncertainty in the sciences has been totally dominated by probabilistic methods. Now, following major criticism of the theoretical foundations of probability theory, other approaches to dealing with uncertainty are being explored.     

From learning to labour to learning for marginality: school segregation and marginalization in Swedish suburbs

In this article, using data from ethnographic research, we try to present some glimpses of the way education is described as an experience and possibility ‘from below’, by pupils who grow up and study in schools in the most segregated and territorially stigmatized suburbs on the outskirts of our major cities. What we feel they describe is an experience of schooling for surviving the social and economic consequences of curtailed citizenship in a post‐industrial society rather than one of schooling that offers possibilities of integration and full citizenship or social transformation. Our findings have significant policy implications in this respect. Sweden has historically pursued projects aimed at educational inclusion but has recently taken a significant turn toward neo‐liberalism and educational consumerism, since which time various disadvantaged groups have become increasingly concentrated compared with others in under‐achieving schools in an economically threatened public sector. The article discusses some aspects and possible consequences of this development.     

Public libraries,digital literacy and participatory culture

In recent years public libraries have experimented with user-generated or community-contributed content through the interactive tools of Web 2.0. For some commentators this not just establishes a new relationship between libraries and their publics, but signals the end of information hegemony and an ‘expert paradigm’. Such claims need to be treated with caution. This article argues that public library experiments with user-generated content can be more usefully analysed in the context of wider institutional mandates around literacy, civic engagement and access. This article critically examines some recent library developments in this field, with a particular focus on Australian libraries.