On reading: Some thoughts on the old and the new

Conclusion I have presented some of the problems on which the Orton Society has labored during the past three decades and some of the issues needing battle in the next three. Much has happened in the past 30 years. Many of the dreams of Orton and of the Society have been realized. But I do not think anyone will wish to rest for long, for the victories have brought new problems. And so, to borrow a few words from Dr. Samuel Torrey Orton: if we continue to be “sufficiently keen” and prove ourselves “clever enough,” it would seem that the labors of our next 30 years may be as fruitful, and even more so, than those of our first thirty.     

Waterworks: Activities for 1 through 6 year olds

We wrote these activities because water play provides both fun and valuable learning opportunities for young children. Water play can provide calming activities for any child. Water play activities can reinforce the principles of scientific experimentation and mathematical reasoning. They integrate cognitive, fine motor, and gross motor skills. We encourage all teachers and caregivers to provide water play opportunities for the young children in their care. Excerpted from Waterworks,by Jeanne C. James and Randy F. Granovetter. ©1987 Kaplan Press, 1320 Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Lewisville, NC 27023.     

Wechsler scale performance patterns of American Indian children

Using WISC, WISC-R, and WPPSI subtest scores recategorized according to the Bannatyne scheme, the study uncovered evidence for the existence of an Indian Wechsler Scale performance pattern that is different from that found in normal and learning disabled groups. The Indian pattern finds spatial abilities more well developed than sequencing skills, which are superior to conceptual and acquired knowledge performances. The sample was composed of 142 Indian children, primarily Ojibwa (Chippewa). Supporting hypotheses addressed differences between groups of traditional Indian children and those who are more Anglo acculturated. The traditional children evidenced the Indian pattern of recategorized Wechsler subtest performance, while the more acculturated groups did not. Discussion of results centers on factors that may be related to the Indian pattern, such as cultural heritage, otitis media, and the school curriculum.     

‘Approaching the sacred’: directionality in the relation between curriculum and knowledge structure

Increasing pressure on all levels of educational provision, whether academic or overtly vocational, to be to ‘relevant’ and ‘useful’ prompts consideration of the relation between curriculum and pedagogy in terms of the internal structure of knowledge forms. Following Durkheim’s distinction between ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’ orders of meaning and drawing on the work of Basil Bernstein, this paper questions pedagogic presuppositions that directionality from sensory experience to abstraction posits the everyday life of the student as the foundation for the acquisition of complex, systematic knowledge. Two empirical examples are discussed: one focuses on the internal structure of craft knowledge, while the other focuses on the internal structure of mathematics as school subject. They converge in the finding that transmission of knowledge structure, whether in material or symbolic form, requires the transformation of empirical objects into theoretical objects before a connecting point can be found between the world of everyday experience and specialised knowledge forms. This is what constitutes a ‘relevant’ curriculum.