Logics of business education for sustainability

This paper explores various kinds of logics of ‘business education for sustainability’ and how these ‘logics’ position the subject business person, based on eight teachers’ reasoning of their own practices. The concept of logics developed within a discourse theoretical framework is employed to analyse the teachers’ reasoning. The analysis takes its starting point in different approaches to how a business ought to or could take responsibility for sustainable development. Different approaches to business ethical responsibilities, in combination with assumptions about how educational content is legitimised and presupposed purposes of education, are used to construct logics of business education for sustainability. In the paper, the results of this analysis are presented as: the logic of profit-, social- or radical-oriented business education. Our results also show how the different logics position the subject business person differently, as one who adapts to, adds or creates ethical values. The results are first discussed in terms of how environmental and social challenges could be dealt with in the future and secondly, considering the risk of de-subjectification with regard to profit-oriented business education, the implications this may have for the educational quality itself.     

Bell's paradox under different capital market regimes

In his 1984 paper published in Economics of Education Review, E. Bell indicates that when capital markets are imperfect in a certain sense, the possibility of a paradox arises that the demand for education may not always be directly related with the net present value of education. This study shows that Bell's paradox is possible under the alternative definitions or views on capital market imperfections. Further, this study specifies conditions for Bell's paradox to occur, which remain strong under the alternative capital market regimes.     

Understanding the complexity of teacher reflection in action research

Reflection in action research is a complex matter, as is action research itself. In recent years, complexity science has regularly been called upon in order to more thoroughly understand the complexity of action research. The present article investigates the benefits that complexity science may yield for reflection in action research. This article begins by explicating the sense in which the complexity of reflection in action research involves the role of values and existential knowledge in education. The gap between theory and practice is also explored. On the basis of a number of common features of complex systems (heterogeneous, open, dynamic, non-linear, adaptive, and co-adaptive), the sense in which reflection can be regarded as a complex system is discussed. To this end, the features of complex systems are translated into features of reflection in action research, which, in turn, are illustrated with examples from recent publications on reflection in action research. The aim of this analysis is to make reflection in action research more understandable and manageable. In line with this, it is argued that room for insecurity and unpredictability, combined with an explicit consideration of reflection as a complex system, contributes to the use of complexity as a stimulus for new learning.     

Grist to the Mill of Anti-evolutionism: The Failed Strategy of Ruling the Supernatural Out of Science by Philosophical Fiat

According to a widespread philosophical opinion, science is strictly limited to investigating natural causes and putting forth natural explanations. Lacking the tools to evaluate supernatural claims, science must remain studiously neutral on questions of metaphysics. This (self-imposed) stricture, which goes under the name of ??methodological naturalism??, allows science to be divorced from metaphysical naturalism or atheism, which many people tend to associate with it. However, ruling the supernatural out of science by fiat is not only philosophically untenable, it actually provides grist to the mill of anti-evolutionism. The philosophical flaws in this conception of methodological naturalism have been gratefully exploited by advocates of intelligent design creationism to bolster their false accusations of naturalistic bias and dogmatism on the part of modern science. We argue that it promotes a misleading view of the scientific endeavor and is at odds with the foremost arguments for evolution by natural selection. Reconciling science and religion on the basis of such methodological strictures is therefore misguided.     

Exploring the educational beliefs of primary education student teachers in the Chinese context

Teacher educational beliefs may be largely shaped by culturally shared learning experiences and social values. The main purpose of this study is to explore educational beliefs of Chinese student teachers. An adapted version of the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS)??developed in a Western context (Woolley et al. in Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64: 319?C331, 2004)??was validated in this study, and the profiles of student teacher educational beliefs were analyzed. The research participants consisted of 727 Chinese student teachers from four different teacher education universities. A factor analysis of the Chinese version of the TBS supported the dimensions of the original instrument, but some items had to be discarded to less consistent factor loading. The ANOVA results showed that there were significant differences in constructivist teaching beliefs with respect to gender, study year, and majoring subjects. But no significant differences in the adherence to traditional teaching beliefs were observed. The results also show that the first year student teachers hold stronger constructivist beliefs as compared to senior student teachers. This can be linked to the latter larger teaching and learning experiences in real classroom settings. Implications are drawn for further research in teacher education contexts.     

Doing,knowing, caring and feeling: exploring relations between nature-oriented teaching and preschool children's learning

Research has shown that early childhood science education is based on education and care, sometimes stressed as a dichotomy. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relations between teachers' teaching and children's learning in preschool practice, both in terms of educative processes and nature-oriented content. The ambition is also to develop and present an analysis method that facilitates these investigations. Outdoor nature experiences of preschool children (aged one to three) were video-recorded, transcribed and analysed. The methodology is based on John Dewey's pragmatic philosophy. Here, epistemological move analysis (oriented towards teachers' guiding processes as moves) and substantive learning quality analysis (oriented towards multi-dimensional learning qualities) are developed and used as analysis tools. The analyses show that the relations between teaching and learning processes and nature content are intertwined and include education and care. The teachers guide towards aesthetical, moral, cognitive and physical qualities in learning by challenging, admonishing, instructional, confirming, generative, reorienting and reconstructing moves. The results contribute to nature-oriented teaching practice and nature-oriented preschool research when discussing and investigating teaching and learning processes and nature content.     

The role of teacher behavior in adolescents’ intrinsic reading motivation

Given the weak intrinsic reading motivation of many adolescents on the one hand and the importance of this type of motivation for reading competence on the other hand, the aim of the present study is to identify the related role of teacher behavior. To pursue this aim, a secondary analysis was carried out on PISA 2009 data. More particularly, data of a subsample of 4,269 Flemish 15-year olds were examined by means of multilevel modeling. In line with self-determination theory, the results provide evidence for the significance of perceived autonomy-supportive, structured, and involved teacher behavior. Teacher involvement was most strongly associated with adolescents’ intrinsic reading motivation. Further, students’ perception of teachers’ autonomy support was particularly related to girls’ intrinsic reading motivation.     

Dangerous learning in edgy contexts: creativity and innovation in the South African arts domain

In this paper, we outline a pilot project aimed at exploring the role of contextual factors in the facilitation of creativity and innovation within a range of South African art forms. Interviews with 11 people who have rich experience of the South African art domain delivered an insightful perspective on the contextual factors driving lifelong creativity and its continuous realization in innovative outcomes within these art forms.     

Defining'science-based targets'

The 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2℃above pre-industrial levels and aim towards limiting warming to 1.5℃marked a wa-tershed in planetar...