When prophecy fails

Inaccurate predictions about educational technology are discussed, and the tendency for them to go unchallenged. Their global generalizability is questionable when the expertise underlying them is restricted to local contexts or is unknown. The limitations of futuristic studies need to be stressed to prevent their conclusions from being applied out of context. Problems arise when studies inaccurately claiming to represent developing-world needs and conditions are used for educational planning in those nations. The article analyzes the predictions made by the annual Horizon Reports and the One Laptop Per Child project. It suggests that these projects are currently responding to criticism in a manner similar to that described in the classic study When Prophecy Fails.     

What does bullying really mean?

The first part of this short report looks at the problems of using the term ‘bullying’ across different cultures; and the difficulties in arriving at a definitive definition of what constitutes bullying among professional researchers and other adults. The second part looks at young children's perception of what bullying means to them, and draws on a small‐scale piece of recent research that formed part of an MA dissertation on the incidence of bullying in a junior school in Essex. The results suggested that pupils (and teachers) found the term ‘bullying’ rather ambiguous and difficult to define. Younger pupils were found to have a more extensive definition of the term, and a hypothesis was proposed that this might account for the higher levels of being bullied found in the lower school.     

Self-Assessment of Gerontology Teaching Practice: A First-Step in Enhancing Student Learning

This article discusses self-assessment of gerontology teaching practice. Through a process of self-reflection one may find insight into their teaching and, concomitantly, develop best-practices for enhancing student learning in gerontology. A self-assessment framework is presented, illuminating best-practices in the areas of the lecture-discussion cycle and teacher-student interactions. The self-assessment areas and reflective questions, while not exhaustive, will hopefully lead gerontology professors to a more expansive inquiry of their teaching practice and the impact it has on student learning. Regular self-assessment of teaching practice may lead to more effective instruction in undergraduate or introductory gerontology courses as well as enhancement of student learning outcomes.     

'The Money's Good,The Fame's Good,The Girls are Good': The role of playground football in the construction of young boys' masculinity in a junior school

This paper looks at the influential part played by the game of football in the social construction of hegemonic masculine practices among a group of Year 6 boys in an English junior school, which is an area that remains under-researched. Football forms a large part of school life for many children (the majority of whom are boys) and is sated with masculinising associations: this paper argues that football acts as a model for the boys, and they use the game as a way of constructing, negotiating, and performing their masculinity. Football is seen as a key signifier of successful masculinity, and its practices are a major influence on hegemonic masculinities, which are performed and defended in relation to other masculinities and femininities that become subordinated and marginalised. Girls are excluded from the games, along with some of the boys in the subordinated group who become feminised by their lack of skill and competence, and are subjected to homophobic abuse, as the hegemonic group acts within the 'cultural imperative' of heterosexuality. The games of playground football are viewed as a series of ritualised and fantasised performances, and this paper proposes that the body plays an essential role in the formation of masculine identities, with competitive displays of skill and strength. The school policies and organisation of football are also considered, and the power struggles and tensions this causes, not only between pupils, but also between teachers and pupils, and between teacher and teacher.     

Response bias in follow-up studies of college students

The problems of response bias in longitudinal studies of college students are examined. An extensive follow-up questionnaire was sent to 1,253 college seniors who had participated in a similar survey as freshman four years earlier. Careful measure of student responsiveness in relation to various techniques designed to increase the proportion of responders (e.g., postcard, telephone contact) were kept.The less responsive groups were significantly different from their more responsive counterparts on nearly a dozen variables representing a wide variety of content areas, including academic achievement, self-concept, alcohol consumption, social deviance, and major choice preferences. Controlling for sex and socioeconomic status served to reduce, but not eliminate, these biases. Overall, the results indicate that researchers cannot account for follow-up nonresponse bias by making statistical adjustments according to data available at initial testing. The results are discussed in light of identifying the reasons for nonresponse, and attempting to develop categories of nonresponders who may be motivated to cooperate by different types of follow-up techniques.