The field of speech, 1953: An overview

Inherent in the rhetorical tradition of symbolic form is the search for the rhetorical processes which convert experience into the social forms of community. Fusing Robert Scott's notion of rhetoric as dynamic with the rhetorical concept of “spectacle,” this essay explores “the dynamic spectacle” as a rhetorical document of community building. Black America's struggle for identity in White America is offered as a case study.     

The Impact of Relational Characteristics and Reasons for Topic Avoidance on Relational Closeness

Although research suggests that the act of topic avoidance itself has consequences for romantic partners, it seems equally likely that the antecedent conditions underlying these decisions to avoid certain topics also lead to important relational outcomes. Framed by communication boundary management theory, relationship characteristics, motivation for topic avoidance, and implications for relational closeness were examined. Findings indicate that relational commitment characteristics and individuals' reported rationale for topic avoidance are related to perceptions of relational closeness. These results illustrate the importance of understanding the underlying factors that motivate the decision to engage in topic avoidance and their impact on romantic relationships.     

(Mis)Understanding Human Beings: Theory,Value, and Progress in Education Research

There is renewed interest in what can be called an experimentist approach to education research. The claim is that if researchers would focus on experiments and evidence-based policies and practices, irreversible progress in education can be achieved. This experimentist approach cannot provide the understanding of knowledge and human beings needed for meaningful progress in education. Lacking is adequate appreciation for the role of theory, particularly ethical and other philosophical theory. We especially need a theory of our human condition and a keen awareness for how some conceptions of scientific work can influence, and distort, our conceptions of human beings and worthwhile lives. As paradoxical as it might seem at first, to move ahead in education and our service to persons’ welfare, we need to look backward to revisit old truths.     

The quality of special education for students with special needs in ordinary classes

Teachers and the school psychological services were asked to assess the quality of educational programmes offered to students who were found eligible for special education in Norway and who attended ordinary classes. Adequacy and equity of the programmes and an assessment of social inclusion were used as indicators of quality and as dependent variables. Financial resources, centrality of residence of the students, presence of physical restrictions, availability of teaching materials, grade level, class size and students’ disabilities were used as independent variables. The results showed that resources made available by the municipalities had an impact on equity as well as adequacy. This was also found for the availability of teaching materials, which had a significant impact on the quality of the programmes. A significant relationship between the three dependent variables and grade level was found as quality decreased with grade level. Special problems with equity as well as adequacy of the programmes offered to students with moderate to severe problems in reading, writing and arithmetic, and for students with psychosocial problems, are reported. Although the students scored low on social inclusion as assessed by the teachers, the parents reported that most of them thrived well or very well at school.     

Notes on authors

Faculty perceptions of the viability of candidates with online doctorates for a tenure-track assistant professor position in management were examined. Survey results of U.S. faculty members in management departments at institutions accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) indicated that most (90%) would not hire someone with an online degree for a tenure-track faculty position. Given comparable teaching and research records, all candidates with traditional doctorates were rated higher than those with online doctorates. Common reasons given by respondents as to why they would not consider someone with an online doctorate included poor quality of instruction, lack of credibility of an online degree, lack of face-to-face contact, lack of AACSB accreditation, lack of rigorous discourse, and lack of mentoring.     

Migrant teachers: how American schools import labour

This article considers the growth of ‘family literacy programmes’ in the UK and the implications this has for the relationship between the home and the school. We argue that most programmes are informed by a view of educational deficit, itself influenced by a marketised view of education which regards families as consumers’ of education. We contend that this ‘family’ is constructed in a way that privileges the patriarchal, nuclear, middle‐class family and makes a clear distinction between the public and the private sphere. This leads, we suggest, to a model of family literacy which imposes school‐based literacies on subordinated cultures and non‐nuclear families in ways that are culturally reproductive. We discuss an alternative, culturally productive, approach which focuses on home‐based literacies in ways which genuinely reflect the lived experiences of children and their families. Only in these types of programmes, we argue, will the values and practices of the home and community environment affect schooling in ways which give all families, however constructed, a genuine ‘voice’ in their children's education.     

Improving spatial thinking skills among undergraduate geology students through short online training exercises

ABSTRACT

Spatial reasoning is a critical skill in the Geosciences. Using a randomized control study with 592 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory and advanced Geology courses, our data indicates that regular, short interventions throughout an academic semester improve students’ spatial thinking skills significantly with a moderate to large effect size when compared to an instruction-as-usual control group. We found evidence for additional gains in students who participated also in hands-on training interventions. We found even larger training effects on students who achieved correct scores of >50% on the practice modules, with gains of almost three-quarter of a standard deviation relative to their baseline scores. Male and female students display significant differences in spatial skills, with males outperforming females. Training resulted in similar magnitudes of improvement in both genders, so we see no evidence that the interventions closed the gender gap. Using the initial performance as a baseline, poor performers’ spatial skills appear to improve through practice at the same rate as their peers. We argue that 15.4% of students improve their spatial skills through participation in the training towards a threshold that appears to be critical for participation in STEM careers. On a reflection survey, half of the students reported that they felt their spatial thinking skills improved through their participation, and over a third found the training beneficial for their overall learning in Geology or other classes. We hypothesise that formal training opportunities for spatial reasoning could increase the potential pool of students who successfully enter and succeed in Geoscience careers.     

New books

LANGUAGE ‐ MAN ‐ SOCIETY: READINGS IN COMMUNICATION. Ed. Harold E. Briggs. New York: Rinehart and Co., 1949; pp. xv + 707. $3.50.

THE ART OF FORCEFUL SPEAKING. By Richard C. Reager. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1949; pp. xvi + 302. $1.49.

HOW TO PUT YOUR IDEAS ACROSS. By Richard W. Wetherill. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1949; pp. x + 435. $2.75.

PUBLIC SPEAKING WITHOUT FEAR AND TREMBLING. By Mark Hanna. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1949; pp. 166. $2.75.

BASIC PUBLIC SPEAKING. By Paul L. Soper. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949; pp. xxi + 394. $2.50.

HANDBOOK OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. Revised Edition. By A. R. Thompr son. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949; pp. xix + 177. $1.50.

BASIC TRAINING IN SPEECH. Brief Edition. By Lester Thonssen and Howard Gilkinson. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1949; pp. 249. $2.25

HOW TO TALK MORE EFFECTIVELY. By Jean Bordeaux and T. W. Tanaka. Chicago: American Technical Society, 1949; pp. x + 218. $2.75.

DEMOCRACY THROUGH DISCUSSION. By Bruno Lasker. New York: The W. H. Wilson Co., 1949; pp. xvii + 376. $3.50.

THE HUMAN NATURE OF PLAYWRITING. By Samson Raphaelson. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1949; pp. viii + 267. $4.00.

PLAY PRODUCTION AND DIRECTION. By C. Lowell Lees. New York: Prentice‐Hall, 1948; pp. xiii + 311. $5.00.

HOW TO SPEAK THE WRITTEN WORD. By Nedra Newkirk Lamar. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1949; pp. 175. $2.50.

THE ART OF GOOD SPEECH. By Dwight Bolinger and Ralph Weiman. 4 v. Philadelphia: Russell Press, 1948; pp. 159. $9.50.

GENERAL SPEECH: AN INTRODUCTION. By A. Craig Baird and Franklin H. Knower. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1949; pp. ix + 500. $3.50.

PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR BUSINESS. By William G. Hoffman. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1949; pp. xiii + 412. $3.50.

THE LANGUAGE OF WISDOM AND FOLLY: BACKGROUND HEADINGS IN SEMANTICS. Ed. Irving J. Lee. New York; Harper and Brothers, 1949; pp. xxii + 361. $3.00.