John A. Stormer and the Hofstadter hypothesis

Does political rhetoric hold the key to an understanding of political pathology? Blending historical scholarship and behavioral research, this study tested empirically hypotheses derived from Richard Hofstadter's model of the “paranoid style” in American politics. The data were drawn from John A. Stormer's None Dare Call It Treason.     

The application of artificial intelligence principles to teaching and training*

This paper compares and contrasts the use of AI principles in industrial training with more normal computer‐based training (CBT) approaches. A number of applications of CBT are illustrated (for example simulations, tutorial presentations, fault diagnosis, management games, industrial relations exercises) and compared with an alternative approach using AI. An evaluation of the relative merits of the two approaches will be given. Existing CBT packages are used to illustrate the points raised and the emphasis of the arguments will be on the effectiveness of AI and CBT in terms of both cost and learning. The position of AI applications within CBT is discussed, as is the task of getting started in applying these techniques.     

Dickens for All: Inclusive Approaches to Literature and Communication with People with Severe and Profound Learning Disabilities

Keith Park, a teacher of children with visual impairment and learning disabilities with the Greenwich Visual Impairment Service, describes a series of multisensory interactive drama games re-telling the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, following a discussion of the potential uses of literature with people with severe and profound learning disabilities.     

The private problem with public service: rural teachers in educational markets

Staffing rural and remote schools is an important policy issue for the public good. This paper examines the private issues it also poses for teachers with families working in these communities, as they seek to reconcile careers with educational choices for children. The paper first considers historical responses to staffing rural and remote schools in Australia, and the emergence of neoliberal policy encouraging marketisation of the education sector. We report on interviews about considerations motivating household mobility with 11 teachers across regional, rural and remote communities in Queensland. Like other middle-class parents, these teachers prioritised their children's educational opportunities over career opportunities. The analysis demonstrates how teachers in rural and remote communities constitute a special group of educational consumers with insider knowledge and unique dilemmas around school choice. Their heightened anxieties around school choice under neoliberal policy are shown to contribute to the public issue of staffing rural and remote schools.