The Significance of Formation Agendas in a Christian Higher Education Program for Spiritual Directors

The characteristics of a spiritual direction formation program as part of a postgraduate course were compared with a range of standard higher education academic agendas of learning. The formational characteristics included acknowledgment of prior experience, cooperative community approaches to learning, teachers as partners in learning, reflective learning processes, and experiential practice-based curriculum. In contrasting with other academic approaches, this study found the two approaches appeared to complement each other. The potential to develop curricula in religious education contexts that emphasize more holistic approaches incorporating aspects of both academic and formational approaches is worthy of further investigation and application.     

Relationships among Singaporean secondary teachers’ conceptions of assessment and school and policy contextual factors

This study examines teachers’ conceptions of assessment and related contextual factors at the classroom, school and national levels. A representative survey of Singaporean secondary school teachers resulted in a final sample consisting of 229 teachers from 9 secondary schools. Findings on that, teachers endorse views of assessment for school accountability, student accountability and student improvement, but little endorsement of assessment as irrelevance. Teachers report feeling capable and qualified to use assessments, but concerned about how much they are trusted as assessors at school and national levels. Follow-up latent class analysis identified groups of teachers based on their responses to the irrelevance of assessment; teachers who found assessment irrelevant were present across all schools and subjects, but showed lower sense of preparation for assessment, school-level support and importance of academic success in society.     

An Analysis of Anatomy Education Before and During Covid-19: May–August 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) created unparalleled challenges to anatomy education. Gross anatomy education has been particularly impacted given the traditional in-person format of didactic instruction and/or laboratory component(s). To assess the changes in gross anatomy lecture and laboratory instruction, assessment, and teaching resources utilized as a result of Covid-19, a survey was distributed to gross anatomy educators through professional associations and listservs. Of the 67 survey responses received for the May–August 2020 academic period, 84% were from United States (US) institutions, while 16% were internationally based. Respondents indicated that in-person lecture decreased during Covid-19 (before: 76%, during: 8%, P < 0.001) and use of cadaver materials declined (before: 76 ± 33%, during: 34 ± 43%, P < 0.001). The use of cadaver materials in laboratories decreased during Covid-19 across academic programs, stand-alone and integrated anatomy courses, and private and public institutions (P ≤ 0.004). Before Covid-19, cadaveric materials used in laboratories were greater among professional health programs relative to medical and undergraduate programs (P ≤ 0.03) and among stand-alone relative to integrated anatomy courses (P ≤ 0.03). Furthermore, computer-based assessment increased (P < 0.001) and assessment materials changed from cadaveric material to images (P < 0.03) during Covid-19, even though assessment structure was not different (P > 0.05). The use of digital teaching resources increased during Covid-19 (P < 0.001), with reports of increased use of in-house created content, BlueLink, and Complete Anatomy software (P < 0.05). While primarily representing US institutions, this study provided evidence of how anatomy educators adapted their courses, largely through virtual mediums, and modified laboratory protocols during the initial emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic.     

Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions

Preparing students for informed and active citizenship is a core goal of education and schooling in Australia. The ways schools educate and prepare young Australians for citizenship involves a range of processes and initiatives central to the work of schools, including school ethos, mission, extracurricular activities and community-based participation. With regard to the formal curriculum, the recent introduction and implementation of the first ever Federal Australian Curriculum includes provision for a new subject – Civics and Citizenship. Research evidence from other nations suggests that schools understand, approach and enact education for citizenship in a multitude of ways, yet how Australian schools construct this aspect of their work is currently under-researched. In this context, and drawing on data from interviews with school leaders and teachers of Years 6–8 (11–14 year olds) students in a small sample of South Australian primary and secondary schools, we explore perceptions and current approaches to education for citizenship. Our findings suggest (1) that while school leaders and teachers value education for citizenship, they do so for different reasons; (2) that schools place values as central to education for citizenship; and (3) that community involvement is typically understood as occurring within rather than beyond the school.     

Approaching Parental Guilt,Shame, and Blame in a Helping Relationship: Multiple Methods for Teaching and Learning

ABSTRACT

Social workers often feel ill-prepared to effectively engage parents in conversations about guilt, shame, and blame related to their children’s mental health or substance use challenges. To address that problem, we suggest that specific content should be integrated into social work courses to teach students how to acknowledge and sensitively manage these issues in their practice with families across cultures and family forms. Content, activities, and assignments are offered, built around three learning strategies (enhanced lecture, case-based learning, and experiential learning) to help students build therapeutic relationships based on a deep appreciation of parents’ emotional experiences.     

HOPE VI Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Schools: Understanding How Revitalized Neighborhoods Influence School Environments

As detailed in the articles throughout this issue, the U.S. education system experienced a number of structural developments throughout the 20th century. These changes served to shift the landscape of decision-making authority in multiple areas of primary and secondary schooling. This article provides an international perspective on the changes undergone by the American system, painting a broad picture of where the trends in the United States’ educational system fit within changes worldwide. To best understand the possible implications of changes in the United States, I describe trends in educational centralization and decentralization in other nations, placing the American changes in a broader context shedding light on where education in the United States could be headed.     

Reviews

Andrew Wright, Whitelands College, Another Step: Challenging Inequalities, by Margaret Robson, Andrew Gregory and Dawn Gill. Association for Curriculum Development, 1991, 297pp., ISBN 1 8540 1 045 X

Di Bentley, School of Education, Roehampton Institute, Skills for the Primary School Child: Personal and Social Education in the Primary School, a pack by the Teachers' Advisory Committee on Alcohol and Drug Education (TACADE) and the Society for the Prevention of Solvent and Volatile Substance Abuse (Re-Solv). Salford: TACADE, 1990, three booklets (57pp., 29pp., 60pp.) and thirty-three workcards, ISBN 0 905954 43 2 (set)

Brenda Hopper, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Gender and Pastoral Care, edited by C. McLaughlin, C. Lodge and C. Watkins. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991, 192pp., pb ISBN 0 63117177 0, £9.99

Shirley Lee, Roehampton Institute, Career Development for Teachers by Jim Donnelly, London: Rogan Page, 1992, 96pp., pb ISBN 0 7494 0645 3, £9.95