Seeing Beyond Sameness: Using The Giver to Challenge Colorblind Ideology

The secondary worlds created in fantasy encourage the reader to compare and contrast the real world with the imaginary. In this way, fantasy as a genre can be transformative. In this article, the dystopia created in The Giver (1993) by Lois Lowry is examined as a metaphor for racism. After exploring the young adult novel as mystical fantasy in the context of reader response theory, the author evaluates the monochromatic world of The Giver as a portrayal of the consequences of a colorblind stance. Pedagogical considerations and implications for practice are also discussed. Susan G. Lea received her M.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she is currently a doctoral candidate. She also serves as Chair, Board of Trustees, The Agnes Irwin School, an independent girls day school in Rosemont, PA. Her areas of research include how aesthetic response and co-constructed meaning are enhanced through well-known visual art presented in intertextual sets of picturebook art parody, local public mural art parody, and original artwork. Zelnick, “The battle for color-blind public policy.” Lowry, The Giver.     

Reclaiming literacies: competing textual practices in a digital higher education

This essay examines the implications of the ubiquitous use of the term ‘digital literacies’ in higher education and its increasing alignment with institutional and organisational imperatives. It suggests that the term has been stripped of its provenance and association with disciplinary knowledge production and textual practice. Instead it is called into service rhetorically in order to promote competency-based agendas both in and outside the academy. The piece also points to a tendency to position teachers in deficit with regard to their technological capabilities and pay scant attention to their own disciplinary and scholarly practices in a digital world. It concludes that there is a case for building on established theoretical and conceptual frameworks from literacy studies if we wish to integrate advantages of the digital landscape with thoughtful teaching practice.     

Collaborative knowledge building to promote in-service teacher training in environmental education

Abstract

This project was undertaken by researchers at three universities in England where there is a well established tradition of introducing student teachers to Information Technology. Questionnaires were administered at three key points in the course to a student group in each university, to establish how students' concepts of IT were developing and to identify key influences on their practice and their thinking. Selected students were interviewed towards the end of their teaching practice, as was the school mentor for each student wherever possible, and all staff in the student's host department were invited to complete a questionnaire. All tapes were transcribed. The study suggests that student teachers of English have a broader view of literacy than is currently predominant in schools and this view positively embraces the role of IT in literacy. Student teachers do not envisage the disappearance of books, instead they see a wider and more inclusive range of texts, including the electronic, as part of the normal focus of the English teacher. Practising teachers of English range from those with an essentially negative attitude to IT, to an increasing number who are themselves developing this broader view of literacy. Current pre-service provision appears to be succeeding in giving new English teachers a positive and committed attitude towards the use of IT in the current and future literacy curriculum.     

We can Achieve if We Receive: Examining the Effects of Out-of-School Time Activities on Black Student Achievement in Mathematics

Using policy discourse analysis, the author analyzed 21 diversity action plans issued at 20 U.S. land-grant universities over a five-year period to identify images of diversity and the problems and solutions represented in diversity action plans. Discourses of marketplace, excellence, managerialism, and democracy emerged and served to construct images of the diverse individual as a commodity, entrepreneur, and change agent. These findings suggest that the dominance of the marketplace discourse may situate the diverse individual as a resource to be exploited and inspire entrepreneurial endeavors rather than change-making activism. Diversity action plans in their current form may unintentionally undermine the achievement of their equity goals.     

‘I Actually Contributed to Their Research': The influence of an abbreviated summer apprenticeship program in science and engineering for diverse high-school learners

This study describes an investigation of a research apprenticeship program that we developed for diverse high-school students often underrepresented in similar programs and in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions. Through the apprenticeship program, students spent 2 weeks in the summer engaged in biofuels-related research practices within working university chemistry and engineering laboratories. The experience was supplemented by discussions and activities intended to impact nature of science (NOS) and inquiry understandings and to allow for an exploration of STEM careers and issues of self-identity. Participants completed a NOS questionnaire before and after the experience, were interviewed multiple times, and were observed while working in the laboratories. Findings revealed that as a result of the program, participants (1) demonstrated positive changes in their understandings of certain NOS aspects many of which were informed by their laboratory experiences, (2) had an opportunity to explore and strengthen STEM-related future plans, and (3) examined their self-identities. A majority of participants also described a sense of belonging within the laboratory groups and believed that they were making significant contributions to the ongoing work of those laboratories even though their involvement was necessarily limited due to the short duration of the program. For students who were most influenced by the program, the belonging they felt was likely related to issues of identity and career aspirations.     

Improving homework accuracy: Interdependent group contingencies and randomized components

Homework is an often employed teaching strategy that has strong positive effects on academic achievement across grade levels, content areas, and student ability levels. To maximize academic learning, accuracy of homework should be addressed. The present investigation employed a multiple‐baseline design across academic behaviors to examine the efficacy of randomization of the interdependent group contingency on the homework accuracy of six fourth‐grade students enrolled in a general education class. Results demonstrated that the interdependent group contingency coupled with randomly selected components improved accuracy of homework performance. Specifically, participants demonstrated gains in all three subject areas. Limitations and future research are also addressed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.