The ambiguous embrace: twenty years of IT (ICT) in UK primary schools

School inspection reports, at the end of the 20th Century, in both Scottish and English primary schools, clearly identify the use of ICT as the weakest aspect of professional practice. On this evidence, despite initial certainty of political purpose and considerable optimism regarding its effects on teaching and learning, ICT remains, after twenty years, a marginal force in the education of 5–12 year–olds. Though numerous research studies in the 1980's and 1990's seemed to have identified the conditions for the effective transfer of ICT into primary schools and repeated governmental initiatives invested heavily in both infrastructure and training, teachers have not embraced ICT within their core practice. This paper suggests that the adoption of exclusively rational, perhaps hyper–rational, methodologies, by researchers working in the mainstream of schools and teacher education institutions has resulted in a failure to understand the complex cultural, psychological and political characteristics of schools. Alternative avenues for research are proposed.     

Development of sex-trait stereotypes among young children in the United Staes, England, and Ireland

The Sex Stereotype Measure II (SSM II), a 32-item revision of the Williams, Bennett, and Best Sex Stereotype Measure, was developed to assess children's knowledge of conventional, sex-trait stereotypes defined by American university students. The procedure employed brief stories and human figure silhouettes which were individually administered to 5- and 8-year-old children in the United States, England, and Ireland and group administered to 11-year-olds in the United States. In the United States, knowledge of sex-trait stereotypes was found to develop in a linear fashion between the ages of 5 and 11, with more male traits than female traits being known at each age level. Cross-nationally, there was a high degree of similarity in the nature of the sex stereotypes being learned by the children in the 3 countries, although the rate of learning appeared slower among the Irish children. In all countries there was a clear progression in sex-stereotype learning from age 5 to age 8. English boys had greater knowledge of stereotypes than English girls, but this was not true in Ireland and the United States. Generally, knowledge of male stereotype traits appeared to develop earlier while knowledge of the female traits increased more rapidly between ages 5 and 8. The similarity in sex-stereotype learning in the 3 countries is discussed, and studies in progress in other countries of greater cultural diversity are noted.     

An Informed Look at Doctoral Vivas (Oral Examinations) in the Preparation of Counselor Educators

Viva voce is the Latin expression traditionally used to refer to doctoral oral examinations. Viva voce, or simply viva, examinations are a standard requirement for doctoral candidacy and degree completion in many counselor education programs. Despite the prevalent use of vivas as an assessment and learning tool, the counselor education literature is scant on information about their rationale, method, and impact. Current trends toward transparency and accountability in higher education now require that counselor educators and researchers take steps to ensure that the use of vivas is justified beyond tradition alone.