International student teaching: Linkage for change

This article explores the extent to which an overseas student teaching practicum avoids the problem of assimilation inherent in traditional programs of school practice for preservice teachers. Overseas programs of student teaching may be effective vehicles for cross-fertilization of pedagogical ideas and for fostering innovation and change.     

Counselor Selection: A Critical Event in Program Management and Development

A coordinated process for selection of school counselors is presented. Responsibility for counselor selection is shared by central office and school building administrators. District personnel developed a selection instrument which is used to assess strengths and limitations of counselor candidates. Counselor profiles are then evaluated by the selection committee in light of district needs.     

A map of postsecondary assessment

Although most discussions of postsecondary assessment focus on students' knowledge and skills, these cannot be fully understood without assessing the wasy they are influenced by other aspects of postsecondary education. These aspects are described in a map consisting of 20 points which depicts the flow of students through institutions and experiences from precollege to adulthood. Consideration of the map identifies areas where better assessments and models are needed, particularly the areas of adult learners, graduate and professional education, and the characteristics and plans of college seniors.     

A shared vision of human excellence: Confucian spirituality and arts education

Abstract

Spirituality encourages the individual to make sense of oneself within a wider framework of meaning and see oneself as part of some larger whole. This article discusses Confucian spirituality by focusing on the spiritual ideals of dao (Way) and he (harmony). It is explained that the Way represents a shared vision of human excellence that is embodied in the guiding discourse inherited from one’s cultural predecessors. The Confucian Way covers all the manifestations of Zhou culture, including its knowledge base, values, beliefs and practices that have been passed down through the generations. The Way is achieved through harmony where human beings find inner peace as well as co-exist with one another and their surroundings. Harmony encompasses an appreciation of beauty, joy and ethical values that may be obtained from arts education. The essay further illustrates an application of Confucian spiritual ideals through music education in a school. A Confucian aim of learning, the article concludes, is one that fosters spiritual development and contests the performativity agenda and school culture.     

A writing curriculum for preschoolers

Conclusion There is no doubt that composing can add much to children's potential for learning at the preschool level. It is critical, however, that the writing should always be for meaningful communication. A play environment is rich with opportunities for meaningful labeling, drawing, and sending of messages. Preschool teachers do not have to succumb to a ditto and workbook approach to writing filtered down from the elementary school curriculum. Older children may not have trouble understanding the purposes for isolate drills, tracing, and copying from the board, but younger children become bewildered by such an abstract instruction. Their writing needs to emerge from drawing and dictating and from first-hand experiences. Their audiences must be immediate.When preschool teachers are sensitized to the values of writing for children and provide a stimulating environment in their classrooms, children will learn to write (and read) easily and naturally and will come to their elementary school experiences with a much more solid foundation for the basic skills.Linda Leonard Lamme is Associate Professor and Chair of the Early Childhood Program and Patricia Denny is a doctoral candidate in early childhood education at the University of Florida in Gainesville.     

School violence,school differences and school discourses

This article highlights one strand of a study which investigated the concept of the violence‐resilient school. In six inner‐city secondary schools, data on violent incidents in school and violent crime in the neighbourhood were gathered, and compared with school practices to minimise violence, accessed through interviews. Some degree of association between the patterns of behaviour and school practices was found: schools with a wider range of well‐connected practices seemed to have less difficult behaviour. Interviews also showed that the different schools had different organisational discourses for construing school violence, its possible causes and the possible solutions. Differences in practices are best understood in connection with differences in these discourses. Some of the features of school discourses are outlined, including their range, their core metaphor and their silences. The authors suggest that organisational discourse is an important concept in explaining school effects and school differences, and that improvement attempts could have clearer regard to this concept.     

Research Resources

Carolyn J. Mullins' A Guide to Writing and Publishing in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (New York: Wiley- Interscience, 1977—$18.95)

Kirk Polking and Leonard S. Meranus, eds. Law and the Writer (Cincinnatti, Ohio: Writer's Books, 1978—$9.95)

Mary-Claire van Leunen's A Handbook for Scholars (New York: Knopf, 1978—$12.95)

Paul Wasserman and Jacqueline Bernero, eds. Statistics Sources: A Subject Guide to Data on Industrial, Business, Social, Educational, Financial, and other Topics for the United States and Internationally (Detroit: Gale Research Cbmpany, 1977 [5th ed.]—$58.00)

Bibliocom 1976: Biblioqraphie Internationale de la Documentation en Lanque Francaise sur la Communication (Institut International de is Communication, Yniversite de Montreal, C.P. 6128 Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada—$18.95, paper)

June D. Buteau's Nonprint Materials on Communication: An Annotated Directory of Select Films, Videotapes, Videocassettes, Simulations and Games (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976—$16.00)

Sarojini Balachandran's Technical Writing: A Bibliography (Urbana, Ill.: American Business Communication Association, l977—price not given, paper)     

Popular Illustration

Susan E. Meyer's America's Great Illustrators (New York: Harry Abrams, 1978—$35.00)

Donald Walton's A Rockwell Portrait: An Intimate Biography (Kansas City: Sheed, Andrews & McMeel, 1978—$12.95)

William Hillcourt's Norman Rockwell's World of Scouting (New York: Harry Abrams, 1977—$17.95)

Leonard S. Marcus' The American Store Window (New York: Whitney Library of Design/ Watson-Guptill, 1978—$25.00)

J.C. Cooper's An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1978— $14.95)

Cathy Guisewite's The Cathy Chronicles (Kansas City: Sheed, Andrews & McMeel, 1978—$12.95/7.95)

Frank Lohan's Pen and Ink Techniques (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1978—$5.95)

Allen Hurlburt's The Grid: A Modular System for the Design and Production of Newspapers, Magazines, and Books (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1978—$16.95)

Edward Booth-Clibborn, ed. European Illustration 78/79 (New York: Hastings House, 1978— $47.50)

Ken Kesey's Sorcercers: A Collection of Fantasy Art (New York: Ballantine, 1978—$7.95, paper)

Rock Art: The Golden Age of Record Album Covers (New York: Ballantine, 1977—$8.95, paper)

David Sandison's Rockvisions: The Art of David Oxtoby (New York: Dutton, 1978—$8.95, paper)

Byron Preiss, ed. The Illustrated Roger Zelazny (New York: Baronet Publishing Co., 1978—$8.95, paper)

Ian Summers, ed. Tomorrow and Beyond: Masterpieces of Science Fiction Art (New York: Workman Publishing Co., 1978—$19.95/9.95)

Jose Pierre's An Illustrated Dictionary of Pop Art (London: Eyre Methuen/Woodbury, N.Y.: Barron's Educational Series, 1977—$3.95, paper)

Gene Baro's Graphicstudio U.S.F.: An Experiment in Art and Education (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Brooklyn Museum, 1978—price not given, paper)

Joni K. Miller & Lowry Thompson's The Rubber Stamp Album (New York: Workman Publishing Co., 1978—$12.50/6.95)     

Level of deprivation does not affect degree of discounting in pigeons

Two experiments tested the effects of food deprivation on discounting in pigeons. An adjusting-amount procedure was used to estimate the subjective value of food at delays ranging from 1 to 24 s. Experiment 1 compared pigeons’ discounting of delayed food reinforcers at 75 %–80 % and 90 %–95 % of free-feeding weight. Experiment 2 compared discounting under 1- and 23-h food deprivation. In both experiments at both deprivation levels, discounting was well described by the hyperboloid discounting function. No systematic effect of level of deprivation on degree of discounting was observed in either experiment. This finding is consistent with the view that pigeons’ choices are controlled by the relative, rather than the absolute, value of reinforcers.     

What lexical decision and naming tell us about reading

The lexical decision (LD) and naming (NAM) tasks are ubiquitous paradigms that employ printed word identification. They are major tools for investigating how factors like morphology, semantic information, lexical neighborhood and others affect identification. Although use of the tasks is widespread, there has been little research into how performance in LD or NAM relates to reading ability, a deficiency that limits the translation of research with these tasks to the understanding of individual differences in reading. The present research was designed to provide a link from LD and NAM to the specific variables that characterize reading ability (e.g., decoding, sight word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) as well as to important reading-related abilities (phonological awareness and rapid naming). We studied 99 adults with a wide range of reading abilities. LD and NAM strongly predicted individual differences in word identification, less strongly predicted vocabulary size and did not predict comprehension. Fluency was predicted but with differences that depended on the way fluency was defined. Finally, although the tasks did not predict individual differences in rapid naming or phonological awareness, the failures nevertheless assisted in understanding the cognitive mechanisms behind these reading-related abilities. The results demonstrate that LD and NAM are important tools for the study of individual differences in reading.