Editorial

As the incoming editorial team we would like to introduce ourselves to our readers. We are looking forward to doing all we can to further the high standard of the journal and its relevance as an international forum for sharing research and scholarship on teaching, learning and curriculum, and the conditions and policy environment of higher education that impinge on academic work. In an effort to ensure that our processes are efficient and transparent, we have revised the Notes to Contributors, which you will find on the back page. Next year the journal goes to four issues which will together form a somewhat larger volume, but will mean that each issue is smaller. The intent is to publish more frequently so that relevance and currency is enhanced. For this reason we will need to put more stress on observing the general rule that papers are to be 5000–7000 words in length. We are also committed to a more rapid turnaround time for submitted papers and have been working to streamline our management systems with the help of our able administrator, Karen Sanecki.     

Learning through the Soul: Concepts Relating to Learning and Knowledge in the Mayan Cultures of Mexico

International Review of Education -     

新时代高校思政课教学改革路径研究

高校思想政治课程是培养大学生形成正确价值观念的重要途径,在新时代发展环境下,对人才需求的标准也越来越高,因此,加强新时代高校思想政治课程教学改革非常有必要。现阶段,高校思想政治课程教学存在教学内容单一乏味,无法调动学生的学习积极性、高校未重视思想政治课,教学模式固定、思想政治教师总体水平较低三方面问题,为此,需要从完善教学内容,调动学生学习积极性、注重开展思想政治课程,引入新型教学方法、提高思想政治教师整体素养与水平三个方面进行解决。     

Drugs,labels and (p)ill-fitting boxes: ADHD and children who are hard to teach

In offering a critical review of the problem we call ‘ADHD’ (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), this paper progresses in three stages. The first two parts feature the dominant voices emanating from the literature in medicine and psychology which, when juxtaposed, highlight an interdependency between these otherwise competing interest groups. In Part 3, the nature of the relationship between these groups and the institution of the school is considered, as is the role that the school may play in the psycho-pathologisation of fidgety, distractible, active children who prove hard to teach. In so doing, the author provides an insight as to why the problem we call ‘ADHD’ has achieved celebrity status in Australia and what the effects of that may be for children who come to be described in these ways.     

Reinforcer Preferences of Secondary Students with Disabilities

WHILE TEACHERS are often the ones who select the objects, events and activities that serve as potential reinforcers in their contingency management systems, research indicates that teachers are not always accurate in their selection of reinforcers that are motivating to their students. This study examined the reinforcement preferences of 110 secondary students with disabilities. Respondents rated 90 potential reinforcers using a three‐point Likert scale. Results indicated that while student preferences represent a range of reinforcers within existing reinforcement hierarchies, the sample group tended to prefer less intrusive higher level reinforcers. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The knowledge workstation: an electronic environment for knowledge management

This paper focuses on the creation of the IAIMS workstation in the context of the outcomes of a year-long IAIMS strategic planning process at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI). These outcomes include a long-term institutional vision for a functional knowledge management environment, a JHMI IAIMS model, a strategic plan, and two model prototypes. The functional requirements and specific implementation strategies for the IAIMS workstation, the prototype for managing the knowledge base of the published biomedical literature, are discussed in detail.     

Unspoken Exclusion: Experiences of continued marginalisation from education among 'hard to reach' groups of adults and children in the UK

Despite UK government initiatives aimed to address social exclusion, local experience of those who have the poorest access to economic and social resources is that they continue to be marginalised from education and other mainstream institutions, and excluded from a voice in designing remedial initiatives. This paper draws on the experiences of particularly women and children in a study undertaken with non-English-speaking and other culturally excluded groups in two inner-city areas. It aims to explore both common and discrete experiences of social exclusion in relation to mainstream institutions; and to locate these within a frame of some current social and education policy interventions. The paper contributes to a growing literature that seeks to examine the local effects of new policy initiatives.