Examining the aesthetic dimensions of teaching: Relationships between teacher knowledge,identity and passion

Having an appreciation for the subject, their students and what the subject can offer their students has both cognitive and emotional dimensions for teachers. This paper uses empirical data to explore the efficacy of a Deweyan inspired framework called “Aesthetic Understanding” to scrutinise relationships between teacher knowledge, identity and passion. The paper uses case study data of three teachers of maths and/or science generated from a video study to illustrate the relationships between the three elements of Aesthetic Understanding. The need to value the aesthetic dimensions of teaching when examining the subject-specific nature of secondary teaching is discussed.     

The Struggle for Early Childhood Curricula: A comparison of the English Foundation Stage Curriculum,Te Wha¨riki and Reggio Emilia

Parents, teachers, researchers and politicians often have strong and conflicting views about what is right for young children in the years before school. Curricula can become 'sites of struggle' between ideas about what early childhood education is for, and what are appropriate content and contexts for learning and development in early childhood. This paper focuses upon the way visions for early childhood are expressed through the curricula offered in three very different contexts--in England, New Zealand and Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy. These three examples of early childhood curricula are compared in order to explore how a growing pressure from vocational and instrumental influences can impact on progressive and socioculturally inspired early childhood curricula and approaches. A comparison of these examples also reveals how early childhood curricula and educational systems are often forged amidst differing contexts in relation to national and local control of early childhood curricula and approaches. These differing contexts can also give rise to differing conceptualisations of knowledge, learning and pedagogy. Des professeurs, des chercheurs et des politiciens ont souvent des vues fortes et contradictoires au sujet de ce qui est bon pour les jeunes enfants dans les anne´es avant l'e´cole. Les programmes d'e´tudes peuvent devenir 'des sites de lutte' entre les ide´es au sujet du but de la premie ¤ re e´ducation d'enfance, et au sujet du contenu et des contextes pertinents a ¤ l'apprentissage et le de´veloppement dans la petite enfance. Cet article se focalise sur la manie ¤ re que des visions pour la petite enfance sont exprime´es par les programmes d'e´tudes offerts en trois contextes tre ¤ s diffe´rents--en Angleterre, Nouvelle-Ze´lande et Reggio Emilia dans l'Italie Septentrionale. Ces trois exemples des programmes d'e´tudes de la petite enfance sont compare´s afin d'explorer comment une pression croissante des influences professionnelles et instrumentales peut faire une forte impression sur les programmes d'e´tudes et des approches progressifs et inspire´s par des approches socioculturels. Une comparaison de ces exemples re´ve ¤ le aussi comment les programmes d'e´tudes de la petite enfance et les syste ¤ mes d'e´ducation sont souvent forge´s parmi des contextes diffe´rents par rapport au controle national et local de programmes d'e´tudes sur la premie ¤ re enfance et des approches diffe´rents. Ces contextes qui diffe ¤ rent peuvent engendrer aussi conceptualisations qui diffe ¤ rent sur la connaissance, l'apprentissage et la pe´dagogie. Los padres, los profesores, los investigadores y los poli´ticos tienen a menudo visiones fuertes y en conflicto sobre lo que es correcto para los nin ¨ os pequen ¨ os en los an ¨ os que preceden a la escuela. Los planes de estudios pueden convertirse en "sitios de lucha" entre las ideas sobre el propo´sito de la educacio´n preescolar y sobre cuales son el contenido y contextos apropiados para aprender y para el desarrollo en la primera infancia. Este arti´culo se centra sobre la manera que las visiones para la nin ¨ ez temprana son expresadas a trave´s de los planes de estudios ofrecidos en tres contextos muy diversos--en Inglaterra, Nueva Zelanda y en Reggio Emilia en el norte de Italia. Estos tres ejemplos de los planes de estudios de la nin ¨ ez temprana se comparan para explorar co´mo una presio´n cada vez mayor de influencias vocacionales e instrumentales puede afectar los planes de estudios y acercamientos metodolo´gicos progresistas e inspirados por tendencias socioculturales. Una comparacio´n de estos ejemplos tambie´n revela co´mo los planes de estudios de la nin ¨ ez temprana y los sistemas educativos se forjan a menudo en medio de contextos divergentes en lo referente al control nacional y local de los planes de estudios y de los acercamientos metodolo´gicos sobre la nin ¨ ez temprana. Estos contextos divergentes pueden tambie´n dar lugar a conceptualizaciones divergentes del conocimiento, del aprendizaje y de la pedagogi´a.     

Early Crying,Sleeping, and Feeding Problems and Trajectories of Attention Problems From Childhood to Adulthood

This study investigated if crying, sleeping or feeding problems that co-occur (multiple regulatory problems [RPs]) or are persistent predict attention problems and diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood and adulthood. Participants were 342 individuals who were assessed at 5, 20, and 56 months for crying, sleeping, and feeding (RPs) and at 6, 8, and 28 years for ADHD diagnoses, attention problems, and attention span. Infants/toddlers with multiple/persistent RPs had an increased risk of receiving an ADHD diagnosis both in childhood and adulthood compared to those who never had RPs. Multiple/persistent RPs were further associated with a high-decreasing attention problems trajectory from childhood to adulthood. Interventions to alleviate early RPs may prevent the development of attention problems.     

Integrating instruction of science,reading, and writing: Goals,teacher development,and assessment

This article describes the interplay of goals, teacher development, and assessment in the context of a yearlong research and development project. The aim of the project was to integrate the teaching of science, reading, and writing processes in a conceptually based, constructivist curriculum for middle school students who read below grade level. A performance-based assessment was designed and implemented to determine the level of student awareness and control over the processes taught during a unit of instruction. Interviews with science teachers and supervisors revealed the important interaction of curricular goals, the performance assessment, and instructional practice.     

Entering a crack: an encounter with gossip

In this paper, I enter a crack to think otherwise about the concept “gossip”. Drawing on previous scholarship engaging with Deleuzian concepts to inform research methodologies, this paper builds on this body of work. Following Deleuze and Guattari, the paper undertakes a mapping of gossip, subsequent to an encounter with a crack. Thinking about gossip as something other than woman’s small talk, the paper follows a line opening up gossip onto an intensive web of affects and Deleuze’s becoming-woman. It concludes arguing that the process of entering a crack unlocked thought, making possible new ways of engaging with data.     

Funds of Knowledge: An investigation of coherence within the literature

Two decades ago academics based at the University of Arizona brought the anthropological concept of Funds of Knowledge into the educational realm, providing a new conceptual framework to counter deficit theorizing of Latino students and their families. The growing body of literature evidences the belief and hope of academics in the potential of Funds of Knowledge to advance social justice and facilitate long-awaited breakthroughs in multicultural education practice.This paper provides an overview and analysis of Funds of Knowledge literature, addressing two key questions: What is the current scope of settings for Funds of Knowledge research? What do writers mean when they talk about Funds of Knowledge? Findings of differences in definitions indicate their contested nature. The review recommends clear articulation by researchers of the definition employed. Key questions arising from studies are presented and implications for multicultural education practice and teacher education are discussed.     

跨越零和:思考当代中国的中央地方关系

省政府在中国政治体制内拥有多大的权力,该权力的性质又是什么?该问题贯穿了海外研究当代中国中央与省政府关系的献。为了理解这种权力关系,考察重心通常放在省级领导人的角色,以及政治体制的性质。本认为,现有献大体上都未能解释清楚以下两个看似相互矛盾的现象何以能够在现实生活中共存：即一方面中央和省政府之间存在错综复杂的关系,很多时候中央与地方会互相适应及让步;另一方面,每当中央偶尔实施强制性管理,中央政府又展示出至高无上的权力。出现中央时强时弱这高度不确定的结论,是由于献中的分析往往未能恰切地解释权力这概念,其中核心问题是：中央与省政府之间存在的不对称关系是否零和博弈。