Credentialism,national targets,and the learning society: perspectives on educational attainment in the UK steel industry

The United Kingdom has devised a set of National Learning Targets to be achieved by 2002. Revised from an earlier set of National Targets for Education and Training (NTETs), the latest ones embrace 11-21-year-olds, adults and employers and promote a credentialist approach to both economic and social development. Their primary purpose, according to the National Advisory Council for Education and Training Targets (NACETT) is to make the country more competitive internationally and to promote social cohesion. This paper draws on a study of how one occupational sector, the steel industry, measures up to the national targets for the adult workforce. The findings of the study question the appropriateness of using qualifications-based targets as a proxy for adult capability in the workplace and industrial viability. The paper argues that this credentialist approach detracts from the real challenges which the UK faces in becoming a learning society.     

Are we allowed to blink? Young children's leadership and ownership while mediating interactions around technologies

This article describes the formation of children's social interactions around technologies in preschools. This paper presents evidence from a study that explores how 3- to 5-year-old children construct their social interactions through the mediation of their peers while using technological resources. Utilising a systematic and iterative data collection and analysis cycle, children's interactions with 24 technological resources were examined over a nine-month period and across three phases. Findings reveal that children draw on social status roles and technological positions to gain control and influence over technologies and their peers. When combined these roles and positions affect children's agency to determine social interactions around technological resources. In essence, this paper demonstrates that a complex social dynamic, in addition to technological artefacts, shape children's social interactions in contemporary technology-rich preschools.     

Growing beans with Thoreau: rescuing skills and vocational education from the UK's deficit approach

This paper argues for a broader‐based approach to vocational education (VET) and the concept of skill, one that is capable of extending responsibility for improvement to society as a whole, rather than expecting change to come from a single constituency, that of employers. By reclaiming the important roles which vocational education and practical skills play in the everyday lives of people and communities, it might be possible to rescue the concept of VET from its current manifestation as a deficit activity, reluctantly funded by government.     

In Remembrance of Dr. Ann Nevin: From Early Teacher Consultation Practices to Full Inclusion

This article reviews aspects of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that support collaborative decision making in planning for individual student needs. The U.S. Office of Special Education Programs(OSEP) has funded several areas to provide a framework for collaboration. Findings from the Beacons Projects and other OSEP-supported projects are discussed within the context of IDEA's focus on collaboration.     

Validity of the VmaxST portable metabolic measurement system

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess and compare the validity of the portable VmaxST telemetry metabolic measurement device with that of a standard measurement system (Vmax29). Thirty asymptomatic, moderately active males provided written, informed consent and completed two maximal graded treadmill exercise tests (Bruce) using the VmaxST and the Vmax29 metabolic measurement systems. Tests were performed in random order on separate days to obtain peak values for time to exhaustion, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, oxygen consumption ([Vdot]O₂), carbon dioxide production ([Vdot]CO₂), ventilation ([Vdot] _E), and respiratory exchange ratio (RER). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed no significant main effect (P = 0.88) between the two systems across any variable, suggesting similar measurement capabilities between the two systems. Linear regression analyses revealed moderate to high coefficients of determination for [Vdot]O₂ (r ² = 0.99), [Vdot]CO₂ (r ² = 0.99), [Vdot] _E (r ² = 0.99), and RER (r ² = 0.89). Furthermore, Bland-Altman analyses demonstrated that the VmaxST yielded similar values to the Vmax29, suggesting good agreement between the two systems. Agreement was confirmed when the differences between the methods resulted in a small range as identified by the 95% limits of agreement. Findings from the current study confirm that the VmaxST is a valid device for measuring metabolic and physiological variables during exercise within a controlled laboratory setting.     

Internet of toys across home and early childhood education: understanding the ecology of the child’s social world

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from an ongoing international study of children’s use of Internet-connected toys (IoToys) across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Greece. The authors sought to investigate practices with IoToys across homes and early childhood settings. Data from 12 case study families and approximately 200 children who interacted with case study children in early childhood settings were collected alongside interviews with parents and educators. Findings indicate that digital difference between home and education is recurring due to infrastructure and budgetary issues in early childhood settings, resulting in organic play-based IoToy use at home versus structured adult-directed teaching of IoToys in early childhood practice. Working from a social-ecological theoretical frame however demonstrated that children skilfully and fluidly transitioned between digital and non-digital play and across diverse socio ecological contexts of home and early childhood settings.     

Auditory frequency discrimination in children with dyslexia

A popular hypothesis holds that developmental dyslexia is caused by phonological processing problems and is therefore linked to difficulties in the analysis of spoken as well as written language. It has been suggested that these phonological deficits might be attributable to low‐level problems in processing the temporal fine structure of auditory cues. Evidence for this has come from studies showing poor performance of dyslexic individuals on measures of auditory frequency discrimination (FD). We compared the FD thresholds of 28 children with dyslexia to 28 age‐matched controls aged 6–13, on a task that minimised demands on short‐term memory. To investigate the mechanisms involved in potential FD deficits, FD thresholds were measured at 1 kHz, where temporal cues were available, and at 6 kHz, where they were not. The dyslexic group had significantly higher FD thresholds than controls in both the 1‐ and 6‐kHz conditions. These findings confirm that children with dyslexia often have poor FD, even when, as in this sample, they have normal language comprehension and expressive vocabulary, and when they are tested using a paradigm that minimises memory demands. However, their perceptual deficit was evident for both the 1‐ and 6‐kHz tones, and so cannot readily be explained in terms of problems in processing temporal fine structure.