Stories of reading: Inside and outside the texts of portfolios

This essay employs Barbara Herrnstein Smith's notion of “contingencies of value,” the idea that evaluations of text vary because our readings take place in specific contexts and are shaped by cultural and historical exigencies. In this study, we apply this notion to the reading of student texts in a college composition portfolio assessment. Through an analysis of taped teacher discussions of students' writing and an examination of student responses to the grading process, we conclude that in every reading of a text (but especially in the reading of the multiple texts of a portfolio) readers posit an “implied author.” That is, based on their reading of a single text or portfolio, teacher-readers construct a persona that represents the author, and this projection can strongly influence the reader's evaluation of student work. Group discussions of portfolios allow teachers to expose and explore the value-laden nature of these judgments.     

Beyond Tippekampen: the origins and maintenance of Scandinavian support for the Liverpool FC

Professional sport is a highly marketable product, whereby favourite teams often become ‘overseas sweethearts’ for millions of satellite supporters and their imagined community of like-minded fans. Scandinavia has historically proven to be a fertile market for English football and is home to some of the largest supporter groups for English clubs, in particular the Liverpool FC. This article examines the origins of Scandinavian identification with the Merseyside club and how satellite supporters in the region maintain a connection with the famous brand. Scandinavian supporters highlighted the importance of the media, especially the popularity of state-run television programmes such as Tippekampen, the team’s playing style and the presence of star players in their initial support for Liverpool FC and explained how they had turned to a virtual ‘third place’ to regularly connect and engage with fellow fans and the brand in cyberspace. In a global marketplace, satellite supporters are critical for the future of many brands and this article offers a valuable case study for those who seek to exploit these markets, monetize these consumers and build equity for their team brands.     

Higher education: Paradise lost?

Universities in many cultures and times have had golden ages the most recent throughout the Western World lasted from the end of World War II to about 1970. Now the prevailing mood is one of pessimism: the golden age is over. In fact, however, universal access postsecondary education is healthy and continuing to grow in most nations; mass access higher education is generally static; and it is the elite sector of higher education that most suffers a decline in prestige, in faculty morale, in rate of growth of enrollments and financing, in independence, and in other ways. The paper analyzes some of the reasons for the comparative decline of the elite sector, including (1) the historical transition from elite to mass access to universal higher education, (2) the politicization of higher education, and (3) the increasing submergence of higher education under external social controls. The author argues that elite, or highly selective, higher education is useful for the creation of knowledge and for training the highly skilled persons needed by modern nations and economies, and suggests that a differentiated system of postsecondary education, such as exists in some countries now, is essential for its survival. Differentiated by function, the different segments are also distinguished by different levels of admission requirements, principles for selection of faculty, levels of financial support, amount of institutional autonomy, and the relative importance of academic freedom. A series of guidelines are suggested for the preservation of an effective highly selective segment.Adapted from an address given in connection with the ceremonies commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the founding of Uppsala University, September 1977.     

Teacher development through coteaching outdoor science and environmental education across the elementary-middle school transition

Abstract

This study considers the benefits of coteaching in the context of the outdoors. It explores the use of coteaching in a professional development program and investigates all the cited outcome categories for teachers: cognitive, affective, coteaching, and professional development. Coteaching pairs coplanned, cotaught, and coevaluated “Shared Learning Days” in the outdoors. Eight teachers took part with 180 students in their last year of elementary school or their first year of (junior) high school. This article demonstrates how a model of professional development, with coteaching at its core, is beneficial for the development of teachers who are teaching “outside” their comfort zone (outdoors) and expected to focus on skills-based teaching and learning. In particular, the benefits of attitudinal change among the teachers involved is discussed.     

Why we all want it to work: towards a culturally based model for technology and educational change

This paper explores reasons why the use of technology in education may be so attractive to so many people. Two emerging perspectives—memetics, and the social history of technology—are explored, and a typology of technology‐as‐cultural‐tool is presented. Finally, implications of these ideas for educational change are considered.     

Computerized Presentation of Text: Effects on Children’s Reading of Informational Material

This study examined whether children’s reading rate, comprehension, and recall are affected by computer presentation of text. Participants were 60 grade five students, who each read two expository texts, one in a traditional print format and the other from a computer monitor, which used a common scrolling text interface. After reading each text, participants were asked to recall as much as they could from what they had read and then answered questions that measured text recall and comprehension. Children took more time to read the passage and recalled more of the text material that they had read from the computer monitor. The benefit of computer presentation disappeared when efficiency variables, which take time into account, were examined. Children were, however, more efficient at comprehending text when reading from paper. The results suggest that children may take more time to read text on computer screens and that they are more efficient when reading text on paper.