Wasteland revisited: defining an agenda for a sociology of education and migration

Abstract

In 2007, we argued that, when it comes to sociology of education, the lives and education of refugee children were invisible. Sociology of education was ‘a wasteland’ as far as studies of the social effects of migration were concerned. Here, we revisit this argument exploring whether education and migration has been developed into a viable specialism in the discipline, and whether one of the great societal challenges of our age is being addressed. Examining the work published on migration and education since 2005 in BJSE, we see that the majority of studies focus on the global mobility of students and on school experiences of migrant children. While these are valuable foci, what is missing is a more extensive consideration of how ‘the age of migration’ and the characteristics of global migration in the 21st century challenge the values, the policies and practices associated with state education institutions and social order.     

Inter-Life: a novel,three-dimensional,virtual learning environment for life transition skills learning

This paper presents the findings from one of the first empirical research studies which has investigated the impact of Inter-Life; a novel three-dimensional immersive virtual learning environment, on learning and development of social and educational life transition skills in a group of looked after and accommodated children. Drawing on social constructivism in which meaningful learning is related to context and situated in practice, we report on a series of Inter-Life workshops that enabled young people to work together and through the processes of participation in authentic learning activities contributed to the development of life transition skills such as self-confidence, empathy, negotiation and mediation skills, teamwork and active problem-solving skills. The novel affordances of the Inter-Life virtual world which contributed to the development of the learning community included the ability to personalise learner engagement and activities from the outset along with ‘co-presence’ and ‘immersion’ and the flexibility provided by the innovative, technology-enhanced Inter-Life platform. This study presents some empirical evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of new models of learning that are mediated by innovative malleable technologies that can be shaped by the learner in a participatory manner.     

History of U.S. Broadcasting

Irving E. Fang Those Radio Commentators (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1977—$14.95)

Judy Fireman TV Book: The Ultimate Television Book (New York: Workman Publishing Co, 1977—$7.95, paper with a hardback also available)

Raymond William Stedman The Serials: Suspense and Drama by Installment (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977—$12.95)

Madeleine Edmondson and David Rounds From Mary Noble to Mary Hartman: The Complete Soap Opera Book (New York: Jove Books (Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich), 1977— $1.75, paper)     

The Experience of Time at Work: Relationship to Communication Load,Job Satisfaction,and Interdepartmental Communication

This study examined 393 organizational members' reported communication load, job satisfaction, and interdepartmental communication satisfaction in relation to their experience of time along eleven dimensions—flexibility, linearity, pace, punctuality, delay, scheduling, separation, urgency, scarcity, and future and present time foci. Results indicate that organizational members who experienced their time as more delayed, more flexible, and more oriented toward the future tended to report higher levels of communication load. Additionally, members who characterized their work as more punctual and oriented toward the future were more satisfied with their jobs, while those who experienced work as faster paced were less satisfied. Finally, the organizational members most satisfied with communication among departments reported their work patterns as more linear and more strongly oriented toward the future, while members who reported their work as more delayed were least satisfied with such interdepartmental interactions.     

Analysis of Gymnastics Judges' Visual Search

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the visual search patterns of gymnastics judges. The subjects were four national judges (experienced) and three local judges (novice). Three dependent variables were measured: the number and the location of ocular fixations during the evaluation of a gymnast's performance, and the number of errors made by the judges. Ocular fixations were studied by the corneal reflection technique with a NAC Eye-Movement Recorder. There was no statistical difference in the number of fixations for both groups of judges. However, the expert judges had 27% less fixations than the novice judges. A statistical difference was found between expert judges and novice judges for the location of fixations; experts had more fixations on the upper part of the gymnast's body, while novices concentrated their attention on the legs. The type of routine significantly affected the number of fixations; more fixations were found for optional routines. There was no statistical difference in the number of judgment errors made by the two groups of judges. However, novice judges detected only half the gymnast's errors detected by the expert judges.     

Education for pupils with profound disabilities: Issues of policy,curriculum, teaching methods,and evaluation

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses some issues in the education of pupils who have profound disabilities. Following an examination of policy and curriculum issues, we review recent research on teaching methods. In particular, we look critically at the concepts and methods of behavioural psychology and its influence in this field of education. We then examine the issue of evaluation of educational outcomes using illustrations from current research at a special school for adolescents with profound disabilities. Finally, we suggest some directions for future research which place the education of persons who have profound disabilities clearly within the mainstream of educational thinking and research endeavour.     

Student–teacher relationships matter: Moderating influences between temperament and preschool social competence

Ecological approaches to preschool assessment, which consider both within‐child and environmental variables, are considered best practice for school psychologists. This study employs such a model to investigate the interactive influence of child temperament and student–teacher relationship quality on peer play behaviors. Parents of 44 preschool children (25 girls, 19 boys) ranging in age from 40 to 68 months (mean [M] = 53.00) and primarily White (92.9%) provided ratings of their children's temperaments on the Behavioral Style Questionnaire. Their teachers completed the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Results indicate that (a) student–teacher relationships characterized by low conflict and low dependence are associated with less disruptive peer play, and (b) the association between temperament and disruptive play is attenuated in low conflict student–teacher relationships. Implications for school psychologists include the importance of student–teacher relationships in the context of preschool assessment and intervention planning. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Student laboratory presentations as a learning tool in anatomy education

Previous studies have shown that anatomy students who complete oral laboratory presentations believe they understand the material better and retain it longer than they otherwise would if they only took examinations on the material; however, we have found no studies that empirically test such outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of oral presentations through comparisons with other methods of assessment, most notably, examination performance. Specifically, we tested whether students (n = 256) performed better on examination questions on topics covered by their oral presentations than on other topics. Each student completed two graded, 12‐minute laboratory presentations on two different assigned topics during the course and took three examinations, each of which covered a third of the course material. Examination questions were characterized by type (memorization, pathway, analytical, spatial). A two‐way repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that students performed better on topics covered by their presentations than on topics not covered by their presentations (P < 0.005), regardless of presentation grade (P > 0.05) and question type (P > 0.05). These results demonstrate empirically that oral presentations are an effective learning tool. Anat Sci Educ 2: 260–264, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Gender respect: Empirical insights for (moral) educators about women’s struggles for respect in the Global South

Promoting gender respect is essential to the development of both sexes and to gender equality. This article argues for the importance of moral education to support the struggle of girls and women to achieve respect within unequal and complex gender power relations, especially in poverty contexts. Evidence collected from a sequence of in-depth qualitative studies in the Global South highlights the diverse ways that the giving of respect and the struggle to be respected shapes women’s lives. We show that moral education has a role to play in foregrounding female voices in order to: better understand the poverty-gender-education nexus; recognise the contribution of women and mothers as moral educators; acknowledge girls’ struggles to gain self-respect, peer respect and mitigate disrespect; and, ensure sexual respect despite aggressive masculinities. Moral education programmes which encourage respectful relations between the sexes need to address these highly contextualised forms of struggles for ‘gender respect’.     

Learning for professional life: Student teachers' and graduated teachers' views of learning,responsibility and collaboration

The focus of this study is on how final-semester students and newly-graduated teachers experience the formal objectives of teacher education, with a particular view of the concepts of learning, responsibility and collaboration. The ways of experiencing these concepts varied from conceptions in which only one dimension is discerned from in the student teachers group to conceptions in which several dimensions of the phenomena are discerned in the graduate teachers group.