Beyond educational semiotics: A response to Cunningham

The case is made that the theoretical propositions and instructional recommendations that Cunningham attributes to semiotics are shared with other perspectives. However, the theoretical and instructional positions Cunningham favors must be evaluated more completely if they are to be acceptable to the educational psychology community, which is generally more positivist in its orientation than the semiotics community. Nonetheless, we emphasize that the methodological approaches favored by Cunningham have the potential for permitting rapid progress in understanding and evaluating the instructional beliefs and practices consistent with semiotic analyses.     

Faculty Members' Perceptions of Teacher Preparation Programs

This research study examined faculty members' reaction to criticisms about the quality and design of teacher preparation programs at schools and colleges of education. The researchers found that there is confusion among teacher preparation professionals about their programs and research. The study also showed that, in general, teacher educators are resistant to change.     

PERCEIVED CHOICE OF PROSE MATERIALS BY YOUNG AND ELDERLY ADULTS

Three experiments evaluated the effects of perceived choice upon comprehension and memory of prose reading passages. Participants in the choice conditions selected the titles of the passages they read, while the rest of the volunteers were not given the opportunity to choose. Experiment 1 compared choice and no choice conditions with young (x = 28.3 years) and elderly (x ‐ 68.9 years) adults of various vocabulary levels. Experiments 2 and 3 tested only elderly groups to evaluate a wider range of vocabulary levels and to compare the effects of starting the reading task either immediately after choosing the titles or after a delay of 2 to 3 weeks. The results indicated both age‐ and vocabulary‐related deficits. However, perceived choice conditions did not produce any consistent improvement in performance.     

The changing nature of assessment in English primary classrooms: Findings from the PACE project 1989–1997

The effective use of evaluation is currently hailed as the ultimate tool in raising standards and ensuring accountability for virtually all areas of life. Nowhere has this been more in evidence than in the area of schooling. This increasing emphasis on target setting and the raising of standards through summative assessment has brought with it major changes to the educative experience for both teachers and their pupils. The PACE Project, which began in 1989, was designed to track these changes as they impacted on a representative sample of teachers and their pupils as they progressed through primary schooling. This article highlights some of the major issues which have emerged from the study and goes on to discuss what implications these might have for future policy-making.     

Leadership as Learning: Conceptualizing the Process

ABSTRACT

Community College leaders face new and diverse challenges, often requiring different orientations to leadership than were effective previously. Yet, focusing on leadership as a series of career stages through which particular skills and techniques are learned often leaves leaders without the capacity to do the adaptive work required of their changing organizations. Conceptualizing leadership as an on-going process of learning relinquishes the need for a specific career orientation, and focuses on developing and sharing leadership throughout the college. Taking this approach uncovers mental models that affect how administrators see the world and, therefore, act within any environment. It shifts the goal of leadership preparation to understanding the concepts (and processes) of transforming organizational reality, challenging organizational status quo, and of deep change. It also ties leadership more directly to creating learning environments for leaders and others, which is important for community colleges interested in fulfilling the role of learning colleges. A model presenting leadership as learning concepts is presented, showing changes over time reflecting cognitive development of leaders and followers.