The Politically and Culturally One-Sided Campus: Causes, Consequences, Remedies: Pernicious Politicization in Academe: Victims of the One-Sided Campus: Advocacy in the College Classroom

The three papers that follow were delivered on 22 April 2006 at a conference of the California Association of Scholars at the Annenberg School on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The aim of the panelists was to diagnose the political and cultural imbalance in higher education, to analyze its causes and consequences, and to look for remedies. Other essays from that conference may appear later in AQ.     

Science education and affect

Thought experiments are tools often used by physicists. Learning authentic physics then also means that students need to develop a familiarity with the reasoning processes of thought experiments. This study examines the nature of learning processes that involve communication about image‐based micro‐worlds in optics. The results of this study show that students’ investigations often have the structure of thought experiments. Thought experiments that use computer‐based microworlds are powerful because they capitalize on the human capability for imagery that allow learners to ‘see’ the physical processes and construct qualitative understandings. In this study, the structure of students’ activities as thought experiments arose from their collective efforts which started with the construction of an optics simulation. In the course of the activities, students’ understanding evolved from fragmented views of optical situations to system views that included multiple components. Collaborative thought experiments are therefore emergent phenomena, triggered by the events as a whole rather than being pre‐designed. In the course of the activities, students who participated in collective problem solving gradually adopted shared graphical representations and meanings.     

Evaluating a Classroom Multimedia Programme in the Teaching of Literacy

This paper explores classroom interventions using a particular form of multimedia ICT, and looks to study pupil learning gains which accrue from its use. Work within the Literacy Hour in eight schools was detailed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this communication system and the research data include pre- and post-test assessments, along with interviews with classroom teachers and pupils. The children are presented with a series of journalistic tasks and classroom activities which they resolve through the use of a compact and coordinated information system. The outcomes demonstrate that children can become self-directive and very active, exploratory, learners in a very short period of time. They quickly enjoy the freedom and control which the system permits, and through which they can be shown to enhance particular literacy skills. The lessons to be learned here relate to the management and organisation of classroom teaching in the face of systems which promote rapid devolution of learning to the learner.     

The Complementary roles of the Headteacher,the Mentor and the Advisory Teacher in Induction and School‐based Teacher Training

This article reports on the findings of a two year research project on the management of new teacher induction in five LEAs (Turner, 1992). Headteachers, mentors and newly qualified teachers in twelve schools were interviewed as were LEA officers, Inspectors and advisory teachers. The analysis showed the key roles of headteacher, mentor and advisory teacher to be different but complementary. The conclusions are drawn from a detailed analysis of some 180 interviews.     

News and views

This is a new section of the journal which will appear once a year, or more often if there is a clear demand for it. The intention is to provide a place for short (no more than 1000‐word) contributions from readers who would like to inform others of particular developments or issues, or who would like to present brief position statements on specific curricular themes.

We hope, particularly, that the local groups of the Curriculum Association, our overseas corresponding editors and members of our advisory board will use the opportunity this provides to draw colleagues’ attention to trends, developments and issues of which we ought to be aware at this time of rapid change. The need to stay in touch has never been greater.     

Theory and practice of a TEMPUS Joint European Project

Abstract

The paper describes the implementation of a Trans European Mobility Programme for University Staff (TEMPUS) Project during 1992 to 1995 between the Manchester Metropolitan University, in the UK, the Institut de Formation des Maîtres, Grenoble, France, and the Siauliai Pedagogical Institute (SPI), Lithuania. The aim of the Project was the development of the special educational needs (SEN) element of teacher education courses at the SPI to enhance the integration of pupils with SEN into mainstream schools, and of those pupils with severe and sustained SEN into education. It discusses the necessary extension of the Project into associated areas of professional work, analyses the theoretical bases underlying the Project and demonstrates the cyclical development of theory and practice which was achieved.     

Assertive Discipline in a school for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties

The management of difficult and disruptive behaviour continues to be an issue in many classrooms. In this article, Jeremy Swinson, a senior educational psychologist and honorary lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, and Mike Cording, an education consultant working in Southport, consider the impact of in-service training on the use of Assertive Discipline in a school for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). Swinson and Cording report improved rates of 'on-task' behaviour for pupils across the age range and reduction in numbers of disruptive incidents. These changes in pupil behaviour mirror an increase in teachers' use of positive feedback and praise. Swinson and Cording argue that these techniques are effective even for those pupils who are seen as being disaffected or very discouraged.