Reading for pleasure in paradise: paired reading in Antigua and Barbuda

Reading for pleasure is essential in the development of literacy. This paper reports on findings from a paired reading strategy introduced into primary schools in Antigua and Barbuda in order to foster children's pleasure in reading. This programme of cross‐age peer tutoring intervention began with the training of teachers in a small group of seven schools and was extended to all the schools on the islands in the following year. Qualitative research data from children and teachers showed that children were enthusiastic about the experience, with some evidence to show that their wider interest in reading was stimulated. Although for the pupils, particularly the younger ones, the main benefit of shared reading was perceived to be an improvement in reading skills, for teachers, it was the increase in children's confidence in reading that was cited as the most positive outcome. Although resource constraints in some schools did limit the scope of the programme, the paper argues that it boosted the reading development of a number of children and may have acted as a catalyst for stimulating a lasting pleasure and joy in reading.     

THE DEPICTION OF OLD AGE IN SIX BASAL READERS

Six commonly used basal readers were examined to determine how the aged were depicted. The results indicated that although the aged were shown in a positive manner, rarely were they the main characters of the stories and rarely were their personalities fully portrayed. An adjective checklist revealed that the aged typically were shown as active, kind, wise, and hardworking. They rarely were portrayed as fashionable, attractive, or good‐looking. Illustrations also tended to be stereotyped, with women portrayed as bespectacled, wearing aprons and their hair in bows, and sitting in rocking chairs. Men tended to smoke pipes, be bald, and wear suspenders. These results tend to substantiate those of previous studies.     

Education in Malaysia: Towards Vision 2020

This article analyses the relationship between educational development and the socio-political and economic context of Malaysia. Under the rubric of Vision 2020, there is a liberalisation of educational policies leading to the democratisation, privatisation and decentralisation of the Malaysian educational system. In conjunction with mass education, both the primary and secondary school curricula were revised with great emphasis on the development of an all-round individual, the acquisition of basic skills, the inculcation of moral values, and the abolishment of early specialisation. The educational administrative system has been decentralised to promote school-based management and teacher empowerment. Furthermore, the private sector has been encouraged to play an active role in providing higher education.     

The DREAMS Team: Creating community partnerships through research advocacy training for diverse older adults

The DREAMS Team research advocacy training program helps clinical faculty and health students introduce basic clinical research concepts to diverse older adults to galvanize their active involvement in the research process. Older adults are frequently underrepresented in clinical research, due to barriers to participation including distrust, historical mistreatment, and their lack of health literacy. The DREAMS Team program aims to involve diverse older adults throughout all phases of research and increase research participation, thereby contributing to the growth of quality patient-centered, evidence-based health care. This course was developed for clinical faculty to deliver to diverse adults aged 55+ in eight 50-minute lectures, followed by half-hour small group discussions moderated by health students. A pilot cohort of 24 individuals was assessed for satisfaction post-program, and self-efficacy before and after the program. Older adult participants improved on a survey measure of self-efficacy, and indicated satisfaction on a post-program questionnaire. All agreed or strongly agreed that they enjoyed participating, and that classes enhanced knowledge/skills about the topics, were high quality, and provided useful information. Twenty-two out of 24 individuals who completed the program indicated they planned to get involved as research advocates. The DREAMS Team program can be offered either on its own, or as a follow-up program to a general health education course led by health students and/or professional researchers or clinicians. Educating older adults about the research process and advocacy through interactive seminars led by congenial and respectful researchers and health students may remove some barriers to research participation and involvement among diverse older adults.     

Reducing Inequality in Higher Education: The Link between Faculty Empowerment and Climate and Retention

Since 2001 the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program has distributed over $130 million in grants to improve work climate, enhance professional success, and increase recruitment and retention of female faculty in STEM fields. The process by which each institution designs and implements these interventions is seldom studied, however. Using climate surveys, administrative records, and a difference-in-differences regression approach, we assessed whether exposure to the design and implementation process helps explain improvements in climate and retention during the early years of ADVANCE implementation. We found that departments wherein at least one faculty member participated in ADVANCE committee work experienced significant improvements in job satisfaction among female faculty members and significant reduction in turnover among female full professors, suggesting that the ADVANCE design process was itself an intervention.     

When mere knowledge is not enough: the potential of bildung as self-determination,co-determination and solidarity

How can higher education educate graduates who know more than ‘just knowledge’? Such an education includes developing in students an awareness of the limits of their knowledge, an ability to discern what kinds of knowledge are appropriate in a given situation and a sensitivity to different forms of knowing. When is scientific rigour appropriate and when is another type of knowing appropriate? When should one set aside own preferences in favour of the needs of others? This paper rethinks ‘bildung’ as a source of ideas on aims for teaching students. Making the arguably ephemeral ideal of bildung work in practice can be an obstacle. This paper, however, takes it as a positive challenge, exploring ways in which bildung might be appropriate in professional education. If bildung can be helpful even within this most applied part of higher education, implications in terms of the development of more readily applicable and fully inclusive notions of bildung would benefit not only professional education but also higher education more generally. Drawing on work by Wolfgang Klafki, the authors argue the value of updated notions of bildung. Klafki's three-part conception of bildung as self-determination, co-determination and solidarity helps reconnect the importance of personal development with that of peer communities (e.g., professional bodies) and action for others. Klafki's framework facilitates working with ethical-epistemological questions such as these.     

Learning in Equity-Oriented Scale-Making Projects

This article examines how new forms of learning and expertise are made to become consequential in changing communities of practice. We build on notions of scale making to understand how particular relations between practices, technologies, and people become meaningful across spatial and temporal trajectories of social action. A key assumption of our perspective is that the scale relations that give meaning to our actions are not natural but are contested in social, cultural, and political projects. Studying these contentious activities can help us understand the nature of changing participation in dynamic and historically developed practices. Using case materials from 3 groups engaged in the local food justice movement in the western United States, we illustrate their engagement in equity-oriented scale making. Defining features of this work included identifying leverage points within inequitable systems; developing strategies for remediating scale relations to include the perspectives of historically marginalized groups; and coordinating trajectories of practice across settings, activities, and time so that these interventions became increasingly consequential. We conclude with a discussion of the significance of equity-oriented scale making as a lens for organizing design efforts and for studying their implications for nondominant communities.     

Validity of the Actical activity monitor for assessing steps and energy expenditure during walking

This study examined the validity of the Actical accelerometer step count and energy expenditure (EE) functions in healthy young adults. Forty-three participants participated in study 1. Actical step counts were compared to actual steps taken during a 200 m walk around an indoor track at self-selected pace and during treadmill walking at different speeds (0.894, 1.56 and 2.01 m · s^–1) for 5 min. The Actical was also compared to three pedometers. For study 2, 15 participants from study 1 walked on a treadmill at their predetermined self-selected pace for 15 min. Actical EE was compared to EE measured by indirect calorimetry. One-way analysis of variance and t-tests were used to examine differences. There were no statistical difference between Actical steps and actual steps in self-selected pace walking and during treadmill walking at moderate and fast speeds. During treadmill walking at slow speed, the Actical step counts significantly under predicted actual steps taken. For study 2, there was no statistical difference between measured EE and Actical-recorded EE. The Actical provides valid estimates of step counts at self-selected pace and walking at constant speeds of 1.56 and 2.01 m · s^–1. The Actical underestimates EE of walking at constants speeds ≥1.38 m · s^–1.     

Knowledge constructing through hypermedia authoring

According to prominent learning theorists, learning is much more than gathering information in a well-designed, teacher-centered environment; learning is promoted when students pursue individual interests, when they build on prior knowledge, and when they engage in hands-on and authentic activity. Although a great deal of literature exists describing ideals such as these, research examining the implementation of these ideals in classrooms is scarce, and using technology for more than information giving is even scarcer. The purpose of this study was to examine a graduate course at a large, Midwestern university to discern how educational theory translates into classroom practice. In the course, students learned about educational theory by designing and creating a hypermedia chapter for a World Wide Web-based book. Qualitative data were collected across a 16-week semester and revealed both student and teacher perspectives regarding the course, including the strengths and limitations of a student-as-multimedia-author approach. The findings indicated that most all students were highly satisfied with the course, that some transferred learning, and that students developed skills and knowledge with instructional design, educational theory, and technology.     

Teacher reflections on ‘bumpy moments’ in teaching: a self‐study

This study recounts a practicing teacher's attempt to describe reflections during the course of teaching at the primary level. A self‐study was conducted to address teacher thinking during ‘bumpy moments’ in teaching, offering an insight into how we might capture the details of teachers' unseen reflections. Through an analysis of the many ‘bumpy moments’ in teaching, several important findings emerged about the nature of reflection and how reflection actually occurs in the classroom context. Results of this study have implications for future research, teacher education and improvement of the teaching practice.