Die Messung von Global Competence im Rahmen von PISA 2018

This work deals with Global Competence as a suggested cross-curricular domain for the PISA study of 2018. Measuring Global Competence is related to a number of challenges, which are elaborated, described and discussed. As these challenges have not been sufficiently targeted up to now, Germany, among several other countries, decided not to assess Global Competence in the upcoming PISA assessment. Conclusively, propositions are made regarding viable options to capture Global Competence in international comparative studies so that established quality standards can be met.     

Asking queer(er) questions: epistemological and methodological implications for qualitative inquirers

This collection of distinct scholarly essays deliberatively turns to queer experience and theorizing as a resource for constructing vibrant qualitative research designs. Queer theory offers a breadth of epistemological and methodological possibilities for qualitative projects that are too frequently overlooked for many reasons. These reasons include frequently strict association of queer theory with queer research topics and researchers, as well as a concurrent reluctance to interrogate the representational needs of heterosexist culture served by the metaphor of the ‘closet.’ Queer theory also compels inquiry that takes up the unique circumstances of queer subjects. Locating educational inquiry within globally complex socio-historical dynamics and a post-Obergefell/post-2016 election U.S. context, this article poses multiple trajectories through which various scholars explore queer(er) qualitative inquiry in educational studies. These perspectives invite researchers to rethink qualitative inquiry designs through engagement with the queer, inclusive of research topics not initially perceived to be queer.     

Thinking in/through movements; Working with/in affect within the context of Norwegian early years education and practice

This paper draws on data undertaken with very young children within the context of Norwegian kindergartens. Specifically, the paper focuses on non-human and human movements. Mine included, that are undertaken in time and space. Following I argue that as the researcher I am always already entangled in inquiry and that there is no beginning. As a consequence, I cannot offer an account concerning movements that are predicated on humanist notions of linearity. Moreover, by immersing myself in process ontology, my efforts are not directed at using a presumed mastery where I both recognize and use a priori categories in order to render data intelligible and/or to reduce data to common sense. Rather, by paying careful attention to human and non-human bodies, and by being sensitive to and immersing myself within affect and movement, I draw attention to elements within the kindergarten which while, present are very often ignored by researchers and in so doing I disrupt traditional approaches to qualitative research. By effectively positioning myself in a post-human logic both the researcher and the research are open to different potentialities, potentialities where through thinking-feeling the peculiarities and differences of the empirical can be taken into account.     

Recent Publications in Natural History

Principal Reviews: Everett, Michael. The Birds of paradise. Skipwith, Peyton. The Great bird illustrators and their art 1730–1930. Parry, Gareth and Rory Putman. Birds of prey. Vickers, Vincent Cartwright. The Google Book.     

The road to collaborative and integrated education: Success and struggle in a university classroom

Abstract

Although much of the contemporary discourse on collaborative teaching is positive, there is a dearth of information about and research on the practical issues of undertaking such an endeavor at the university level. The authors of this article team taught a course that combined three educational methods classes (Instruction in Elementary Language Arts, Instruction in Elementary Reading, and Instruction in Elementary Social Studies). This undertaking evoked positive experiences for the instructors and students but also evinced areas that caused conflict and concern, including conflicts regarding student assessment, amount of time required, and lack of administrative support. As we continue to incorporate and refine collaborative teaching at the university level, economics, recognition, and status issues also need to be examined.