A ‘New’ Music Education Program Field Experiments in the First and Fourth Grade of the Norwegian Comprehensive School

Abstract: Lillemyr, O. F. 1980. A ‘New’ Music Education Program. Field Experiments in the First and Fourth Grade of the Norwegian Comprehensive School. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 24,133‐156. Through two field experiments, pupils’ musical achievements resulting from a ‘new’ and the traditional music education program were investigated. The ‘new’ program was founded on a combination of the basic ideas of Carl Orff and Zoltan Kodaly. In first grade, 34 girls and 38 boys were taught by this program and 27 girls and 33 boys by the traditional type. In fourth grade, 15 girls and 29 boys were given the ‘new’ program and 12 girls and 26 boys the traditional type of program. A posttest‐only control group design was used as a general basis, supplemented by a factorial design for some of the problems and hypotheses. The analyses indicated significantly better musical achievements for pupils taught by the ‘new’ program than for pupils taught by a traditional type of program.     

Prison Inmates' Educational Motives: Are They Pushed or Pulled?

The aim of the present study was to examine inmates' educational motives. The participants were 467 inmates who attended education in Norwegian prisons. Three motive categories were identified: “To prepare for life upon release” (Factor 1), “social reasons and reasons unique to the prison context” (Factor 2), and “to acquire knowledge and skills” (Factor 3). Factor 1 explained more of the variance than the sum of the other factors, and educational level was not related to scores on this first factor. Inmates with long sentences were more likely than those with short sentences to start an education in prison to prepare for life upon release. Inmates with low education scored significantly higher on Factor 2 than those with high education, but significantly lower on Factor 3 than the latter group.     

How to drag with a worn-out mouse? Searching for social justice through collaboration

We consider what a concern for social justice in terms of social inclusion might mean for teacher education, both practising and prospective, with particular reference to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in mathematics education taking place at a borderland school. Our discussion proceeds through the following steps: (1) We explore what a borderland position might denote to address what social inclusion might mean. (2) We consider the significance of mathematics education and the use of ICT for processes of social inclusion. (3) We briefly refer to the Interlink Network, as many of our observations emerge as reflections on this project. (4) We present different issues that will be of particular importance with respect to teacher education if we want to establish a mathematics education for social inclusion. These issues concern moving away from the comfort zone, establishing networks, identifying new approaches, moving beyond prototypical research, and getting in contact. This brings us to (5) final considerations, where we return to the notion of social justice.     

International Week in a Norwegian School. A Qualitative Study of the Participant Perspective

This article explores an international week in a Norwegian primary school from the perspective of the different participants. Such international weeks are typically organized in connection with the United Nations Day, to contribute towards the school’s aims of inclusion and social justice. Whereas research literature has been critical towards such weeks, using terms such as “exotification” and “hall-way multiculturalism,” there has been little research on international weeks from the participants’ perspectives. This qualitative case study of a single week both confirms and challenges the research literature’s critical stance. On the one hand, these weeks may seem to be only “happenings”; on the other hand, they potentially promote critical reflection about cultural identities, connecting schools and local communities.     

Cultural Journalism and Cultural Critique in a changing Media Landscape

This special issue addresses a topic of journalism studies that has previously been somewhat neglected but which has gained increasing scholarly attention since the mid-2000s: the coverage and evaluation of art and culture, or what we term “cultural journalism and cultural critique.” In this introduction, we highlight three issues that serve to frame the study of cultural journalism and cultural critique more generally and the eight articles of this special issue more specifically: (1) the constant challenge of demarcating cultural journalism and cultural critique, including the interrelations of “journalism” and “critique”; (2) the dialectic of globalisation’s cultural homogenisation, on the one hand, and the specificity of local/national cultures, on the other; and (3) the digital media landscape seen in terms of the need to rethink, perhaps even redefine cultural journalism and cultural critique.     

Theories of Journalism in a Digital Age

This special issue introductory article investigates contemporary notions of theory in journalism studies. Many scholars have argued that we need better ways of conceptualising what journalism is and how it develops in a digital age. There is, however, a lack of knowledge regarding what the theoretical trends within the interdisciplinary domain of journalism studies are today and to what extent contemporary inquiries into journalism are framed by emerging theories and perspectives. To fill this knowledge gap, we have conducted an analysis of more than 9000 metadata keywords and 195 abstracts found in the first 14 volumes (2000–2013) of the two most internationally acknowledged journals dedicated to journalism studies: Journalism—Theory, Practice and Criticism and Journalism Studies. The findings indicate that there has been a move towards greater theoretical awareness in journalism studies since 2000 and that the variety of theoretical approaches has increased.     

Mathematical education and democracy

Is it possible to develop the content and form of mathematical education in such a way that it may serve as a tool of democratization in both school and society? This question is related to two different arguments. The social argument of democratization states: (1) Mathematics has an extensive range of applications, (2) because of its applications mathematics has a “society-shaping” function, and (3) in order to carry out democratic obligations and rights it is necessary to be able to identify the main principles of the development of society. The pedagogical argument of democratization states: (1) Mathematical education has a “hidden curriculum”, (2) the “hidden curriculum” of mathematical education in a traditional form implants a servile attitude towards technological questions into a large number of students, and (3) we cannot expect any development of democratic competence in school unless the teaching-learning situation is based on a dialogue and unless the curriculum is not totally determined from outside the classroom. The social argument implies that we must aim at “empowering material” which could constitute a basis for reflective knowledge i.e. knowledge about how to evaluate and criticize a mathematical model, while the pedagogical argument implies that we must aim at “open material” leaving space for decisions to be taken in the classroom. Will it become possible to create materials at the same time open and empowering? To answer this question we have to analyse the concept ‘democratic competence’, which can be related to ‘reflective knowledge’ characterized by a specific object of knowledge and a specific way of knowledge production. The ultimate aim will be to unify these characteristics in an epistemological theory of mathematical education. This paper is a revised version of \ldDemocratization and Mathematical Education\rd, R. 88-33 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Aalborg University Centre.