Educational reconstruction through the lens of archaeology

This article examines the educational reconstruction that was undertaken by the Department of Education in Ontario during the first years of the twentieth century. It draws on Foucault’s method of archaeology to identify how schooling reforms comprised a discontinuity in pedagogic knowledge. This mutation created the conditions of possibility for the formation of different kinds of subjects and subjectivities. The analysis identifies how Froebelian philosophy and the addition of subjects such as art and nature study to the elementary school curriculum led to new ways of knowing children. It also outlines how these new domains of knowledge were linked to the emergence of a range of new objects, technologies, strategies, and kinds of subjects (people) related to schooling. The conclusion considers the deeper meanings of modernity that were intended by these reforms and the paradoxes that may have resulted.     

Prediction of maximal lactate steady state in runners with an incremental test on the field

During a maximal incremental ergocycle test, the power output associated with Respiratory Exchange Ratio equal to 1.00 (RER = 1.00) predicts maximal lactate steady state (MLSS). We hypothesised that these results are transferable for runners on the field. Fourteen runners performed a maximal progressive test, to assess the speed associated with RER = 1.00, and several 30 minutes constant velocity tests to determine the speed at MLSS. We observed that the speeds at RER = 1.00, at the second ventilatory threshold (VT2) and at MLSS did not differ (15.7 ± 1.1 km · h?1, 16.2 ± 1.4 km · h?1, 15.5 ± 1.1 km · h?1 respectively). The speed associated with RER = 1.00 was better correlated with that at MLSS (r = 0.79; p = 0.0008) than that at VT2 (r = 0.73; p = 0.002). Neither the concentration of blood lactate nor the heart rate differed between the speed at RER = 1.00 and that at MLSS from the 10th and the 30th minute of the constant velocity test. Bland and Altman analysis showed a fair agreement between the speed at MLSS and that at RER (0.2 ± 1.4 km · h?1). This study demonstrated that the speed associated with RER = 1.00 determined during maximal progressive track running allows a fair estimation of the speed associated with MLSS, markedly decreasing the burden of numerous invasive tests required to assess it.     

The Value of Applied Research: Retrieval Practice Improves Classroom Learning and Recommendations from a Teacher, a Principal, and a Scientist

Over the course of a 5-year applied research project with more than 1,400 middle school students, evidence from a number of studies revealed that retrieval practice in authentic classroom settings improves long-term learning (Agarwal et al. 2009; McDaniel et al., Journal of Educational Psychology 103:399–414, 2011; McDaniel et al. 2012; Roediger et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 17:382–395, 2011a). Retrieval practice, or the use of quizzes and exams to engage and enhance retrieval processes, has been widely established as an effective strategy for facilitating learning in laboratory settings (e.g., Roediger et al. 2011c). In this article, we review recent findings from applied research that demonstrate that retrieval practice enhances long-term classroom learning, delayed quizzes are particularly potent for retention, quizzes benefit students’ transfer to novel quiz items, and quizzes with feedback improve students’ learning and metacognitive awareness. In addition to generating evidence to support retrieval-based learning, these applied research studies also enhanced the professional development of the teachers, administrators, and scientists involved in the project. In this article, it is our hope that by sharing what we have learned from a variety of perspectives, applied scientific research in K-12 classrooms will continue to be explored and generated at local, state, and national levels, improving student learning and educational decision-making.     

Characterizing mentoring capital in a residency program through mentor’s voices

The purpose of our study was to examine mentors’ conceptualizations of mentoring residents (preservice teachers) in a teacher residency program. Understanding the nuances of mentoring in a year-long placement in a mentor’s classroom may further illuminate mentoring in this context. In this qualitative, longitudinal study, we used constant comparative analysis to allow the data to drive recurring patterns and ideas linked to real-life situations and values coding to examine mentors’ conceptualizations of mentoring in a residency program. Residents enrolled in the federally-funded Teaching Residency Program for Critical Shortage Areas program were placed in a high-need urban secondary school for a year-long clinical experience to work alongside mentors, who had a non-evaluative role. By examining mentors’ conceptualizations of mentoring in this particular context, our data reveal aspects of their agency that reflected three main themes: (a) professional altruism, (b) extant knowledge, and (c) resident as stimulus. Our findings add to the research on mentoring by illuminating the voices of mentors to describe how they conceptualized mentoring and to further examine their motivations for mentoring, contributions to the mentee, and professional gains.     

Perilous times: an oral history of teachers’ experience with school inspection in the 1930s

School inspectors and school inspection were integral features of the elementary public school system in Ontario from the 1840s until the practice was abandoned in 1967. From its earliest beginnings and subsequent development, school inspection and school inspectors were established as an important institution of the educational state. By regulation every teacher in the province could expect a twice-annual unannounced visit from a state-appointed male school inspector – more frequently if difficulties arose. This study explores teachers’ experiences of school inspection and inspectors during the 1930s by drawing on the oral history accounts of 17 women and four men who taught elementary school in various regions of the province.     

Is Something Better Than Nothing? An Evaluation of Early Childhood Programs in Cambodia

This study evaluated the relative effectiveness of home-based, community-based, and state-run early childhood programs across Cambodia. A total of 880 five-year-olds (55% girls) from 6 rural provinces in Cambodia attending State Preschools, Community Preschools, Home-Based Programs, or no programs were assessed twice using the Cambodian Developmental Assessment Test. Controlling for baseline differences, children who participated in any early childhood programs performed significantly better in posttest than those of children who did not participate in any programs. Children in State Preschools scored significantly higher than those in either Community Preschools or Home-Based Programs; scores did not differ as a function of attending Community Preschools or Home-Based Programs. The results indicate that some preschool experience is better than none at all.     

Cybervetting,Person–Environment Fit,and Personnel Selection: Employers' Surveillance and Sensemaking of Job Applicants' Online Information

As the perceived credibility and availability of conventional sources of applicant information wanes, employers increasingly use online information to evaluate prospective employees' fit. This qualitative study explores how employers communicatively frame online screening—or cybervetting—to inform fit assessments during personnel selection. Findings suggest that employers legitimize cybervetting by framing the practice as risk work (i.e. due diligence and professional identity work), reputation management, efficient, fun, and transformative. Findings evidence shifting understandings of how fit assessments occur and what constitutes a “good fit” and an ideal worker as employers extend organizational surveillance beyond conventional work roles and contexts. Recommendations include assessing cybervetting's effectiveness at accomplishing risk, reputation, and efficiency goals; complicating singular notions of identity; considering bona fide information environments when developing employment legislation; and expanding training to improve employers' and workers' socio-technical and communicative competencies.