Risk, error and accountability: improving the practice of school leaders

This paper seeks to explore the notion of risk as an organisational logic within schools, the impact of contemporary accountability regimes on managing risk and then, in turn, to posit a systems-based process of risk management underpinned by a positive logic of risk. It moves through a number of steps beginning with the development of an understanding of risk, the risk society and the logic of risk derived from the seminal work of Douglas (1992, Risk and blame: essays in cultural theory, London: Sage), Beck (1992, Risk society: towards a new modernity. London: Sage) and Giddens (1990, The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press). Second, the paper juxtaposes this understanding of risk with the rise of accountability imperatives and an “audit culture” [Strathern (1997) European Review, 5(3), 305–321] in public institutions, including schools. It then moves to consider how a systems-based approach to risk management, drawing on Reason’s (1990, Human Error. New York: Cambridge University Press) model of human error minimisation, could be usefully developed for schools. Such an approach would be built on a positive risk logic which maintains the flexibility, innovativeness and adaptability so necessary in education and avoids the more deleterious effects of many current forms of accountability and risk management which reflect avoidance, conformity and rigidity.     

Providing Space for Teacher Renewal: The role of the facilitator in school-university partnerships

This article uses the process of a teacher renewal partnership programme to explore the role of the university academic as a facilitator of change. Responses to a series of interview questions relating to change were used to explore and examine the dimensions of the facilitator's role. Facilitators report that the role is complex, often uncertain and requires an understanding of the school and its culture and schools' and teachers' previous experiences in professional development programmes. The findings from this article suggest that an effective facilitator creates, for the teachers involved, a space for discussion, reflection and challenge and that this space provides for and legitimates teacher renewal.     

Infants of depressed mothers show "depressed" behavior even with nondepressed adults

To determine whether the "depressed" behavior (e.g., less positive affect and lower activity level) of infants noted during interactions with their "depressed" mothers generalizes to their interactions with nondepressed adults, 74 3-6-month-old infants of "depressed" and nondepressed mothers were videotaped in face-to-face interactions with their mothers and with nondepressed female strangers. "Depressed" mothers and their infants received lower ratings on all behaviors than nondepressed mothers and infants. Although the infants of "depressed" versus nondepressed mothers also received lower ratings with the stranger adult, very few differences were noted between those infants' ratings when interacting with their mother versus the stranger, suggesting that their "depressed" style of interacting is not specific to their interactions with depressed mothers but generalizes to their interactions with nondepressed adults as early as 3 months of age.     

Baseline Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis and Parasympathetic Nervous System Activity Interact to Predict Executive Functions in Low‐Income Children

We examined interactions between baseline hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity in relation to executive functions (EF) in a sample (n = 1,005) of children in low wealth, nonurban communities at age 48 months. Salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) represented baseline HPA axis and PNS activity, respectively. The interaction between RSA and cortisol predicted EF such that children with either lower RSA and lower cortisol, or higher RSA and higher cortisol had higher EF scores. These findings suggest a potential compensatory relation in which the PNS and HPA axis counterbalance each other to support cognition.     

Professional development for rural and remote teachers using video conferencing

Teachers in rural and remote schools face many challenges including those relating to distance, isolation and lack of professional development opportunities. This article examines a project where mathematics and science teachers were provided with professional development opportunities via video conferencing to help them use syllabus documents to develop their teaching programs. The study is qualitative and draws on teacher conversations and surveys using a community of inquiry theoretical framework to analyse the data. The results demonstrate that teacher professional development via video conferencing has both strengths and weaknesses but can support teachers through collaboration to develop their expertise in writing teaching programs.     

Using video clubs to develop teachers’ thinking and practice in oral feedback and dialogic teaching

ABSTRACT

The authors report outcomes of an evaluation of a ‘video club’ intervention to improve the feedback and dialogic teaching practice of 91 teachers from 11 primary schools in England. Participating teachers worked collaboratively in a sequence of six video clubs over a six-month period. To understand teacher engagement they examine videos of video club meetings; online platform use metrics; surveys; selected videos of classroom practice; focus groups; and interviews. They evaluate change in teachers’ thinking and practice using survey results for participants compared to a comparison group of non-participating teachers at the intervention schools. The survey includes a new instrument for gathering evidence of teachers’ thinking and practice in feedback. The results suggested changes in thinking and practice for teachers who self-reported as engaging highly with the intervention. They conclude by discussing the potential of video technology within professional development and the challenges of researching changes in thinking and practice.     

Two schemes of intellectual development: A comparison of development as defined by william perry and jean piaget

The theories of Jean Piaget and William Perry provide two different theories of intellectual development with several similiarities, but also with critical differences. In this study a comparison was made to determine whether the two theories describe operation of the same mental structures or two fundamentally different aspects of intellectual development. The results, based upon individual interviews of all participants, indicate that the two theories outline different and independent processes for assessing intellectual development.     

The issues seminar: Changing a large urban school system

Summary This paper describes one urban school system's attempt to become more manageable, responsive, and productive. We have tried to delineate how the seminars are modifying the system, and, in turn, being modified by the system.The Issues Seminar is an elusive item. In theory it allows decision makers to act proactively, to utilize data, and to operate in a synergetic mode. In practice it is an intervention which allows participants to exchange attitudes and perceptions, demands that bureaucrats be accountable, and fosters leader ship at all levels.The criterion for effectiveness of a structural intervention, such as the Seminars, should be the same as that for any educational innovation, practice, or policy-i.e., Does it facilitate student achievement? To that end, we must defer. Wedon't know. What wedo know is that (1) decision-makers do have access to data, atitudes, and perceptions from all levels, (2) members at all hierarchical levels are gaining an understanding of how the system works (and, of equal importance, how it doesn't work), (3) problems of minor importance yet great annoyance are being rectified, and (4) people are beginning to feel a psychic investment in the system. If those outcomes will ultimately have a positive, effect on the students, then the seminar will have been successful. We are optimistic.Roger H. Perry is Assistant Professor of Urban Administration and Policy-making at Washington University.Thomas R. Hoerr is a principal in the University City, Missouri School System.Doris W. Randolph is Coordinator of the St. Louis Public Schools Issues Seminars and a doctoral student in educational administration at Washington University.     

How vocational psychologists can make a difference in K–12 education

In general, vocational psychologists have not been engaged in applied research that demonstrates how career interventions can improve educational problems that matter to relevant decision-makers and stakeholders. This article describes how vocational psychology can make a difference in K–12 education by embracing an interdisciplinary community-based approach. To illustrate this approach, a quasi-experimental evaluation of multiple after-school programs provided to a sample of Hispanic Americans is presented. This study offers a realistic example of how researchers in the field can induce change through the development of meaningful partnerships within the community.     

Biology and behaviour of sharks

As a group, sharks have survived for more than 300 million years and are admirably adapted to their environment. Their complex nervous and reproductive systems are of great scientific interest. Although a hazard in certain areas, they are also human benefactors, providing a small but useful supplement to normal sources of fish flesh, as well as a particularly fine quality leather.