Early years teachers and the influence of Piaget: evidence from oral history

In studying the historical development of early years provision, a clear factor in raising its profile was the growth in scientific study of children, especially the reception and interpretation of Piaget's research. For an understanding of how the mediation of new thinking and new discoveries influenced students and teachers, textbooks provide an important documentary source, but evidence is also available through oral history in the living memories of practitioners themselves. This paper draws on the testimony of early years teachers who began their careers between 1927 and 1955 and continued teaching into the 1960s and 1970s. The account below begins with reflections on psychology and education in the early decades of the twentieth century drawn from a 1936 conference organised by the Nursery School Association of Great Britain, and from a widely used textbook that represents the gradual trend towards ‘fragmentation’ of educational theory into a multiplicity of disciplines. Reference is then made to two popular textbooks by prominent Froebelians, Brearley and Hitchfield, and by Ruth Beard illustrating the growing influence of Piaget as a post facto rationale for a pedagogy that was proceeding by instinct. Walkerdine, Lister and Hall are researchers who have investigated from various angles the impact of Piagetian psychology on primary practice, but the process whereby this translation from the laboratory to the classroom takes place is one that demands further investigation. Vital evidence lies in the living memories of early years teachers whose careers spanned the 1930s to the 1970s and a rich quality and personal texture of the data is apparent as retired early years teachers recounted their professional careers. It offers a more complex account than the grand narratives that historians have traditionally compiled from purely documentary evidence centring on great thinkers, key texts and policy initiatives. The role of in‐service education was clearly important in the experiences recalled in this paper. Above all we find evidence of a distinctive shift in teacher–child relationships over that historical period and of the contribution made to this by psychological theory, epitomised in the figure of Piaget and in his focus on the individual learner.     

‘Fractured communities’: uncertainty,stress, and (a lack of) communal coping in Palestinian refugee camps

This study examined how communal coping reveals itself in Palestinian refugee camps and the conditions that promote or prevent its occurrence. Individual and dyadic interviews were conducted with 40 mothers and one of their adolescent children living in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. The results revealed that communal coping existed within the mother–adolescent dyad to a certain extent, but was rare within the larger context of the refugee camps. While families and neighbors did not typically verbalize their hardships and actively cope with them as a group, there was often an implicit recognition that they were all experiencing the same uncertainty and stress. Acting upon their uncertainty as a collective, however, was greatly hampered by mistrust within and outside the camps, due to widespread violence, privacy violations, vying for scarce resources, and disloyalty. Parents and adolescents also engaged in protective buffering whereby they attempted to reduce the stress of the family by keeping stress and fears to themselves rather than communicating about them. Even though protective buffering helped the refugees cope with chronic uncertainty and maintain a sense of normalcy, it prevented them from acting upon the problem as a group. Finally, parents emphasized that the child’s education provided hope for the future. Practical implications are discussed.     

Information and information technologies as applied in political strategy modeling

This paper analyzes modern information technologies as applied in the political environment and considers the content and peculiarities of using IT programs in strategic political modeling.     

On the development of the scientific work monitoring system at higher educational institutions

The main aspects of the creation of a monitoring system for the research activities of the members of a higher-education institution are considered. The scientific activities of the lecturers and members of Turgenev Orel State University is used as the basis. It is expected that this system will be an efficient tool for optimal managerial decisions at all levels.     

Technical analysis of a Central Asian wall painting detached from a Buddhist cave temple on the northern Silk Road

A great number of Central Asian wall paintings, archeological materials, architectural fragments, and textiles, as well as painting fragments on silk and paper, make up the so called Turfan Collection at the Asian Art Museum in Berlin. The largest part of the collection comes from the Kucha region, a very important cultural center in the third to ninth centuries. Between 1902 and 1914, four German expeditions traveled along the northern Silk Road. During these expeditions, wall paintings were detached from their original settings in Buddhist cave complexes. This paper reports a technical study of a wall painting, existing in eight fragments, from the Buddhist cave no. 40 (Ritterhöhle). Its original painted surface is soot blackened and largely illegible. Grünwedel, leader of the first and third expeditions, described the almost complete destruction of the rediscovered temple complex and evidence of fire damage. The aim of this case study is to identify the materials used for the wall paintings. Furthermore, soot deposits as well as materials from conservation interventions were of interest. Non-invasive analyses were preferred but a limited number of samples were taken to provide more precise information on the painting technique. By employing optical and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, a layer sequence of earthen render, a ground layer made of gypsum, and a paint layer containing a variety of inorganic pigments were identified.     

Cindy Sherman: A Play of Selves. A collaborative approach to conservation

In 2013, The Better Image (TBI) was contacted to examine A Play of Selves, a unique work created by artist Cindy Sherman during her graduate studies in 1975. The work is composed of 244 paper doll-like photographs of Sherman that are presented within 72 frames. During initial condition checks, it was noted that a number of individual elements had begun to show signs of chemical staining. Over the course of 2013/2014, a collaborative response was developed with the help of the artist, the artist's printer, the representing gallery, TBI staff and the owner. The main goal was to address the physical and chemical issues present and preserve this work for future exhibition and study. Determining an effective decision- making model based on a hierarchy of values was crucial before undertaking any conservation treatment, as there were several invested parties, each with a different perspective. The focus of this paper is the interplay of our responsibilities as conservators with the concerns of the artist, her gallery, her printer, and the owner to balance aesthetic vs. physical integrity of the artwork, reversibility of treatments, importance of record keeping while developing a balanced response within a world of rapidly disappearing traditional photographic papers.