Women,capitalism and education: On the pedagogical implications of postfeminism

Abstract

We examine the emergence of the ‘postfeminist’ sensibility from feminist theory and praxis, and its relation and relevance to education. Analytical frameworks such as postfeminism and intersectionality have given equal weight to recognition-based struggles, such as those based on sexual, racial, class-based, gender-related identities. We follow Nancy Fraser’s argument that these identity-based movements have been co-opted by neoliberal politicians and bureaucratic policy-makers, and become a divide and rule strategy, neglecting the subjugating power of capital. Beginning with third-wave feminism’s emphasis on individual identity, women’s struggles have been become a part of the greater parisitic neoliberal project. We consider the implications of this docile and domesticated feminism for the education of women.     

Self-Predictions of Emotional Response Patterns: Age, Sex, and Situational Determinants

A total of 407 males and females in 4 different age groups (M age = 8.0, 10.8, 15.2, and 20.3 years) completed questionnaires requiring self-ratings of 5 emotions (angry, happy, sad, fearful, and loving), on a 5-point scale, for 10 affect-laden sentences. Each of the 5 emotions was targeted as a key emotion by 2 sentences. The resulting patterns indicate that children as young as 8 can discriminate between affect-eliciting statements, differentially rate up to 5 concurrent emotional responses, and predict response patterns similar to those predicted by adults. Furthermore, sex differences occur during adolescence whereby males predict more varied but less intense secondary emotions, whereas females predict fewer but more intense secondary emotions.     

An institutional approach to English language proficiency

As the university student body becomes ever more diverse, the place and nature of English language provision is coming under unprecedented scrutiny and is the object of greater regulation. Today, more than ever before, institutions of higher education are being called to account for the way in which they support this diverse population in respect of their English language provision. Increasingly, auditing bodies are expecting universities to demonstrate a commitment to supporting students adequately in this area and to be able to articulate a systematic process for doing so, along with a sound rationale and conceptual framework. This has put pressure on English-medium universities everywhere to review their English language provision and to develop creative and theoretically-informed solutions to what is perceived by many in the sector as a complex and very pressing issue, particularly given its financial ramifications and its importance in terms of the student experience. This article describes one such initiative at the University of South Australia, outlining both its conceptualisation and issues around its implementation.     

II Ontario and its universities

“Ontario and its Universities” embodies the views, on several central issues in higher education in Ontario, of members of a seminar which met regularly in the autumn of 1973 and early winter of 1974. The seminar was initiated by a group of professors from the University of Toronto and York University. They invited a number of their academic colleagues and several interested and informed persons from the wider public to discuss with them the responsibilities and essential requirements of the contemporary university in Ontario.     

Developing phoneme awareness through alphabet books

Previous research suggests that children who are successful in phoneme awareness tasks also have high levels of alphabet knowledge. One connection between the two might be alphabet books. Such books typically include both letter-name information and phonological information about initial sounds (B is for bear). It may be that children who are read alphabet books, and thus understand how B is for bear, will learn both letter names and be able to isolate phonemes. To examine this, we gave three treatments to different groups of prekindergarteners. In the first group, the teacher read conventional alphabet books. In the second, the teacher read books chosen to contain the letter names only, without example words to demonstrate sound values. The third group, a control, read only storybooks. We found that all groups gained in print concept and letter knowledge over the course of the study. The conventional alphabet group made significantly greater gains in phoneme awareness than the group that read books about letters without example words, suggesting that conventional alphabet books may be one route to the development of phoneme awareness.     

Mentoring Promotion/Tenure‐Seeking Faculty: Principles of Good Practice Within a Counselor Education Program

Approaches to mentoring junior faculty in counselor education departments have received minimal attention in the counseling literature. In this article, the authors describe a successful program based on the 10 principles for good mentoring recommended by Sorcinelli (2000). Application of the principles within a combined formal and informal mentoring approach is described, as are the experiences of junior faculty whose careers have been shaped within this system.     

Age-related differences on cognitive overload in an audio-visual memory task

The present study aimed to provide evidence outlining whether the type of stimuli used in teaching would provoke differing levels of recall across three different academic age groups. One hundred and twenty-one participants, aged 11–25 years, were given a language-based memory task in the form of a wordlist consisting of 15 concrete and 15 abstract words, presented either visually, acoustically, or a combination of both audio and visual presentation. The study found that the presence of cognitive overload was greater in the older academic age participants than in the younger groups and that as academic experience increased, the visual presentation of the target stimuli produced greater levels of recall than was the case with acoustic and audio-visual presentation. Overall the findings indicate that cognitive overload increases with age, as the younger-age groups were found to have significantly higher levels of word recall in the audio-visual condition than the older groups.