The treatment of science discipline knowledge in primary teacher education

Whilst there is general agreement that primary teachers have a rather limited understanding of science, as Symington and Mackay (Note 1) have shown there is no universally accepted view amongst teacher educators in Victoria about the steps that need to be taken to improve their subject matter competence in science. This paper addresses the issue by taking a topic which is widely included in primary science programs, namely floating and sinking, and asking what knowledge primary teachers should have to enable them to handle the topic in a primary classroom in a way consistent with constructivist ideas. The paper will also address the issue of how that knowledge could be assessed. Specializations: learning theories, history and philosophy of science, chemical education. Specialization: primary school science.     

中美两国确认不侵犯知识产权诉讼的法律与实践

美国以一个诉讼多的国度而闻名于世。但在美国法院提起确认不侵犯知识产权之诉却决非易事。原告必须满足美国《宪法》"案例和争议"要求才可起诉。美国《确认不侵权法案》的标准并未明确规定处理Medlmmune(医学免疫公司)诉     

Leadership for School Improvement: The Role of the Head of Department in UK Secondary Schools

The study examines the role of the Head of Department in UK secondary schools in terms of its potential for school improvement. Thirty-two heads of department in secondary schools in Birmingham and Manchester were shadowed and interviewed in order to identify: (1) their leadership and management styles; (2) the sense of empowerment felt by each; (3) initiatives for improving teaching, learning and achievement in their departments; and (4) obstacles to improving teaching, learning and achievement. Four deputy head teachers in the sample schools were also interviewed with the purpose of eliciting their views on the role of the head of department in facilitating school improvement. The findings support the prediction that distributed leadership (or shared power) among senior and middle managers in UK schools still remains rhetoric rather than practice and that there is a growing need for current middle management development and training provision to change radically if middle managers are to be supported as curriculum leaders and managers     

Social inclusion: The case of travellers' children

In this article, we explore distinctions between creative practice and a practice which fosters creativity, drawing on case study data from an English nursery and a first school. We suggest that, in practice, these distinctions are very blurred.