Struggling with Sexism: Experiences of feminist first-year teachers

This paper documents some of the ways in which a group of five feminist first-year teachers experienced work in the schools of Ontario, Canada and how they struggled to make sense of and change the patterns of gendered social relations within school organisations and classrooms. Using data collected from group discussions, incidents involving male and female teachers, and teachers and students, are explored to reveal the nature and forms of sexism occurring in staffrooms, classrooms and in other school activities.     

What's Happening to Photography?

This is the first public output of the joint Arts Council/University of Portsmouth research project into photography teaching in GNVQ Art and Design and Media Communications and Production. It reports principally from various contacts and interviews in the first six months of the project and from the results of a questionnaire survey of art and design lecturers involved in GNVQ. The paper suggests that the increasing significance of photography in artistic cultural and social practices is not adequately reflected in formal education. It describes a variety of aims and practices in those institutions involved in GNYQ, although we have found little collaboration between art and design and media courses. In some art and design courses, photography functions mainly as an aid to research and preparatory work, elsewhere we found lecturers willing to describe it as ‘an art form in its own right’ or as a ‘fundamental part’ of the art and design curriculum. We report on the resource implications of offering substantial photography courses. some preliminary findings about the kinds of students studying art and design GNVQ, and the perceived value of official publications. The question of choosing ‘A’ level or GNVQ is raised, as is the issue of progression. We have found expectations that GNVQs will become a regular route into HE although their currency is not yet clear. Although we report difficulties with GNVQs in art and design, and more specifically with photography, we also record comments which indicate some reasons for optimism.     

Technological Innovation and Technical Communications: Their Place in Aerospace Engineering Curricula. A Survey of European,Japanese and US Aerospace Engineers and Scientists

Aerospace engineers and scientists from Western Europe, Japan and the USA were surveyed as part of the NASA/'DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Questionnaires were used to solicit their opinions regarding (1) the importance of technical communications to their profession, (2) the use and production of technical communications, and (3) their views about the appropriate content of an undergraduate course in technical communications. The ability to communicate technical information effectively was very important to the aerospace engineers and scientists who participated in the study. A considerable portion of their working week is devoted to using and producing technical information. The types of technical communications used and produced varied within and among the three groups. The type of technical communications product used and produced appears to be related to respondents' professional duties. Respondents from the three groups made similar recommendations regarding the principles, mechanics, and on-the-job communications to be included in an undergraduate technical communications course for aerospace majors.