The Place of Philosophy in the Training of Teachers: Peters revisited

Abstract

In 1964, Richard Peters examined the place of philosophy in the training of teachers. He considered three things: Why should philosophy of education be included in the training of teachers; What portion of philosophy of education should be included; How should philosophy be taught to those training to be teachers. This article explores the context of the time when Peters set out his views, describes philosophy of education at the London Institute of Education at one period in Peters’ time there, and then discusses the current state of philosophy of education, using New Zealand as an example of opportunities and challenges. Finally, asking whether Peters was nearly right about the place of philosophy in the training of teachers, it is concluded that he was right about its importance but got it wrong about his conception of philosophy.     

DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CLINICAL TEAM TRAINING PROGRAM: LESSONS TAUGHT AND LESSONS LEARNED

The training of clinicians in working together as an interdisciplinary team has received growing support in geriatrics. Most teamwork training programs have focused on group process and development as the core competencies of team practice necessary to improve levels of team functioning. The experience of the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center (RIGEC) in developing and implementing an ongoing teamwork training program, including the training of several geriatric teams from a variety of health care settings, suggests that additional objectives should include the empowerment of teams for advocacy in rapidly changing health care settings increasingly shaped by economic forces. The lessons learned by RIGEC for the development and implementation of teamwork training include the importance of defining team membership, dealing with the shifting shoals of the health care system, understanding individuals and systems under stress, and redefining the objectives of teamwork training.     

The cultural value of heritage: evidence from the Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund has, over the past 13 years, given £4billion to heritage projects of all kinds. As the Fund has matured a greater emphasis has been placed on the evaluation of the social and economic outcomes of this funding. In 2004 we reported on progress with evaluation of the programmes targeted at particular types of heritage (Clark, 2004 Clark, K. 2004. Why fund heritage? The role of research in the Heritage Lottery Fund. Cultural Trends, 52: 65–85.  [Google Scholar]). The greater challenge has been to evaluate the outcomes from the Fund's generic programmes, which can fund any type of heritage and which between them account for over two-thirds of total funding. This article reviews the Fund's experience over the last 3 years in developing and implementing an evaluation system using the Public (or Cultural) Value framework. It presents some initial results from the research so far completed and reviews how far the framework has been useful in suggesting research priorities and organizing findings.