Inequality/difference in New Zealand education: Social reproduction and the cognitive habitus

A programmatic study of inequality/difference in New Zealand education has been carried out, for a quarter of a century, within a family resource framework that has supported both theoretical and empirical research. Although deeply influenced by Bourdieu's theories of social and cultural reproduction, its adherence to a realist philosophy of science means that its structure-disposition-practice explanatory schemes cannot be represented as Bourdieusian. This article takes the concept of habitus (as a set of learned dispositions)and argues that durable embodied cognitive schemes, acquired by children in classed environments, are a principal cause of observed class variation in educational performance. This view challenges accounts in which 'ability'is regarded as 'socially constructed'. The entire history of the sociology of education might be written in terms of its struggle against the dominant influence of IQ theory as an explanation of inequality/difference in education. It is not clear that our discipline has yet been successful in that struggle. These matters are discussed with reference to empirical data on the association between social class and educational achievement in New Zealand. The evidence suggests that class patterns of attainment, particularly on standardized tests designed to assess verbal intelligence, support the thesis that cognitive operations effected by the cognitive habitus are fundamentally involved in the reproduction of inequality/difference. It seems that the primary effects of socialisation may be more important than the secondary effects that many sociologists have taken as their proper area of concern. Some policy implications of this thesis - which is neither a move to encode IQ theory in a radical discourse nor an attempt to reinstate classical deficit theory - are discussed in the context of state-sponsored possibilism currently being imposed on many educational systems.     

Condensed Mastery Profile Method for Setting Standards for Diagnostic Assessment Systems

The purpose of this study was to develop a standard‐setting method appropriate for use with a diagnostic assessment that produces profiles of student mastery rather than a single raw or scale score value. The condensed mastery profile method draws from established holistic standard‐setting methods to use rounds of range finding and pinpointing to specify cut points between performance levels. Panelists are convened to review profiles of mastery and specify cut points between performance levels based on the total number of skills mastered. Following panelist specification of cut points, a statistical method is implemented to smooth cut points over grades to decrease between‐grade variability. Procedural evidence, including convergence plots, standard errors of pinpointing ratings, and panelist feedback, suggest the condensed mastery profile method is a useful and technically sound approach for setting performance standards for diagnostic assessment systems.     

Excellence in coaching: the art and skill of elite practitioners

During this study, 10 expert coaches were interviewed to examine their views on aspects of their individual coaching practice. Four themes emerged from the interviews: (a) the long-term approach, (b) the authentic coaching environment, (c) creating a learning environment, and (d) the quality and quantity of training sessions. These coaches were consistent in their attempts to facilitate learning experiences for the athletes, while setting high standards in both training and competition. The study's findings show that expert coaches have to orchestrate a large number of variables when planning and executing a training session, and their success depends on their coaching knowledge and their skill at contextualizing the necessary components for specific situations.     

History of Computers and Computing

JOHN VON NEUMANN AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN COMPUTING by William Aspray (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990—$35.00, ISBN 0-262-01121-2, 376 pp.)

A HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING edited by Stephen G. Nash (New York: Association for Computing Machinery [ACM) Press; co-published by Addison-Wesley, 1990—price not given, ISBN 0-201-50814-1, 359 pp.)

GLORY AND FAILURE: THE DIFFERENCE ENGINES OF JOHANN MULLER, CHARLES BABBAGE AND EDVARD SCHEUTZ by Michael Lindgren, translated by Craig G. McKay (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990—$45.00, ISBN 0-262-12146-8, 414 pp.)

IBM'S 360 AND EARLY 370 SYSTEMS by Emerson W. Pugh, Lyle R. Johnson, and John H. Palmer (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991—$37.50, ISBN 0-262-16123-0, 819 pp.)     

The initial training of teachers to teach children with special educational needs: A national survey of English Post Graduate Certificate of Education programmes

With moves towards inclusive education, there are demands for developments in initial teacher education as regards special needs and inclusive education. This paper outlines initial training in England within an international context. It then reports findings of a recent national survey of Programme directors and subject tutors of Post Graduate Certificate in Education programmes (PGCE) for primary and secondary teachers about the initial training provision in this aspect teaching. The main findings are about varied practices across placement schools, the commitment to the training partnership, coordination problems across the partnership and organising teaching experience of pupils with SEN. The implications of the study are also discussed in national and international terms.     

Redundancy and expertise reversal effects when using educational technology to learn primary school science

Two experiments using the science topics of Magnetism and Light were conducted with younger learners (Year 5) who had no prior knowledge of the topics, and older learners (Year 6) who had studied the topics previously. Half of the learners were presented the information in auditory form only while the other half were presented the auditory information simultaneously with a visual presentation. Results indicated that older students with prior knowledge of the topic learned more from the auditory only presentation. For these students, the addition of visual information was redundant and so they were disadvantaged by the use of an audio-visual presentation. However, for younger students with no prior knowledge of the topic, the difference between means reversed. Some of these students might require a visual presentation to make sense of the auditory explanation. These two sets of results were discussed in the context of the redundancy and the expertise reversal effect.     

“What is the best way to be a social justice advocate?”: Communication strategies for effective social justice advocacy

Conflict can shut down communication, the key to social justice advocacy. Robert Nash shares his insights on how some communication styles can help manage conflict and sustain open conversation with students about contentious issues.     

Parameterising expertise in coaching: past, present and future

Research into expertise is increasing across a number of domains pertinent to sport. Whilst this increase is particularly apparent in coaching, a key question is how to identify an expert coach? Accordingly, this paper draws upon existing studies into expert coaches to address this issue; in particular, the criteria used to select expert coaches for research purposes and the methods used in expert coach research. Based on these data, we contend that the elements of expertise are not fully reflected within currently accepted criteria which, in turn, results in expert coaching research not necessarily identifying the appropriate individuals to study. The paper concludes with recommendations for more rigorous criteria for selecting expert coaches and highlights the associated implications for the future training and development of expert coaches.