The use of motor activity as an index of curiosity in children

The curiosity of 120 elementary school children, aged five through thirteen years, was assessed by three measures: (1) the amount of coordinated sensory-motor activity directed toward designated objects in a waiting room environment during a 10-minute waiting period, (2) the number of unsolicited questions asked within the same time period and environment, and (3) teacher ratings, where classroom teachers estimated children's curiosity based on their normal classroom behavior. In a three-way analysis of variance, the amount of curiosity expressed through motor activity was found significantly related to groups based on racial-ethnic origins, but not to groups based on age or sex. The amount of curiosity expressed through motor activity was negatively correlated with teacher ratings in one class but not significantly correlated in three other classes. Children who asked most questions were rated highest in curiosity by their teachers, but exhibited least curiosity through motor activity in the waiting room.     

Lasting impressions: Hannah Arendt’s educational legacy

Hannah Arendt’s work is gaining increasing recognition in educational administration. But less has been written about her as an educator, colleague, and provocateur. Here, I explore the lasting impressions that Arendt had on former students, colleagues, and friends. This exploration is conducted through the lens of Arendtian narrative inquiry. For Arendt, narrative is fundamental to understanding lived experience, not least because stories provide us with a deeper understanding of an individual. She maintains, however, that it is the spectator, not the actor, who is better able to assess the ‘who’ of a person. Because each spectator has a particular viewpoint, I include diverse recollections that gathered together, create a silhouette of the ‘who’ of Hannah Arendt. I use the term ‘silhouette,’ purposefully, since this is not an in-depth portrait. Rather, it is an impressionistic account of the lasting effects she made on others. These lasting impressions serve to reaffirm Arendt’s belief in the value of storytelling as a powerful means of understanding.     

Fighting to Educate Our Own: Teachers of Color,Relational Accountability,and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Abstract

Research demonstrates that many teachers of Color enter schools committed to challenging injustice, yet often face barriers to accomplishing this goal. This article presents emergent themes from a qualitative study with 218 self-identified, racial justice-oriented teachers of Color. Using Wilson's (2008 Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Halifax, Canada: Fernwood. [Google Scholar]) indigenous cultural framework of relationality and relational accountability to analyze our data, we introduce the concept of community-oriented teachers of Color to describe the accountability these teachers have towards students of Color and their communities. We found that despite their connections, insights, and successes with students, hierarchies of ontology (ways of being) and epistemology (ways of knowing) within schools that promote individualism served to isolate and marginalize community-oriented teachers of Color and, thus, limited their ability to advance racial justice.     

Interventions for dyslexia in Brazil: a scoping review discussed within the perspective of international best practice

ABSTRACT

Reading success has a significant impact on social, academic and vocational engagement. While there have been many advances in Brazilian educational policy, and a reduction in rates of absolute illiteracy, low levels of literacy continue to be a significant area of concern. We aimed to scope the literature to identify the types of intervention researched in Brazil for people with developmental dyslexia; map the findings to international theories of dyslexia and draw on these findings to inform future clinical practice and research. Four databases were searched and a total of 13 studies met eligibility criteria. Four key themes were identified: (1) phonological-based intervention, reading and writing; (2) intervention using computerised technology; (3) auditory processing training and (4) training of visuomotor skills. Whilst most interventions were in keeping with current international theory, a number of methodological issues were identified which, if addressed, would strengthen future research and inform clinical practice in Brazil.     

Him Too? Cristiano Ronaldo and the News Coverage of a Rape Case Allegation

ABSTRACT

This paper uses critical thematic analysis to explore the news media coverage of a rape allegation case against the football player Cristiano Ronaldo. After providing the context of the case, we examine the literature on how rape cases are represented by the news media. We then proceed to a critical thematic analysis of a purposive sample of Portuguese national newspapers, first identifying ten sub-themes in a total of 140 news stories and opinion columns and then considering the patterns of three critical themes that tended to dismiss the allegations, highlight the seriousness of the allegations and neutralize sexual victimization. Each of these considers prevailing ideologies, news values and journalistic practices.     

Inquiring scaffolds in laboratory tasks: an instance of a “worked laboratory guide effect”?

The study explores if established support devices for paper–pencil problem solving, namely worked examples and incremental scaffolds, are applicable to laboratory tasks. N?=?173 grade eight students solved in dyads a physics laboratory task in one of three conditions. In condition A (unguided problem solving), students were asked to determine the mass of an unknown object by applying Hooke’s law. In condition B (laboratory guide), students received a guide which instructed and explained each solution step. In condition C (incremental scaffolds), the solution steps were presented incrementally on learner demand and were preceded by strategic prompts. Dependent variables were learning outcomes (solution, retention, knowledge) and motivational learning experiences (basic needs, situational interest, deeper level processing). The laboratory guide (B) led to better learning outcomes (d?=?0.42) but lower motivation (d?>?0.38) compared to unguided problem solving (A). Incremental scaffolds (C) led to higher motivation (d?>?0.44) but similar learning outcomes compared to a laboratory guide.     

The Ancient Mariner and the transit of Venus

The achievements of William Wales FRS – astronomer, classical scholar, demographer, editor, mathematician, meteorologist and humane teacher – have been overshadowed by the fame of Cook's extraordinary voyages, and overlooked as a significant influence on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's early development. The Royal Society sent Wales to Hudson Bay, Canada, and James Cook to Tahiti, both to observe the 1769 transit of Venus as part of an international project to calculate solar parallax, and hence the distance to the Sun. Wales later taught mathematics and navigation science at Christ's Hospital School to a precocious Coleridge, whose creative mind translated tales of polar adventures into memorable poetry.