Secondary Education and Research in New Zealand

Through the 1990s the secondary sector was a site of considerable change as the Government sought to ensure that the curriculum and associated assessment practices were designed to meet student needs and the long-term goals of New Zealand society. The new regime aimed to promote student achievement and in particular to attain more equitable educational outcomes for all New Zealand students. These were policy rather than practice driven initiatives that linked somewhat tenuously to research based evidence. This paper begins by giving an overview of the secondary sector in New Zealand and these educational reforms. The overview sets the context for the following section that describes links between educational research, policy and practice during this time. Key issues within the sector are highlighted and some of the ways research has been used to monitor changes and inform policy are identified. It is argued that much of the research over the past decade has been small scale and short term and while this has served the immediate policy agenda it has provided only fragmentary evidence to inform longer term goals such as improving student performance. The paper concludes by discussing some of the current initiatives that might contribute to improving the interface between research and policy/practice in secondary education. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Teachers' scaffolding behaviours during cooperative learning

This paper outlines the types of verbal interactions teachers engage in to challenge children's thinking and problem‐solving during cooperative learning. The paper also provides examples of how children model many of the verbal interactions they have seen demonstrated in their discourse with each other. It appears that when teachers are explicit in the types of thinking they want children to engage in, it encourages children to be more focused and explicit in the types of help they provide. Understanding the key role that teachers play in promoting thinking and problem‐solving in their students is particularly important given that it is the quality of talk that children generate that is a significant predictor of their learning.     

DESIGNING INTELLIGENT KNOWLEDGE: EPISTEMOLOGICAL FAITH AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF SCIENCE

A bstract .  In this essay, Clayton Pierce examines the epistemological standpoints of Intelligent Design (ID) and evolutionary science education, focusing specifically on the pedagogical question of how ID and modern science-based education fail to promote democratic relations in how students learn, think, and associate with science and technology in society. Pierce explores the debate in education between ID and traditional science education that centers on the epistemological assumptions embodied in the modern scientific model. Turning to Bruno Latour's recent work in the field of science studies, Pierce develops his argument that both expressions of knowledge fail to deliver an adequate theoretical and practical democratic framework for teaching and learning about knowledge systems and technologies in their social, political, and cultural environments.     

Touching the void: arts education research in Australia

This article is an overview of arts education research in Australia. The authors argue that there is an urgent need for key arts organisations to form strategic partnerships with arts educators to provide stronger research in the area of arts education. This research base would enhance the ability of policymakers, arts administrators and arts educators to argue for a stronger presence for arts education in schools. Many arts educators and researchers believe that engagement with the arts has value beyond the specific arts subjects themselves. International studies have indicated that important cognitive and social processes and capabilities are developed in arts-enriched experiences, which can be particularly significant for students who are at risk, disengaged and/or underachieving. While this realisation has stimulated action in other countries such as China, Singapore and Japan, arts education researchers in Australia currently make do with small-scale and often ad hoc research in an attempt to argue their case. The conclusions and recommendations of this article call for a series of strategic partnerships to touch or even fill the current void in arts education research in Australia.     

Continuing education as a catalyst for inter-professional collaboration

Do nurses have access to the tools and resources they need for evidence-based practice? Are librarians prepared to work with nurses to provide access to appropriate resources and services, and teach the needed information literacy skills? The authors work with professional library and nursing organizations to present interdisciplinary continuing education to improve the information literacy of nurses and the ability of librarians to provide resources and services that meet nurses' information needs. This article reviews behavioral and practice changes reported by nurses and librarian participants in symposia on evidence-based nursing in March 2001 and May 2003.     

信息质量专业硕士研究生课程设置

首个信息质量(IQ)专业硕士学位是为培养在行业和政府部门就职的专业人才,并为学生提供进一步深造机会而设置的.课程设置是以获美国计算机学会和国际信息系统协会批准的信息系统专业研究生培养方案示范课程和指导方针为指导,充分体现两大主要教育创新:(1)课程设计的跨学科方法;(2)理论与实践相结合.为适应行业发展需求,该课程的目标是要培养能够解决当前和未来信息质量问题的领军人物.采用问题式学习与基础学习相结合的教学方法,可以非常有效地帮助学生掌握课程内容.许多课程的内容都是以过去20多年的研究成果和实践为基础.课程设置旨在运用现代工具和技术,紧密地把信息质量理论与行业最佳实践有机地结合在一起,包含了对成功信息质量专业人员来说至关重要的一系列技能.信息质量是一个跨学科领域,涉及全面质量管理、数据库、信息质量核心知识、变更管理、项目管理以及信息质量政策和策略等领域.课程采用案例研究、动手实验、理论学习以及团队项目的方式进行教学,以丰富学生的学习经验.通过学习,学生将掌握信息质量领域广泛和深入的知识,具备解决实际问题,开展研究工作的能力.     

Constructivism as a liberal bourgeois discourse

Using the theoretical tools offered through the writings of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper develops a critique of constructivism. Constructivism has assumed a dominance with the field of mathematics education but, as an epistemology, it ignores the social implications of the construction of meaning. It is argued that constructivism is a liberal discourse which valorises the individual construction of meaning. In doing this, the social and political contexts in which mathematical knowledge is located is ignored and the marginalisation of many social and cultural groups is legitimated.     

Contents of Volume 4

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 4     

Analysis of sexual abuse hotline reports

As concern about physical child abuse and neglect has increased, so too has the realization that children are also sexually exploited and abused. Yet, many protective service workers are often ill prepared to perform the difficult task of treating the abused child and his/her family. Through the analysis of sexual abuse hotline reports, the central aim of this study was to generate findings that would increase the knowledge base of protective service workers and private therapists engaged in treating sexually abused children and their families. To accomplish this task, and using seven classes of variables, analysis was performed on 205 substantiated cases of childhood sexual abuse. A number of important conclusions were discovered including: One-third of the cases had been reported to the agency previously; less than one-half (48%) of the victimized children were living with their natural fathers; natural fathers were identified as the perpetrator in 39% of the cases; and in contrast to other studies, a great number of cases (43%) involved vaginal intercourse between the victim and the perpetrator. Implications for treatment are also discussed, particularly in relation to improving resources and specialized training for workers involved in this highly sensitive area of practice.     

Activity theory,complexity and sports coaching: an epistemology for a discipline

The aim of this article is twofold. First, it is to advance the case for activity theory (AT) as a credible and alternative lens to view and research sports coaching. Second, it is to position this assertion within the wider debate about the epistemology of coaching. Following a framing introduction, a more comprehensive review of the development and current conceptualisation of AT is given. Here, AT's evolution through three distinct phases and related theorists, namely Vygotsky, Leont'ev and Engeström, is initially traced. This gives way to a more detailed explanation of AT's principal conceptual components, including ‘object’, ‘subject’, ‘tools’ (mediating artefacts), ‘rules’, a ‘community’ and a ‘division of labour’. An example is then presented from empirical work illustrating how AT can be used as a means to research sports coaching. The penultimate section locates such thinking within coaching's current ‘epistemological debate, arguing that the coaching ‘self’ is not an autonomous individual, but a relative part of social and cultural arrangements. Finally, a conclusion summarises the main points made, particularly in terms in presenting the grounding constructivist epistemology of AT as a potential way forward for sports coaching.