The odds of resilience

This article presents sample research designs for the investigation of questions concerning resilience. Sample hypothesis from specific research designs are described in the form of odds ratios.     

The Other Side of the Subsidized Muse: Indirect Aid Revisited

Indirect aid to the arts is an area of state support in which there has been considerable recent innovation and experimentation. This paper focuses on examples of tax-based indirect aid schemes drawn from a wide variety of national contexts and tax regimes. These examples are considered in the light of six propositions about the applicability and desirability of tax-based indirect aid mechanisms. Finally, these observations are set in the context of the broader discussion concerning the primary and ancillary functions of tax law. The paper concludes with a plea for a more coordinated approach to the study of tax-based incentives to facilitate further comparative research and suggests which research questions might be of most interest.     

The Pedagogical Orientations of South African Physical Sciences Teachers Towards Inquiry or Direct Instructional Approaches

In recent years, inquiry-based science instruction has become widely advocated in science education standards in many countries and, hence, in teacher preparation programmes. Nevertheless, in practice, one finds a wide variety of science instructional approaches. In South Africa, as in many countries, there is also a great disparity in school demographic situations, which can also affect teaching practices. This study investigated the pedagogical orientations of in-service physical sciences teachers at a diversity of schools in South Africa. Assessment items in a Pedagogy of Science Teaching Test (POSTT) were used to identify teachers’ science teaching orientations, and reasons for pedagogical choices were probed in interviews. The findings reveal remarkable differences between the orientations of teachers at disadvantaged township schools and teachers at more privileged suburban schools. We found that teachers at township schools have a strong ‘active direct’ teaching orientation overall, involving direct exposition of the science followed by confirmatory practical work, while teachers at suburban schools exhibit a guided inquiry orientation, with concepts being developed via a guided exploration phase. The study identified contextual factors such as class size, availability of resources, teacher competence and confidence, time constraints, student ability, school culture and parents’ expectations as influencing the methods adopted by teachers. In view of the recent imperative for inquiry-based learning in the new South African curriculum, this study affirms the context specificity of curriculum implementation (Bybee 1993) and suggests situational factors beyond the curriculum mandate that need to be addressed to achieve successful inquiry-based classroom instruction in science.     

Pedagogy of Science Teaching Tests: Formative assessments of science teaching orientations

A critical aspect of teacher education is gaining pedagogical content knowledge of how to teach science for conceptual understanding. Given the time limitations of college methods courses, it is difficult to touch on more than a fraction of the science topics potentially taught across grades K-8, particularly in the context of relevant pedagogies. This research and development work centers on constructing a formative assessment resource to help expose pre-service teachers to a greater number of science topics within teaching episodes using various modes of instruction. To this end, 100 problem-based, science pedagogy assessment items were developed via expert group discussions and pilot testing. Each item contains a classroom vignette followed by response choices carefully crafted to include four basic pedagogies (didactic direct, active direct, guided inquiry, and open inquiry). The brief but numerous items allow a substantial increase in the number of science topics that pre-service students may consider. The intention is that students and teachers will be able to share and discuss particular responses to individual items, or else record their responses to collections of items and thereby create a snapshot profile of their teaching orientations. Subsets of items were piloted with students in pre-service science methods courses, and the quantitative results of student responses were spread sufficiently to suggest that the items can be effective for their intended purpose.     

“Standing in Terri Schiavo's Shoes”: The Role of Genre in End-of-Life Decision Making

This article reports the findings from analysis of end-of-life court cases and case files from one state public guardianship administrator as well as interviews with guardians or surrogates to identify how language and principles of the courts are operationalized in end-of-life decisions for those who are unable to make decisions for themselves. We found that physicians and guardians worked well within the requirements of the genre to ensure the best interests for those whom they represent.     

Let’s Talk About Men: Some Suggestions on How We Can Include Men in Conversations About Gender Roles in Librarianship

Nine years ago, I did not imagine listing gender issues as one of my core research interests. Now I cannot imagine my research revolving around anything else. The way I study gender though, has taken a rather startling turn away from women to focus (sometimes uncomfortably) on men. What follows is an argument about why studying men and masculinities can make us better librarians. I argue that studying men broadly is important, and librarians should explore methods and strategies for studying a specific type of men: well-educated, white men with established careers in libraries. While my narrative is highly personal, it is based on 9 years of research and reflection about how librarians discuss gender and professional identity.