The role of fictive kinship relationships in mediating classroom competition and supporting reciprocal mentoring

Previous research has suggested that competitive classroom environments can play a role in perpetuating race and class inequalities. However, classroom competition can also promote learning, and eliminating it could do students a disservice. This paper draws on research literature and data from a qualitative study by Konstantinos Alexakos, Jayson K. Jones, and Victor H. Rodriguez on fictive kinship in order to explore the conditions under which classroom competition could benefit students from non-dominant groups. Based on their data, I argue that competition can support the learning of students from non-dominant groups, provided that it takes place in the context of strong emotional ties and successful interaction rituals. I also discuss the role of competition in facilitating reciprocal mentoring, as students seek knowledge and skills from each other in order to participate in solidarity-building classroom interactions. In addition, I show how their study challenges a perceived dichotomy between competition and cultural orientations towards communalism.     

Algorithm-improved high-speed and non-invasive confocal Raman imaging of 2D materials

Confocal Raman microscopy is important for characterizing 2D materials, but its low throughput significantly hinders its applications. For metastable materials such as graphene oxide (GO), the low throughput is aggravated by the requirement of extremely low laser dose to avoid sample damage. Here we introduce algorithm-improved confocal Raman microscopy (ai-CRM), which increases the Raman scanning rate by one to two orders of magnitude with respect to state-of-the-art works for a variety of 2D materials. Meanwhile, GO can be imaged at a laser dose that is two to three orders of magnitude lower than previously reported, such that laser-induced variations of the material properties can be avoided. ai-CRM also enables fast and spatially resolved quantitative analysis, and is readily extended to 3D mapping of composite materials. Since ai-CRM is based on general mathematical principles, it is cost-effective, facile to implement and universally applicable to other hyperspectral imaging methods.     

USING A STATE TEACHER CERTIFICATION TEST TO ASSESS AN INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAM

In this study, we looked at the impact of our specially designed inquiry-based science courses for pre-service elementary teachers on their science content knowledge as measured by a high-stakes state certification test for elementary education. We conducted a pre/post-analysis of the certification test scores of 1,003 pre-service teachers. Cohort 1 consisted of 424 students who took the test prior to implementation of our reformed science courses. Cohort 2 consisted of 579 students taking the test after complete implementation. We examined overall test scores, science subscores, total science credits, age, and science transfer credits. We found that the overall test score dropped significantly from cohort 1 to cohort 2, but the science subscores remained unchanged. Our results showed that students who took all 3 of the science content courses vs. none scored significantly higher on the science portion, non-traditional students (older than 25) scored similarly to traditional-aged students, and there was a negative correlation with the number of science courses transferred. Of importance is the fact that students who took the minimal number of science courses and are less interested in science passed the science portion at the same rate (over 90%) as science majors and minors. We conclude that our pre-service elementary teachers can and do learn science content using inquiry as recommended by the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996).     

A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis of the development of turn taking in adult–child vocal interactions

Fluent conversation requires temporal organization between conversational exchanges. By performing a systematic review and Bayesian multi-level meta-analysis, we map the trajectory of infants’ turn-taking abilities over the course of early development (0 to 70 months). We synthesize the evidence from 26 studies (78 estimates from 429 unique infants, of which at least 152 are female) reporting response latencies in infant–adult dyadic interactions. The data were collected between 1975 and 2019, exclusively in North America and Europe. Infants took on average circa 1 s to respond, and the evidence of changes in response over time was inconclusive. Infants’ response latencies are related to those of their adult conversational partners: an increase of 1 s in adult response latency (e.g., 400 to 1400 ms) would be related to an increase of over 1 s in infant response latency (from 600 to 1857 ms). These results highlight the dynamic reciprocity involved in the temporal organization of turn-taking. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for future avenues of enquiry: studies should analyze how turn-by-turn exchanges develop on a longitudinal timescale, with rich assessment of infants’ linguistic and social development.     

Socialising principals: early career primary school principals in Trinidad and Tobago

This paper utilises an interpretivist framework and recent developments in practice theory to examine the conditions which influence practices of socialising into the role of school principal in Trinidad and Tobago. The results indicate that for the 11 early career primary school principals, role socialisation occurs within complex practice landscapes, where the practices of preparing classroom teachers for the principalship materialise within a context of contest. There is conflict between historical antecedents and the expectations and practices of socialising institutions such as the church, the school, the community and the Ministry of Education. This small-scale study has implications for leadership preparation practices and highlights principal socialisation as a challenge of context and history.     

Global Learning and Education for Sustainable Development

Globalization is a fundamental factor affecting higher education in this century. More than ever before, the processes of globalization are being integrated into a set of social, technological, economic, cultural and ecological factors, so that we are now beginning to accept that we are facing a completely irreversible world‐wide phenomenon. The concept of sustainable development integrates these factors and leads, beside environmental education, to a demand for global learning and education for sustainable development. To get a better understanding of the subject, the decision‐game ‘Prisoner's Dilemma’ focuses on the aspect of the public good.     

Training for reflective expertise: A four-component instructional design model for complex cognitive skills

This article presents a four-component instructional design model for the training of complex cognitive skills. In the analysis phase, the skill is decomposed into a set of recurrent skills that remain consistent over problem situations and a set of nonrecurrent skills that require variable performance over situations. In the design phase, two components relate to the design of practice; they pertain to the conditions under which practice leads either to rule automation during the performance of recurrent skills or to schema acquisition during the performance of nonrecurrent skills. The other two components relate to the design of information presentation; they pertain to the presentation of information that supports the performance of either recurrent or nonrecurrent skills. The basic prediction of the model is that its application leads to “reflective expertise” and increased performance on transfer tasks. Applications of the model that support this prediction are briefly discussed for the training of fault management in process industry, computer programming, and statistical analysis.     

The decline of the nation-state and the education of national minorities

Many forces are shifting the role of the nation-state and altering our fundamental understanding of how it should function. The author argues that the transplanted European model of the nation-state has become dysfunctional, creating national minorities, serving as an ideological cloak for various forms of oppression and opposing forms of education that would promote diversity of languages and cultures. The decline of territorial sovereignty under the forces of globalization, the move to supranational forms of organization and the emergence of sub-national areas of economic and social development (often city-regions) provide a new range of opportunities for development of minority schooling.

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Zusammenfassung Viele Kräfte verändern die Rolle des Nationenstaates und ändern damit auch unser grundsätzliches Verständnis zu dessen Funktion. Der Autor argumentiert, daß das übertragene europäische Modell des Nationenstaates außer Funktion gesetzt und damit nationale Minderheiten geschaffen wurden. Somit besteht ein ideologischer Deckmantel für verschiedene Arten von Unterdrückung und Widerstand gegen Erziehungsarten, die eine Vielfalt der Sprachen und Kulturen fördern würden. Der Verfall territorialer Unabhängigkeit unter den Kräften der Globalisierung, die Bewegung hin zu einer supranationalen Form der Organisation und die Schaffung regionaler Gebiete wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Entwicklung (oft Stadtbezirke) bieten neue Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten hinsichtlich der Schulbildung für Minderheiten.

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Resumen Son muchas las fuerzas que están cambiando el papel que desempeña el estado-nación y que alteran nuestro concepto básico de cómo este debería funcionar. El autor argumenta que el modelo europeo trasplantado del estado-nación se ha vuelto disfunctional, creando minorías nacionales y sirviendo de manto ideológico para encubrir diferentes formas de opresión y de oposición a una educación que intenta promover la diversidad de lenguas y culturas. El ocaso de la soberanía territorial bajo las fuerzas de globalización, el cambio hacia formas de organización supranacionales y el surgimiento de sectores subnacionales de desarrollo económico y social (frecuentemente en regiones urbanas) proveen un nuevo tipo de oportunidades para el desarrollo de una educación escolar de minorías.

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Résumé De nombreuses pressions modifient le rôle de l'Etat-nation et transforment notre conception fondamentale de son fonctionnement. L'auteur expose que le modèle européen d'Etat-nation qui a éé transposé dans d'autres régions est maintenant atteint de dysfonctionnement, car il crée des minorités nationales, sert de prétexte idéologique à différentes formes d'oppression et fait obstacle à des modèles d'éducation qui encourageraient la diversité des langues et des cultures. Le déclin de la souveraineté territoriale sous la pression de la mondialisation, l'évolution vers des formes d'organisation supranationales et l'apparition de concentrations régionales du développement éconnomique et social (souvent en tant que régions urbanisées) constituent de nouveaux stimulants pour l'élaboration d'une scolarité adaptée aux minorités.

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Forum: structure, agency, and the development of students’ identities as learners

In this forum, we discuss the ways in which the culture of science has become conflated with categorical groupings of students according to race, class, and gender – so as to better understand how Black female students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds may become alienated from dominant school discourses that emphasize college and non-college bound trajectories. In addition, we examine the power and limitations of creating spaces inside and outside of science classrooms that value student discourses, goals, and ways of being. Specifically, we debate whether cogenerative dialogues can allow for (a) conscious critical conversations that cut across student, teacher and administration levels, (b) expanded possibilities for local action, and (c) the building of solidarity and respect amongst stakeholders.