Spontaneity and planning in arts attendance: insights from qualitative interviews and the Audience Finder database

ABSTRACT

Arts managers frequently use customer relationship management systems to identify early and late ticket bookers, but to date there has been no comparable investigation of spontaneity and planning through qualitative academic audience research. This paper combines two radically different datasets to draw new insights into booking patterns of audiences for contemporary arts events. Quantitative data from Audience Finder has been analysed to look for trends in early and late booking amongst audiences for contemporary art forms. Qualitative data has been drawn from the Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts study, which used in-depth individual interviews to investigate the contemporary arts attendance of audience members in four UK cities. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was then used to draw out insights about where the purchasing point sits within the longer decision to attend. Following a review of marketing and audience research literature on the decision to attend, we present the findings from each of these analyses, looking at moments where they confirm, supplement, contradict, or say something completely outside the remit of the other dataset. We show how the timescale of the decision to attend is influenced by (1) art form conventions and price, (2) geographical region and availability of the arts, (3) attending arts events with companions, and (4) personal preference for planning or spontaneously choosing activities. We end by suggesting a new three-part model for understanding booking patterns, and considering how these insights might be acted upon by arts organisations.     

Toward educative communities: teacher education and the quest for the reflective practitioner

The current effort to reform teacher education around the aim of developing reflective teachers is unlikely to make a significant difference unless it is tied to a larger project that challenges the training orientation that dominates our understanding of teaching and schooling. The authors argue that the development of educative communities, based upon an ethic of caring and the establishment of dialogicalrelations, can serve as such an ideal. A discussion of this ideal is followed by two case studies that focus on ways that prcservice programs can link values and meaning to technical concerns, honor and examine what preservice teachers believe and know, and encourage the development of collegial relations.     

Using Constructivist Instructional Design Featured in Two Online Courses: Notes From the Field

Abstract

We thought that the close integration of theory and practice offered by constructivism promises unique opportunities to maximize learning in online courses using interactive software as the primary medium of communication. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to examine the ‘goodness of fit’ between principles drawn from constructivist theories and the design and implementation of the interactive online course.     

The shifting role of the special needs assistant in Irish classrooms: a time for change?

The education of pupils with special educational needs in Ireland has generally been influenced by national and international inclusion policy and legislation so that the majority of these children now take their place alongside peers in mainstream classrooms. In Ireland, a support network comprising the teacher and additional classroom assistance now characterises much inclusive school provision. Such support is often provided via learning support teachers, resource teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs), the latter group being the focus of this article. Whilst the professional credentials of this post have evolved in other jurisdictions, the position of the SNA in Ireland has remained largely unchanged, with a job specification that continues to emphasise its caring, non-teaching nature. This article will consider the juxtaposition of the statutory functions of SNAs with their reported role(s) in Irish classrooms. Using quantitative and qualitative data, it will explore the professional profile of the SNA, identify current perceptions on the nature of this post and consider its collaborative potential within an inclusive education system.     

Las actividades de lecto-escritura compartida: principios y prácticas orientativas para la participación de los padres

El gusto por viajar y el deseo de conocer mundo es algo más que saber conducir. Igualmente un repertorio de usos de la escritura no es algo que se consiga con el simple aprendizaje del mecanismo de decodificación y hunde sus raíces en los entornos y actividades significativas del niño. El papel de los padres se convierte así en central para el desarrollo de la lecto-escritura. Los autores ofrecen en este artículo 8 principios a seguir para una mayor eficacia de las actividades de lecto-escritura compartida en familia y algunos métodos que puede emplear el maestro para transmitir estos principios a los padres.