Kairos as Indeterminate Risk Management: The Pharmaceutical Industry's Response to Bioterrorism

The pharmaceutical industry's response to the threat of bioterrorism following 9-11 invoked the rhetorical notion of kairos as an urgent and ongoing opportunity not only to protect the nation but also to improve the industry's reputation and fortify its political power. Yet the notion of kairos as seizing an advantage—grounded in modernist assumptions about agency and control—is also complicated by the case history of big pharma's response, which left the industry vulnerable to heightened and additional risks. This case history suggests that kairos can be less about seizing an advantage than about indeterminately responding to shifting, unbounded, uncertain, unpredictable, and uncontrollable risks shaped by the processes of globalization.     

Book reviews

The Fiscal Administration of City School Systems. By J. R. Mcgaughy. A report reviewed and presented by the Educational Finance Inquiry Commission under the auspices of the American Council on Education, Washington, D. C. New York: Macmillan Co., 1924.

Child Accounting. By A. B. Moehlman (University of Michigan). Detroit: Courtis Standard Tests, 1924. Pp. 205. Price, $1.85.

Principles of Teaching Practically Applied. By Ruby Minor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1924. Pp. xiii + 281. Price, $1.90.

Sex, for Parents and Teachers. By William Leland Stowell. New York: Macmillan Co., 1924. Pp. xx + 204. Price, $1.50.

The Child, His Nature and His Needs. Edited by M. V. O'Shea. Valparaiso, Ind.: The Children's Foundation, 1924. Pp. xi + 516.

Measuring Intelligence. By H. C. Hines (University of Washington). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1924. Pp. xii + 146. Price, $1.20.     

Interacting narratives: creating and re‐creating the self

This article is a report of a qualitative research study into the aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of the lifelong learning practices of eight experienced educators. The research is grounded in a narrative tradition of research on teacher development where teacher learning is viewed as a creative, holistic, relational endeavour in which the personal and professional are intimately connected. It makes connections between narrative inquiry, holistic education and teacher development, and makes a contribution to the body of knowledge in teachers’ knowledge/ learning by demonstrating that in the experience of the study’s participants, meaningful lifelong learning is an ongoing process of creating and recreating the self.     

Towards a new emphasis in monitoring

In the Open University, a sample of each tutors marked assignments is monitored to assess the quality of teaching and grading. Sue Cole and Maggie Coats, Assistant Staff Tutors in Social Science in the East Midlands Region and Helen Lentell, Assistant Director, Regional Academic Services respectively, focus on the tutor‐monitor dimension, and present the case for viewing monitoring in terms of performance improvement, not just performance appraisal. The views of readers on this controversial subject are welcome.     

An Implicit Theories of Personality Intervention Reduces Adolescent Aggression in Response to Victimization and Exclusion

Adolescents are often resistant to interventions that reduce aggression in children. At the same time, they are developing stronger beliefs in the fixed nature of personal characteristics, particularly aggression. The present intervention addressed these beliefs. A randomized field experiment with a diverse sample of Grades 9 and 10 students (ages 14–16, n = 230) tested the impact of a 6‐session intervention that taught an incremental theory (a belief in the potential for personal change). Compared to no‐treatment and coping skills control groups, the incremental theory group behaved significantly less aggressively and more prosocially 1 month postintervention and exhibited fewer conduct problems 3 months postintervention. The incremental theory and the coping skills interventions also eliminated the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms.     

Communication

“MR. LORD” An Appreciation of Miss Isabel McKinney's Biography of a Master-Teacher

THE YEARS By Virginia Woolf An Appreciational Review by Florence K. Johnston

The Honeysuckle and the Bee. By Sir John Squire. E. P. Dutton and Company. 282 pp. $3.00.

The Private Letters of Princess Lieven. Edited by Peter Quennell. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc. 376 pp. $3.75.

A First Course in Statistics: Their Use and Interpretation in Education and Psychology. By E. F. Lindquist. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 226 pp. $2.25.

Study Manual for a First Course in Statistics. By E. F. Lindquist. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 122 pp. $.80.

America Yesterday and America Today. By Roy F. Nichols, William C. Bagley, and Charles A. Beard. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company. 415 pp. each. $1.40, each.

An Introduction to Progressive Education. By Samuel Engle Burr. The C. A. Gregory Company, 345 Calhoun Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. 84 pp. $.50.

Educational Psychology. By Noel B. Cuff. The Standard Printing Company, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky. 387 pp. $2.50.

Child Guidance Procedures: Methods and Techniques Employed at the Institute for Juvenile Research. By The Staff of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Paul L. Schroeder, Director. D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc. 345 pp. $2.50.

Elementary Practical Physics. By Newton Henry Black and Harvey Nathaniel Davis. The Macmillan Company. 710 pp. $2.00.

Guide to High School Biology. By Edna Craig and George K. Stone. The Macmillan Company. 146 pp. $.96.

High School Biology. By Ralph C. Benedict, Warren W. Knox, and George K. Stone. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 724 pp. $2.00.

How to Teach. By Claude C. Crawford. Southern California School Book Depository, Los Angeles, California. 501 pp. $2.50.

Humanized Geometray: An Introduction to Thinking. By J. Herbert Blackhurst. The University Press, 26th and University Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. 272 pp. $1.33.

Personal and Social Adjustment. By Willis L. Uhl and Francis F. Powers. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company. 475 pp. $1.40.

Problems in American Democracy. By S. Howard Patterson, A. W. Selwyn Little, and Henry Reed Burch. The Macmillan Company. 726 pp. $1.88.

Reorganizing the Social Studies. By Vernon B. Hampton. The John Willig Press, Stapleton, New York. 91 pp. $1.25.

Secretarial Assistance in Teachers Colleges and Normal Schools. By Luther Jordan Bennett. Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York. 86 pp. $1.60.

Social Interpretation: Principles and Practices of Community and Public School Interpretation. By Arthur B. Moehlman. D. Appleton-Century Company. 485 pp. $3.00.

The Progress Arithmetics. By Philip A. Boyer, W. Walker Cheyney and Holman White. Book E. Accompanied by a Teacher's Manual. The Macmillan Company. 189 pp. and 29 pp. $.48.

The Student Editor. By James W. Mann. The Macmillan Company. 149 pp. $1.00.

A Mighty Fortress. By Le Grand Cannon, Jr. Farrar and Rinehart. 336 pp. $2.50.

Grass on the Mountain. By Henry and Sylvia Lieferant. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc. 443 pp. $2.50.

Robinson of England. By John Drinkwater. Illustrated by J. H. Dowd. The Macmillan Company. 326 pp. $2.50.

The Hush-Hush Murders. By Margaret Taylor Yates. The Macmillan Company. 344 pp. $2.00.

The Wooden Spoon. By Wyn Griffith. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 318 pp. $2.50.

Time Piece. By Naomi Jacob. The Macmillan Company. 352 pp. $2.50.

Victoria Four-Thirty. By Cecil Roberts. The Macmillan Company. 364 pp. $2.50.

The Concept of Morals. By W. T. Stace. The Macmillan Company. 307 pp. $2.50.

Differential Psychology. By Anne Anastasi. The Macmillan Company. 615 pp. $2.00.

In the Name of Common Sense. By Matthew N. Campbell. The Macmillan Co. 192 pp. $1.75.

Earth-Lore: Geology Without Jargon. By S. J. Shand. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton and Company. 144 pp. $1.25.

Living Safely. By Earl C. Bowman and Paul F. Boston. The Macmillan Company. 177 pp. $.52.     

Developing Teachers’ Knowledge,Beliefs, and Expertise: Findings From the Alberta Student Assessment Study

This article reports on a subset of findings that emerged from the Alberta Student Assessment Study in relation to the preservice and in-service development of teacher knowledge of, expertise in, and beliefs underpinning their assessment practices. Findings indicate that, although there has been a lot of attention given to improving assessment, confusion remains for teachers about terminology, principles, and pragmatics that undermine teacher confidence about assessment and making sound judgments about students’ work.     

Assessment in Alberta: Six Areas of Concern

This report on the Alberta Student Assessment Study describes the context, methodology, and emergent themes. It outlines the purposes and uses of assessment according to the various stakeholder groups. Using both qualitative and quantitative data from students and parents, as well as educators at all levels, there were six areas or themes that emerged for further exploration: politics of assessment, decision making, teacher learning, communication and relationships, instructional leadership, and fairness and equity.     

Who says you need to teach reading to 11–13-year-olds?

Research indicates that as students move through the school system, many begin to experience difficulties with reading. With this mind, this study explored current practices and perceptions about reading programmes for 11–13-year-old students in New Zealand schools. The study employed an online survey designed to investigate current reading literacy practices in a sample of New Zealand primary in years 7 and 8. Observations of practice and interviews with literacy leaders, teachers, principals and students were also carried out at five case study schools. The survey indicated that teachers may underestimate the importance of learner engagement and direct teaching strategies. The case studies exemplify the need for good professional development, supportive leadership, effective class management strategies, a positive and engaging learning environment, teachers with a passion for literacy and exemplary and sustained guided reading.