My school redux: re-storying schooling with the My School website

This paper explores the effects of audit cultures on school education through a highly personal reading of the My School website, launched in Australia in 2010. It situates two personal narratives, from the points of view of student and teacher, alongside the other stories available about two of the secondary schools listed on the website. Although statistics such as those generated through the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy tests, school comparisons and post-school destinations present certain kinds of stories about these schools, I argue that these are reductionist and insufficient for understanding the complexities of pedagogical spaces and the teachers and learners within them. Whilst arguments for hard data to address educational inequity can be marshalled to support My School, I suggest that it also inadvertently disguises other elements of schooling and risks increasing inequity. Rather, the statistical stories might be recognised as partial and supplemented and disrupted by richer accounts, including narrative accounts, about schooling.     

Asked and answered--online: how two medical libraries are using OCLC's QuestionPoint to answer reference questions

This paper imparts the experiences of two similar but unaffiliated medical libraries that use QuestionPoint, OCLC's collaborative virtual reference product. The authors introduce the major features of QuestionPoint, with particular emphasis on its asynchronous e-mail reference service. After presenting how both libraries have employed this service in their respective environments, the paper examines the quantity and quality of reference questions submitted via QuestionPoint. The types of questions are explicated, and statistical trends are compared.     

DINI机构仓储库认证

目的——旨在概述机构仓储库的认证技术以支持德国开放存取活动,同时还描述了德国网络信息初始化计划(DINI)开展的"DINI认证2006"活动。设计方法——DINI对文献和出版物仓库的认证向潜在用户表明,该仓储的运行质量是有所保证的,同时使其区别于一般机构的网络服务。本认证也能够被用作支持开放获取的一个工具。结果——仓储库认证技术虽然不会成为全球性学术信息实现开放获取的主要影响因素,但它能够促进机构仓储库的推广,并提高机构仓储库服务的知名度。研究局限性/意义——DINI认证作为一种"软性"认证,关注的是数字仓储库的互操作性,这是一种正在流行的有指导意义的观点。但是它并不能为可信赖的数字资源长期保存系统提供详尽的审计工具。实践意义——依据特定的组织及技术标准,"DINI针对文档及出版物仓储的认证"推进了德国机构仓储库的发展,同时也为世界范围内数字仓储库的互操作性做出了贡献。原创性/价值——本文描述了德国采用的一个独特方法,同时也适用于其他国家及组织。     

Expanding computer science education in schools: understanding teacher experiences and challenges

The increased push for teaching computer science (CS) in schools in the United States requires training a large number of new K-12 teachers. The current efforts to increase the number of CS teachers have predominantly focused on training teachers from other content areas. In order to support these beginning CS teachers, we need to better understand their experiences and challenges encountered in the classroom. This study investigated U.S. CS teachers’ perspectives on the demands of teaching computer science and support needed to ensure quality teaching. Results suggested that teachers face a number of challenges, including isolation, lack of adequate computer science background, and limited professional development resources.     

Doing time and motion diffractively: academic life everywhere and all the time

This article offers a diffractive methodological intervention into workplace studies of academic life. In its engagement of a playful, performative research and writing practice, the article speaks back to technocratic organisational and sociological workplace ‘time and motion’ studies which centre on the human and rational, and presume a linear teleology of cause and effect. As a counterpoint, we deploy posthumanist new materialist research practices which refuse human-centric approaches and aim to give matter its due. As a means to analyse what comes out of our joint workspaces photo project we produce two ‘passes’ through data – two diffractive experiments which destabilise what normally counts as ‘findings’ and their academic presentation. The article deploys the motif of ‘starting somewhere else’ to signal both our intention to keep data animated, alive and interactive, and to utilise visual and written modes of seriality as enabling constraints which produce a more generative focus on the mundane, emergent, unforeseen, and happenstance in studies of daily working life.     

Modelling Opportunity Recognition Competence as a Foundation for Teaching and Learning in Vocational Education

Due to tremendous worldwide changes, the entrepreneurial imperative demands innovation. Therefore, companies as well as employees require innovative thinking and acting skills to cope with modern challenges. Opportunity Recognition represents the starting point for such entrepreneurial endeavours. Hence, this paper focuses on modelling Opportunity Recognition as well as the development of an Opportunity Recognition competence model as the foundation for teaching and learning in vocational education. Building on vocational situations that trigger innovations (opportunities) and the necessary competence facets that are needed to apply competent vocational behaviour in such situations (Opportunity Recognition), we conduct a systematic literature review and develop a comprehensive Opportunity Recognition competence model. We thereby link the found vocational situations (opportunities) with the found more abstract and latent competence facets of Opportunity Recognition and operationalise them by more observable indicators, which can be construed as evidence for the latent construct and related to successful performance in associated vocational situations. This modelling procedure of “evidence-based reasoning” allows inferences from the observed behaviour to the underlying, although not directly observable, Opportunity Recognition competence. The resulting Opportunity Recognition competence model may serve as a foundation for developing evidence-based curricular goals for vocational education through both instruction and assessment.     

Pre-service teacher self-efficacy in digital technology

Self-efficacy is an important motivational construct for primary school teachers (teachers of children aged 5–12 years) within Australia. Teacher self-efficacy beliefs will determine the level of teacher confidence and competence to engage with a task. In this study, we explore engagement with digital technology and the associated learning and teaching of digital technology. Exploring the teacher self-efficacy beliefs towards technology of pre-service teachers, this study surveyed pre-service teachers studying to become primary teachers in two states within Australia (Victoria and Queensland). Findings are important as they provide insights into current levels of perceived competence and confidence towards engaging with digital technology as a future teacher. Findings highlight vast difference across a variety of teacher skills and actions. Given that beliefs are resistant to change after the beginning phase of teaching, it is important to understand the current beliefs of pre-service teachers who will soon be present in Australian classrooms.     

Fostering Social Participation in Inclusive Classrooms of Students who are Deaf

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that children with hearing impairment are at higher risk regarding their social participation in school compared to their hearing peers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social participation of 7th Grade students with hearing impairment in inclusive classrooms. Data from 62 7th Grade students across three classrooms and teachers were collected via paper-and-pencil questionnaires and from regular and special needs teachers via interviews. Results from the single case studies in three classrooms indicate that students with hearing impairment feel less socially integrated and less accepted by their peers. They do, however, interact more with other students with special needs and most students with hearing impairment have friends in their class. Teachers evaluated social integration, acceptance, interaction and friendships of their students with hearing impairment as average or as above average. The teachers’ evaluations only partly correspond to the self-perceptions of the students. Factors that either promote or hinder participation on an institutional, teacher, teaching and student level were exposed, which may have important practice and policy implications.     

Counseling as a Critique of Gender: On the Ethics of Counseling Transgendered Clients

This paper examines the responsibilities of mental health professionals, particularly counselors, to those who identify or might be identifiable as “transgendered.” There are two main objectives. The first is to describe the critical reflection necessary to deal with gender-variant clients in an ethical and effective manner. The second is to discuss a psychotherapeutic model that is likely to be effective in integrating such reflection into the clinical process, and to make counseling recommendations on that basis.