“Slippage” is not a dirty word: considering the usefulness of Giddens' notion of knowledgeability in understanding the possibilities for teacher education

The attempt to understand the relationship between messages intended and messages received has been an enduring issue in teacher education. For the past three decades researchers have made forays into understanding this enduring issue, and in the process have drawn on various explanatory frameworks, one of them being socialisation. In this paper we work with Giddens' structuration theory as well as his concept of knowledgeability as analytical frameworks for understanding the relationship between messages intended (by the teacher educator) and messages received (by the student‐teachers). Our discussion is informed by the findings of a study that investigated student‐teachers' interpretations of the pedagogical process of a physical education teacher education course. Data generated from conversations with, and observations of, the student‐teachers indicated that there was considerable “slippage” between the teacher educator's critical pedagogy inspired intentions and what was understood by the student‐teachers.     

Asian perspectives on teacher education

This paper reports on a study that was conducted on the effects of training students in specific strategic and meta-cognitive questioning strategies on the development of reasoning, problem-solving, and learning during cooperative inquiry-based science activities. The study was conducted in 18 sixth grade classrooms and involved 35 groups of students in three conditions: the cognitive questioning condition; the Philosophy for Children condition; and the comparison condition. The students were videotaped as they worked on a specific inquiry-science task once each term for two consecutive school terms. The results show that the students in all conditions demonstrated more helping discourses or discourses known to mediate learning than any other of the discourse categories. This outcome is encouraging because it is the helping discourses where students provide explanations, elaborations, and reasons that promote follow-up learning.     

Youth work,performativity and the new youth impact agenda: getting paid for numbers?

A growing policy emphasis on measurement and outcomes has led to cultures of performativity, which are transforming what educators do and how they feel about themselves in relation to their work. While most analysis of performativity in education has focused on schools, this article investigates parallel developments in youth work. Youth work is a practice of informal education, in which young people learn and develop through activities, conversation and association. Its evaluation and monitoring have changed over the past two decades, as funding has become tied to targets and measureable outcomes. This article focuses on the English context, where government and third sector organisations are promoting a ‘youth impact agenda’, encouraging organisations to predefine and measure their outcomes. Drawing on data from interviews and focus groups with youth workers, the article argues that the current emphasis on impact risks further marginalising youth work at a time when this practice is already suffering from extensive spending cuts. The article concludes that we need to re-think the purposes and processes of evaluation and accountability - in youth work and beyond – in ways that genuinely value the perspectives of young people and grassroots practitioners.     

Children's Increased Emotional Egocentricity Compared to Adults Is Mediated by Age‐Related Differences in Conflict Processing

This study investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying age‐related differences in emotional egocentricity bias (EEB) between children (aged 7–12 years, n = 30) and adults (aged 20–30 years, n = 30) using a novel paradigm of visuogustatory stimulation to induce pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Both children and adults showed an EBB, but that of children was larger. The EEB did not correlate with other measures of egocentricity. Crucially, the developmental differences in EEB were mediated by age‐related changes in conflict processing and not visual perspective taking, response inhibition, or processing speed. This indicates that different types of egocentricity develop independently of one another and that the increased ability to overcome EEB can be explained by age‐related improvements in conflict processing.     

The validity and reliability of the Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test

The aim of this study was to examine the content validity, construct validity and reliability of the newly developed Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test (BJSAT). Basketball athletes from different playing levels (State Basketball League [SBL], n = 30, age: 22.7 ± 6.1 yr; SBL Division I, n = 11, age: 20.6 ± 2.1 yr) completed four separate trials of the BJSAT with each trial consisting of shot attempts from two- and three-point distances at pre-determined court locations. Each shot attempt was scored utilising a criteria where higher scores were given when greater accuracy was exhibited. The BJSAT detected a significant, large difference in accuracy between two- and three-point shots (d = 0.99, p < 0.01). Relative reliability across the repeated trials was rated as moderate for all athletes (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.71, p < 0.01) and good for the SBL athletes (ICC = 0.78, p < 0.01). Absolute reliability for all athletes was above the acceptable benchmark (coefficient of variation = 16.2%); however superior to skill tests available in the literature. In conclusion, the BJSAT is sensitive to two- and three-point shooting accuracy and can reliably assess jump shooting accuracy in basketball athletes.     

Reinstatement of fear to an extinguished conditioned context

Rats were shocked in the black but not the white compartment of a shuttlebox and then exposed to the black compartment in the absence of the shock unconditioned stimulus (US) to extinguish fear responses (passive avoidance). In five experiments, rats were then shocked in a reinstatement context (distinctively different from the shuttlebox) to determine the conditions that reinstate extinguished fear responding to the black compartment. Rats shocked immediately upon exposure to the reinstatement chamber failed to show either reinstatement of avoidance of the black compartment or fear responses (freezing) when tested in the reinstatement chamber. In contrast, rats shocked 30 sec after exposure to the reinstatement chamber exhibited both reinstatement of avoidance of the black compartment and freezing responses in the reinstatement chamber (Experiment 1). Rats shocked after 30 sec of exposure to the reinstatement chamber but then exposed to that chamber in the absence of shock failed to exhibit reinstatement of the avoidance response and did not freeze when tested in the reinstatement chamber (Experiment 2). Rats exposed to a signaled shock in the reinstatement chamber and then exposed to that chamber in the absence of shock also failed to exhibit reinstatement of the avoidance response (Experiment 5). These rats showed fear responses to the signal but not to the reinstatement chamber. Finally, rats exposed for some time (20 min) to the reinstatement chamber before shock exhibited reinstatement of the avoidance response but failed to freeze when tested in the reinstatement chamber (Experiments 3 and 4). These results are discussed in terms of the contextual conditioning (Bouton, 1994) and the US representation (Rescorla, 1979) accounts of postextinction reinstatement.     

Welcoming mobile children at school: institutional responses and new questions

Switzerland, like other countries in Europe, has long depended on migration and mobility for its economy. Facilitating the integration of migrant children in school, primarily through the acquisition of the local language, has therefore been a priority for policymakers. In recent years, mobility has been on the increase and mobility trajectories have become more diverse. A growing percentage of families arriving in the country have experienced repeated mobility and may not plan to settle in Switzerland for good. This paper examines institutional responses to the increasing number of mobile children in Swiss public schools, in particular, the manner in which such children are welcomed. It presents the main findings of an exploratory research project focused on children in repeated mobility, defined as having lived in multiple countries before their arrival in Switzerland, regardless of family background or legal status. Adopting a sociocultural psychological approach, the paper examines the macro-social level of cantonal educational policies regarding welcome processes, the meso-social level of local school policies, and the microsocial level of teachers’ practices and interactions in classrooms that welcome mobile children. Data include documentary analysis, interviews, and observations. Our analysis shows that a deficit view of mobile children and the preoccupation with language proficiency dominate policies and practices, resulting in the diversion of mobile children into special integration classes (so called “classes d’accueil” in the French speaking region, and “Integrationsklasse” in the Swiss German-speaking region). Mobility is conceptualized by Swiss policymakers, school directors, and teachers in terms of its challenges. In particular, school directors and teachers conceptualize mobility as increasing heterogeneity of the classroom. However, the situation varies greatly according to the personal orientations of school directors and teachers’ personal engagement. The paper emphasizes the ambiguous role of the integration classes: while they may impair the long-term chances of educational success by reducing academic expectations for non-native-speaking mobile children, they may also be used as “third spaces” which afford pedagogical freedom for dedicated teachers, potentially of benefit for children. The paper examines these propositions in the light of sociocultural educational literature and draws upon the case of welcoming mobile children to question a series of assumptions about the ultimate purposes of public schooling in Europe today.

     

Musculoskeletal anatomy knowledge in Australian chiropractors

Anatomy is a key knowledge area in chiropractic and is formally offered in the undergraduate component of chiropractic education. There is the potential for loss of anatomy knowledge before the opportunity to apply it in a clinical setting. This study aimed to determine whether chiropractic clinicians retain a level of anatomy knowledge comparable to that of chiropractic students and to compare chiropractors' self-rating of their anatomical knowledge against an objective knowledge assessment tool. A previously validated multiple-choice test was utilized to measure retention of limb musculoskeletal (MSK) knowledge in Australian chiropractors. One hundred and one registered chiropractors completed the questionnaire and responses were scored, analyzed, and compared to scores attained by undergraduate and postgraduate chiropractic students who had previously completed the same questionnaire. The results indicated that practitioners retained their anatomy knowledge, with a significantly higher total mean score than the undergraduate group [total mean score = 36.5% (±SD 13.6%); P < 0.01] but not significantly different to the postgraduate group [total mean score = 52.2% (±SD 14.1%); P = 0.74]. There was a weak positive correlation between chiropractors' self-rated knowledge and test performance scores indicating the effectiveness of this Australian chiropractic group in self-assessing their anatomy knowledge. This study found that Australian chiropractors' knowledge of MSK anatomy was retained during the transition from university to clinical practice and they accurately evaluated their own test performance.     

The Network University? Technology,Culture and Organisational Complexity in Contemporary Higher Education

This paper discusses the concept of the network organisation in relation to the technologised university. Drawing upon the early findings of a study that examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on both organisational and teaching and learning issues in five Australian universities, the authors discuss the way in which discourses of network technology have become articulated to a range of at times paradoxical agendas within higher education. The introduction of new technologies into organisations tends to be portrayed in either transformative or oppressive terms. The complexity of the university experience foregrounds the important role played by pre‐existing organisational practices and narratives in determining the uses and meanings of ICTs in the organisational setting. These observations place into question the notion that the network organisation is a single coherent entity driven by a particular technological logic. Instead, it suggests that network technologies are socially embedded and therefore highly variable in their expression.     

Playing it up,playing it down,playing it safe: Queering teacher education

The impact of homophobia and heterosexism on the e/quality of schooling experiences for many students and teachers in Australia places a responsibility on teacher education institutions to incorporate anti-homophobia and anti-heterosexist education in their courses. This discussion, based on research undertaken in universities across New South Wales, Australia, explores pre-service teacher educators’ perceptions of the importance and relevance of including anti-homophobia and anti-heterosexist education in teacher education courses. It examines how the application or avoidance of addressing these issues is a result of their positioning in discourses of personal investment and social justice, as well as their articulation in curriculum.