Teaching Now with the Living: A Dialogue with Teachers Investigating Contemporary Art Practices

The Education Departments of Tate Modern and Goldsmiths College collaborated with a group of teachers to find out what they understood by the term ‘contemporary art’ and to discover the conditions that enable contemporary art practices in the classroom. We explored questions with eleven teachers, from both primary and secondary schools, during the Autumn of 2004. Although the cultural/ethnic context of the schools the teachers worked within was diverse, they shared a commitment to working with contemporary art in the classroom and exploring new pedagogies in this field. Their engagement with contemporary art and their revealing and compelling experiences are documented, contextualized and summarized. Samples of the discussions form the substance of this article. This is preceded by an analysis of the success of socially‐orientated contemporary art in the wider global context and its contrast with the omission of these practices in many schools. Conclusions have been tentatively drawn about how the curriculum may be better served by the use of contemporary art, as well as the means by which new learning methods may be facilitated.     

Applying Research in Special Library Settings

ABSTRACT

Special librarians encourage their users to base decisions on vetted research results and quality information, yet when faced with a problem in their own work, they are more likely to turn to their network of colleagues than to published research. While learning from the experience of colleagues is valuable, greater application of research and evidence-based practice in the special library sector could benefit these libraries in making good, strategic decisions. A few studies have examined whether practitioners use library and information science research and what barriers keep them from doing so. Engaging practitioners and scholars in productive collaboration and communication can help practitioners find and apply lessons learned from research in their work and encourage more participation in research by special librarians. In turn, increased diversity in research settings can benefit all libraries as they evolve and learn from each other's experiences.     

Predictors of Relationship Satisfaction in Online Romantic Relationships

Based on traditional theories of interpersonal relationship development and on the hyperpersonal communication theory, this study examined predictors of relationship satisfaction for individuals involved in online romantic relationships. One hundred-fourteen individuals (N = 114) involved in online romantic relationships, and who had only engaged in computer-mediated communication (CMC) with their partners, completed an online questionnaire about their relationships. Intimacy, trust, and communication satisfaction were found to be the strongest predictors of relationship satisfaction for individuals involved in online romances. Additionally, perceptions of relationship variables differed depending on relationship length and time spent communicating. Implications for interpersonal and hyperpersonal communication theories, and future investigation of online relationships, are discussed.     

Topic Valence and Ambiguity in Parent-Emerging Adult Child Postdivorce Discussions

Communication privacy management theory maintains permeability rules manifest as communication strategies used during conversation. Although postdivorce families tend to privilege openness, this conclusion is based on recalled reports and single discussions about negatively valenced topics. To determine whether ambiguity functions as a manifestation of permeability rules and its effects on relational satisfaction and psychological well-being, 39 parent-emerging adult child dyads discussed one negatively valenced and one positively valenced postdivorce topic. Results indicated parents were ambiguous while discussing negatively and positively valenced topics, and children were perceptive of parents' ambiguity during the conversations. No differences were found between parents' use and children's perceptions of parents' ambiguity. Further, children's relational satisfaction and psychological well-being were affected by ambiguity in both discussions.     

An Introduction to Gamification: Adding Game Elements for Engagement

Gamification is defined as the use of game design elements in a nongame context. While gamification is not a new concept, new dynamics are unfolding that may cause more businesses, educators, and librarians to consider the use of game-like elements into future endeavors. In addition to more generation Y or millennials entering higher education and the workplace, there has been a significant acceptance of routinely using smartphones and playing games. This column will explain what gamification is, provide an overview of the benefits and concerns surrounding gamification, and describe how and where it is currently being used.     

Presenting Your Best: Web-Based Applications for Library Instruction

Library instruction in academic, health sciences, and hospital libraries is an evolving concept. Content, the intended learner, and various teaching models influence the creation of library instructional tutorials and presentations. Standard programs such as PowerPoint and Keynote are often used to generate these instructional materials. However, new and dynamic web-based presentation applications have the potential to improve the learning experience for patients and health care professionals. This column will briefly touch on library instruction and standard presentation creators, but will mainly concentrate on six web-based applications that can be used for the creation of library instructional presentations.     

An Effective Assessment Model for Implementing Change and Improving Learning

Assessment at Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) involves asking the right questions and using data to determine what changes should be implemented to enhance student learning. Guided by a 5-stage design, CCBC's assessment program is faculty-driven, risk-free, and externally validated. Curricular and pedagogical changes have resulted in evidence-based learning improvements that benefit everyone.     

Body‐Building: A Female Student's Use of the Transitional Spaces of a Painting Degree Course to Explore her Sexual Desirability and Aesthetics as a ‘Grotesque’ Female Body

Whilst a part of the fine art degree course is about teaching technical skills and learning from tutor/peer group crits, a larger part is about the facilitation of a ‘safe’ and structured space in which students gain the confidence to experiment with personal ideas, to hone a self‐critical reflection and understand who they are as individuals, before being cast out into the world as ‘artist’. In this article I examine the thought processes and decision‐making of one undergraduate female painting student. For this student, who struggled to find her own ‘grotesque’ female body image in the canon of art historical works or contemporary popular media, the spaces of the painting degree course created a frame for possible enactments of identity and desire, as well as for playing with roles and practices. Through a mix of interviews with the student, viewing her visual work and written narratives, I analyse how she was able to carve out a space for her visual representation within the institutional frame. My analysis reveals how this student uses the transitional spaces of the degree course to develop creative strategies through which to explore her sexual desirability and aesthetic self. As an individual who felt marginalised from the visual realm of the ‘body beautiful’, the degree course offered an important refuge where she could examine how she felt about her own body and develop a confidence and character to present her body to the world.     

Transitioning in elementary school: parent advocacy and teacher allyship

This paper examines how parent advocacy and teacher allyship played an important role in supporting six-year-old Violet Addley’s (a pseudonym) gender transition in elementary school. We first met the Addley family in the spring of 2015 when we interviewed them for a research study on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) families in Ontario schools. The goals of the study are to interview LGBTQ families about issues that come up at school, document how families have worked with schools to create safer and more respectful classrooms for their children, and share the families’ interviews with teachers and principals so they can begin to think about the ways they can best work with LGBTQ parents and their children. Our paper also discusses what a group of teachers learned about parent advocacy and teacher allyship from their engagement with the Addley family interviews.