A brief history of general education

In the 1960s, general education was at the forefront of innovative programs in American community colleges. Every community college designed a program of a common core of courses for the common person. General education was so popular it was included as one of the required components of a comprehensive community college along with university transfer, vocational and occupational programs, remedial education, and community service programs. By the 1980s, the common core idea began to fracture, and faculty began to add so many courses to meet general education requirements that today Thomas Bailey and his colleagues at the Community College Research Center cite the cafeteria-style, self-service model as one of the key issues keeping the Completion Agenda from reaching its goals. Whereas in the 1960s, students were required to take one comprehensive course in the humanities; students today choose from among 60 or more courses to meet the humanities requirement. In current student success reform efforts to increase retention and completion rates, the curriculum has pretty much been ignored. But leaders in a handful of community colleges are beginning to realize the unintended consequences of too many courses and too many choices, and they are beginning to appoint faculty committees to explore and redesign general education programs to better serve the needs of today’s students. Few faculty leaders and administrators are familiar with the history and philosophy of general education, and this brief history will be helpful in their work as they design the next generation of these programs.     

Introducing a mentor into a children's composition project: Reflections on a process

This article reports on a case study where a professional musician was assigned to a primary school as mentor in a project where 14 primary-aged children, with their teacher's direction, were involved in the composition of a piece of music that would act as prologue to the school's major production. The researchers were interested in aspects of the composition project that appeared to develop student's compositional skills and motivation and how the mentor might exercise his role in the composition project alongside the teacher, who was the school's music specialist. A range of data was analyzed: classroom observations, emails, questionnaires, and one-on-one and focus-group interviews. Findings suggested that the involvement of the mentor was well received by the pupils and that the mentor and teacher complemented one another in their enactment of both pedagogical and compositional roles. Students enjoyed a high sense of success in the production of their composition. Student learning were highly variable and a range of activities and processes was identified by students as contributing to their learning.     

Mindfulness-based interventions and the affective domain of education

Thanks largely to the work of Kabat-Zinn and associates applications of mindfulness-based practices have grown exponentially over the last decade or so, particularly in the fields of education, psychology, psychotherapy and mind–body health. Having its origins in Buddhist traditions, the more recent secular and therapeutic applications of the basic notion of impartial present-moment attention have been shown to have far-reaching implications for all aspects of learning and education. It is argued that mindfulness practice has much to contribute to the neglected area of affective education in the UK system and that – in addition to enhancing learning in the crucial sphere of the education of the emotions – it can also provide a foundation for more general cognitive development. In addition to philosophical arguments, reference is made to research studies of mindfulness-based educational practices in America and Britain.     

Asia-born New Zealand-educated business graduates' transition to work

In 2008 the Asia New Zealand Foundation commissioned a three-year project examining Asia-born New Zealand-educated business graduates' study to work transitions. Data were collected through annual online surveys and in-depth interviews. Graduates were asked to discuss their post-study experiences, reflections on studying in New Zealand, and perceptions of their New Zealand business education. Participants included 171 (phase one), 76 (phase two) and 41 (phase three) students and recent graduates. All except one were based in New Zealand or the Asia region. In this paper we draw on “engaged pedagogy” and “functional capabilities” perspectives to consider phase two and three participants' accounts of their study to work transition pathways. Specifically, we examine two “functional capabilities” that participants discussed in relation to their post-study experiences: having economic opportunities and developing a sense of affiliation. We highlight some barriers to each “capability” that emerged in participants' accounts and consider how participants envisaged their role in fostering ongoing Asia-New Zealand connections. We conclude with some suggested implications for policy and practice in New Zealand and in internationalized HE more generally.     

Moving Minds

This paper explores and examines a case study based at Ivy Bank Business and Enterprise College, The Imperial War Museum North, and Liverpool John Moores University. This collaboration took place from November 2004 until February 2005 culminating in an exhibition of children's artwork as part of the ‘Moving Minds’ project at the IWM North. This project was built upon a firm foundation of common goals; an investment in educational and curriculum development; learning through an engagement with contemporary art practice; learning within the context of the museum and a belief that working collaboratively can act as an effective antidote to a perceived orthodoxy in art and design education (Steers 2004). Through practitioner enquiry this paper presents three distinct perspectives. The voice of the trainee teacher, the classroom teacher and the university lecturer demonstrate both elements of commonality and difference within the shared experience of this enterprise.     

Interaction and learning in mathematics classroom situations

An analysis of one ten minute episode in which three seven year-old students engage in collaborative small group activity is presented to explore the relationship between individual learning and group development. Particular attention is given to the establishment of a taken-as-shared basis for mathematical activity and to the attainment of intersubjectivity. From a perspective which treats communication as a process of active interpretation and mutual adaptation, learning as it occurs in the course of social interaction is characterized as a circular, self-referential sequence of events rather than a linear cause-effect chain. In addition, the relationship between individual learning and group development is such that the students can be said to have participated in the establishment of the situations in which they learned.     

Pushing to the edge: Rutgers astrophysics institute motivates talented high school students

The Rutgers Astrophysics Institute is a program in which gifted high school students learn about contemporary science and its methods, and conduct independent authentic research using real‐time data. The students use the processes of science to acquire knowledge, and serve as cognitive apprentices to an expert astrophysicist. A variety of naturalistic and statistical methods were employed to gather data concerning various changes in the students as a result of their participation in the institute. Specifically, we concluded that students were able to (a) distinguish between observational data and models, devise testing experiments, and reflect on the analysis and the interpretation of X‐ray data; (b) achieve results comparable to those of regular Advanced Placement (AP) students on individual AP exam problems (the students had not taken AP Physics), (c) engage in elements of meaningful authentic research, and (d) change their approaches toward learning science. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 958–985, 2003     

Exploring the actions behind the words “learning‐centered institution”

More than just labels and symbolic gestures are needed to distinguish a college or university as a place where learning matters most. A president, provost, and vice president for student affairs describe the work of changing a whole campus.     

The Teacher''s Role in Facilitating Memory and Study Strategy Development in the Elementary School Classroom

The efforts of 69 elementary school teachers to instruct children in cognitive processing activities were observed. Although the teaching of such activities was relatively infrequent, it varied by grade (occurring more often in grades 2-3 than in higher or lower grades) and by the content of instruction. Teachers of grade 4 and above more often provided rationales for the use of cognitive strategies than did teachers of younger children. In a second study, children of three achievement levels were selected from classrooms in which teachers varied in their use of suggestions regarding cognitive processes. Subsequent to training in the use of a memory strategy, children's performance on a maintenance trial was evaluated: Among average and low achievers, those whose teachers were relatively high in strategy suggestions showed better maintenance and more deliberate use of the trained strategy than did children whose teachers rarely made strategy suggestions. The role of school experience in the development of children's memory skills is discussed.