Middle years teacher education: New programs and research directions

Teacher education programs focussing on the development of specialist teachers for ‘the middle years’ have proliferated in Australian universities in recent years. This paper provides some insights into middle years’ teacher education programs at the University of Queensland, Edith Cowan and Flinders Universities with regard to their: philosophical underpinnings; specific educational context; scope and nature of the program. In addition, some of the research directions and efficacy strategies utilised in conjunction with the programs will be shared, along with some early findings from a longitudinal study in one of the programs. We propose that the pattern of programmatic growth heralds a new time for teacher education, and we speculate about the production of new kinds of teacher identities as graduates take their place in the profession.     

Teacher expectations on the directiveness continuum in consultation

The study investigated the consultation approaches of collaborative‐directive and collaborative‐nondirective and the influence of teacher expectations for consultation on their ratings of consultation success. Teachers viewed videotaped consultation sessions of a collaborative‐directive or collaborative‐nondirective consultation session that either matched or mismatched their expectations. The study found significantly higher ratings for the consultants and interventions when the collaborative‐directive approach was used. In addition, teachers in conditions that matched their expectations for consultation rated consultants and interventions significantly higher than did teachers in mismatched conditions. The importance of this line of research lies in its practical application, allowing practitioners of consultation and trainers of school psychologists greater knowledge in selection of the appropriate consultation approach to maximize perceived consultant effectiveness and intervention acceptability. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The presence of museums in the lives of Canadians, 1971–1998: What might have been and what has been

This chapter reviews data from seven large‐scale national surveys that measured cultural participation in Canada from 1971 to 1998. It assesses what the data imply regarding the numbers and types of people visiting museums, and how these have changed over time.

While overall participation rates have sustained the levels of the 1970s, participation rates in 1998 do not reflect the growth in participation projected then. Furthermore, the spectrum of people visiting museums has narrowed, rather than being ‘democratised’. Those with post‐secondary education have always been more likely to visit museums but now represent a majority of visitors for the first time.

That museums are now attracting relatively fewer people and fewer types of people suggests a diminishing presence for museums. Nonetheless, museums’ audiences are noticeably less elite than often portrayed, and there are opportunities for changes in policy and programmes designed to reach more people. Ultimately, though, the surveys give only limited insight into the role of museums in the lives of the general public, and new types of research and measurement are needed.