Changing the culture of a primary school: The case of introducing ICT across the curriculum

Abstract

Teachers and teacher learning are critical and key to establishing, understanding and realizing the possibilities of a learning society One first step in the process requires teachers to place their own learning at the centre of their activities. They must learn how to change, change the way they learn, and learn how to change their conditions of learning. This paper examines some policies and practices in regard to the provision of teacher professional development. Providing opportunities for teacher learning in Ireland has in general been preoccupied with facilitating curriculum reform, supporting organizational change and with easing management concerns. Shifting the emphasis from programme delivery to professional development through personal development is one challenge that has been taken up by the Second Level Support Service. It favours a process that is organic, career long and participant driven. Shifting the emphasis to a more personal and holistic form of development will not be an easy task but is a necessary one if the vision of a learning society and lifelong learning is to become realised.     

Embarrassment: The effects of embarrassor and target perceptions

This study investigated the role perception plays in embarrassing situations between same‐sex friends. We argued that when two same‐sex friends share a common experience where one was embarrassed due to something the friend did or said, the embarrassors and targets would differ in (a) their perceptions relating to the degree of embarrassment falt, (b) their attribution of intentionality, and (c) the degree to which the embarrassment affected their relationship. One hundred and sixty‐three same‐sex friend dyads were asked to report their perceptions about a commonly shared embarrassing incident. Results showed that only 52.5% (n = 84) of the embarrassors recognized that the target experienced embarrassment. Further analyses were then conducted on these 84 dyads. We found that embarrassors and targets tend to agree on the intent of the embarrassor. However, no associations were found between perspective and degree of embarrassment felt nor degree of relationship consequences. Implications of the findings and limitations are discussed.     

When do people accept cultural diversity?: Affect as determinant

Two experiments examined the influence of affect on the acceptance of cultural diversity. In Experiment 1, the salience of affective reactions towards Turkish immigrants was manipulated by asking German participants to think about their negative feelings towards Turks in general or towards a subgroup of Turks. It was found that the salience of negative affective reactions led to a decreased acceptance when affective reactions were generalized to the whole group, but not when they were attributed to a subgroup. Experiment 2 investigated the moderating role of perceived homogeneity with regards to the impact of affective reactions attributed to a subgroup of Muslim immigrants in Germany. As predicted, the salience of a negative aspect of a subgroup strengthened self-reported and implicitly measured negative attitudes when the perceived homogeneity of the immigrant group was high, but not when it was low.     

The use of turnitin in the higher education sector: Decoding the myth

Plagiarism needs to be addressed to maintain academic standards and to safeguard the integrity of the academic project. With the evolving digital world, conventional methods of addressing plagiarism are gradually being dismissed in favour of new technologies. Unfortunately, there is a general misunderstanding about what such technologies do. This paper was written from a PhD study, and looks at how such misunderstandings emerge across the higher education sector of one country. Institutional policies and other documents related to plagiarism were analysed from public universities across South Africa, and this was then augmented with interviews with members of institutional plagiarism committees. The results of the study revealed that technology is a key facet in these universities’ attempts to reduce the incidents of plagiarism, and that Turnitin is the most favored text-matching tool. However, the software is misunderstood to be predominantly a plagiarism detection tool for policing purposes, ignoring its educational potential for student development. The implication is that, if Turnitin is primarily used as a policing tool, students are not only denied access to nuanced pedagogical interventions that might develop their academic writing, but its misuse could also change students’ behavior in undesirable ways.     

‘Science disproves the biblical account of creation’: exploring the predictors of perceived conflict between science and religion among 13- to 15-year-old students in the UK

This study drew on data provided by 11,809 13- to 15-year-old students drawn from the four nations of the UK to explore the level of agreement with the view that science disproves the biblical account odf creation, and to explore the power of five sets of variables to predict individual differences in responses to that opinion. The five sets of variables were personal factors, psychological factors, religious factors, attitudinal factors (including ‘scientific fundamentalism’, understood as an exaggerated, uncritical, and unqualified belief in the inerrancy of science), and theological factors (distinguishing between differing implied theologies of religion). Blockwise multiple regression demonstrated that personal, psychological, religious, and theological factors all held significant power, but that the greatest variance was explained by the attitudinal variables. When the five sets of variables were assessed within the model, 25% of the variance was accounted for. Greater incompatibility between science and religion was associated with scientific fundamentalism (β = .37, p < .001), with anti-religious attitude (β = .16, p < .001), and with atheism (β = .07, p < .001). These findings suggest that young people who believe in science in an unqualified way are more distrustful of religion.     

Can’t pay,can’t play? Talent lead’s perspectives on the financial constraints experienced by athletes on the England Talent Pathway*

This study explored the extent of financial constraints experienced by athletes on the England Talent Pathway, as perceived by talent leads from various sports. Using a mixed-methods approach, 34 participants completed online surveys with 26 follow-up interviews. Findings showed the prevalence of financial constraints on individuals within the system, with three emerging themes: costs; demands on athletes; and potential funding support. “Pinch points”, causing the greatest severity of financial constraint, emerged further along the pathway and there were infrequent examples of mechanisms to identify talented athletes experiencing financial hardship. A means-tested system, premised on the demonstration of potential, is suggested by talent leads as a way of providing funding for athletes to ameliorate financial constraints in the future.     

Ethnicity and engagement in first-year New Zealand law programmes

This paper investigated the extent to which the engagement levels of a self-selected cohort of students enrolled in first-year law programmes at three New Zealand universities varied according to ethnicity. When viewed in the light of factors identified within the international literature as having a bearing on student engagement and, in consequence, academic success and retention, no significant differences were identified in the ways students of Pākehā (European), Māori, Pasifika, Chinese and Indian descent interacted with the law school at which they were enrolled. This was despite some identified differences in students’ backgrounds and motivations for study and in the external factors having an impact on their study. Nevertheless, the identified differences between the ethnicities in relation to personal and external factors can be utilised to enhance and/or improve the engagement of particular groups of students. Overall, the findings indicate a need for law schools to focus on student engagement in first-year programmes with a view to improving the engagement levels of students across all ethnicities.     

Social class and pedagogy: a model for the investigation of pedagogic variation

This article addresses an enduring concern in the sociology of education: how social class differences are reproduced through schooling. In particular it focuses on the functioning of pedagogy in this regard. The article presents a model that elucidates the inner logic of pedagogy in order to reveal the structuring of inequality with respect to different groups of students. Theoretical concepts are drawn from the work of Bernstein, Dowling (1998 Dowling, P. 1998. The sociology of mathematics education: Mathematical myths/pedagogic texts, London: Falmer.  [Google Scholar]) and Pedro (1981 Pedro, E.R. 1981. Social stratification and classroom discourse: A sociolinguistic analysis of classroom practice, Stockholm: Stockholm Institute of Education, Department of Educational Research.  [Google Scholar]). An analysis considering the relay of social class differences, what is relayed, and its organizational form is undertaken with respect to working class and middle class children learning literacy in a sample of South African primary schools.