Learning by Creating: Letting the Student Do the Work

There is evidence to suggest that mature students, perhaps studying at home where human tutors are not readily available, learn particularly effectively in a problem-solving environment. Also, they appear to be especially responsive to analogies and metaphors. We seek to exploit these effects by requiring students to transform problems into alternative forms before solving them. Three examples are given of domains where the student has to convert the formulation into an equivalent diagram. Arguably, the process of performing this transformation increases their understanding of the subject area.     

Professional identities and emotions of teachers in the context of curriculum reform: a Chinese perspective

This study explores the changing professional identities of teachers and their emotional experiences during curriculum reform in Shenzhen in the southern part of China. A qualitative approach to research was adopted. Findings reveal that the informants display several teaching behaviours and diverse emotions ranging from pain and helplessness, fulfilment and anxiety, and other mixed emotions. The three types of influential factors that influence teachers' professional identities are also discussed in this study.     

Understanding the leadership qualities of a head of department coping with curriculum changes in a Hong Kong secondary school

Little relevant research examining the leadership patterns of heads of department (HoD) coping with curriculum changes is found within the Chinese context. This article presents an exploratory case study which delineates the leadership qualities exhibited by a HoD as he overcomes the difficulties typically confronted in the process of school-based curriculum development (SBCD) in a Hong Kong secondary school. The findings showed that the challenges faced by the HoD included: (1) teachers' low receptivity of SBCD; (2) teachers' limited time and expertise in SBCD; and (3) a need for more effective collaboration in the department. The essential leadership patterns detected were: (1) personal charisma; (2) shared vision building; (3) empowerment of teachers; (4) changing beliefs and enhancing the capacity of teachers; and (5) fostering collegiality among teachers. This study suggests that unless the HoD is committed to making an innovation a priority, the potential of teachers to contribute to any curriculum change may not be realised.     

Photographic Albums

Walter Herdeg Photographis 77: International Annual of Advertising and Editorial Photography (New York: Hastings House, 1977—$37.50)

Louis Stettner's Weegee (New York: Knopf, 1977—$15.00)

Shadow of Light: Photographs by Bill Brandt (New York: Da Capo Press, 1977—$14.50, paper)

Helmut Newton's White Women (New York: Stonehill, 1976—$25.00)

Roswell Angier's “...A Kind of Life,” Conversations in the Combat Zone (Danbury, N.H.: Addison House, 1976—$15.00)

Yvonne Kalmus, Rikki Ripp and Cheryl Wiesenfeld, eds. Women See Men (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1977.412.95/7.95)

Lew Thomas and Donna-Lee Phillips' Photography and Language (San Francisco: Camerawork Press, 1976—$6.95, paper)

Linda McCartney's Linda's Pictures: A Collection of Photographs (new York: Knopf, 1976-425.00, with a paperback edition now also available)     

There Is Water Everywhere: How News Framing Amplifies the Effect of Ecological Worldviews on Preference for Flooding Protection Policy

The purpose of this study is to examine the interactive effect of worldviews and media frames on policy preference. Using flooding as a case study, we examine the interplay of ecological worldviews and news framed as either emphasizing harmony with nature or mastery over nature on individuals' preference for flood protection policy. A total of 255 undergraduate students participated in a 2 (ecological worldviews: balance-with-nature vs. human-domination-over-nature) × 2 (media frames: harmony frame vs. mastery frame) between-subjects experiment. The findings indicate that both the balance-with-nature worldview and the human-domination-over-nature worldview have significant impacts on preference for flood protection policy. Furthermore, the harmony frame amplified the effect of the balance-with-nature worldview in supporting a natural approach to flood protection. In contrast, the mastery frame amplified the effect of the human-domination-over-nature worldview on the preference for a structural approach to flood protection. Implications are discussed.     

Consensus or dissensus? Stakeholders’ views on the role of play in learning

Across cultures and eras, children have engaged in play as part of the process of growing and maturing into adulthood. Play has been recognized as an effective form of pedagogy to promote learning in the early years. However, beliefs about what play is and how it should be practiced vary across Hong Kong and in other countries. Because Chinese culture places a heavy emphasis on academic achievement, a play-based curriculum has not been widely implemented in the region. Through classroom observations and interviews with key stakeholders in early childhood education, namely parents, teachers, and principals, this study reveals the complexity of views on this matter and uncovers the root cause of the difficulties in supporting play in the Hong Kong kindergartens. These findings may help promote the play-based curriculum in Hong Kong and other countries where play is in crisis.     

Curriculum development for teacher education in the Southern Philippines: A simultaneous process of professional learning and syllabus enhancement

This paper reflects on the process of curriculum development in 21 tertiary education institutions in the Southern Philippines. Assisting capacity-building of the teaching profession is an ongoing need in developing countries, but rarely does it extend to pre-service education. In this study of one aspect of a three year AusAid-funded education development project, the process of developing syllabi for English, mathematics, science and practicum/pedagogy courses was an unfamiliar activity for the majority of the sixty Filipino teacher educators and their colleagues. These educators were used to following institution prescribed syllabi without question. The focus of this study was the educators’ participation in the intensive process of syllabus review, construction and enhancement which occurred concurrently with a series of regular professional development activities based on the needs and interests of the educators. The process was documented as it evolved and was evaluated at key stages. A major outcome was the enhancement, or construction, of more than 200 syllabi across the 21 tertiary institutions. However, an unexpected and significant outcome of the process was the development of strong cross-institutional and even cross-regional relationships and a level of collegiality not previously experienced by the participants. It is argued here that such an approach to curriculum development raises the potential for sustainable long-term outcomes in international development projects.     

Colouring in the Blanks: Memory Drawings of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion

This study used drawing tasks to examine the similarities and differences between females and males who shared a collective traumatic event in early childhood. Could these childhood memories be recorded, measured, and compared for gender differences in drawings by young adults who had shared a similar experience as children? Exploration of this question drove this qualitative research project to examine drawings by young Kuwaiti men and women, who were residents in Kuwait during the 1990 Saddam‐Hussein‐led Iraqi invasion of their country. Visual results from this study show colour, image and symbol (CIS) patterns, and differences in gender images in drawings which represent a select population's response to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.