A brief intervention affects parents’ attitudes toward using less physical punishment

Consecutive English and Spanish speaking caregivers of 6–24 month old children were randomly assigned to either a control or intervention group. Parents in the intervention group were instructed to view at least 4 options to discipline a child in an interactive multimedia program. The control group participants received routine primary care with their resident physician. After the clinic visit, all parents were invited to participate in a research study; the participation rate was 98% (258/263). The key measure was the Attitudes Toward Spanking (ATS) scale. The ATS is correlated with parents’ actual use of physical punishment. Parents with higher scores are more likely to use physical punishment to discipline their children. Parents in the intervention group had an ATS score that was significantly lower than the ATS score of parents in the control group (median = 24.0, vs. median = 30; p = 0.043). Parents in the control group were 2 times more likely to report that they would spank a child who was misbehaving compared with parents in the intervention group (16.9% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.015). In the short-term, a brief intervention, integrated into the primary care visit, can affect parents’ attitudes toward using less physical punishment. It may be feasible to teach parents to not use physical punishment using a population-based approach. The findings have implications for how to improve primary care services and the prevention of violence.     

Participatory democracy in schools and higher education

This article is a personal interpretation of the findings of a cooperative enquiry by commissions set up by the Federal Republic of Germany and by Sweden to investigate the problem of democratization and participation in the educational and research systems of the two countries. The enquiry took place between 1971 and 1973 and detailed reports are being published in German and Swedish (see Appendix II).     

超越知识取向的投入控制和能力取向的产出控制：论经验、学习和教学之间的关系

从两个部分探讨了在欧洲和美国的现实的教育研究以及学校改革中所遗忘的经验、学习和教学之间的关系.第一部分(1-3)考察一个当代有待观察的趋势,即教育系统中的投入控制向产出控制的转变,指出这种转变以及两个控制模式和教一学过程的自身逻辑之间的矛盾,并借助柏拉图的"洞喻"探讨了超越投入一产出的经验、教学和学习之间的教育性的相互作用.第二部分(4-7)则从哲学史和科学史中发展起来的、对经验、教学和学习的不同理论的角度论述了教学和学习的逻辑,并从这些理论的主要的方法问题来梳理被教育研究和改革所遗忘的种种关系,最后指出,培养判断能力和参与能力是公立教育的任务.     

Critique and Negativity: Towards the Pluralisation of Critique in Educational Practice,Theory and Research

There are many possible ways to approach the topic of educational theory and critique. One could inquire into the meaning of critical phenomena and subject‐matter in practical education and instruction, investigate the various forms of critique with the goal of determining the extent to which they assist in clarifying pedagogical action, or one could ask: ‘What is meant by critical educational research?’ and ‘How do the various approaches to this topic relate to one another?’. This article inquires into the relationship between critique and negativity. Such a distinction is relevant for the practical, theoretical and research‐oriented use of the various forms and subject matters of critique. This analysis of their relationship aims to clarify how the structure of human learning connects to that of pedagogical action; and, additionally, how the theoretical guidelines and orientation for pedagogical action relate to scientific analyses and research in education in a way that is productive. Distinctions made in thought, judgement and action are not simply delimiting positive characteristics. Such distinctions are at once mediated by the relations of knowledge and ignorance, ability and inability. Although ignorance and inability can be transformed into positive knowledge and ability, they are not superseded in the process. Ignorance and inability are, on the contrary, constitutive elements of learning. The possibility for transitions from ignorance and inability to knowledge and ability—a possibility that itself presupposes knowledge and ability—point to a form of negativity within the process of education (Bildung). This form of negativity relates to the human ability to learn (Bildsamkeit) and provides the definitive basis of human learning. A form of negativity constitutive of learning processes leads to one that grounds pedagogical processes. Pedagogical efficacy is mediated by a double negativity, comprised of both a universal and a particular form of negativity. The relation of negativity to learning and pedagogical efficacy, with specific reference to educational research studies on teaching and learning processes, is considered. A form of educational research that operates beyond fundamentalist criticisms—that is to say, criticisms based on unshakeable beliefs—and utilises issues arising from a pluralisation of critique to confront the pluralism of critical positions, is considered. The article closes with reflections on the relation between the Critical and the Uncritical.     

Perspectives of information and communication technologies for engineering education

The information and communication technologies of today and tomorrow are characterized by: the Internet and its related technological networks; mobile telecommunication systems; video-based multimedia application for communication and information; and speech recognition/automated speech output. They are developing into embedded systems with invisible PC-free interfaces and into new breeds of robots and Multi-Agent Systems. These systems have started to change the technical and organizational structure of all human-machine-systems and their control tasks. In this paper, some aspects of these changes are described in view of the future roles of engineers within society. The paper is based on the memorandum which was drafted by an international expert group to be presented at the Congress on Information and Communication during the First World Engineers' Convention, 19-21 June 2000, Hannover, Germany. Subsequently this memorandum was discussed and agreed on by the participants of the Congress workshops. These participants were several hundred engineers from all over the world. Their ideas and concepts have been integrated into this paper.