Rogues of the Racecourse

This article focuses on the reporting of racecourse crime, exploring the shifting cultural contexts in which the press constructed outbreaks of metropolitan gang-related crime. The first part of the article looks at the extended coverage of what became known as the ‘racecourse wars’, concentrating on three key themes which permeate the accounts of racecourse crime between 1920 and 1925: the organisation of crime, the use of firearms and the mobility of criminals. The coverage of these events, which can be traced across a number of different newspapers, was often described in ways that reflected concerns about the organisation and professionalisation of crime. After 1925, despite continuing outbreaks of violence and racecourse-related crime, the press coverage subsided. However, in 1936 the racing men once again became ‘folk devils’, and the final part of the article explores the re-emergence of press reportage by considering the responses to the Lewes Racecourse Affray in June 1936. In this latter period, the rising influence of the American gangster film (as well as coverage of events in American cities such as New York and Chicago) meant that a newer language of gangsterdom would become increasingly embedded in British cultural forms.     

Situated assessment: Limitations and promise

We present some key findings of a four-year, two-phase writing assessment project at Central Michigan University: Phase One (2002), a survey of faculty members (n = 115) and subsequent focus groups (n = 14) and Phase Two (2005), an evaluation of two samples of student writing (n = 635 and 632). Major findings of Phase One reported here include the amounts and types of writing assigned by faculty members and their perceptions about the quality of their students’ writing. Phase Two revealed some surprising results about our students’ critical reading and writing abilities, confirmed the limitations of a timed-writing assessment methodology, and exposed an intriguing artifact of the data set. We reflect on the process of developing and conducting the assessment project, examine its strengths and weaknesses, and share our thoughts about the next phase of our assessment odyssey.     

Internationalisation as a key dimension to teacher education

The European Union has recognized the need for promoting social and political change through education. Special emphasis has been placed on the role of schools in personal and human development, along with the need for greater understanding of the diversity which makes up the European Union and throughout the world. This means that teachers are now expected to involve learners in the process of acquiring knowledge of their own culture(s) as well as other cultures. This article discusses a pilot project carried out in six European countries and designed to promote intercultural awareness of future teachers. The nexus of the training programme included empirical knowledge drawn from the teacher trainees international experiences, combined with intercultural communicative theory. How the pilot project was set up, some outcomes and conclusions derived from qualitative and quantitative research about the project are discussed.

L'union européenne a identifié le besoin de favoriser le changement social et politique par le biais de l'éducation. Une attention particulière a été portée sur le rôle des écoles quant à l'épanouissement personnel et humain et le besoin d'une meilleure compréhension de la diversité de l'Union Européenne et hors de ses frontières. Ceci implique que les enseignants sont maintenant amenés à faire acquérir aux étudiants la connaissance de leur propre culture tout autant que d'autres cultures. Cet article présente un projet pilote mené dans six pays européens conçu pour favoriser la sensibilisation interculturelle de futurs professeurs. Le programme de formation repose sur la connaissance empirique tirée des expériences internationales de professeurs stagiaires, combinée avec la théorie communicative interculturelle. La présentation fera part du déroulement du projet pilote, de quelques résultats fondés sur des analyses quantitative et qualitative.

Die Europäische Union hat die Notwendigkeit erkannt, sozialen und politischen Wandel durch Ausbildung zu fördern. Besonderer Wert wurde auf die Rolle gelegt, die Schulen für die persönliche und menschliche Entwicklung spielen, zusammen mit der Notwendigkeit, die Vielfalt, die die Europäische Union und die Welt an sich ausmachen, besser zu verstehen. Das heißt, dass von Lehrer/innen jetzt erwartet wird, Lernende in den Prozess des Wissenserwerbs in Bezug auf die eigene Kultur(en) sowie andere Kulturen einzubeziehen. Dieser Beitrag stellt ein Pilotprojekt vor, dass in sechs europäischen Ländern durchgeführt wurde und dass entworfen worden ist, um interkulturelles Bewusstsein zukünftiger Lehrer/innen zu fördern. Der Kern des Trainingsprogramms schließt empirisches Wissen ein, das aus den internationalen Erfahrungen der auszubildenden Lehrer/innen stammt, und das mit Theorien zur interkulturellen Kommunikation verbunden wurde. Die Entwicklung des Pilotprojekts sowie einige Ergebnisse aus der qualitativen und quantitativen Forschung des Projekts werden vorgestellt.

La unión europea ha reconocido la necesidad de promover el cambio social y político a traves de la educación. El énfasis especial se ha puesto en el papel de las escuelas para el desarrollo personal y humano, junto con la necesidad de la mayor comprensión de la diversidad que se encuentra en la unión europea y el resto del mundo. Esto significa que ahora se espera que los profesores impliquen a sus alumnos en el proceso de adquirir conocimientos de su propia cultura(s) como de otras culturas. Este artículo plantea un proyecto experimental realizado en seis países europeos y diseñado para promover el conocimiento intercultural de futuros profesores. El nexo del programa incluyó el conocimiento empírico recogidos de las experiencias internacionales de los alumnos de educación, combinadas con teoría comunicativa intercultural. Se discute cómo el proyecto fue diseñado y implementado, algunos resultados y conclusiones derivadas de la investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa sobre el proyecto.     

Assistant/deputy principals: what are their perceptions of their role?

The roles and aspirations of Assistant/Deputy Principals (AP/DPs) have received attention for a number of decades. In contrast to much of the reported research that either highlights the administrative and management tasks or foregrounds principal succession, we explore levels of satisfaction that play into DP/APs’ interpretations of the realities of their professional experiences during everyday work. Job choice theory provided us with the theoretical resources for the exploration. Our study found that half of all participants perceived their job as a legitimate terminal career. They expressed immense satisfaction in the role, perceived the role as offering a sufficiently high level of challenge without the demands of ultimate leadership responsibility and identified interpersonal relationships, particularly those within the senior leadership team, as the most significant dimension in the role. However, the study has also highlighted that without the support of induction programmes, mentoring support and in-depth leadership training, for many AP/DPs ‘on the job’ training is the only means of learning available to support their professional development in the AP/DP role.