Gender Relations,Education and Social Change in Poland

The significance of patterns of gender inequality in education in Poland cannot be adequately grasped without a wider understanding of the specific nature of gender relations under State socialism. The present article approaches this problem by posing a fundamental question: how is it possible to reconcile what is known concerning gender inequalities and the sexual division of labour in Poland with the documented absence of feminist awareness in that country? The answer is sought in terms of the specific ways in which the public and private domains exist under State socialism. The analysis provides an interpretation of social transition in Poland, arguing that this fundamentally entails a shift in the nature of patriarchy. The conclusion is that the lived experience of a ‘civil society’ and the revaluation of gender identity this brings, is prerequisite if sexist thinking and practice is to be perceived as such and challenged—in education as in other areas of social life.     

Baumgartner's Modified Pull-Up Test For Male and Female Elementary School Aged Children

Abstract

Nineteen college men and women (aged 18–23 yrs, × = 21.1) were studied to ascertain the force-time components of a rapid maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC) for ankle dorsiflexors, knee extensors, elbow flexors, wrist flexors and hand grip. Standardized isometric strength testing protocol was used. After a practice period subjects were instructed to make an MVC without jerking and as quickly as possible, for each of the muscle actions noted above. Force readings were taken from a load cell assembly through an analogue-to-digital converter and analyzed to yield time values for MVC, 3/4 MVC, 1/2 MVC, and 1/4 MVC. The results indicated significant differences (p < .01) between the responses of the men and women, with the women reaching full MVC more rapidly than the men. Also, there were significant differences among the five muscle groups tested, with the wrist flexor muscle group developing MVC most quickly, while the knee extensors took the longest time to full MVC. Based upon these data it may be concluded that the time to full MVC differs between men and women, and also that the time to full MVC differs among the five muscle groups tested in this experiment.     

The reconceptualisation of learner-centred approaches: a Namibian case study

The case study, which explored the implementation of learner-centred approaches, emerged from an action research study of a three-year INSET (In-service Education and Training) programme for 145 unqualified primary teachers in Namibia. A learner-centred curriculum was introduced in Namibia soon after her Independence from South Africa in 1990. It was considered an effective antidote to the stifling teacher-centred practices used within the previous apartheid system. The case study raises questions about the implementation of learner-centred approaches. Data emerged which indicated their non-implementation, and reasons are presented to explain this: teacher professional capacity at the time of the study, limited resources, cultural factors and learner background. Efforts within the INSET programme to support teachers’ implementation of learner-centred approaches led to their reconceptualisation. The study indicated the effectiveness of developing teachers’ skills in the use of whichever approaches, methods and skills best bring about learning. The study highlights the usefulness of an adaptive approach—examining the realities within which teachers work and experimenting with strategies that seek to achieve student learning within the limitations of these realities. The focus is on learning-centred rather than learner-centred approaches.     

Student Drivers and the Fiduciary Duty of School Boards

Following E.D.G. v. Hammer, Canadian law has held that school boards, although they have a fiduciary duty to their students, do not guarantee the safety of their students from the acts of their employees. The scope of that fiduciary duty is narrow, restricted to a board acting with disloyalty, in bad faith, or in a conflict of interest to its students, which causes them injury. This paper takes the position that the scope of that duty should include cases where a school board’s policy allows students to use their own cars to drive fellow students to school-sponsored functions.