Adapting to Curriculum Change: A Theoretical Framework Informing the Design and Implementation of a Curriculum Intervention

Adapting to curriculum change necessitates the evaluation of teaching and learning pedagogies. A new curriculum invites reflection on how knowledge is constructed and operationalised to extend higher order thinking in adolescent learners. This paper reviews contemporary empirical and theoretical literature identifying productive pedagogical practices associated with critical reading competencies in order to design and implement a curriculum intervention in a senior secondary Literature course.     

Final Summing-Up at the Vienna Conference

The final session of the ICEF international conference in Vienna was in two parts. First came the summaries of each working group, who reported variously on the integration of audiovisual media in the primary school, in the secondary school, and in technical and professional teaching. The second part of the meeting took the form of a round-table discussion on the subject of 8mm film and the development of its use in schools.     

Hazard and Outrage: Developing a Psychometric Instrument in the Aftermath of Katrina

This article details the development of a psychometric instrument measuring the constructs of hazard and outrage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The study focused on the interplay of perceived hazard and outrage in relation to evacuation from the New Orleans area, with specific attention to demographic differences. Perceptions of hazard and outrage during Katrina served to illustrate the utility of the scale in examining these responses across different demographic groups. Possible ways that this information can be used to design messages that alert audiences to hazards, yet successfully address the need for outrage, emerged from the study.     

Crisis Leadership and Hurricane Katrina: The Portrayal of Authority by the Media in Natural Disasters

This study used the perspectives of Kenneth Burke to reveal how the media characterized the crisis responses of legitimate authorities during the natural disaster that affected the residents of New Orleans and its surrounding area as a result of Hurricane Katrina. A textual analysis of 52 articles drawn from the New York Times and the Times-Picayune of New Orleans from August 29 to September 3, 2005, indicate that positive and negative terms clustered around the military, the Department of Homeland Security, President Bush, the federal government, and the local government. The findings suggest that the media stepped outside their role of objective observer and assumed a privileged position to point blame toward those with legitimate authority. This positioning implicitly empowered the media to evaluate crisis responses and create a view of reality reflecting their perspective. Understanding how the media create images and depictions can affect how authorities frame their initial crisis responses.