Revisiting “The Master's Tools”: Challenging Common Sense in Cross-Cultural Teacher Education

Although school climate has been thought to be especially important for racial minority and poor students (Booker, 2006 Booker, K. C. 2006. School belonging and the African American adolescent: What do we know and where should we go?. The High School Journal, 89(4): 1–7. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Haynes, Emmons, &; Ben-Avie, 1997 Haynes, N. M., Emmons, C. and Ben-Avie, M. 1997. School climate as a factor in student adjustment and achievement. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 8(3): 321–329. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), little research has explored the significance of racial climate for these students. Furthermore, research in the area has tended to treat race, socioeconomic class, and gender separately, ignoring the ways in which they interact. Using quantitative survey data from 842 African American and white middle school students, this study examined the associations of race, class, and gender with school racial climate perceptions. Results indicated students’ perceptions of racial climate differed by race, class, and gender. African American, poor, and female students perceived the racial climate in more negative terms than their white, non-poor, and male counterparts, respectively. Results also indicated joint associations between race and class and climate perceptions. Non-poor, African American students perceived a more negative racial climate than did non-poor Whites. There was limited support for a race and gender interaction. African American females tended to perceive less racial fairness in school than African American males. We discuss the conceptual and methodological tradeoffs of examining students’ school racial climate perceptions from a perspective that considers race, class, and gender jointly.     

A Family-Centered Cesarean Birth Story

This is the family-centered cesarean birth story of my twin grandchildren. Because of good prenatal education; a well-chosen, dedicated care provider; and parents with focus, I am able to share a beautiful birth story. I hope relating this story encourages other childbirth educators to present various options for cesarean in their classes, thereby educating the public about this beautiful opportunity if a cesarean birth is necessary.     

Developing Peer Mentoring Support for TAFE Students Entering 1st-Year University Early Childhood Studies

At Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia), in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) (Early Childhood) (EC), Technical and Further Education (TAFE) students with a diploma enroll with advanced standing (1 year’s credit). These students share many challenges faced by 1st-year university students—workload, technology, academic orientation, and application. They also experience feelings of isolation and uncertainty in dealing with the “university culture” (Cantwell & Scevak, 2004 Cantwell, R. H. and Scevak, J. J. 2004. Engaging university learning: The experiences of students entering university via recognition of prior industrial experience. Higher Education Research and Development, 23(2): 131–145. [CSA][CROSSREF][Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]; Dickson, 2000 Dickson, J. (2000, July). TAFE child care graduates beginning a university teaching degree. Paper presented at the Australian Association of the Research in Education, Sydney, Australia. www.aare.edu.au/00pap/dic00164.htm (Accessed: 5 March 2005).  [Google Scholar]). Often, they do not perform as well academically and their attrition rates are higher than those for 1st-year students and the remainder of the BEd (EC) cohort (Strategic Information & Analysis Division of Finance, Resources, Planning, QUT, 2003). This project addresses issues facing these students in their transition to university by developing an integrated and contextualized mentoring program designed specifically for their needs. Nine early childhood 3rd- and 4th-year students were enlisted as mentors to groups of approximately six transition TAFE students. In this paper we discuss the dynamics of the mentoring scheme and future directions for mentoring projects within the BEd (EC).     

Words for Artworks: The Aesthetics of Meaning Making

In this article we introduce a research strategy that involves the making of visual maps by individuals in response to their interactions with artworks. The maps record the meaning‐making processes involved in the encounters and provide us with permanent records of otherwise ephemeral experiences. The case study presented here provides data for comparisons between three visits each to two artworks exhibited at the Calouste Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre in Lisbon. We conclude that our meaning‐making strategy is important for its own heuristic research value in both formal and non‐formal educational contexts, as well as providing an instrument for the training of teachers and museum educators.     

Integrating privacy studies into teacher education curricula

Abstract

Privacy studies may be seen by some teacher educators as being ‘anti-technology’ in their character, with the potential to dim the enthusiasm of future teachers for new technological initiatives. However, privacy is taking on new significance in an age of the Internet and advanced information technologies, as the examples and sources outlined in this article demonstrate. Privacy issues have a strong influence on various pressing international political and economic concerns, and thus add important dimensions to curricula. Some technological developments (such as encryption) also provide hands-on dimensions to privacy topics that are likely to whet the interests of many students. Teacher educators can work to introduce privacy notions to future teachers in ways that will enhance both their information technology studies and their understanding of other curricular areas (including citizenship, business, and social studies). As described in this article, privacy exercises, scenarios, and hands-on laboratory sessions were provided in several teacher education courses in the United States. What teacher educators do in relation to privacy studies will help determine the future character of discourse and the direction of technological development pertaining to privacy.     

The New Way to Manage Content Across Platforms

Because the definition of content has expanded to include everything from text, graphics, audio, video, data, or any combination of these, determining the right mix of content to ensure relevance and profitability requires publishers to pay significantly more attention to the needs of their audience. This article guides publishers through the content strategy development process and shows how decisions made regarding content strategy influence the publisher??s content management and distribution functions as well. The article also includes a detailed list of the latest in content creation, management, production, and distribution trends, along with a clearly stated implication for each.