New strategies for learning geography: a tool for teachers' professional development in England and The Netherlands

Following a constructivist view on learning and based on the work of Adey and Shayer a group of teachers and lecturers in geographical education from north‐east England developed some successful strategies to stimulate pupils' thinking skills. At the start of this century the ideas reached The Netherlands. This article presents the results of a survey among Dutch geography teachers who participated in an in‐service training about thinking skills strategies for geography. Did these teachers really use the strategies in their classrooms after the in‐service training? What kind of impact had it on their opinions about the usability of the strategies, their beliefs about students' learning and about their own teaching? This study shows that, in line with experiences in England, most Dutch geography teachers appreciate the thinking skills strategies as a good way to stimulate students' and their own learning.

Animés d'une vision constructiviste de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage, et sur la base des travaux d'Adey et Shayer, un groupe d'enseignants et de chargés de cours du Nord‐Est de l'Angleterre dont la discipline est la géographie ont mis au point plusieurs stratégies efficaces pour stimuler les aptitudes de réflexion des élèves. Au début des années 2000, leurs théories sont parvenues jusqu'aux Pays‐Bas. Le présent article présente les résultats d'une étude menée auprès de professeurs de géographie néerlandais qui ont suivi une formation ‘in‐service’ sur les stratégies de développement des aptitudes de réflexion pour la géographie. Les professeurs ont‐ils réellement utilisés les stratégies dans leurs classes à l'issue de la formation? Quel type d'impact cette dernière a‐t‐elle eu sur leur opinion quant à l'utilité des stratégies? Cette étude révèle que la plupart des professeurs de géographie apprécient les stratégies de développement des aptitudes de réflexion et qu'elles constituent un bon moyen de stimuler les élèves et leur apprentissage de cette discipline.

Siguiendo un punto de vista constructivista del aprendizaje y basándose en la obra de Adey y Shayer, un grupo de maestros y profesores de educación geográfica del noreste de Inglaterra desarrolló con éxito algunas estrategias para estimular las habilidades de pensamiento de los alumnos. A principios de este siglo, estas ideas llegaron a los Países Bajos. El presente artículo ofrece los resultados de un estudio realizado entre profesores de geografía holandeses que participaron en un curso de formación durante el trabajo sobre estrategias para estimular las habilidades de pensamiento para la geografía. ¿Utilizaron estos profesores realmente las estrategias en sus clases una vez finalizada la formación? ¿Cómo influyó ésta en sus opiniones sobre la aprovechabilidad de las estrategias? El presente estudio demuestra que la mayoría de los profesores de geografía consideran que las estrategias dirigidas a las habilidades de pensamiento son una buena manera para estimular tanto el aprendizaje de los alumnos como su propio aprendizaje.

Nach einer konstruktiven Untersuchung im Unterrichtsbereich und unter Zugrundelegung des Werkes von Adey und Shayer entwickelte eine aus Geografie‐Lehrern und ‐Lehrbeauftragten bestehende Gruppe aus Nordostengland erfolgreiche Strategien, um die Denkfähigkeiten der Schüler und Schülerinnen anzuregen. Zu Beginn dieses Jahrhunderts erreichten die Ideen die Niederlande. In diesem Artikel werden die Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung bei niederländischen Geografielehrern dargelegt, die an einem Lehrerfortbildungskurs über Denkfähigkeitsstrategien für den Geografieunterricht teilnahmen. Haben diese Lehrer wirklich die Strategien in ihren Klassenräumen nach dem Fortbildungskurs genutzt? Wie wirkte sich dieser Kurs auf ihre Meinungsbildung zur Brauchbarkeit der Strategien aus? Diese Studie zeigt, dass die meisten Geografielehrer die Denkfähigkeitsstrategien als gutes Mittel zur Anregung des Lernens der Schüler‐ und Schülerinnen und ihres eigenen Lernens schätzen.     

Designing a growth-producing environment

The purpose of this article is to describe how one university counseling center went about the process of changing its management style and subsequent service delivery. In a relatively short period of time the center went from the traditional director-staff relationship to a collective governance process. This shared governance process is based on the assumptions that the product of collective planning, shared responsibilities, and group decision making enhance morale, creativity, and productivity. As a result of the arduous tasks involved in the shift of administrative styles, the center has established group accountability, collective decision making, open communication, and total group program development. For this center's staff the transition to nonauthoritarian governance has been both stimulating and exciting. However, the process of change involves high risks, continual cooperation, and a climate of support. Without these ingredients the potential for creative management will be sharply reduced.     

“The story means more to me now”: teaching thinking through Guided Reading

This article describes perspective and imagery thinking strategies taught during Guided Reading lessons. These strategies are designed to enhance comprehension by giving students techniques for manipulating meaning. Social and physical perspective thinking strategies allow students to identify and apply a variety of perspectives, while imagery thinking strategies allow students to re‐view meaning through the application of still, moving and melting images. Comment from teachers and students involved in a project designed to trial these strategies indicate they may be one way of raising standards in English.     

General system theory: Toward a conceptual framework for science and technology education for all

In this paper we suggest using general system theory (GST) as a unifying theoretical framework for science and technology education for all. Five reasons are articulated: the multidisciplinary nature of systems theory, the ability to engage complexity, the capacity to describe system dynamics and change, the ability to represent the relationship between the micro-level and macro-level of analysis, and the ability to bring together the natural and human worlds. The historical origins of system ideas are described, and the major concepts of system theory are mapped; including the mathematical, technological, and philosophical constructs. The various efforts to implement system thinking in educational contexts are reviewed, and three kinds of learning environments are defined: expert presentation, simulation, and real-world. A broad research agenda for exploring and drawing-out the educational implications of system thinking and learning is outlined. The study of both real-world and simulated learning environments is advocated.     

The improtance of selected textbook features to science teachers

This paper reports the results of a study of teacher opinions about the features considered important in an ideal textbook. A survey of Queensland high school teachers revealed that they favoured texts that focus on student cognition and which provide useful features such as exercises and practical activities. Differences were found between the preferences of Queensland teachers and the preferences of teachers reported in two American studies. The significance of these differences for writers and publishers is discussed. Specializations: communication and cognition in science. Specializations: science education.     

Changes in primary science over the past decade: Implications for the research community

During the early 1980s in Australia there was a new wave of expectancy about primary science as new curricula were being considered or introduced and research findings were beginning to identify new directions for both teaching and research. In an expression of this, six authors were invited to present papers to a symposium on primary science held in 1984 to address the question: “What do you believe should be the state of primary science (in Australia) in 1995 and what are the steps which need to be taken to achieve the desired state?” This study set out to identify what had been said at that time, to compare that with actual developments, and to identify possible future directions for research. Relevant publications includingResearch in Science Education were analysed as a means of comparing what had happened since 1984 with the hopes of those authors. It was only in the latter half of the decade that some of the scenarios painted by the authors in 1984 began to emerge. A key implication for the research community drawn from the analysis shows that science education researchers have tended to neglect working in collaboration with education departments and authorities for the improvement of primary science education.     

The CS− effect in simple conditioning and stimulus selection during development

Changes in affect toward a particular stimulus can take place very rapidly through Pavlovian conditioning, if presentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS+) paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US) is accompanied by presentation of a “CS?,” another value of the same dimension as the CS+ but not paired with a US. This effect has considerable generality. It has been observed in terms of both olfactory and visual CSs, in terms of appetitive as well as aversive conditioning, and for adult as well as infant rats. The CS? effect has seemed especially important for infants, which may be related to the general tendency for infants to exhibit less stimulus selection than older animals. Finally, the CS? effect has enabled the development of a simple test of short-term retention that can quite effectively assess memory for either incidental or target events. These tests so far have indicated a clear ontogenetic decrease in rate of forgetting over short intervals, corresponding to the well-known development-related decrease in forgetting over long intervals (infantile amnesia). The tests also have shown that short-term forgetting of intentional and target events is surprisingly similar, with some indication of more rapid forgetting for the incidental events. Alternative interpretations of the CS? effect and some preliminary tests of these interpretations are discussed.