Competence in Science — enhancing the self image of students

This paper reviews the role of mentors in developing the self‐image of pre‐service science teachers on a post graduate programme.     

The Future of Graduate Study in Teacher Preparation in Physical Education

This article speculates about the future of graduate study in pedagogy of physical education. The argument is based on demographic trends, historical developments in the field of physical education, empirical evidence of effective teaching, and experiences with graduate courses that appear to have been successful. The article concludes that the demand for graduate programs, the mechanisms for delivering them, and the content of such programs in teacher education in physical education portend a bright future for the quality of teaching in physical education in America. If this is to be achieved, new efforts at defining the focus of the field of physical education must be undertaken.     

The Intersection Between Deep Moral Frames and Rhetorical Style in the Struggle over U.S. Immigration Reform

This essay highlights and explores a point of tension between theoretical writings on style and moral frames. Past political communication scholarship points to the importance of the feminine style in today's televisual era of politics. In this same political era, the conservative strict parent moral frame has dominated most policy debates. Surprisingly, this highly successful moral frame appears squarely at odds with the feminine style so closely connected with political success. This essay attempts to unravel this tension between styles and frames by examining discourse drawn from the 2007 debate over comprehensive immigration reform. To account for the success of conservative messages within this debate, this essay both (a) calls into question the nature of the relationship between the television medium and the feminine style and (b) expands our understanding of the discursive operation of deep moral frames by drawing a distinction between intra-familial and extra-familial policy discourse.     

The Search for Effective Schools

In the light of external reform pressures, many schools have found it difficult to implement medium‐to‐long‐term plans. Development planning was supposed to be a means of refining both the planning and the implementation of strategic priorities. Some recent writers are now casting doubts on planning and development planning and they are using chaos theory to justify this sceptical stance. This article is, in turn, sceptical about the application of chaos theory to school planning and instead suggests that control theory clarifies important differences between short‐term and long‐term planning and provides positive and practical insights into how development planning can be used by self‐managing schools as part of school improvement.     

From Crisis to Prevention: Developing a Pastoral Curriculum

David Hay discusses the ways that spirituality might be defined and its relationship to morality. He notes the well-intentioned documents produced by the SCAA Values Forum but argues that they have failed to get to grips with the ‘motivating reality of spiritual insight’. Perhaps spiritual awareness cannot be taught as it is part of the biological inheritance that makes us human. If this is the case, and he believes it is, then what the teacher must do is help children become aware of this and reflect on it in the light of the culture of which they are a part. He identifies a number of significant difficulties that have to be overcome before this can be done. In the remainder of the paper he considers the implications of creating such an awareness in children, and details the responsibilities of schools and teachers in this process.     

The changing nature of agricultural information and the conflictive global developments shaping extension 1

Abstract

The modernisation of potato production in the Ecuadorian highlands is related to an intensive use of pesticides. In this context, by means of ethnographic methodologies and discourse analysis tools, this study was aimed to determine the influence of household arrangements, local institutions and social differentiation in the management of potato production and pesticide use. Potato production involves all household members and generates occupational risks, but also household-level accidents. This study has determined that children and teenagers form the group most vulnerable to intoxication with pesticides. Four social dimensions that integrate pesticides in the local social dynamics were determined: health-beliefs, gender identity, social identity, and economical progress reliance by means of potato production. Intense potato production and comoditisation of nature is contributing to a progressive social stratification, which is causing a group of peasant households to emerge as the poorest group and vulnerable to occupational risks by chronic pesticide exposure.     

Online instruction and site assessment

Online instruction is a rapidly developing phenomenon in higher education and it presents many opportunities and challenges to criminal justice educators. One area deserving attention is the meaningful utilization of the numerous web sites available. This paper reports on the effort to integrate a site evaluation instrument into course structure in order to assist students in their assessment of web sites. The device used to accomplish this objective was a site survey form presented to two online classes. The criteria used by students to assess the quality of web sites was identified, and the highest and lowest rated sites for two classes were recognized.