Teacher autonomy within a flexible national curriculum: development of Shoah (holocaust) education in Israeli state schools

This article considers the role of teacher agency and curricular flexibility as pedagogic features of Shoah education in Israeli state schools. The analysis is based on a recent national study which included a quantitative survey (questionnaires), qualitative methods (focus groups, interviews, observations) and a socio-historical review. As teaching of this subject has expanded in both religious and general streams of the Hebrew-language state school system, it has been addressed in diverse ways in terms of method, materials and content. Loosely defined requirements enable educators to be active agents in individualizing the curriculum. It is proposed that this is beneficial when addressing an inherently sensitive subject that is tied to teachers’ and students’ sense of identity and worldview. Implications of a new national curriculum for Shoah education are discussed. Relevance of teacher agency in Shoah education in other settings is considered.     

Eligibility Effects on College Access: Under-represented Student Perceptions of Tennessee’s Merit Aid Program

As state-level merit-based financial aid programs proliferate, analysts both find that these programs have a disproportionate effect on students traditionally under-represented in postsecondary education and question the use of limited public resources in an inefficient and inequitable manner. This study, using survey data regarding the perceptions of all potentially eligible scholarship recipients, explores the impact the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship on college access for minority and low-income students. The empirical results indicate that African American and low-income students are more likely to perceive their eligibility for merit-based scholarships as having an impact on their decision on whether or not to attend college. A consequential policy implication is that a liberally awarded merit-based scholarship program, while inefficient, may provide sustainable access for those students in greatest need of financial aid.

Philosophy of education in the western world: Developmental trends during the last 25 years

The dominating tendency in educational philosophy of the past 25 years may — with regard to the English speaking countries and the Scandinavian countries which are given the main focus in this article — be phrased as “the rise and decline of analytic educational philosophy”. The account, therefore, falls naturally into three parts. The first decade of the period is characterized by the onrushing analytic educational philosophy's criticism of the traditional educational philosophy's “deductivism”. In the sixties analytic educational philosophy was flourishing. Analytic educational philosophy may be divided into three main phases, one inspired by logical empiricism, one mainly therapeutic (“piecemeal”) analytic and one transcendental-analytic. In the seventies analytic educational philosophy has been fiercely attacked, leaving no clear alternative in sight.     

Improving Instruction and Classroom Management Behaviour in Mixed‐age Classrooms: results of two improvement studies

This article describes the results of a second school improvement study directed at schools with mixed‐age classes, and compares the results of this second study with the first study. The second improvement study examines the effects of a staff development programme which introduced selected findings from teaching effectiveness research into ongoing school settings with mixed‐age classes. In addition to the staff development programme the effects of coaching are also evaluated. In contrast to the first improvement study the staff development programme was implemented by teacher educators and school counsellors in the regular educational support context (in‐service teacher education). A quasi‐experimental, treatment‐control group investigation was designed to test the effects of the staff development programme ‘Dealing with mixed‐age classes’, and the effects of coaching. Based on pre‐ and post‐training classroom observations, the second improvement study‐‐like the first one‐‐revealed a significant treatment effect for pupils’ time‐on‐task levels in mixed‐age classrooms, and for teachers’ instructional and classroom management skills. Only two coaching effects were found: for organising effective instruction and for dealing with disturbances. Time‐on‐task levels improved more strongly in classes of coached teachers. In the second improvement study the effects on teacher instructional and classroom management skills, and pupil behaviour are smaller than in the first study. The staff development programme as conducted in regular in‐service settings by teacher educators and school counsellors was less effective than the staff development programme as conducted in an evaluation setting by the designers of the programme.     

Exploring the Adult Learning Research Field by Analysing Who Cites Whom

In this article we report on findings from a large-scale bibliographic study conducted based on the citation practices within the field of research on adult learning. Our data consist of 151,261 citation links between more than 33,000 different authors whose papers were published in five leading international journals in the field of adult learning during the time period 2006–2014. By analysing the composition of the dominating citation clusters we are able to construct a telescopic view of the research field based on an accumulation of bibliographic citations. The results consist of two parts. First we go through the dominating players active in the field, their position and mutual relationship. Secondly, we derive two main structural oppositions inherent in the citation networks, one connected to the research object (studying education or work) and the second to the level of analysis (cognition or policy). We find that the most dominating tradition within adult learning the last few decades – sociocultural perspectives on learning - occupies a very central position in the space of citations, balancing between these opposing poles. We hope that this analysis will help foster reflexivity concerning our own research practices, and will reveal the relations of dominance currently prevailing within the field of adult learning.     

Hands-On Learning: A Problem-Based Approach to Teaching Microsoft Excel

The development of a student's ability to make data-driven decisions has become a focus in higher education (Schield 1999 Schield, M. 1999. “Statistical Literacy: Thinking Critically about Statistics.” Of Significance: A Topical Journal of the Association of Public Data Users 1 (1): 15–21. [Google Scholar]; Stephenson and Caravello 2007 Stephenson, E., and P. Caravello. 2007. “Incorporating Data Literacy into Undergraduate Information Literacy Programs in the Social Sciences; a Pilot Project.” Reference Services Review 35 (4):525–40. doi:10.1108/00907320710838354.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Data literacy, the ability tounderstand and use data to effectively inform decisions, is a fundamental component of information competence (Mandinach and Gummer 2013 Mandinach, E. B., and E. S. Gummer. 2013. “A systemic view of implementing data literacy in educator preparation.” Educational Researcher 42 (1): 30–37. doi:10.3102/0013189X12459803.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Stephenson and Caravello, 2007 Stephenson, E., and P. Caravello. 2007. “Incorporating Data Literacy into Undergraduate Information Literacy Programs in the Social Sciences; a Pilot Project.” Reference Services Review 35 (4):525–40. doi:10.1108/00907320710838354.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). This commentary highlights the structure of a data literacy course that aims to simultaneously teach problem-solving skills and Microsoft Excel skills through real-world examples and problem based learning. This commentary aims to provide insight to other educators teaching similar courses regarding using technology as a tool for developing a student's problem solving ability.     

Training Teachers in Mixed‐age Classrooms: effects of a staff development programme

A quasi‐experimental, treatment‐control group investigation was designed to test the effects of the staff development programme Dealing with Mixed‐age Classes. Research findings from mixed‐age glasses, effective teaching and classroom management and organisation were translated into teacher behaviours. Following seven three‐hour workshops teachers in mixed‐aged classes implemented self‐designed plans to increase selected research‐derived teaching behaviours and pupils’ time‐on‐task. Based on pre‐ and post‐training classroom observations, a significant treatment effect was found for pupils’ time‐on‐task levels in mixed‐age classrooms and for teacher behaviours regarding effective instruction, lesson design and execution, classroom organisation and management.     

Realistic considerations in solving problematic word problems: Do Japanese and Belgian children have the same difficulties?

The aim of this study was to compare Japanese and Belgian elementary school pupils' (lack of) activation of real-world knowledge during understanding and solving arithmetic word problems in a school context. The word problem test used in a study by Verschaffel, De Corte, and Lasure (1994) was collectively administered to 91 Japanese fifth graders. Besides standard problems which can be modeled in a straightforward way by one or two basic arithmetic operations with the given numbers, this test contained a series of problematic items which cannot be modeled and solved in such a way, at least if one seriously takes into account the realities of the context evoked by the problem statement. The results of the study revealed that Japanese pupils, similarly to Belgian children, have a strong tendency to neglect commonsense knowledge and realistic considerations during their solution of word problems. Moreover, a comparison of Japanese pupils with and without extra hints aimed at improving the disposition towards more realistic mathematical problem solving revealed that these extra hints had only a small effect.     

Attitudes Towards HIV-Antibody Testing Among University Students in Four African Countries

The aims of this study were to examineattitudes towards HIV testing, sexualbehaviour, HIV risk perception and HIV testingbehaviours among university students in fourAfrican countries. The participants consistedof 760 first-year African black universitystudents (351 male, and 409 female) from fourAfrican countries (Nigeria, South Africa,Uganda, and Zimbabwe), in the age range of 17to 44 years (M = 23.6, SD = 4.3). Results showedthat 17.3% of the students indicated that theyhad already been tested for HIV, and of thosewho went for the HIV test 16.2% did not getthe results of the last test. The HIV TestingAttitude Score indicating a positive attitudetowards HIV testing was associated with havinghad an HIV test, the intention to go for an HIVtest, self-rated HIV knowledge, the number ofsex partners in the past 12 months, andpersonally knowing someone with HIV or AIDS.Having had an HIV test and the intention to gofor an HIV test were associated with three HIVtesting attitudes subscales: 'Generalconcerns, 'Trust and support, and 'fears.The 'Confidentiality and 'Friends concernssubscales were also weakly associated with theintention to go for an HIV test.     

“Accepting Emotional Complexity”: A Socio-Constructivist Perspective on the Role of Emotions in the Mathematics Classroom

A socio-constructivist account of learning and emotions stresses the situatedness of every learning activity and points to the close interactions between cognitive, conative and affective factors in students’ learning and problem solving. Emotions are perceived as being constituted by the dynamic interplay of cognitive, physiological, and motivational processes in a specific context. Understanding the role of emotions in the mathematics classroom then implies understanding the nature of these situated processes and the way they relate to students’ problem-solving behaviour. We will present data from a multiple-case study of 16 students out of 4 different junior high classes that aimed to investigate students’ emotional processes when solving a mathematical problem in their classrooms. After identifying the different emotions and analyzing their relations to motivational and cognitive processes, the relation with students’ mathematics-related beliefs will be examined. We will specifically use Frank’s case to illustrate how the use of a thoughtful combination of a variety of different research instruments enabled us to gather insightful data on the role of emotions in mathematical problem solving.