Blended learning: communication,locations and work-life practices

The article discusses blended learning and how various delivery formats affect the way learning is situated in work-life practices. The authors approached this issue through an empirical study of an in-service training programme for middle-level managers in a number of case organisations. The programme used a combination of e-learning, textbooks and face-to-face seminars. The conclusion reached is that a purposeful blend of delivery modes and technology systems can situate learning outside the daily work location and at the same time facilitate the creation of communities of practice embedded in daily work experience. It is further argued that inflexibility can be a necessary for creation of such communities.     

Research on Teachers and Teacher Education in Scandinavia: a retrospective review

The important role in learning and upbringing played by teachers has been acknowledged for a long time. However, research on this question belongs with few exceptions, to the post‐war area in all the Nordic countries. During the last few decades a extensive research within a variety of studies have addressed the question. And, in accord with realistic expectations, the research conducted within this area since the middle of the 1950ties reflects a change in the interest of researchers similar to that found outside the Nordic countries, from studies of teacher behaviour to research on teacher cognition and analyses of the interactions between students and teachers in the classroom. The review also reveals a clear and significant change in the use of research methods: quantitative methods have declined while qualitative methods have expanded. It seems characteristic of research within this area that a great number of studies have been explorative in nature and that few of them have been followed up by more intensive and theoretically grounded research. It is the authors' opinion that, considering the great number of unanswered questions and the importance of solid knowledge of the questions related to teachers' qualifications and to teacher education, it seems that research within this area is still in its infancy stage.     

Prediction of Academic Performance by Means of the Swedish Scholastic Assessment Test

This article reviews ten predictive validity studies of the Swedish Scholastic Assessment Test (SweSAT). A primary result is that the predictive validity of the SweSAT seems to be highly dependent upon the study programme being examined; that is, the predictive validity is better at some programmes than others. When compared with the upper‐secondary school grade point average, the predictive validity of the SweSAT seems to be fairly good, but there are major differences between study programmes in this case as well. However, it is suggested that the validity of the results is to some extent threatened by methodological issues. A general conclusion is, therefore, that there is room for improving the test itself, as well as the way that predictive validity studies are carried out.     

The Rhetorical Question of Human Rights—A Preface

Does rhetoric have a place in the discourse of human rights? Without certain reply, as the dilemmas of defining, claiming, and promoting human rights appear both to include and exclude the rhetorical gesture, this question invites inquiry into the preface of the contemporary human rights regime, the moment of the aftermath that provokes a struggle with language. Grasped partly through Richard McKeon's extended thought on human rights and conflict resolution, including his collaboration with a committee of philosophers charged by UNESCO to assess the grounds for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this preface opens the work of discovery, an inquiry that recognizes how the hypocrisy of “acting words” constitutes a potential for expression which beckons being toward its human rights.     

CATHOLICS IN THE REA, 1903–1953

This article describes the involvement of Roman Catholics in the Religious Education Association during the first 50 years of its existence. It examines attitudes of Protestants toward Catholics expressed in journal articles, convention speeches, and archival material. It presents the contributions of Roman Catholics at conventions and in journal articles during this period. The article contends that Roman Catholics deepened involvement in the REA went a long way to making the association a multifaith organization. The history also documents changes in Roman Catholic viewpoints and emphases over the period of these 50 years from an exclusive concern with schooling to a broader view of the educational mission of the church and from education in an authoritarian and dogmatic spirit to one slightly more open to outside influences and cautiously willing to cooperate with other religious groups.     

Jewish Youth in Texas: Toward a Multi-Methodological Approach to Minority Identity

Qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to examine the religious and ethnic identity of youth attending a Jewish summer camp in Texas. A strong aspect of participants' Jewish identity is formulated in reaction to the surrounding Christian society, with which they negotiate a compromise to live relatively comfortably. The informal religious education and temporary community of the camp allow exploration of a proactive Jewish identity. A typology is developed with two sets of opposed concepts of identity: individual versus peoplehood and internal versus external. Sub-regions differentiate between fearful versus benevolent external identity and between psychological versus traditional internal identity.     

The Hyde Perk Guild,Chicago

Utilizing “teachable moments” within daily situations to impart knowledge and transmit values is a type of informal education. In a structured camp environment, such teachable moments may be integrated into the educational curriculum. “Jewish teachable moments” may be used to address Judaism and Jewish Peoplehood holistically, as the educators and counselors guide the campers through the Jewish summer camp environment. This article examines the Jewish Teachable Moments method through a case study conducted at a Reform movement affiliated camp in Texas. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the Jewish Teachable Moments method are discussed.