Major League Baseball and the Dominican Republic: What is in the best interest of the players?

This case is about Major League Baseball and the Dominican Republic. We explore how Major League Baseball has used this Caribbean island as an inexpensive labor market and the social problems of the situation. Specifically, we examine Corporate Social Responsibility, the leadership of Sandy Alderson, ethics and the various stakeholders involved. We also look into possible reform alternatives while addressing the central question: What is in the best interest of the players?     

Towards a Collaborative Approach to Teacher Empowerment

This paper outlines a project based on an approach to teacher empowerment through collaborative action research. Using accounts from teachers involved in the project, the conditions necessary for the development of collegiality on in-service courses are explored. The nature and significance of agenda setting and ways of introducing tools for empowerment are described. The use of collaborative autobiography (CA), interpersonal process recall (1PR) and a general supervisory framework (GSF) are analysed in detail. The paper concludes with comment on the extent to which teachers are empowered by these tools to reconstruct the complex relationships between power, knowledge, ideology and schooling which dominate much of their working lives.     

‘Good books’: is there a future for academic writing within the educational publishing industry?

This paper draws on questionnaire responses received (via e‐mail) during the period 2002–2003 from senior commissioning editors located within seven of the major UK publishing outlets. Drawing on the analytical framework of an earlier study by Nixon (1999 Nixon, J. (1999). Teachers, writers, professionals. Is there anybody out there. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20(2): 207–221. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]), it focuses on the mediation of educational studies by market forces operating within and upon the educational publishing industry. More specifically it explores issues relating to the construction of readership, authorship and editorship within that force field of market pressures. Central to the argument is the claim that, in its increasing exposure to market forces, the public space afforded by educational publishing is now highly restrictive. The paper concludes with a call for a sustained debate on the future of academic publishing in general, and educational publishing in particular.     

Learning to observe: using video to improve preservice mathematics teachers’ ability to notice

Video has assumed an increasingly prominent role in teacher education, particularly in the form of the viewing of videotaped class lessons by preservice teachers. Yet there is little research that confirms whether preservice teachers attend to the aspects of the video(s) that teacher educators anticipate or desire. This article explores this issue and reports on the impact of video viewing as a means to improve teachers’ ability to be observers of classroom practice. We utilized a pre- and post-test design to measure the quantity and type of classroom events that preservice mathematics teachers noticed before and after a teaching methods course where improving observation skills was an explicit goal. The results of the pre-assessment suggest that preservice teachers generally do not enter teaching methods courses with well-developed observation skills. The post-assessment indicates that the course led to significant increases in preservice teachers’ observation skills, particularly in teachers’ ability to notice features of the classroom environment, mathematical content of a lesson, and teacher and student communication during a lesson.

Concerns about research and prevention strategies in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) abuse

There would seem to be three motives for research into Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) abuse; first to enhance treatment; second to enhance our understanding of the psychopathology of those who carry out the abuse; and third to find interventions to prevent its occurrence. We will argue that only the first justification is valid. The second and third should be questioned for several reasons including: MSBP abuse is the wrong kind of event to think of in terms of categorical diagnosis; rare events are inherently difficult to predict; and better research targets are available. We propose that research energy would be more productively directed towards furthering our understanding of somatization and certain problematic aspects of modern pediatric practice. We offer suggestions as to appropriate areas for research.     

The Virtual Field Station (VFS): using a virtual reality environment for ecological fieldwork in A-Level biological studies—Case Study 3

Case studies are one way of producing the evidential base necessary for ICT to become embedded in everyday teaching and learning. Such case studies are vital for the purposes of generalisation. Also, teacher generated case-studies have the benefit of being research that is done by teachers in conjunction with Higher Education support and mediation, as opposed to research being done to teachers by Higher Education. One such teacher-generated case study at the cutting edge of ICT researches the effectiveness of a Virtual Field Station for the teaching of an A Level biology topic. The subject was the exotic one of the Mediterranean sea turtle. Student fieldwork involving these fascinating creatures is desirable but difficult, as the sea turtle's habitat is the archipelago of the Aegean Sea. The paper argues that a Virtual Field Centre is an effective substitute for actuality in terms of the development of student knowledge and understanding for examination purposes. As such, it is an innovative development that sits at the forefront of an area of Science Education that is rapidly developing, ie ICT-mediated teaching and learning.     

Do public schools have a future? A case study of retrenchment and its implications

The present paper describes a model for predicting the consequences of reduced funding for public education and a case study designed as an initial test of the validity of the model. The case study highlights an inner-city high school in San Jose, California, during the aftermath of Proposition 13. As a result of the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, severe limitations were placed on the ability of school districts in California to generate revenues from property taxes. San Jose High School was forced to cut programs and personnel. The impact of these cuts on the capacity of the school to serve its urban clients is investigated. Findings from the case study support the model's prediction that budget cuts in public education are more likely to exert a negative impact on disadvantaged students than on students from middle-class homes. Implications of further cuts in public education in general are discussed in the concluding section of the paper.