Feeding the dinosaurs: Economic concentration in the retail book industry

While bookstores play the vital role in book distribution, little attention has been paid to concentration and conglomerate ownership in the retail book trade. In 1958, one-store book firms accounted for nearly 80 percent of book sales; by 1982 that figure had fallen to 26 percent even though single-store retailers continue to account for a majority of all bookstore outlets. Today the chains control at least 54 percent of bookstore sales. Buoyed by discriminatory discounts and publisher-subsidized advertising campaigns, the chains’ dramatic growth seems likely to continue despite the fact that they are less profitable than independent booksellers. The chains’ marketing orientation fits well with changes in the broader publishing industry, as publishers seek to rationalize operations in order to improve the bottom line. As books become just another commodity, sold through increasingly centralized and monopolized channels, access for alternative and minority voices is being for-closed.     

Parent consulting: Developing power bases and helping people

School counselors can create power bases and have a significant impact upon the surrounding community through work with parents. A three-step program is presented along with supplemental practical activities for consultants to use in working with parents.     

The influence of heterogeneous exposure and pre-deliberation queries on pretrial publicity effects

Prior research on pretrial publicity has produced mixed results and a roughly equal number of studies show an effect, show no effect, or show mixed results. We explored the effects of (a) homogenous vs. heterogeneous exposure (whether deliberating jurors were all exposed to the same publicity or not) and (b) pre-deliberation queries as potential contributors to mixed results. We found an effect for positive but not negative publicity on conviction rates but not evidence ratings. Exposure heterogeneity appears to explain these differences and pre-deliberation queries did appear to play some role in the obtained outcomes. Overall these findings do not replicate a robust publicity effect and future research should consider how homogeneous exposure and pre-deliberation opinion queries influence results.     

Videotutoring, non-verbal communication and initial teacher training

Telematics has the potential to transform Higher Education through creating a distributed community of tutors and students. Videotutoring is central to telematics, enabling personal tutoring to occur at a distance. Within the context of a post-graduate teacher training course, videotutoring was used to tutor two students during the first six weeks of their first full-time school placement. Both ends of the videosignal were recorded. Analysis of the tapes used a protocol based upon research into non-verbal communication (NVC). NVC is as important as verbal communication in the tutorial process. Findings suggest that the interaction of participants mediated through the screen was significantly different from face-to-face communication in relation to the two-dimensional image of the screen and the "viewing frame" effect of the physical boundaries of the image. The viewing frame literally served as the proscenium arch of a theatre. Two-dimensionality and the viewing frame effect emphasised both the positive and negative elements in inter-personal communication as represented in Argyle's social skills and Goffman's theatrical models. The conclusion is that videotutoring can potentially be a more effective form of tutoring than face-to-face interaction.     

Constructivist Metaphors of Learning Science

Based on an analysis of a fundamental distinction between metaphors of finding versus making for the obtaining of new knowledge, a number of constructivist positions in education are discussed and criticised, taking account of earlier criticism particularly by Suchting and by Matthews. Constructivist claims which are denied include the claim that we have no direct access to the world, and the claim that communication is inherently meaningless. What is valuable in constructivism, namely the insistence on active learning, on respect for the pupils own thinking, and on the high priority needed for ideas taught to make sense to pupils, together with the reminder that science is a human product, is important to retain without its additional and ill-founded philosophical baggage.     

Diversified secondary education in Kenya: The status of practical subjects, and effects on attitudes and destinations after school

The paper presents findings from an evaluation of ‘industrial education’ subjects (wood, metal, electrical and power technology) in Kenyan academic secondary schools. As a project established in 35 schools with comprehensive aid agency (SIDA) support, these subjects do not suffer from lack of attraction to students or from low teacher morale. Exposure to them increases students' aspirations and expectations of ‘technical/practical’ work, but the problem is not lack of interest in such work, but rather scarce opportunity to realise such ambition, in a labour market where school leavers face great problems in finding a source of livelihood. Except for individual cases, exposure to these subjects does not seem to give students an advantage in the labour market, according to findings from a one-year follow-up. Further, doing well in general on the lower secondary examination does not confer any short-term labour market advantage either, suggesting that personal contacts rather than school credentials are decisive. We conclude policy makers need to recognise that pre-vocational subjects should be seen as part of general education rather than as a remedy for youth unemployment.     

Technical secondary students in Kenya: Origins,achievement and destinations

Working within a comparative perspective, has published on pre-vocational education and vocational training, the teaching profession, distribution of authority in education systems and university policy.