Gandhi and Mao on manual labour in the school: A retrospective analysis

Mahatma Gandhi's views on relating the world of formal education to the world of work were developed first in his experimental ‘Tolstoy Farm’ in South Africa. On his return to India, Gandhi insisted that a required manual labour component in the curriculum would help regenerate India's village economy, develop in India's children a deeper understanding of India's cultural roots, motivate children to relate ‘book learning’ to life in society, and destroy invidious caste distinctions. The major proposals and suggestions in Gandhi's writing will be discussed in the context of his hopes for using schooling as an agent of progress in India. Mao Ze-Dong's views, on the other hand, were developed in the context of his Yenan experience in the 1930s, i.e. the decision to consolidate a power base in the interior of China before waging a class war against the landlords and capitalists of China. Mao's views were also, to some extent, rooted in the Chinese reality of stagnant, poverty-stricken rural areas. But, Mao's writings indicate that Marxist hopes to relate theory and practice (as understood in dialectical materialism) and to ensure that everyone participated in mental as well as manual labour in a socialist society had led him to formulate his proposals. Both Gandhi's and Mao's views and proposals have been more or less abandoned in India and China respectively. The similar and dissimilar reasons which led to such a fate are examined in this retrospective analysis.     

Serving‐Maids and Literacy: an approach to teaching literacy through history and music

This paper examines the close relationship between literacy and history in terms of the processes of historical enquiry and the literary outcomes of the historian’s work. It highlights the rich resource which historical documents represent for the primary classroom in a wide range of genres, and suggests that such documents can be used in their original form with all ability ranges. The means by which this can be done is presented in a case study of an integrated approach to teaching history, literacy and music, in a Year 6 class. The key to the success of the reading and writing activities was the use of varied teaching approaches including storytelling, drama, singing and discusssion as ways into challenging texts. The children used the concept of time and the listing of jobs as organisers for their extended writing. The careful scaffolding through text‐marking and the recording grid, as well as the emotions stimulated through the texts and activities, ensured success for all the children. The study emphasises the links between these genuine historical tasks, and activities in the National Literacy Strategy and suggests how music might be successfully integrated.     

Achievement goals,efficacy beliefs and coping strategies in mathematics: The roles of perceived parent and teacher goal emphases

This study examines children’s perceptions of the achievement goals parents and teachers emphasize for them in mathematics, and the relation of these goals to children’s personal achievement goals, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategies. Results indicated that children’s perceptions of both parent and teacher mastery and performance goal emphases predicted children’s personal goals. Further, children’s personal goals mediated the relation between perceived parent and teacher goal emphases and children’s efficacy beliefs and coping strategies. Children’s perceptions of parent and teacher emphasis on performance goals varied slightly by gender but not ethnic background, whereas variance across groups in perceptions of mastery emphases did not reach practical significance. Relations between goal perceptions, personal goals, efficacy and coping strategies also did not vary by gender or ethnic background. Implications for future research regarding the goals children perceive to be emphasized in home and school contexts, and their importance for children’s adaptive beliefs and behaviors in mathematics, are discussed.     

Assessing Millennials in College‐Level Fashion Design Studios: A Study of Evidence‐Based Practice

Providing quality feedback that is both positive and effective while maintaining the required student grade confidentiality is a conundrum for faculty. This issue is particularly complex for faculty teaching studio courses (e.g. fashion design) with performance or creativity components where feedback has traditionally been given publicly as desktop reviews in the open studio. The difficulty of giving feedback in the studio‐style classroom is compounded when teaching millennial college students who tend to reject any criticism, public or otherwise, of their work. Previous research on assessment, rubrics and feedback as well as personal experience with studio classes provide background to this evidenced‐based study comparing three feedback and delivery methods: abbreviated rubric, extensive rubric and one‐to‐one meetings (e.g. dialogical assessment) guided by a project list. Grade consistency and ranking of grades were evaluated. Studio projects from a fashion design course were graded across two semesters using the multiple methods. Comparisons were made based on: (a) student reaction, (b) quality of rework and (c) time to grade. The outcomes showed that the one‐to‐one meetings as a feedback and delivery method of assessment had several benefits over two other methods, including added student engagement and improvement of rework.     

Perceptions of Black Student Athletes About Academic Mentorship at a Predominantly White Institution in Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the mentorship experiences of Black student athletes attending undergraduate programs at a Predominantly White Institution in Higher Education (PWI-HE). The research site for this study was a co-educational public research institution (PWI-HE) with an approximate enrollment of 45,000 students. A total of six Black student athletes (five African American and one Jamaican) agreed to participate in this study. Four major interrelated and complex themes emerged from the data analyses. These themes were: (a) mentoring study habits and routines, (b) mentoring academic schedule and time management, (c) personal development within an isolated environment, and (d) family members’ support and encouragements. To better support Black student athletes at PWI-HEs, athletic department administrators, coaches, faculty, and all students should be encouraged to respect, value, and embrace the racial identities, origins, languages, and cultures of the student athletes that are being mentored.     

Peter novick and the “Objectivity Question” in history

Author's note: Like most of the historians I have encountered in my lifetime, I have always found what happened in the past more interesting than those who write about it. I therefore rarely spend time reading books about historians. But when I learned that Peter Novick had agreed to participate in the panel, I decided I should look at his book,That Noble Dream: The “Objectivity Question” and the American Historical Profession,¹ which is about historians, as opposed to about history as most understand that word. Even though Novick reneged on that commitment by withdrawing from the panel shortly before it was to take place, what I found in his book struck me as sufficiently disturbing to merit extended remarks. What follows here is based on those portions of my talk that bore on Novick's book.     

The development of a video database for language educational research projects

The analysis of classroom observation data is seen as increasingly important in research on the impact of high‐stakes language tests or new foreign‐language programmes on students, teachers and other stakeholders. Video‐recordings of language teaching and learning in classrooms impacted by such tests or programmes can provide revealing data, which, however, may be difficult to analyse in raw recorded form. The organisation of video‐recordings into an interactive database facilitates the retrieval and analysis of data in response to particular research questions. Informed by current research on the use of video in education, especially educational research, and by the relevant video database literature, this paper describes a video database developed by the University of Cambridge English for Speakers of Other Languages (Cambridge ESOL) Examinations operation, part of Cambridge Assessment, the new identity of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). This paper describes three Cambridge ESOL impact studies for which the data were collected, and discusses the video‐recording equipment used, approaches adopted and decisions made. It then outlines the aims, principles and approaches involved in the development of the impact research video database, including software selection, main design features and envisaged future uses. A step‐by‐step account for the likely video database user is included, along with sample screenshots.     

Relations between Attachment, Gender, and Behavior with Peers in Preschool

40 4-year-old children and their mothers participated in a study investigating concurrent links between attachment and peer interactions. Security of attachment was assessed in the laboratory from reunion episodes following a 10-min separation. Focal child observations were carried out during indoor free play in preschool. Relations between insecure attachment and peer interactions were different for boys and girls. Insecure boys showed more aggressive, disruptive, assertive, controlling, and attention-seeking behavior than secure children. Insecure girls showed more dependent behavior than secure children but less assertive and controlling behavior, and more positive expressive behavior and compliance. Secure girls and secure boys did not differ significantly. Gender differences in social behavior may be accounted for by a subgroup of children, those classified as insecure, and the same attachment classification may lead to different predictions depending on whether the child is a boy or a girl.