Understanding change in higher education: an archetypal approach

During the past three decades, higher education institutions have been changing, moving away from the traditional bureaucratic archetype towards a more managerialist one. Empirical research already demonstrated that organisations tend to be in a hybrid area of archetypal change. Considering the specific case of a government-imposed reform in Portugal, and using a case study approach of six public universities, this study aims to explore archetypal hybridism through the lens of two main dimensions: systems and structures and interpretive scheme. The theoretical background lies on academic literature on organisational change in higher education and specifically on archetype theory. The findings drawn from document analysis and interviews outline the main characteristics of the hybrid archetype that we chose to name efficient-collegiality.     

The Bologna process and the search for excellence: between rhetoric and reality,the emotional reactions of teachers

ABSTRACT

There has been an overall change in higher education towards the achievement of outstanding patterns of quality and excellence that assure competitiveness at a global scale. Teachers feel the pressure of official regulations for achieving quality and excellence, based on questionable concepts of quality that do not take into account the experience and beliefs of teachers and lead to emotional states that may promote or hinder adjustment to changes.

The present study used a categorical content analysis to capture the emotions that twelve university teachers associate with the changes experienced and with the pursuit of quality emphasized in Portugal by the Bologna Process. The results show that participants revealed mixed emotions regarding change. Students elicit mostly positive emotions, whereas bureaucracy, marketization and career changes generate negative emotions that impede the quest for quality, although in a minority of participants they prompt resilience that stimulates engagement in quality.     

Following One's Nose in Reading W. G. Sebald Allegorically: Currere and Invisible Subjects

In education, we are concerned with the teaching and learning of subjects, but the word “subject” can refer to the discipline being studied as well as the individual who is studying. In this essay, Teresa Strong‐Wilson explores this “double entendre” (which William Pinar refers to as the “double consciousness”) of curriculum studies through the analogy afforded by German author‐in‐exile W. G. Sebald's working through of difficult subjects by way of semi‐autobiographical writing that takes the form of an “invisible subject”: a preoccupation with an unnamed injustice entangled with his own upbringing. Curriculum theory, as currere, has foregrounded the autobiographical. While the place of autobiography in curriculum studies has often been taken to mean writing (especially of a confessional sort), currere is more an allegorical method of study, of intellectual engagement, of learning through reading and writing, and of teaching so as to open spaces for agency. Strong‐Wilson suggests that Sebald can provide a strong example for us in curriculum studies of how to ethically bring into being an allegorical, autobiographical practice focused on “invisible” subjects of deep concern.     

Sex differences in science museum exhibit attraction

This study examines the relative attraction of hands-on, interactive science museum exhibits for females and males. Studies have demonstrated that such exhibits can be effective learning experiences for children, with both academic and affective benefits. Other studies have shown that girls and boys do not always experience the same science-related educational opportunities and that, even when they do, they do not necessarily receive the same benefits from them. These early differences can lead to more serious educational and professional disparities later in life. As interactive museum exhibits represent a science experience that is-readily available to both girls and boys, the question arose as to whether they were being used similarly by the two groups as well as by adult women and men. It was found that both girls and boys used all types of exhibits, but that girls were more likely than boys to use puzzles and exhibits focusing on the human body; boys were more likely than girls to use computers and exhibits illustrating physical science principles. However, this was less true of children accompanied by adults (parents) than it was of unaccompanied children on school field trips who roamed the museum more freely.     

Searching and planning: young children's reasoning about past and future event sequences

Six experiments examined children's ability to make inferences using temporal order information. Children completed versions of a task involving a toy zoo; one version required reasoning about past events (search task) and the other required reasoning about future events (planning task). Children younger than 5 years failed both the search and the planning tasks, whereas 5-year-olds passed both (Experiments 1 and 2). However, when the number of events in the sequence was reduced (Experiment 3), 4-year-olds were successful on the search task but not the planning task. Planning difficulties persisted even when relevant cues were provided (Experiments 4 and 5). Experiment 6 showed that improved performance on the search task found in Experiment 3 was not due to the removal of response ambiguity.     

How to Analyze Interpersonal and Individual Effects in Peer-Tutored Reading Intervention

Reading strategy interventions relying upon peer tutoring are a common way to foster poor readers' comprehension skills. Those interventions are based on the assumption that tutees benefit from the (higher) reading skills of their tutors. However, this interpersonal effect has not yet been tested explicitly because the effectiveness of peer tutoring is commonly analyzed separately for tutees and tutors or with aggregated data. The present study illustrates how interpersonal and individual effects of a peer-tutored reading strategy intervention can be estimated using dyads as units of analysis in structural equation modeling. To demonstrate the application of the model, data from an experimental intervention study comparing the effects of a peer-tutored reading strategy training and a control condition in Grade 4 (N = 68 dyads) were analyzed.     

Teacher policy: a framework for comparative analysis

This article outlines a framework for analysis of teacher focused policy studies within an international and comparative perspective. Using the notion of the professional life cycle of teachers, the article examines examples of key empirical studies that illustrate the impact of policy on addressing such issues as teacher recruitment, education, selection, retention and development. The article concludes that the framework is useful in identifying the strengths and weaknesses in the conceptualization and design of teacher focused policy and studies, and gives recommendations for the design of rigorous studies to inform future policy in this area.

Hearts and minds in the science classroom: The education of a confirmed evolutionist

This study traces a heuristic inquiry process from the point of view of a science educator, from a secular-humanist background in the northern United States, attempting to better understand and appreciate a major aspect of religious-influenced culture in the southern United States which has a major bearing on science education in the region. The intellectual and emotional viewpoints of selected scientists, science educators, science teachers, and prospective science teachers are examined regarding the relationship between their orthodox Christian religious beliefs and biological evolutionary theory. We view the prospect of teaching evolution to students with such a religious commitment as a prime example of the severe limitations of cognitively-oriented conceptual change theory. We also view conflicts between religion and science regarding evolution as a bona fide example of a multicultural issue in education. These theoretical perspectives are inconsistent with the common tendency among science professionals to view or treat orthodox Christian students in a manner unconscionable with others—to disrespect their intellect or belittle their motivations, to offer judgments based on stereotypes and prejudices, to ignore threats to personal selfesteem, or to deny the de facto connection of some scientific conceptions to the morals, attitudes, and values of individuals with such religious commitments.     

Gender and attitudes to work and family roles: the views of young people at the millennium

The last century, in particular the latter half, saw radical shifts in the roles and expectations of women in society. This article investigates the views of 14‐ to 16‐year‐olds in the year 2000 on work and family roles, exploring both their general views on gender roles and their own personal aspirations for the future. In general the young people believed that it was equally important for males and females to get good qualifications at school, to have worthwhile careers and that childcare should be a joint responsibility. They also believed that males and females could do any job they wanted to these days. Their views were tempered, however, by the inequalities that they saw around them in the workplace and in their own families. While young people’s attitudes may have changed, they are still choosing fairly gender‐typical subjects at school and aspiring to different types of occupation. The article concludes that while great strides have been made in changing attitudes towards gender equality, there is still a long way to go before equal opportunities are really achieved.     

Emerging partnership practices in VET provision in the senior years of schooling in Australia

School partnerships support the effective provision of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the senior years of secondary schooling, to a varying degree, in most OECD nations. However, the nature and quality of these partnerships vary considerably from school to school and, indeed, from nation to nation (see Murray and Polesel, Eur J Educ 48(2):233–246, 2013). Given the role of these partnerships in VET provision in the senior years of schooling, it might be argued that there has been limited discussion about the role and nature of these relationships and the challenges associated with their establishment and long-term sustainability, especially in the Australian context (Allison et al. Building learning communities: partnerships, social capital and VET performance. NCVER, Adelaide, 2006). This paper explores the emergence of partnerships in a variety of educational and training contexts in Australia and describes the types of partnerships that have been established to respond to the specific needs of students. It also identifies the benefits and challenges associated with the delivery of VET programs through partnerships and the ways in which these partnerships can be developed and sustained to improve VET provision.