Educational Enquiry and Professional Knowledge: towards a Copernican revolution

Current conceptions of the nature of education and teaching would appear to be dominated by a generally technicist interpretation of educational enquiry and conduct which has also influenced recent perspectives on professionalism in education. This technicist view, which rests initially on a misreading of the logical character of educational discourse, is further reinforced by certain theories of schooling and pedagogy hailing from the social sciences. It is argued here, however, that since it is the morally normative language of ethical principles and dispositions rather than the instrumentally normative language of techniques which lies at the heart of discourse about education and teaching, the idea of a virtue provides a better model for understanding professional competence than that of a skill.     

Water erosion on Mars and its biologic implications

The Martian surface shows abundant evidence of water erosion. Liquid water is unstable under present climatic conditions but conditions may have been different in the past. The planet has been volcanically active throughout its history. The combination of water and volcanism must have commonly resulted in hydrothermal environments similar to those in which grow the most primitive terrestrial life-forms.     

Early Responsiveness to Intensive Behavioural Intervention Predicts Outcomes Among Preschool Children with Autism

Archival data from a private day‐school offering early intensive behavioural intervention based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis to preschoolers with autism (N = 29) were analysed longitudinally. Teacher reports on the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS) were available up to 4 times and on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales—Classroom Edition (VABS‐CE), at 2 time points. Parent reports on the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) were available at 2 time points. All assessments occurred approximately at 6‐month intervals. Children showed statistically significant progress across all skill domains on the ABLLS and on selected subscales and the composite scales of the VABS‐CE and ATEC. Gains were substantial for some children and minor for others. When divided into performance‐based groups, both higher‐performing and lower‐performing groups showed improvement over time, with greater improvement for the higher‐performing group. Nine of 16 children who had been discharged from the programme entered inclusive kindergarten or first‐grade classrooms with an aide. Seven discharged children entered special education classrooms. No child progressed to the point that special education services were not needed. Findings are discussed relevant to the extant literature on early intensive behavioural intervention outcomes among young children with autism.     

Database choices in endocrine systematic reviews

Objective

The choice of bibliographic database during the systematic review search process has been an ongoing conversation among information specialists. With newer information sources, such as Google Scholar and clinical trials registries, we were interested in which databases were utilized by information specialists and systematic review researchers.

Method

We retrieved 144 systematic reviews and meta-analyses from 4 clinical endocrinology journals and extracted all information sources used during the search processes.

Results

Findings indicate that traditional bibliographic databases are most often used, followed by regional databases, clinical trials registries, and gray literature databases.

Conclusions

This study informs information specialists about additional resources that may be considered during the search process.     

The Human and Educational Significance of Honesty as an Epistemic and Moral Virtue

While honesty is clearly a virtue of some educational as well as moral significance, its virtue‐ethical status is far from clear. In this essay, following some discussion of latter‐day virtue ethics and virtue epistemology, David Carr argues that honesty exhibits key features of both moral and epistemic virtue, and, more precisely, that honesty as a virtue might best be understood as the epistemic component of Aristotelian practical wisdom. In the wake of arguments to be found in Plato's Laws, as well as in those of more modern philosophers such as Jean‐Jacques Rousseau and Iris Murdoch, Carr then traces the main roots of moral dishonesty to various forms of vain and self‐delusive ego attachment. In this light, he argues in the final section of the essay that literature and the arts may provide a powerful educational antidote to such attachment.     

Childhood Maltreatment and Early Developmental Vulnerabilities at Age 5 Years

This study examined associations between maltreatment and early developmental vulnerabilities in a population sample of 68,459 children (M_age = 5.62 years, SD = .37) drawn from the Australian state of New South Wales, using linked administrative data for the children and their parents (collected 2001–2009). Associations were estimated between (a) any maltreatment, (b) the number of maltreatment types, and (c) the timing of first reported maltreatment and vulnerability and risk status on multiple developmental domains (i.e., physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and communication). Pervasive associations were revealed between maltreatment and all developmental domains; children exposed to two or more maltreatment types, and with first maltreatment reported after 3 years of age, showed greater likelihood of vulnerability on multiple domains, relative to nonmaltreated children.     

Gaining insight into interdisciplinary research and education programmes: A framework for evaluation

Greater understanding of how interdisciplinary research and education evolves is critical for identifying and implementing appropriate programme management strategies. In this paper a programme evaluation framework is presented. It is based on social learning processes (individual learning, interdisciplinary research practices, and interaction between researchers with different backgrounds); social capital outcomes (ability to interact, interpersonal connectivity, and shared understanding); and knowledge and human capital outcomes (new knowledge that integrates multiple research fields). The framework is illustrated on an established case study doctoral programme. Data are collected via mixed qualitative/quantitative methods to reveal several interesting findings about how interdisciplinary research evolves and can be supported. Firstly, different aspects of individual learning seem to contribute to a researcher's ability to interact with researchers from other research fields and work collaboratively. These include learning new material from different research fields, learning how to learn new material and learning how to integrate different material. Secondly, shared interdisciplinary research practices can be identified that may be common to other programmes and support interaction and shared understanding between different researchers. They include clarification and questioning, harnessing differences and setting defensible research boundaries. Thirdly, intensive interaction between researchers from different backgrounds support connectivity between the researchers, further enabling collaborative work. The case study data suggest that social learning processes and social capital outcomes precede new interdisciplinary research findings and are therefore a critical aspect to consider in interdisciplinary programme management.     

‘I just can’t bear these procedures,I just want to be out there working with children’: an autoethnography on neoliberalism and youth sports charities in the UK

This paper uses an autoethnography to recount my experiences with SportHelp, a UK youth sports charity. Using a layered account format, which jumps through time and space, I demonstrate the extent to which neoliberal values have influenced the continuity and change of SportHelp. This paper does not constitute an attack on the charity, its staff, nor the charity sector. The focus is on how the wider neoliberal context shapes how SportHelp operates. The findings are analysed in terms of Foucault’s (2008, The birth of biopolitics. Lectures at the Collége de France, 1978–79. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan) notion of governmentality by examining SportHelp’s monitoring and reporting practices, as well as the managers’ use of New Public Management discourse. The conclusion reflects on the extent to which neoliberal governmentality, though in some instances beneficial for SportHelp, ultimately does more harm than good. This paper, by offering an ‘insider’s view’, adds to the literature calling for a change in how policy makers and funders shape the current hypercompetitive socio-political landscape. Charities should be supported, not discouraged, to develop holistic programmes that move beyond ‘economic rationales’ and are capable of addressing the multifaceted needs of their service users.