The Holmes reports: perils and possibilities

There has not yet been an attempt to categorize or critique the substantial body of literature that has arisen around the Holmes Group’s three reports regarding the treatment of teaching and teacher education: Tomorrow’s Teachers (1986), Tomorrow’s Schools (1990) and Tomorrow’s Schools of Education (1995). This article represents an initial attempt to do so, as well as to discuss what impact, if any, the Holmes suggestions have had on current practice. This literature revolves around the themes of gender, professionalism, and epistemology—themes which have dominated discussions of American teacher education for at least 150 years. Criticism of the reports accuses the Holmes Group of covering over and even perpetuating dilemmas related to thee issues with politically calculating pseudo-solutions. Favorable responses to the Holmes reports generally claim that they ‘professionally’ empower teachers by showing increased respect for teachers’ ways of knowing and doing in the classroom.     

The influence of motivational orientation on the satisfaction of university students

A common finding in the area of motivation and psychological well-being is that internally motivated individuals exhibit greater levels of happiness than externally motivated individuals. In this paper we answer the question of whether internally or seemingly externally motivated students report higher levels of satisfaction than individuals who are conflicted in their motivations or are amotivated. We show that both seemingly externally motivated individuals and internally motivated individuals report higher levels of happiness than non-motivated individuals or individuals who are conflicted in theirmotivations. These findings are consistent with self-determination theory. These findings are important in recognizing that well internalized external motivations are likely not detrimental to the well-being of undergraduate college students. Aspirations which are consistent, regardless of whether they are internal or seemingly external likely result in higher levels of happiness among university students.     

Independent learning crossing cultures: learning cultures and shifting meanings

This paper contrasts the notion of ‘independent learning’ as perceived by two informant groups at a UK institution of higher education: (1) teachers, educators and providers of education and (2) their students or ‘consumers’ of education. Both informant groups are staff and students studying in a culture different to that of their first education. They are identified in their receiving institution as ‘international’, or have identified themselves as such. The experience of transition into a UK University was explored with both informant groups, through interviews and focus groups, over a cycle of two years. ‘Independent learning’ as rhetoric and practice emerged for both groups as an issue in their transition from familiar to unfamiliar learning culture. Three key insights emerged. Firstly, a mismatch is identified between teacher perceptions and student interpretation of ‘independent learning’ expectations and practice. Secondly, it emerges that student experience of the learning culture is in a state of continuous flux, evolving between first arrival and end of programme through cycles of bafflement and empowerment. Finally, both students and teachers identify a number of strategies for dealing with this experience of ‘transitional’ independence. The paper concludes by recommending a notion of ‘phased scaffolding’ that might inform educational practice and by reflecting on the implications for the educator in revisiting received educational discourse from the perspective of participants negotiating a second learning culture.     

Production Guides

Martin Clifford's Microphones: How They Work and How to Use Them (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1977—$8.95/ 5.95)

James Carroll and Ronald Sherriffs, TV Lighting Handbook ($12.95, 226 pp.)

Harry Kybett, The Complete Handbook of Videocassette Recorders ($9.95/5.95, 280 pp.)

Dave Ingram, The Complete Handbook of Slow-Scan TV ($14.95/9.95, 304 pp.)

G. Paul Smeyak's Broadcast News Writing (Columbus, Ohio: Grid Publishing, 1977—$7.95, paper)     

The psychoanalytic view of teaching and learning, 1922–2002

Various psychoanalysts have written about the implications of psychoanalytic theory for teaching and learning. Although many curriculum scholars have offered their personal interpretations of the relevance of psychoanalytic theory to education, there is very little in the educational literature about what psychoanalysts themselves have had to say about the acts of teaching and learning since the rise (and, some would suggest, decline) of psychoanalysis over the last century. This study examines a wide range of educational themes that emerge from a reading of various psychoanalysts over the last eight decades. In general, the psychoanalysts argue that, in order to be existentially authentic, teaching and learning must involve the teacher and student in all their psychodynamic complexity as emotional and ethical beings. I also examine the psychodynamic concepts of transference, counter‐transference, and object relations in some depth because they have figured prominently in psychoanalytic discourse about education.     

Pervasive and Non‐pervasive Conduct Problems in a Clinic Sample Aged 4–8 years: Child,family and day‐care/school factors

Differences between pervasive (home and day‐care/school) versus non‐pervasive (home only) conduct problems were examined in regard to various child, parent/family, and day‐care/school characteristics in an outpatient clinic sample of 120 children aged 4–8 years. All children scored above the 90th percentile on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory for home problems and met the criteria for a possible or a confirmed diagnosis of oppositional defiant behaviours. The proportion of children with pervasive conduct problems was high, 83%. Teachers in day care and school reported children in the pervasive group to have significantly more attention and internalizing problems as well as lower social competence scores than those in the non‐pervasive group. Children in the pervasive group also showed consistently more problems in their relationships both with teachers and peers than those in the non‐pervasive group. The implications for assessment and treatment of children with conduct problems in these age‐groups are discussed.