Making it Happen: a personal account of a teacher education aid project in the Solomon Islands

Secondary teacher education in the Solomon Islands has been non‐existent since an early attempt was abandoned a decade ago. An international aid project now has attempted to implement a carefully wrought plan. This article outlines the plan, describes what actually happened when the plan was implemented, and proposes some principles which might be useful in guiding the efforts of future project managers charged with the responsibility of making things happen in a culture other than their own.     

Confucius Institutes and China’s soft power: practices and paradoxes

Since China’s implementation of the Confucius Institute (CI) project in 2004, most academic works have been written on its objectives, nature, features, development, problems and challenges, especially in terms of soft power projection. Though some of them could unravel the tensions and paradoxes in the CI project, there is a paucity of in-depth and focused analysis on the related issues with a more systematic framework. Utilising Tellis et al.’s tripartite taxonomy approach to power – resources, strategies and outcomes – and integrating it with Nye’s tripartite approach to exercising power – coercion, inducement and attraction – this paper aims to fill this research gap. The findings can shed light on the tensions and paradoxes in China’s development of soft power by providing a more systematic and integrated framework for analysing the dilemmas and predicaments in the exercise of its power strategies in the global age.     

Digital learning and teaching: Evaluation of developments for students in higher education

Whilst there has been a great deal of activity in the exploration of learning situations, especially with the development of computer-aided learning, the introduction of holistic views of learning situations can be useful. In particular, one current approach is that of supported web-based learning systems to complement traditional teaching. This paper focuses on recent work at Liverpool John Moores University (JMU) for one undergraduate module, which with one other has served to provide a rationale for a web-based teaching, learning and support environment for academic staff and students. The approach has enabled researchers at JMU to explore module/programme support development possibilities on the web from academic, quality and commercial perspectives as well as the cybernetic and evolutionary nature of learning. It has also enabled an exploration of student attitudes and perceptions to the technology, insights into the learning strategies adopted by students and their relation to student learning styles. The emphases in studying this system are appropriateness in terms of pedagogy, quality of content, presentation and technology fit. The innovation has appeal with students, it has flexibility as a delivery platform and there are cost benefits and external commercial possibilities. The development process for academics has been mapped and cost benefits of the web site gauged, in order to develop the strategy of a quality-based web-supported teaching and learning environment, coupled with a suitable support mechanism and evaluation model, for staff and students at JMU.     

Attracting,recruiting and retaining male teachers: policy issues in the male teacher debate

Frequent calls for more male teachers are being made in English‐speaking countries. Many of these calls are based upon the fact that the teaching profession has become (even more) ‘feminized’ and the presumption that this has had negative effects for the education of boys. The employment of more male teachers is sometimes suggested as a way to re‐masculinize schools so they become more ‘boy‐friendly’ and thus contribute to improving boys' school performance. The focus of this paper is on an Australian education policy document in the state of Queensland that is concerned with the attraction, recruitment and retention of male teachers in the government education system. It considers the failure of this document, as with many of the calls for more male teachers, to take into account complex matters of gender raised by feminism and the sociology of masculinities. The paper then critiques the primary argument given for the need for more male teachers: that is, that male teachers provide boys with much needed role models.     

Identifying Prepared and Competent Teachers with Professional Knowledge Tests

Paper–pencil teacher tests of professional knowledge typically are organized around the conventional dimensions that define state teaching standards, such as classroom management and assessment. We examined if such tests could be partitioned into three other dimensions (general knowledge, academic or textbook knowledge, and functional teaching knowledge), and if these dimensions (1) identified between those who did and did not receive teacher preparation, and (2) predicted teaching competence. A teacher test was given to advanced and beginning education majors, and non-majors. We found that advanced education majors and non-majors differed mostly on academic knowledge, but that functional knowledge predicted competence to the greatest extent. A variety of useful information can be gleaned from teacher tests if subscores of these dimensions are generated.     

Shoes on the streets and byways of New York

The author describes his experiences helping to teach a writing workshop for the patrons of a Manhattan soup kitchen. The participants are, he learns, less migratory in some ways than he and the other teachers, yet they all share ideals about the Big Apple as well as experiences on the streets of New York City. The author quotes with permission from the participants' writings and presents the classroom routines by recreating one of the typical meetings from the early years of the workshop.