An interview with Jerry Pinkney

Darwin Henderson teaches children's literature at the University of Cincinnati. His research interests lie in 20th century African-American literature for youth.     

Communication Policy

Fair Use and Free Inquiry: Copyright Law and the New Media edited by John Shelton Lawrence and Bernard Timberg (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1989~$59.50 institutions/$32.50 personal, ISBN 0-89391-484-3)

Media Freedom and Accountability edited by Everette Dennis, Donald Gillmor and Theodore Glasser (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989~$39.95, ISBN 0-313-26727-8)

An Economic and Legal Analysis of Undue Price Discrimination by J. Stephen Henderson and Robert E. Burns (August 1989, NRRI 89-12, 224 pp.)

Implementation of Open Network Architecture: Development, Tensions, and Strategies by Robert J. Graniere (September 1989, NRRI 89-13, 216 pp.)     

Developing mathematical thinking in the primary classroom: liberating students and teachers as learners of mathematics

This paper reports on a research study conducted with a group of practising primary school teachers (n = 24) in North East Scotland during 2011–2012. The teachers were all participants in a newly developed Masters course that had been designed with the aim of promoting the development of mathematical thinking in the primary classroom as part of project supported by the Scottish Government. The paper presents the background for this initiative within the context of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence reform. Particular attention is given to the epistemological positioning of the researchers as this influenced both the curriculum design process and also the theoretical framing of the research study which are both described. The project was set up within a design research framework, which aimed to promote classroom-based action research on the part of participants through the course and also research by the university researchers into the process of curriculum development. The research questions focused on the teachers’ confidence, competence, attitudes and beliefs in relation to mathematics and their expectations and experiences of the impact on pupil learning arising from this course. Empirical data were drawn from pre- and post-course surveys, interviews and observations of the discussion forums in the online environment. Findings from this study highlight the way the course had a transformational and emancipatory impact on these teachers. They also highlight ways in which the ‘framing’ of particular aspects of the curriculum had an oppressive impact on learners in the ways that suppressed creativity and limited the exercise of learner autonomy. Furthermore, they highlight the ways in which a number of these teachers had experienced mathematics as a school subject in very negative ways, involving high levels of ‘symbolic violence’ and of being ‘labelled’.     

Emotional arousal of beginning physics teachers during extended experimental investigations

Teachers often have difficulty implementing inquiry‐based activities, leading to the arousal of negative emotions. In this multicase study of beginning physics teachers in Australia, we were interested in the extent to which their expectations were realized and how their classroom experiences while implementing extended experimental investigations (EEIs) produced emotional states that mediated their teaching practices. Against rhetoric of fear expressed by their senior colleagues, three of the four teachers were surprised by the positive outcomes from their supervision of EEIs for the first time. Two of these teachers experienced high intensity positive emotions in response to their students' success. When student actions/outcomes did not meet their teachers' expectations, frustration, anger, and disappointment were experienced by the teachers, as predicted by a sociological theory of human emotions (Turner, J. H. (2007). Human emotions: A sociological theory. London, England: Routledge). Over the course of the EEI projects, the teachers' practices changed along with their emotional states and their students' achievements. We account for similarities and differences in the teachers' emotional experiences in terms of context, prior experience, and expectations. The findings from this study provide insights into effective supervision practices that can be used to inform new and experienced teachers alike. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:137–161, 2013     

Gerontological Education in Undergraduate Nursing Programs: An Australian Perspective

Literature reveals difficulties in preparing nurses to care for older people. This article reports a study that aimed to facilitate positive changes in gerontological education in an undergraduate nursing program by identifying barriers and effective actions. A critical research approach was applied to the study. Data were mainly collected through focus groups. A total of five barriers were identified in gerontological education in an undergraduate nursing program. Actions which may address these barriers were explored. Critical reflection on educational practice based on partnerships between education and service sectors has the potential of leading an educational reform in gerontological nursing.     

How Science Teachers DiALoG Classrooms: Towards a Practical and Responsive Formative Assessment of Oral Argumentation

Journal of Science Education and Technology - We present lessons learned from an ongoing attempt to conceptualize, develop, and refine a way for teachers to gather formative assessment evidence...     

Participating in a Collaborative Action Learning Set (CAL): beginning the journey

Action learning is being increasingly utilised as a strategy to underpin practitioner focused development and research projects in healthcare generally and nursing in particular. Whilst facilitators of and participants in action learning have a variety of resource materials to guide their practice and participation, there continue to be few systematic and/or evaluative accounts of the experience of participating in action learning for potential action learning participants to draw upon. This paper attempts to address this agenda. The paper presents an interpretive evaluation of the experience of nurses participating in action learning as the learning strategy underpinning a 3-year emancipatory practice development/practitioner research programme. In particular, the paper focuses on the experience of ‘joining a learning set’. This focus has been adopted as the theory of action learning emphasises the principle of ‘voluntariness’, but yet action learning is increasingly being pre-prescribed as a component of development and research programmes. Such was the case with the programme reported on in this paper. The paper describes an approach used to evaluate learning that was adopted in this programme and in particular the initial evaluation stage that focuses on participants' feelings about joining an action learning set. The data collection and analysis processes are described and the key themes arising from the analysis (‘self-preservation’ versus ‘development of self’) discussed. It is concluded that working with principles of enlightenment is essential to successful action learning and the transformation of workplace cultures.