The experience of black African religious education trainee teachers training in England

This study addresses issues surrounding the recruitment and training of black African religious education teachers within the context of the government’s intention to make the teaching profession more representative of the wider community. In relation to this there is a strong emphasis in the Teacher Training Agency’s Qualifying to Teach on selection procedures which promote equality of opportunity and the recognition of individual training needs. The study is informed by the work of Sikes and Everington who have highlighted the place of religion and culture within the personal histories of religious education teachers. Black African members of two successive cohorts of PGCE students are tracked to identify their training needs in relation to their cultural and religious backgrounds. The data identifies four cultural and religious factors which impact on their training to teach religious education in the UK. Finally, as advised by the Carrington Report, recommendations are made for the practice of teacher educators.     

Action Learning—a learning and teaching method in the preparation programme for supervisors of midwives

Supervision of midwives is a statutory responsibility, which provides a mechanism for support and guidance to every practising midwife in the United Kingdom. To be eligible for appointment as a supervisor, midwives are required to undertake a preparation programme successfully. Because of the changing nature of the professional role and education, the level of the programme of preparation has evolved from an attendance course, to programmes delivered at diploma, degree and, more recently, Masters' level. In collaboration with clinical colleagues and the statutory authorities, the University of Hertfordshire has presented a programme of preparation at Masters' level since 1997. Revalidation in 2001 provided the opportunity to review the learning and teaching methods, and a decision was made to use Action Learning as an important component of the new programme that commenced in 2002. Alongside the normal university quality assessment mechanisms, a systematic evaluation was undertaken to explore the acceptability and perceived usefulness of Action Learning by the students of the second and third cohorts. This paper presents the findings of this evaluation.     

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Teaching Reading by Gertrude Hildreth. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1958. 612 pp. $6.00.

Administration and Organization of the Guidance Program by Dean C. Andrew and Roy D. Willey. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1958. 330 pp. $4.50.

“Art Education”—Its Means and Ends by Dr. Italo L. de Francesco. New York. Harper &; Brothers, 1958. 640 pp. $6.75.

Evaluation Techniques for Classroom Teachers by Denis Baron and Harold W. Bernard. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1958. 297 pp. $5.50.

Group Work in Education by Ruth Strang. New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1958. 322 pp. $5.50.

Higher Education in Transition, a history of American colleges and universities, 1636-1956 by John S. Brubacher and Willis Rudy. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers. 1958. 479 pp. $7.50.

Leadership in Elementary School Administration and Supervision by Albert H. Shuster and Wilson F. Wetzler. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1958. 489 pp. $5.50.

Modern Methods in Secondary Education by Grambs, Jean D.; Iverson, William J.; and Patterson, Franklin K., New York: The Dryden Press, 1958. Revised Edition. 700 pp. $5.90.

Music Education for Teen-Agers by William R. Sur and Charles F. Schuller. New York: Harper &; Bros., 1958. 478 pp. $6.00.

Nursery-Kindergarten Education, Jerome E. Leavitt, Editor. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 337 pp. $6.00.

Physical Education for Children by Elizabeth Halsey and Lorena Porter. New York: Henry Holt and Company (Dryden Press). 1958. 416 pp. $5.75.

Research in the Three R's edited by C. W. Hunnicutt and William J. Iverson. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1958. 435 pp. $6.00.     

Ego development and psychopathology: a study of hospitalized adolescents

This paper explores the relationship between ego development and psychiatrically relevant behaviors in a group of hospitalized adolescents. Building on Loevinger's model of ego development, we administered the Sentence Completion Test to 114 adolescent girls and boys. To study psychiatric symptoms, Achenbach and Edelbrock's Child Behavior Checklist was used. With these procedures, the Achenbach and Edelbrock factor scores were compared to ego stage using correlational and multiple regression analyses. Findings indicate significant negative correlations with the externalizing and internalizing factors as well as a variety of behavioral subscales. A significant relationship also exists between the total number of symptoms and ego development. Ego development is found to be an important predictor for the externalizing factor and 2 subscales after the background variables of age, sex, and SES are partialed out. Our discussion addresses the question of the relationship between stages and transitions in ego development in relation to psychopathology. In addition, "age-stage dysynchronies" are discussed as ways of understanding psychopathology from a developmental perspective.