FORUM PROTESTANT,CATHOLIC, JEW: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POSSIBILITIES OF EDUCATING ACROSS RELIGIOUS BOUNDARIES

A recent gift to establish a new rabbinic ordination program at the University of Judaism provides the catalyst for faculty development of a new philosophy of religious education that emphasizes morally and epistemi‐cally oriented conceptions of learning. This paper traces the plight of modernity in premodern conceptions of Jewish learning, reviews responses to this plight during the past 150 years, and proposes an alternative view of learning that promotes the re‐engagement of epistemic and moral authority in education.     

Expertise,authority and embodied pedagogy: operatic masterclasses

The paper reports a study of masterclasses for young opera-singers, taught by experienced, world-class singers. These and similar forms of learning in the creative and performing arts represent fertile opportunities for the investigation of pedagogy. Given the recent ‘performative’ turn in sociological studies of education, and of cultural forms more widely, it is especially pertinent to examine the work of pedagogy in an overtly performative context. The operatic masterclass is made possible by the embodied authority of the teacher, and by her or his charismatic authority. The masterclass itself is marked by repetition, attention to technical detail, and to interpretative flexibility. Expertise is shared through gesture, metaphor, demonstration and personal maxims. Technical and interpretative knowledge are synthesised through the teacher’s personal authority. These processes illustrate the communities of pedagogy associated with artistic communities of practice.     

The Power of Dialogue: Consequences of Intergroup Dialogue and their Implications for Agency and Alliance Building

Phenomenological investigation of a community intergroup dialogue program reveals that participation in the program promoted complex thinking about diversity, feelings of self-efficacy, and changes in communicative action. Agency in the interest of social change, however, depended on both access to resources such as cultural capital, and incentives to recognize a need for change. The results suggest that dialogue has important potential for intercultural understanding, alliance building, and social change, but also that the indeterminacy implied in open systems prohibits assurance that change will be in the direction intended by program organizers.     

Accountability and responsibility: ‘rogue’ school leaders and the induction of new teachers in England

This paper considers the professional responsibility of schools in England to provide effective induction practices in the context of a central government mandated policy. It looks at individual schools as ‘habitats’ for induction and the role of school leaders and LEAs as facilitators or inhibitors. Notions of professional responsibility and public accountability are used to analyse the small number of ‘rogue’ school leaders who, within the new legislative framework, treat new teachers unprofessionally and waste public resources. A typology of ‘rogue’ schools that are in some way deviant in transgressing induction requirements is developed and the various sanctions that can be deployed against such schools are examined. How LEAs handle their monitoring and accountability role and manage deviant schools is considered. Finally, suggestions are made for improvements, such as the need to clarify professional responsibility and refine systems of professional accountability.     

INTERGENERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND ONTOLOGICAL CHANGE

The phenomenological concept of ontological change, or change in self‐understanding, is used to structure an analysis of the experiential impact of a college‐based, intergenerational service‐learning project. The semester‐long project aimed to create interpersonal, intergenerational situations in which students (N = 12) could experience for themselves the lack of fit between their inherited assumptions regarding aging and the actual meaning of aging as experienced by elders. Content analysis of students’ journals indicated that students experienced four temporally distinct types of experiences during the project. Students entered the project with an understanding as to how they should interact with their companions based on inherited assumptions regarding aging and the elderly (anticipation experiences). In the presence of their companions, however, the students’ assumptions were revealed as inappropriate and incapable of adequately guiding them in their interactions (personal‐conflict experiences). To alleviate the awkwardness experienced in the field, students had to reevaluate their understanding of themselves and their role in their intergenerational relationship and identify changes they could make to improve their intergenerational relationships (reevaluation experiences). Ten of 12 students reported effecting positive changes in their relationships after redefining their role vis‐à‐vis their companions (transposition experiences). Phenomenological theory provides (a) insight into the type of intergenerational relationships conducive to combating ageism and (b) a framework (journal content analysis) for assessing the experiential impact of program participation.     

Reading Development in Young Children: Genetic and Environmental Influences

The development of reading skills in typical students is commonly described as a rapid growth across early grades of active reading education, with a slowing down of growth as active instruction tapers. This study examined the extent to which genetics and environments influence these growth rates. Participants were 371 twin pairs, aged approximately 6 through 12, from the Western Reserve Reading Project. Development of word‐level reading, reading comprehension, and rapid naming was examined using genetically sensitive latent quadratic growth curve modeling. Results confirmed the developmental trajectory described in the phenotypic literature. Furthermore, the same shared environmental influences were related to early reading skills and subsequent growth, but genetic influences on these factors were unique.     

Mine or Yours? Development of Sharing in Toddlers in Relation to Ownership Understanding

To examine early developments in other‐oriented resource sharing, fifty‐one 18‐ and 24‐month‐old children were administered 6 tasks with toys or food that could be shared with an adult playmate who had none. On each task the playmate communicated her desire for the items in a series of progressively more explicit cues. Twenty‐four‐month‐olds shared frequently and spontaneously. Eighteen‐month‐olds shared when given multiple opportunities and when the partner provided enough communicative support. Younger children engaged in self‐focused and hypothesis‐testing behavior in lieu of sharing more often than did older children. Ownership understanding, separately assessed, was positively associated with sharing and negatively associated with non‐sharing behavior, independent of age and language ability.     

Parental Socioeconomic Status,Communication, and Children's Vocabulary Development: A Third‐Generation Test of the Family Investment Model

This third‐generation, longitudinal study evaluated a family investment perspective on family socioeconomic status (SES), parental investments in children, and child development. The theoretical framework was tested for first‐generation parents (G1), their children (G2), and the children of the second generation (G3). G1 SES was expected to predict clear and responsive parental communication. Parental investments were expected to predict educational attainment and parenting for G2 and vocabulary development for G3. For the 139 families in the study, data were collected when G2 were adolescents and early adults and their oldest biological child (G3) was 3–4 years of age. The results demonstrate the importance of SES and parental investments for the development of children and adolescents across multiple generations.