Metaphor as a methodological tool: identifying teachers’ social justice dispositions across diverse secondary school settings

This article investigates the social justice dispositions of teachers and principals in secondary schools as inferred from their metaphoric expressions. Drawing on a Bourdieuian account of disposition, our focus is the use of metaphor as a methodological tool to identify and reveal these otherwise latent forces within our data. Our analysis shows evidence of redistributive, recognitive and activist conceptions of social justice. We argue that these three social justice dispositions may be insufficient to meaningfully address persisting inequalities in the school system and that a capability-based social justice disposition – absent in our data – is needed. We conclude by highlighting that: social justice dispositions can change; a valid interpretation of metaphors requires ‘contextual stabilization’; and metaphors for social justice are differently constructed in different contexts, influenced by the different social, cultural and material conditions of schools.     

Teacher education and family–school partnerships in different contexts: A cross country analysis of national teacher education frameworks across a range of European countries

Abstract

Collaboration with parents is widely regarded as important in the education of children and young people, yet teachers rarely feel sufficiently prepared for this task. Several studies indicate that initial teacher education (ITE) programmes struggle to address issues of family–school partnerships (FSP). Our purpose in this study was to assess whether national ITE frameworks in seven European countries enable or constrain effective FSP preparation for preservice teachers. Our data, drawn from document analysis and national surveys, suggests that, despite the importance officially attributed to FSP at both governmental and ITE institutional levels, no single country presents a satisfactory picture in terms of FSP provision within their ITE programmes or in the extent to which preservice teachers are prepared to deal with the issue. Regardless of the existence (or not) of a national curriculum and variations, both in terms of legally-required competences and the amount of attention given to FSP in ITE programmes, it appears that simply making FSP compulsory is not the solution. Nor do national frameworks, in themselves, really appear to shape and direct the provision offered. Essentially FSP preparation still seems to depend upon the proclivities and expertise of individual teacher educators.     

The Assessment of GCSE Art: Criterion‐Referencing and Cognitive Abilities

In this paper Cognitive Abilities Test scores are compared directly with moderated GCSE scores awarded to the same group of pupils. For ease of interpretation the comparisons are presented in a graphical form. Whilst some provisional and tentative conclusions are drawn about the reliability of GCSE art, questions are raised about the general validity of criterion‐referenced assessment in this area.     

SELF CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARTIALLY SEEING 1

Self concept inventories were administered to 30 adolescent partially seeing Ss who were educated in a unit attached to a normal High School, and to a similar sample of normal stream pupils matched for age, sex and I.Q. The results indicate that there are no significant differences in self concept development between the two groups. It is suggested that the opportunities afforded for academic success, together with the feelings of achievement which accrue from an integration programme help to develop an adequate self concept in the partially seeing.

     

Communication Skills and Veterinary Education

Veterinarians require effective communication skills for interacting with clients, colleagues and other people, but very little emphasis has been placed on these skills either in the professional literature, or in the curricula of veterinary schools.

In this study questionnaires were used to assess attitudes of Queensland veterinary students and recent graduates to various aspects of communication. These revealed that students entered the veterinary course with a relatively low appreciation of the importance to a veterinarian of the skills needed to interact effectively with people, but placed high importance on skills for dealing with animals. As the students proceeded from first to fifth year, they became increasingly aware of the relative importance to veterinarians of understanding and communicating with people.

Formal teaching of communication skills to veterinary students has recently been pioneered at the University of Queensland. This involves a sequence of subjects in the first, third and fifth year of the veterinary course. Emphasis is placed on factors that help and hinder both spoken and written communication, and on the desirability of adopting a critical, analytical approach to (veterinary) scientific literature. Surveys have indicated that the students appreciate the value of these subjects in relation to their future career, and feedback from employers of recent graduates has been positive.     

MUSCLES, MORALS AND MIND: CRAFT APPRENTICESHIP AND THE FORMATION OF PERSON

ABSTRACT:  The paper considers apprenticeship as a model of education that both teaches technical skills and provides the grounding for personal formation. The research presented is based on long-term anthropological fieldwork with minaret builders in Yemen, mud masons in Mali and fine-woodwork trainees in London. These case studies of on-site learning and practice support an expanded notion of knowledge that exceeds propositional thinking and language and centrally includes the body and skilled performance. Crafts – like sport, dance and other skilled physical activities – are largely communicated, understood and negotiated between practitioners without words, and learning is achieved through observation, mimesis and repeated exercise. The need for an interdisciplinary study of communication and understanding from the body is therefore underlined, and the paper suggests a way forward drawing on linguistic theory and recent neurological findings. It is argued that the validation and promotion of skilled practice as 'intelligent' is necessary for raising the status and credibility of apprentice-style learning within our Western systems of education.     

Expansion and equity in Australian higher education: three propositions for new relations

This article outlines three broad propositions for student equity in Australian higher education (HE), arising from the Australian Government's recent policy announcement to expand and widen student participation. The first is that a new relationship between student demand for places and their supply is on the horizon, unlike any other in Australia's history. Specifically, demand will struggle to match the intended supply. Given these new arrangements between government, institution and applicant, the article's second proposition is that governments and universities will need to develop a new regard for the people they seek to attract. And, following on from this, they will need to pay more attention to the nature of HE and its appeal to people who traditionally have not been all that interested. Informing this account are an examination of statistical data, analysis of university outreach programs, and a comparison of current principles of effective teaching in HE. The article concludes that advancing student equity in the current context will require new relations between institutions and students, which include a more sophisticated appreciation for the diversity of students and their communities, and for what they potentially contribute to HE.