“Spinning Themselves into Poetry”: Images of Urban Adolescent Writers in Two Novels for Young Adults

In contrast to the educational research and policy literature depicting urban adolescents as reluctant and struggling readers and writers, young people in recent young adult novels claim writing as an efficacious practice for self-discovery and social understanding. Analysis of the images of writers and writing in Locomotion and Call Me María provide insights into both urban adolescents and literacies as social practices. Framed by New Literacy Studies, analysis of the novels finds that the characters use writing to document and process life-altering events; to seek meaning and inspiration in their surroundings; to resist ascribed identities; and to search for a sense of belonging in the sociopolitical landscape in which they are often marginalized due to their race, gender, youth, and/or language. This article argues that the novels humanize and dramatize adolescent literacies in ways that test results and crisis language often disguise and distort.     

Northrop Frye in the Elementary Classroom

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) was one of the leading literary theorists of his day, and this article shows the ways in which his theories continue to be relevant for both the field of literary criticism and elementary classroom education today. The author, an eminent scholar in the field of children’s literature in her own right and a student of Northrop Frye, presents her interpretation of his major theories as they relate to reading and writing pedagogy in the elementary school classroom. This article articulates some of the key issues developed in the author's book, The Child As Critic, which has undergone a number of printings and editions, and which may well be as close as we get to a handbook for teaching the art of literature, as Northrop Frye might have written it.     

美国母语课程媒介素养的内容及启示

媒介素养进入语文课程已经成为世界各国母语课程现代化的必然趋势,也是深化母语课程改革、提升教育质量的内在需求。美国母语课程媒介素养的内容丰富多彩,呈现方式异彩纷呈,给我国语文课程媒介资源开发及媒介素养教育与语文课程相融合提供理论支持和经验借鉴。     

Bases of competence: an instrument for self and institutional assessment

The Bases of Competence model provides a general framework for learner‐centred skill development and programme‐focused outcomes assessment. Based on previous research, the Bases of Competence model describes 17 skills and four base competencies important to graduates to achieve high performance in the workplace. Taking this work from research to relevant educational application as a tool for student self‐assessment and institutional outcomes assessment is the focus of this paper. Results from a multi‐year, multi‐course assessment initiative indicate that students rate themselves stronger in the foundation base competencies of Communicating and Managing Self, and weaker in more complex competencies of Managing People and Tasks and Mobilising Innovation and Change. Comparisons of skill confidence within each base competence as well as between year, student level, gender and beginning versus end of semester are presented as well. These results are discussed and suggestions made for programme design.     

Do the rich get richer and the poor poorer?: The effects of an intervention programme on reading in the home and school language in a high poverty multilingual context

There is little research on differential reading performance in multilingual contexts in less than ideal learning conditions. This article reports on a reading intervention project in a poor multilingual primary school in South Africa where reading levels in Northern Sotho (home language) and English (language of schooling) were initially very low amongst Grade 7 learners. The nature of the reading intervention is briefly sketched and the outcomes after three years of implementation presented. Results at the intervention school showed some Matthew effects in both languages. Differential reading performance is discussed in relation to the high poverty and multilingual context of the school. Although this is a single case longitudinal study, implications for reading interventions and classroom instruction are considered in the context of disadvantaged multilingual primary schools.     

Changing discourses: Literacy and development in Nepal

Literacy policy and programming in developing countries continues to be influenced by the assumption that without literacy, an adult is unable to function on an equal basis in society and that an individual can be easily categorised as either literate or illiterate. Although this has led to prioritisation of primary schooling over adult literacy in many national government and donor agency budgets, there has recently been a movement away from regarding adult literacy as only ‘second chance schooling’ to explore how literacy programmes can build on participants’ existing practices. In the context of these changes in international policy discourses, this article analyses how literacy and development policy and programming in Nepal has changed over the past decade. Drawing on interviews with policy makers, trainers and literacy facilitators conducted in the 1990s and 2007, the author explores the shifts taking place. The structure of literacy programmes (including links with formal schooling), literacy materials, language of instruction and concepts of ‘post literacy’ were influenced by political events during this period as well as by donor agency discourses. Findings from the Nepal case have implications for the international policy discourse, such as the need to problematise the term ‘political’ to consider the intended and unintended consequences of literacy interventions.     

‘Please remember we are not all brilliant’: undergraduates’ experiences of an elite,research‐intensive degree at a research‐intensive university

Undergraduate research experiences are being incorporated into degree programs with increasing frequency. However, there has been little study into their effectiveness in preparing students for research or into the learning gains that students realise from one or more research experiences. We surveyed science students in an elite, research‐based undergraduate degree program at a research‐intensive university. These students complete six research projects during their degree and we aimed to delineate factors that students perceive as leading to either good or bad experiences. Two factors stand out as contributing to a successful research experience: the supervisor, with students reporting both pedagogic and affective benefits of good supervision; and the feeling that they are doing authentic science. Surprisingly, given the research‐intensive nature of this degree, the learning gains students report relate to both an appreciation of what research is like and life skills, such as time management, rather than scientific thinking skills.     

Language and education: The experience of the Penan in Brunei

Rurally situated minority groups in Southeast Asia, especially those with nomadic backgrounds, such as the Penan in Borneo, have received relatively little scholarly attention with regard to language knowledge and use, language education and levels of achievement in formal learning contexts. When individuals from these small, as well as socially, politically and generally economically vulnerable groups enter formal education, they are almost inevitably immersed in school settings where the medium (or media) of instruction are either second or foreign languages, and where they receive little or no second or foreign language support for their immersion or, rather, submersion experience. These minorities, in this case the Penan of Brunei, frequently attain (unnecessarily) poor academic results for reasons that are posited and discussed in subsequent pages. This article depicts the environment of Penan in Sukang, in the southern part of Brunei, and describes ways in which the Penan are affected by aspects of the context they inhabit, including national policies, in terms of language and social categorization. This is part of a larger consideration of ways in which Penan have been adapting to settlement, since they gave up a nomadic hunting and gathering existence (Sercombe, 2007), a significant aspect of which is processes of socialization and ways in which formal education has impacted on the lives of Penan in Brunei. The paper begins with an outline of the locality, physical and social, and goes on to describe the language ecology of this part of Brunei. It then considers more closely the local school and its role, as a conduit for the implementation of national policy, and ways in which this affects Penan children's educational progress, as well as suggesting strategies that might be implemented for the benefit of all stakeholders.     

Learning from the lived experiences of new language arts teachers working in diverse urban schools

This ethnographic interview study examines the factors, challenges, people and events that impacted the teaching lives of new language arts teachers. Participants taught in urban, diverse, and underserved schools. We examine our findings related to the reputation of the school, the role of the school leaders, the role of other new teachers, teacher identity, and the impact of teacher preparation programs, which emerged as clear patterns from their interviews. Data on the school culture and personnel also revealed important information on the obstacles these teachers face and supports that sustain them. This study leads to potential future research to broaden our understanding of how to attract, support, and retain new teachers in the field of language arts education.     

Effect of worker contacts on risk of child maltreatment recurrence among CPS-involved children and families

The mission and responsibility of child protective services (CPS) is to investigate maltreatment; intervene to protect children from harm; and promote safety, permanency, and well-being (DePanfilis & Salus, 2003; Goldman, Salus, Wolcott, & Kennedy, 2003). In 2015, approximately 7.2 million children in the United States were referred to CPS agencies, and 3.4 million children had an investigation or received an alternative response (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2017). Fluke, Shusterman, Hollinshead, and Yuan (2005) found that about one third of children with an allegation of maltreatment would have at least one re-report within a five-year period. Research indicates that the rates of child maltreatment or changes in indicators of child maltreatment have remained unchanged over time (Gilbert et al., 2012). Despite policies aimed at reducing or preventing maltreatment, the development of CPS systems across the United States, and a CPS workforce, the aggregate effects of the CPS system, services, and worker efforts are not well understood.