Reflections on the Manner in Teaching Project

In reflections on the Manner in Teaching Project, I focus on four themes: why teaching is an intellectual and moral endeavour; the significance of the school context for understanding the moral dimensions of teaching; the uses and limitations of moral theory in research on teaching; and the centrality of the person in the role of teacher. The 'Manner in Teaching Project' sheds useful light on these themes, including how to examine them systematically.     

The complexity of Chinese pedagogic discourse

This is one of X commentaries on Wu’s ‘Interpretation, autonomy, and transformation: Chinese pedagogic discourse in a cross-cultural perspective’ (JCS, 43(5), 569-590). It highlights the paper’s demystification of Western pedagogic discourse and recovery of the meaning of Chinese traditional pedagogic discourse as a response to the long-lasting debates on the Chinese–Western/traditional–modern dichotomies seen in China’s modernization. However, the paper overlooks the complexity of Chinese pedagogic discourse: it over-emphasizes the formal or linguistic dimension of pedagogic discourse, and presumes the dichotomy of Chinese–Western discourses and the discontinuity of traditional–modern cultures. After elaborating the ends, substances, methods, and teacher roles found in Chinese pedagogic discourses, this study argues that contemporary pedagogic discourses are essentially inhabited in indigenous traditions, and actively entangled with Western discourse. The meaning of Confucian traditional pedagogy should not (and cannot) be ‘recovered’ from the past, but be ‘found’ in the present.     

Parental involvement in secondary education schools: the views of parents in Greece

The present study explores Greek parents’ views on parental educational involvement and its impact on adolescent scholastic and social development. Specifically, aspects of parental involvement such as the achieved objectives of current parent–school communication, the psychological climate dominating teacher–parent interactions and parents’ suggestions for improvement of current policies and practices are examined. Four hundred and seventy‐five parents participated in the study. Findings showed that family–school communication is believed to be insufficient in Greece, despite the fact that parents tend to: (1) regard their cooperation with teachers as determinative of adolescent academic and psychosocial development; (2) consider teachers to be friendly and caring; and (3) believe that secondary school provides some opportunities for constructive parental involvement. These paradoxes are discussed and explained as a result of radical changes in current social and educational values, principles and objectives.     

“专业—素养—实践”三维结构下的现代教育技术课程教学改革研究——以实验教学改革为例

现代教育技术课程是一门理论与实验并重的课程。在该课程学习中,学习者一方面要了解现代教育思想和理论,同时还要掌握利用教育技术进行教学的技能,更为重要的是,通过该课程学习来提高学习者的现代教育技术素质,培养其成为具有适应信息时代从教能力的师范人才。针对目前课程实验教学存在的问题,我们进行了"专业-素养-实践"三维结构下的现代教育技术课程实验教学改革,从目标、内容、策略、媒体和评价等五个方面进行了系统设计,并对实验教改的结果进行了简要的分析。     

Reconsidering school politics: educational controversies in Sweden

School politics in Sweden has recently moved in a conservative direction, emphasising the importance of conventional school subjects, stronger teacher authority and more discipline in the classroom. At the same time, consensus on the utility of such measures is lacking in the school debate. The conservative approach is often criticised as misleading and behind the times in relation to contemporary knowledge demands. This article examines and discusses the relevance of this critique. The main argument is that the conservative approach has a better matching with a previous phase in the history of Swedish school politics and that conventional schooling is difficult to combine with two of the major goals of schooling today – the diffusion of democracy and multipurpose skills. From this perspective, the political notion of schooling seems decoupled from the broader domain of public demands on education. To alleviate this problem school politics should draw less on the pedagogical ideas of essentialism and more on the historical legacy of progressivism in the Swedish education system.     

Shared Family Identity,Age Salience,and Intergroup Contact: Investigation of the Grandparent–Grandchild Relationship1 This study was part of the first author's doctoral dissertation and portions of the study were presented at the National Communication Association annual meeting,Chicago, 2004.

This study investigated communicative and relational aspects of the grandparent–grandchild relationship that lead to perceptions of age salience and shared family identity with the grandparent. The perceptions represent manifestations of inter- and intragroup levels of categorization in dealing with the other family member. The association between these group-oriented categorizations and perceptions of intergenerational contact outside of the family was examined. Participants (N?=?369) completed questionnaires assessing perceptions of experiences with multiple grandparents. Findings showed that general family identification of the grandchild, parental encouragement, and personal communication (social support and reciprocal self-disclosure) are positively associated with perceptions of shared family identity, whereas intergroup communication (under/overaccommodation) and perceptions of impaired health are associated with age salience. Results suggest that age salience may moderate the relationship between shared family identity and perceptions of older adults in some circumstances.     

The CSR green halo effect on the corporate–public communication: an experimental study

Environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a popular practice among corporations. However, the mechanism and effectiveness of environmental CSR in affecting corporate–public communication are still unclear. Against the theoretical backdrop of the ‘halo effect’ and through a controlled experiment with 742 participants from Hong Kong and mainland China, we find that: if a company’s environmental CSR activity receives higher support from the consumers, it is less likely for consumers to avoid advertisements endorsed by the company. The CSR green halo effect therefore exists. Moreover, consumers’ nationality and their three preexisting attitudes (general environmental CSR support, environmental beliefs, and favorability of products’ country of origin) are important moderators of the green halo effect and need to be considered in practice.     

Effects of load on ground reaction force and lower limb kinematics during concentric squats

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of external load on vertical ground reaction force, and linear and angular kinematics, during squats. Eight males aged 22.1?±?0.8 years performed maximal concentric squats using loads ranging from 7 to 70% of one-repetition maximum on a force plate while linear barbell velocity and the angular kinematics of the hip, knee and ankle were recorded. Maximum, average and angle-specific values were recorded. The ground reaction force ranged from 1.67?±?0.20 to 3.21?±?0.29 times body weight and increased significantly as external load increased (P?<?0.05). Bar linear velocity ranged from 0.54?±?0.11 to 2.50?±?0.50?m?·?s^?1 and decreased significantly with increasing external load (P?<?0.05). Hip, knee and ankle angles at maximum ground reaction force were affected by external load (P?<?0.05). The force?–?barbell velocity curves were fitted using linear models with coefficients (r ²) ranging from 0.59 to 0.96. The results suggest that maximal force exertion during squat exercises is not achieved at the same position of the lower body as external load is increased. In contrast, joint velocity coordination does not change as load is increased. The force?–?velocity relationship was linear and independent from the set of data used for its determination.     

Critically reflexive dialogue and praxis: Academic/practitioner reflections throughout a formative evaluation of Circles® USA

Reflections about the use of critically reflexive praxis by academic/practitioners are offered based on a case study of a formative evaluation of Circles^® USA, a nonprofit organization coordinating initiatives across the U.S. working to move families out of poverty. Critically reflexive praxis is theorized as featuring several themes including acknowledging different levels of context, critical dialogue with collaborators, engaging cultural difference and intersectionalities, problematizing power relations and relationships among researchers and collaborators, and occurring throughout the research project. Examples of critical dialogic reflexivity and navigating common tensions that emerge throughout such community engagement projects are detailed during three phases: planning and design; fieldwork and interviews; and outcomes, applications, and implications.     

Students’ experiences of supervision in academic and industry settings: results of an Australian study

The joint supervision of Research Higher Degree (RHD) students by an industry and university supervisor is likely to increase in forthcoming years with a rise in the number of university–industry collaborations. Research students may become involved in these collaborative arrangements for a variety of reasons and may launch into their RHD without considering how they will serve two masters, and how this complex relationship will affect their RHD experience. Moreover, little research has been conducted to assess the impact of these arrangements on current RHD students’ experiences. The experiences of students with academic and industry supervisors were, therefore, explored in a survey of confirmed RHD students at an Australian research‐intensive university. This paper investigates whether RHD students conducting research in traditional academic settings have a different experience to students working on industry‐related projects in industry settings, specifically in regards to supervision and institutional access and engagement.