Implications of a Learning Organisation for Social Justice in Poverty Stricken Communities: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

The term “social justice” cuts across disciplines and theoretical orientations. Critical theory underpinned the study reported on in this article. Many South African schools, particularly in poverty stricken communities, still experience insurmountable economic and social injustices despite progress since the apartheid regime. The injustices manifest in poverty, inequalities and unequal distribution of educational resources, impacting on the achievement gap. While social justice is a concern in the literature, South African literature has little on how to apply the concept of a learning organisation to reclaim a commitment to social justice. The article argues that schools perceived as learning organisations are sites of social and political struggle that can promote and encourage human rights to fundamental freedoms for all, without discrimination. This requires progressive teachers and critical thinking by students to transform dehumanising social milieus into communities of participation embodying the values of progress and human emancipation.     

Teachers leading teachers – understanding middle-leaders’ role and thoughts about career in the context of a changed division of labour

ABSTRACT

This longitudinal study aims to create in-depth knowledge about the phenomena of middle-leadership and career in school by identifying (1) driving forces for seeking and maintaining middle-leading positions, (2) opportunities and difficulties in maintaining the middle-leading role over time, and (3) underlying thoughts of career disclosed in the respondents’ expressions. Five different reasons for seeking middle-leading positions are identified and driving forces for maintaining the position are categorised as either internal reward/non-observable outcomes or external reward/observable outcomes. Furthermore, the results show that different types of difficulties arise in distinct phases and that middle-leaders’ needs for support therefore vary over time. Additionally, the complexity of teachers’/middle-leaders’ career thinking clearly emerges, and implications for practice are discussed.     

Effects of word and morpheme familiarity on reading of derived words

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that influence students’ reading of derived words. Recent research suggests that the lexical quality of a derived word depends on the familiarity of the word, its morphemic constituents (i.e., base word and affixes), and the frequency with which the base word appears in other words (i.e., members of the same word family or family frequency). On the premise that better and more experienced readers have higher quality lexical representations, we explore the extent to which accuracy of reading derived words by 4th and 6th graders is related to measures of familiarity, including derived and base word frequencies, family size, average family frequency, and word length. The results of an exploratory factor analysis indicated that these measures formed two factors, one representing morphemic constitution and the second representing exposure to the word family; both factors accounted for significant variance in the students’ derived word reading. Comparisons of sets of derived words contrasted on familiarity properties showed that performance on derived words, overall, is better for 6th than 4th graders and for good than poor readers. On the measures of family frequency and family size, there were significant discrepancies between grade level and reading ability and frequency characteristics. These add support to the view that morphemic analysis and wide reading experience contribute to derived word reading.     

James J. Kaput (1942–2005) imagineer and futurologist of mathematics education

Jim Kaput lived a full life in mathematics education and we have many reasons to be grateful to him, not only for his vision of the use of technology in mathematics, but also for his fundamental humanity. This paper considers the origins of his ‘big ideas’ as he lived through the most amazing innovations in technology that have changed our lives more in a generation than in many centuries before. His vision continues as is exemplified by the collected papers in this tribute to his life and work.

Commentary: Towards an Integrated View of Learning from Text and Visual Displays

Visuo-spatial text adjuncts such as static or animated pictures, geographic maps, thematic maps, graphs, and knowledge maps that have been analyzed in the articles contained in this special issue provide complex pictorial information that complements the verbal information of texts. These spatial text adjuncts are considered as depictive representations that can support communication, thinking, and learning. An essential precondition of this supportive function is that the visuo-spatial displays interact appropriately with human visual perception and the individual's cognitive system, which is characterized by prior knowledge, cognitive abilities, and learning skills. Accordingly, effective learning with visuo-spatial text adjuncts can be fostered by instructional design and by adequate processing strategies, both dependent on sufficient understanding of how the human cognitive system interacts with these displays. Perspectives for further research in this area are provided.     

The theatricality of sport and the issue of ideology

Through the study of Richard Gruneau and Gunter Gebauer’s respective works, this article examines the social significance and theoretical implications of sport’s capacity to represent social life in a theatrical manner. The drama-like images and representations sporting practices produce, institutions codify, and television programs enhance is considered in relation to ideology’s integrative, legitimating, and distorting functions (Ricoeur). Acknowledging the filiations of ‘theatre’ with ‘theory’ – both words stand for ‘to contemplate, to see, to observe’ – this study considers theatricality as a valuable theoretical notion that enables a synthetic and reflexive understanding of athletic practices’ bodily dimension, symbolic representations, and institutional determinants.     

The contribution of external representations in pre-school mathematical problem solving

Could problem solving be the object of teaching in early education? Could appropriate teaching interventions develop to scaffold children's efforts to solve problems? These were the central questions of this article. The sample consisted of 18 children attending public pre-school in Cyprus. The problem they were asked to solve was to find all solutions of the pentomino. The children's problem solving was supported by graphically representing their solutions on squared paper. The findings show that children responded positively to the problem and were successful in finding all solutions for the specific problem. The graphical representation of the solutions and the forms of teacher–children and children–children interactions played an important role in the positive outcome of the activity.     

The effectiveness of student team-achievement division (STAD) for teaching high school chemistry in the United Arab Emirates

Education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) faces major problems which may hinder its future development. These include low achievement in science and a negative attitude toward science subjects, which have resulted in a high number of student dropouts from the science track in high school. It is believed among UAE educators that the main reason is the way science that has been taught in its schools. A solution to this problem depends on finding effective teaching methods, which maintain student achievement, improve students' attitude and provide opportunities to develop essential scientific skills. The effectiveness of Student Team-Achievement Division (STAD) for teaching science to high school classes in the UAE was investigated. The sample was selected randomly. A representative group of UAE high school students was chosen from the northern province, which includes urban areas, and from the eastern province, which includes rural areas. The study involved sixteen tenth grade classes. During the second semester of the academic year 1998/1999, three units in the chemistry curriculum were covered. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of STAD in teaching high school chemistry in the UAE and to find out which groups, gender, area, and ability benefitted most.     

External Visual Representations in Science Learning: The case of relations among system components

The present paper reports on a study that examined whether practical work can be said to have affective outcomes, and if so in what sense. The term ‘affective’ is used here to refer to the emotions, or feelings, engendered amongst pupils towards school science in general, or one of the sciences in particular. The study is based on 25 multi‐site case studies that employed a condensed fieldwork strategy. Data were collected, using tape‐recorded interviews and observational field notes, in a sample of practical lessons undertaken in English comprehensive (non‐selective) schools during Key Stages 3 and 4 (ages 11–14 years and 15–16 years, respectively). The findings suggest that whilst practical work generates short‐term engagement, it is relatively ineffective in generating motivation to study science post compulsion or longer‐term personal interest in the subject, although it is often claimed to do so. This suggests that those involved with science education need to develop a more realistic understanding of the limitations of practical work in the affective domain.     

Representational Classroom Practices that Contribute to Students’ Conceptual and Representational Understanding of Chemical Bonding

Understanding bonding is fundamental to success in chemistry. A number of alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding have been reported in the literature. Research suggests that many alternative conceptions held by chemistry students result from previous teaching; if teachers are explicit in the use of representations and explain their content-specific forms and functions, this might be avoided. The development of an understanding of and ability to use multiple representations is crucial to students’ understanding of chemical bonding. This paper draws on data from a larger study involving two Year 11 chemistry classes (n = 27, n = 22). It explores the contribution of explicit instruction about multiple representations to students’ understanding and representation of chemical bonding. The instructional strategies were documented using audio-recordings and the teacher-researcher’s reflection journal. Pre-test–post-test comparisons showed an improvement in conceptual understanding and representational competence. Analysis of the students’ texts provided further evidence of the students’ ability to use multiple representations to explain macroscopic phenomena on the molecular level. The findings suggest that explicit instruction about representational form and function contributes to the enhancement of representational competence and conceptual understanding of bonding in chemistry. However, the scaffolding strategies employed by the teacher play an important role in the learning process. This research has implications for professional development enhancing teachers’ approaches to these aspects of instruction around chemical bonding.