Beyond stereotypes? Talking about gender in school booktalk

The Swedish educational system states that work in schools should depict and mediate equality. One way of achieving this is through fiction, which according to the syllabus provides students with knowledge about the living conditions of women and men during different epochs and places. The present paper examines gender in a Swedish school, analysing ‘book club’ discussions, using a discursive approach. The data consist of video-recorded teacher-led booktalk sessions, involving small groups of pupils in grades 4–7. It was found that the teachers and/or the pupils invoked gender issues in all book club sessions. The fictive events were, at times, discussed in gender-stereotyped ways. Yet, the teachers and pupils also transcended gender stereotypes in several cases. In many of those cases, there was a generational pattern, in that the participants tended to apply less stereotyped thinking when talking about fictive characters of their own age.     

Cognitions,Emotions, and Applications: Participants' Experiences of Learning about Strengths in an Academic Library

This study examined academic library employees' experiences during “strengths education,” a process of learning about individual strengths during a positive psychology intervention. Participants took the Clifton StrengthsFinder test, attended a workshop, and then were interviewed about what they considered to be the effects of the strengths training. The focus of the qualitative analysis was the interviewees' statements about the intrapersonal and interpersonal effects of learning about their strengths. We categorized and coded these statements as cognitions formed, emotions experienced, and applications envisioned. Our findings raise interesting implications for job satisfaction and employee self-esteem, especially during times of change.     

Beyond Mark and Park: Classification Mapping as a Collection Development Tool for Psychiatry/Psychology

Developing specific collection development policies for psychiatry poses problems because of its interdisciplinarity with psychology and medicine. East Carolina University has separate academic and medical libraries that are responsible for supporting the curriculum and research needs of the students and faculty. In an era of dwindling budgets and growing programs, it is imperative that book selectors be aware of cross-discipline classification schemes that may lead to unnecessary duplication of materials. This article proposes an instrument that maps the National Library of Medicine classification to the Library of Congress classification for psychology/ psychiatry to be used as a guideline for supporting cooperative collection development.     

What is ‘Agency’? Perspectives in Science Education Research

The contemporary interest in researching student agency in science education reflects concerns about the relevance of schooling and a shift in science education towards understanding learning in science as a complex social activity. The purpose of this article is to identify problems confronting the science education community in the development of this new research agenda and to argue that there is a need for research in science education that attends to agency as a social practice. Despite increasing interest in student agency in educational research, the term ‘agency’ has lacked explicit operationalisation and, across the varied approaches, such as critical ethnography, ethnographies of communication, discourse analysis and symbolic interactionism, there has been a lack of coherence in its research usage. There has also been argument concerning the validity of the use of the term ‘agency’ in science education research. This article attempts to structure the variety of definitions of ‘student agency’ in science education research, identifies problems in the research related to assigning intentionality to research participants and argues that agency is a kind of discursive practice. The article also draws attention to the need for researchers to be explicit in the assumptions they rely upon in their interpretations of social worlds. Drawing upon the discursive turn in the social sciences, a definition of agency is provided, that accommodates the discursive practices of both individuals and the various functional social groups from whose activities classroom practice is constituted. The article contributes to building a focused research agenda concerned with understanding and promoting student agency in science.     

A Living Legacy

Of increasing interest to educational researchers is the process of learning to teach and the role that teacher education plays. The teacher-socialization program of research has provided the most inclusive theoretical structure for such investigation. Unfortunately, this program has been discouraging. The outcomes indicate (a) a survival-oriented approach to teaching of the preservice student and (b) limited positive influence of teacher education on this development. Fortunately, evidence has emerged that poses a more encouraging, progressive view. This evidence stems from classroom research on the development of preservice students' perspectives on teaching. The purpose of this article is to review the outcomes from this literature and to identify possible implications for physical education teacher education (PETE). This paper focuses on four dimensions: (a) an overview of the construct of teacher perspectives, (b) the characteristics of the more progressive perspectives of the teacher education students, (c) the features of the teacher education program that influence those perspectives, and (d) possible implications for PETE. A caveat is included in this latter section that cautions generalizing outcomes from research in the classroom areas to physical education.     

A new approach to vocational guidance for school-leavers in the 1920s? Exploring key themes from an influential 1926 report

The economic difficulties currently being experienced in the United Kingdom have served to further intensify debates about the role different kinds of education could and should play in both preparing individuals for work and boosting economic growth. However, these contemporary and historical debates have tended to neglect vocational guidance. This article offers a case study of an experiment to boost vocational guidance in schools during the period of social and economic dislocations that followed the First World War. The scheme drew on the thinking of influential figures like Cyril Burt, and at a theoretical and practical level sought to better connect the classroom with the workplace. Its stated aim was to better prepare children for employment and encourage school-leavers to find work that suited them.     

Through the lens of home-educated children: engagement in education

Engagement and participation are important for successful outcomes in education, yet disaffection in the UK, according to some exclusion and absence statistics, shows a growing trend. The purpose of this research was to develop a starting point for a theory of children’s engagement in education using grounded theory method. Evidence from home-educating families suggests that disaffection is a problem that is unique to school education. The research investigated home educated children's perceptions and experiences of home education. A flexible, semi-structured, qualitative design, encouraging children to determine the structure of their narratives was employed, using photovoice. Analysis followed grounded theory method and the results highlight themes for future development, refinement and further investigation. Important findings are that perceptions of self, and flexible and supportive learning contexts that provide children with a sense of active and autonomous involvement are linked to learning engagement and enthusiasm for learning. The conclusion outlines reasons why educational psychologists should become involved in discussion and research relating to home education. Limitations of the research are discussed and issues for future research are considered.