Noise Rather than Numbers: Access to higher education in three European countries

This paper explores a number of special alternative arrangements for adults to access higher education in England and Wales, France and Germany and examines the impact on these arrangements of the relationship between the state and higher education in the three countries. The similarities and differences are analysed along two key dimensions: complexity-simplicity and rigidity-flexibility and the absence of clear statistical data in all three countries is accounted for by the way in which the various stakeholders justify their actions. Finally, Weiler's theory of compensatory legitimation is drawn on to assess the effectiveness of the policy innovations and to explain why the noise around them has been louder than the numbers involved might warrant.     

Cooperation in European Construction Education: The Development of the Master's Degree Course in European Construction Engineering

The Master's degree course in European Construction Engineering has many unique features. Its students come from several different European countries, each student studies in at least three different European locations, and the teaching staff are drawn from seven different European universities. The course is therefore genuinely multinational and European. The development and delivery of the course over the past 6 years has revealed fundamental differences in European education practices which have provided a learning experience for both students and staff. This paper describes the course development and discusses some of the issues that have arisen during the development process, many of which are yet to be finally resolved.     

Increasing Verbal Empathy as a Function of Feedback and Instruction

Counselor-trainee response uncertainty and delayed supervisor feedback are two apparent difficulties when looking at the normal practicum procedures from a learning theory frame of reference. Twenty-four counselor trainees were randomly assigned to three experimental groups and one control group, i.e., immediate feedback, feedback and instructions, equipment present, and control. Audio tapes pre- and post-were selected and rated on empathy. An analysis of variance on the pre- and post-differences in ratings was computed resulting in a significant F-ratio (p < .05). Subsequent multiple comparisons showed all experimental groups significant when compared to the control group (p < .01) The results showed that all experimental conditions increased counselor trainees' empathic responses significantly.     

Counselor Preferences of Senior High School Students

This study is concerned with the extent to which senior high school students employ the constructs of race, subculture, and sex in establishing counselor preferences. The data suggests that these variables are of far more importance to black students than they are to northern white or to Appalachian white students. The data also supports the findings reported earlier by Stranges and Riccio.     

Constructing and Deconstructing Masculinities through Critical Literacy

ABSTRACT This paper is set out in three parts. The first is a theoretical discussion about the ways in which we become gendered through the particular discursive patterns made available to us in our culture(s). The second provides a detailed analysis of a classroom in which the teacher, Mr Good, is working with the boys in his class to try to get them to take themselves up as literate in ways that might more usually be eschewed by boys who achieve hegemonic masculinity. The third part develops a definition of critical literacy that follows from the first two parts and which is relevant to the teaching of literacies to boys.