Resisting and Surviving: Asian girls and education

The Schooling and Identity of Asian Girls FARZANA SHAIN Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham Books, 2002 160 pp., £15.99 (pbk) ISBN 1-85856181-7 Asian girls are not often the subject of mainstream texts and research on issues such as youth, identities and schooling—so this book makes a welcome addition. Indeed, research on femininities continues to be somewhat eclipsed by the ongoing ‘boys in crisis’ debate, in which the primary focus of academic and policy attention has been directed at boys' ‘underachievement’ and associated social and behavioural problems. Equally, issues of ‘race’, religion and ethnicity have been historically sidelined within mainstream sociological and educational research and therefore The Schooling and Identities of Asian Girls makes for a refreshing change. Despite the relative academic silence regarding Asian identities, recent world events have propelled Asian (but particularly Muslim) identities, into the British media spotlight. Since the high-profile Salman Rushdie controversy of the early 1990s, through to the British and American governments' declaration of the ‘war on terrorism’ after September 11th 2001, Muslim identities and associated issues of citizenship, nationality, belonging and identity are now all hot topics for debate.     

Utilising creative methodologies to elicit the views of young learners with additional needs in literacy

The research described in this article aimed to explore and examine the dominant ‘assessment’ and ‘participation’ stories of upper‐primary pupils with long‐standing and marked literacy learning needs, their views on how their level of participation in the assessment and remediation of their additional needs might be increased and also how they perceive themselves as literacy learners. This qualitative small‐scale study adopted a case study approach and utilised creative methodologies in the context of focus groups to investigate sensitively the views and experiences of Key Stage 2 pupils with additional needs in literacy. The findings discussed here are based on the outcomes from the four Northern Irish schools that participated in the original cross‐border (Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland) study. Findings are discussed in the context of strategies for promoting holistic and empowering pathways for learners with additional needs in literacy.     

科学、技艺、技术:中国农业从物质到知识的穿越

中国农业在中国农政管理系统中是治国之本,该系统兼容地方文化多样性,扎根社会网络,对科学、技艺、技术的知识与实践产生了积极作用。在19世纪之前,几乎没有任何西方国家在促进农业生产和传播农业知识方面有所作为,中国却从宋代开始已经全面着手,政府发挥各级官员、文人学士、地主作者、农民和工匠的综合作用,鼓励官民合作,发展先秦以来的儒家伦理政治、伦理社会秩序和伦理道德民俗,更新了中国农业国家的知识系统与宇宙观。发展这一方向的研究成果,能够增加我们对科学与规律的理解,而它不仅存在于中国,也普遍地存在于人类社会的前现代时期之中。     

Community Initiatives in Education: Goals,dimensions and linkages with governments

Recent years have brought increasing advocacy of community participation in education. This has been a particularly common theme in policy documents, not only of governments but also of international agencies. Among the main goals has been a desire to spread the burden of resourcing, though advocates also commonly have in mind the volume, relevance and impact of schooling. However, policies often fail to differentiate between different types of communities. Further, the communities' knowl edge bases and motives for engaging in educational work may be very different from the governments'. Thus, while in some situations communities and governments collaborate in harmony, other situations lead to dissonance. This paper notes experiences in a range of countries, and stresses the need for policies to take account of the diversity of circumstances.     

Modelling the flight of a soccer ball in a direct free kick

This study involved a theoretical and an experimental investigation of the direct free kick in soccer. Our aim was to develop a mathematical model of the ball's flight incorporating aerodynamic lift and drag forces to explore this important 'set-play'. Trajectories derived from the model have been compared with those obtained from detailed video analysis of experimental kicks. Representative values for the drag and lift coefficients have been obtained, together with the implied orientation of the ball's spin axis in flight. The drag coefficient varied from 0.25 to 0.30 and the lift coefficient from 0.23 to 0.29. These values, used with a simple model of a defensive wall, have enabled free kicks to be simulated under realistic conditions, typical of match-play. The results reveal how carefully attackers must engineer the dynamics of a successful kick. For a central free kick some 18.3 m (20 yards) from goal with a conventional wall, and initial speed of 25 m·s^?1, the ball's initial elevation must be constrained between 16.5° and 17.5° and the ball kicked with almost perfect sidespin.     

Effects of Race and Communication Style on Indian Perceptions of Counselor Effectiveness

This article reports the results of a study in which 102 American Indian 11th and 12th grade high school students rated 7 dimensions of perceived counselor credibility and utility. Results indicated that Indian counselors were perceived as more effective than non-Indian counselors and that the non-directive, “facilitative” verbal response style was rated as less effective than either a directive or a cultural/experimental style.     

‘To Catch at and Let Go’: David Bakhurst,Phenomenology and Post‐phenomenology

This paper examines David Bakhurst's attempt to provide a picture of ‘the kinds of beings we are’ that is ‘more realistic’ than rationalism. I argue that there is much that is rich and compelling in Bakhurst's account. Yet I also question whether there are ways in which it could be taken further. I introduce the discussion by exploring Bakhurst's engagement with phenomenology and, more specifically, Hubert Dreyfus—who enters Bakhurst's horizon on account of his inheritance of the philosophy of John McDowell. Whilst I recognise that Bakhurst's encounter with Dreyfus demonstrates his achievements—over rationalism and over Dreyfus—I also suggest that it opens up certain questions that remain to be asked of his position on account of its conceptualism. These questions originate, not from a Dreyfusian phenomenological perspective, but from the post‐phenomenological perspective of Jacques Derrida. Through appealing to key Derridean tropes, I aim to show why the conceptual idiom Bakhurst retains may hold us back from understanding the open nature of human thought. I end by considering what therefore needs to come—and what needs to be let go—in order to best do justice to the ‘kinds of beings we are’.