Rough winds do Shake: Higher education in transition

The Management of Change: universities, state and economy in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, HENRY D.R. MILLER, 1995, Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open University Press. viii + 183pp, ISBN 0-3355-19089-8 (hardback)

The Postmodern University? Contested Visions of Higher Education in Society, ANTHONY SMITH & FRANK WEBSTER (Eds), 1997, Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open University, Press. xi + 125pp. ISBN 0-335-19958-5 (paperback), ISBN 0-335-19959-3 (hardback)     

Mothers' emotional care work in education and its moral imperative

This paper seeks to build on feminist and egalitarian critiques of the traditional allocation of care work to mothers, particularly in relation to understandings of educational care work. It seeks to locate the emotional support work carried out by mothers in the educational field within their daily routines of care, and to make visible the inalienable nature of this gendered work. The paper draws on key findings from an in‐depth qualitative study carried out with a sample of 25 mothers in Ireland. It explores mothers' perspectives and understandings of emotional caring within their diverse social positionings, at the time of their children's transfer to second‐level education. The findings suggest that mothers, irrespective of their differences, are subject to a moral order of care that necessitates the performance of a great deal of emotional work. This moral imperative is ubiquitous, operating through deeply internalized gender ideologies, and mothers' understandings of care as love. It cements mothers as moral workers, which frees men for other activities. This is a serious issue for women's equality and development, one that must be heard beyond the private space of the home, one that must claim space in public discourse, including the field of education.     

Responding to students' needs in special schools in Ireland and England: findings from two schools

As more students with special educational needs attend mainstream schools, it is critical that the role and operation of special schools be examined. This article reports on two case studies, one special school in England and one in Ireland, which formed part of a national review of the role of special schools and special classes in Ireland. Two students, in each case study school, were shadowed and observed during two‐day visits by the research team. These students, and everyone belonging to them, were interviewed and relevant documents were analysed. Findings are discussed in terms of responding to students' needs through: organization of teaching and learning, curriculum, leadership, specialist staff, collaboration and links outside the special school. The implications are considered with reference to research, policy and practice and the authors conclude that the evidence provides support for maintaining the special school as an integral part of the continuum of educational provision for students with special educational needs.     

THE PRESENT OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

(The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is ten years old. During this period it has been tested in every conceivable way: by the scholars, by use in all kinds of worship, by classes in church‐related educational programs, by students in colleges and theological schools. It has proven itself a valid translation and a means of proclaiming the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. It has had widespread use in Roman Catholic colleges. It is now appearing in many new editions as other publishers are being licensed to print it. To Luther A. Weigle and his teams of devoted translators we give our grateful thanks. ‐‐ Ed.)     

Continuities and discontinuities in the life histories of teacher educators in changing times

Although teacher education has undergone radical reforms in many jurisdictions, who teacher educators are, their lives, and their work, continue to be a somewhat underexplored area internationally, while remaining a ‘secret garden’ in the Irish context. In order to address this lacuna in Irish research, this paper adopts a life history, phenomenological approach to the exploration of teacher educator identities. It considers the articulation of identity relative to prior teacher identity and current roles and institutional context. From nine in-depth interviews with teacher educators in a college of education in Ireland, we examine continuities and discontinuities between past and present roles and responsibilities, and identities. We tentatively explore the diverse pathways, values and experiences that construct them as teacher educators in the present, and gain insight in to the strength of former teacher identities: the old overshadowing the ‘new’. We conclude that privileged primary school teacher identities continue to shape teacher educator practices and values despite global and diverse influences at play. The implications of these findings for initial teacher education are considered.