Scenarios for the Future of Teacher Education in Europe

In this paper four scenarios are presented which illustrate possible futures of teacher education in Europe. These scenarios are the result of a project of Research and Development Centre 19 of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe. 1 The four scenarios differ from each other in their emphasis on four driving forces: pragmatism, idealism, individualism and social coherence. Each scenario is described in terms of characteristics of society, education and teacher education, roles of teachers and teacher educators, and is illustrated in a short scene.     

开罗夜未眠

During the last few years, my neighborhood in Cairo has experienced such an influxof refugees from the Iraq war that longtime residents have begun, with a mixture of     

CONVERGENT AND DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY OF THREE MEASURES OF ABILITY,ASPIRATION-LEVEL,ACHIEVEMENT, ADJUSTMENT AND DOMINANCE1

The convergent and discriminant validity of three measures of the concepts of aspiration level, ability, achievement, adjustment, and dominance were examined in the context of a multitrait-multimethod matrix. Self-reports and peer-reports on 75 Ss were employed as two measures of each trait. In addition, aspiration level was measured by the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) Nach scale, dominance by the EPPS (dom scale), achievement by cumulative college grade point ratio (GPR), ability by the Ohio State Psychological Examination (OSPE), and adjustment by the Bell Adjustment Inventory. Of the paper and pencil instruments, only the OSPE and EPPS (dominance scale) exhibited satisfactory convergent validity. No measure met all the requirements of discriminant validity. The desirability of establishing adequate validational evidence prior to using “trait” measures in studies relating theoretical variables was emphasized.     

Feminism in Scotland: Self-identification and stereotypes

A questionnaire concerned with gender issues was completed by 2029 women and 2137 men students at a Scottish University. Of the women respondents, 1252 answered a question about whether they thought of themselves as feminists; 5% ticked 'always', 9% 'often', 59% 'occasionally' and 27% 'never'. Women in the 36-45 year old age bracket and postgraduate women were most likely to identify as feminists. This question was included in a factor analysis with items concerning gender roles. It loaded strongly only on the third factor, which linked strong feminist identification to an endorsement of an essentialist model of gender differences. Analysis of extended comments in response to a question about the image of feminism indicated that both male and female students were affected by negative stereotypes of feminism in the media. It was concluded that the study showed a somewhat stronger level of identification with feminism than previous studies.     

An Effective Teacher Institute for Curriculum Dissemination1

This article recounts the development of Living in Water, a science curriculum for the middle grades, and the teacher training institute that was developed to disseminate the curriculum. This article also reviews how the teacher training institute was modified in response to findings from the evaluations of each of the three institutes that the authors presented. The evaluations included analysis of the teacher training institutes, the attitudes of the master teachers, the attitudes of the in-service workshop participants, and the demographics of the students who ultimately were taught using the Living in Water curriculum.