Teacher Education for a Pluralist Society: the British case

The article is organised into two sections, dealing with: (1) the notions of ‘Plurality’ and ‘Pluralism’ and (2) the training of teachers for a plural society. In part (I), factors influencing the development of the plural society in Britain are discussed and the dimensions of that society examined. Part (II) outlines the needs of schools in a plural society and recommends a strategy for teacher training.

L'article est organisé en deux parties qui traitent (i) des concepts de ‘Pluralité’ et de ‘Pluralisme’, et (ii) de la formation des enseignants pour une société pluraliste. Dans la première partie (i) il est discuté facteurs qui ont une influence sur le développement de la société pluraliste en Grande‐Bretagne et les caracteristiques de cette société. La deuxième partie (ii) expose les besoins des écoles dans une société pluraliste et recommande une stratégie pour la formation des enseignants.     

Mentoring for inclusion: A model class for special and general educators

Abstract

The following paper presents content and outcomes of a model class for instructing general and special educators in best practices of inclusive education. Key components of the class were (a) an emphasis on cooperative learning and team decision making, (b) highly structured problem‐solving activities, and (c) the use of in vivo case studies involving children with disabilities in local schools. These components were designed to model professional activities associated with the successful inclusion of children with disabilities in general education classrooms. Course content is supported by brief reviews of related research. Course outcomes, problems encountered, and recommendations for replication are presented.     

Excluding Primary School Children – The Outcomes Six Years On

This article reports and discusses a study which followed up, through case records, 726 children excluded permanently, indefinitely or for fixed–term periods in 1993/4 in 10 LEAs. The outcomes at secondary level in 1998/9 were found to be moderately poor with the problems intensifying for half the sample. Forty six per cent had further primary school exclusions and 36 per cent received exclusions in their secondary education. Looked–after children and those with special educational needs fared worse and achieved less. Case studies showed the kinds of commitment and support that can work even with very difficult cases.     

Teaching Criminal Justice Online: Current Status and Important Considerations

The most significant change to impact the pedagogy of criminal justice students in recent years has been the development of online classes. Online coursework is now a commonly accepted method of accessing criminal justice students and the sustained growth in online classes is expected to continue in the future. However, there is currently a lack of research that focuses on online classes in criminal justice. In response, we present and assess the modest literature regarding criminal justice online classes and highlight important themes. This leads into a presentation of important considerations along the following pedagogical continuum: Planning the online course (i.e. asynchronous timing, technological developments), implementing the online course (i.e. maintaining an online presence, managing student interactions and expectations), and identifying effective means to measure learning outcomes (i.e. measuring success, quality matters). Policy implications for online coursework that are likely to impact future criminal justice educational practices are then discussed.     

Teacher verbal behavior following student success and failure

Undergraduate subjects taught identifying traits of animals (fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals) to a fifth grade student confederate over a microphone. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which they failed (F) or succeeded (S) in teaching five animal comparison problems. The four conditions were (a) F, S, S, S, S; (b) F, F, F, S, S; (c) S, F, F, F, S; and (d) S, S, S, F, S. The teaching sessions were tape recorded and analyzed for Teaching Time, Word Rate, and Voice Amplitude. Analyses revealed increased Teaching Time and decreased Word Rate following failure. Voice Amplitude increased across teaching sessions independent of success or failure. Findings were interpreted as more consonant with frustration-aggression than frustrative nonreward energizing theory.     

Juggling a New Format with Existing Tools: Incorporating Streaming Video into Technical Services Workflows

ABSTRACT

The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Libraries have experienced a surge in streaming video requests in the past few years. Like others, UNC’s Technical Services department has found new ways to manage procedures and workflows associated with this format. This session covered the experiences and strategies of the presenters for handling streaming video databases, licensed content ripped from DVD, firm orders, and multiyear streaming licenses.     

Explaining social class inequalities in educational achievement in the UK: quantifying the contribution of social class differences in school ‘effectiveness’

There are large social class inequalities in educational achievement in the UK. This paper quantifies the contribution of one mechanism to the production of these inequalities: social class differences in school ‘effectiveness’, where ‘effectiveness’ refers to a school’s impact on pupils’ educational achievement (relative to other schools). It builds on the small number of existing studies, whilst overcoming a number of their limitations. It estimates the effectiveness of the (state) schools attended between ages 7/8 and 10/11 by a cohort of children born in the 1990s in Avon, a former county of England, and then compares the effectiveness of the schools attended by children from different social classes. It finds that ‘higher’ social class children attend more effective schools, on average, and that these social class differences in average school effectiveness between ages 7/8 and 10/11 account for 7% of social class differences in average educational achievement age 10/11. This is not a causal analysis, however.     

From school to higher education in Australia

This paper addresses the question of why young people go on from school to higher education in Australia. A person-situation interactionist theory to explain decisions taken in the matter is developed, and in the light of this theory a model to predict entry to higher education is advanced. The model is tested using data from separate studies in two Australian States, Victoria and Queensland. Results of bivariate and logistic regression analyses are generally consistent with expectations from the model. Certain interactive effects of variables in the model upon entry to higher education are reported.