‘Surprise Me!’ The (im)possibilities of agency and creativity within the standards framework of history education

Abstract

In the current culture of regulation in higher education and, in turn, the history discipline, it is timely to problematize discipline standards in relation to student agency and creativity. This article argues that through the inclusion of a critical orientation and engaged pedagogy, historians have the opportunity to bring a more agentic dimension to the disciplinary conversation. Discipline standards privilege that arrogant historical moment in the higher education sector when certain skills development and knowledge creation becomes a hegemonic discourse. As a result, there is less emphasis on creativity, agency, and individual opportunities for the demonstration of the historical imagination at work. We need to ensure that the insights gained from teaching and learning practice and research are not lost in the rush to meet discipline standards through compliance.     

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE TO UNSATISFACTORY FACULTY PERFORMANCE

This research analyzed administrative response to unsatisfactory faculty performance at 158 Western public community colleges. Participating administrators completed a questionnaire which described nine hypothetical personnel situations involving unsatisfactory faculty performance. The situations differed as to the length of employment, tenure status, racial background, and political influence of the faculty member. Participants also answered questions concerning actual faculty dismissals at their colleges. Results indicated that a very narrow range of strategies was used by adminstrators when confronted with unsatisfactory faculty. Dismissal and counseling were the most frequently employed methods. Dismissal was the strategy of choice in situations describing clearly documented incompetence. Respondents were somewhat less likely to choose this strategy if a minority faculty member or a politically influential faculty member were involved. Counseling was preferred for recently tenured faculty who had become unresponsive, or for unsatisfactory faculty who had been with the institution for many years and had a history of satisfactory performance. Nearly 72 % of the surveyed colleges reported faculty dismissals within the last five years. Only two respondents reported unsuccessful dismissal attempts ¦within the last five years.     

Affective Experiences of International and Home Students During the Information Search Process

An increasing number of students are studying abroad requiring that they interact with information in languages other than their mother tongue. The UK in particular has seen a large growth in international students within Higher Education. These nonnative English speaking students present a distinct user group for university information services, such as university libraries. This article presents the findings from an in-depth study to understand differences between the search processes of home and international students. Data were collected using an online survey and diary-interview to capture thoughts and feelings in a more naturalistic way. International students are found to have similar information search processes to those of home students, but sometimes face additional difficulties in assessing search results such as confusion when dealing with differing cultural perspectives. The potential implications for information service providers, particularly university libraries, are discussed, such as providing assistance to students for identifying appropriate English sources.     

Boy Trouble: Some Problems Resulting from ‘Gendered’ Representation of Glasgow’s Culture in the Education of Women Artists and Designers

This essay is written as Glasgow celebrates its (unilaterally - nominated ) year as UK City of Visual Arts and anticipates its year as UK City of Design and Architecture in 1999. In it I will suggest that women's participation in art and design (education) in Glasgow can be read as both problematic and political, pioneering and yet historically and currently contingent on ‘binary oppositions’     

Behavioral Organization in Newborns and Its Relation to Adrenocortical and Cardiac Activity

Spangler, Gottfried, and Scheubeck, Roswitha. Behavioral Organization in Newborns and Its Relation to Adrenocortical and Cardiac Activity. Child Development, 1993, 64 , 622–633. The aim of this study was to assess relations between behavioral organization and adrenocortical and cardiac activity in newborns. Twice during the neonatal period, the behavioral organization of 42 newborns, in terms of orientation and irritability, was assessed by the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), and the newborns' cortisol response to the NBAS procedure was determined. In addition, cardiac activity was assessed during 1 of the NBAS. Whereas there were only inconsistent correlations between newborn irritability and the adrenocortical response during NBAS, low orientation was associated with a higher increase in cortisol in both of the assessments. In addition, orientation was predicted by basal cortisol level. High heart rates were associated with high irritability and low regulation of state, and, in addition, negative relations were indicated between orientation and heart rate variability. The findings support a coping model of biobehavioral relations in newborns.