Environmental attitudes of pre-service teachers: A conceptual and methodological dilemma in cross-cultural data collection

Human generated environmental problems are significant issues of global concern. Despite this, varying attitudes towards environments continue to exist across the globe, impacting on environmental decision-making and action at local, national and international levels. This paper probes some of the similarities and differences in environmental attitudes amongst pre-service teachers in Australia, Republic of Maldives and Indonesia. Data were collected using an established environmental attitude questionnaire and individual interviews. The three communities exhibited a similar range of environmental attitudes using the established questionnaire but significant differences emerged when the interview data were analysed phenomenographically. These differences reflect diversity within and across cultural groups that cannot be satisfactorily explained by the theory underpinning the established questionnaire. Consequently, a revised conceptual framework is proposed.     

Brains–Computers–Machines: Neural Engineering in Science Classrooms

Neural engineering is an emerging field of high relevance to students, teachers, and the general public. This Feature presents online resources that educators and scientists can use to introduce students to neural engineering and to integrate core ideas from the life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, computer science, and engineering into the classroom.     

Assessing the special education professional development needs of northern Malawian schoolteachers

This research examines special needs education professional development needs among both general and special education schoolteachers in northern Malawi. A semi‐structured questionnaire with open and close‐ended questions was used for the research. Quantitative and thematic analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which teachers believe that students with disabilities should be educated together with students without disabilities, the importance of professional development for teaching students with disabilities, prioritised professional development needs regarding special education knowledge, and self‐identified needs for successful special education classrooms. Results indicate that teachers are generally in favour of inclusive practices and identify a high need for special education professional development. Participants identified training and resources to teach students with visual impairments or auditory impairments as a high priority. Participants noted a need for improved infrastructure, more educational materials, and recognition by the government for work in special education.     

The Development and Evaluation of the Intersectional Privilege Screening Inventory for Use With Counselors-in-Training

As counselor preparation programs are compelled to demonstrate student social and cultural competence, valid inventories are needed to measure development consistent with contemporary standards. The Intersectional Privilege Screening Inventory was created for this purpose, was assessed using 4 types of validity evidence, and has results supporting its use in student development.     

Perfectionism in Gifted High-School Students: Responses to Academic Challenge

Through a qualitative interview design, this study investigated how participation in a rigorous academic environment may influence gifted students who demonstrate high levels of perfectionism. The study also examined how their responses to a rigorous academic and residential environment may differ according to the type of perfectionism. Findings indicated that some socially prescribed perfectionists reported an increase in perfectionism, whereas some self-oriented perfectionists reported an increase followed by a decrease in their perfectionism. Overall, the majority of the participants, regardless of their type of perfectionism, indicated a decrease in their perfectionism as a result of their new academic environment. Reactions to experiencing imperfections ranged from calm to guilt or even anger, depending on the type of perfectionism. Implications for working with gifted students who show high levels of perfectionism are discussed.     

Videotutoring, non-verbal communication and initial teacher training

Telematics has the potential to transform Higher Education through creating a distributed community of tutors and students. Videotutoring is central to telematics, enabling personal tutoring to occur at a distance. Within the context of a post-graduate teacher training course, videotutoring was used to tutor two students during the first six weeks of their first full-time school placement. Both ends of the videosignal were recorded. Analysis of the tapes used a protocol based upon research into non-verbal communication (NVC). NVC is as important as verbal communication in the tutorial process. Findings suggest that the interaction of participants mediated through the screen was significantly different from face-to-face communication in relation to the two-dimensional image of the screen and the "viewing frame" effect of the physical boundaries of the image. The viewing frame literally served as the proscenium arch of a theatre. Two-dimensionality and the viewing frame effect emphasised both the positive and negative elements in inter-personal communication as represented in Argyle's social skills and Goffman's theatrical models. The conclusion is that videotutoring can potentially be a more effective form of tutoring than face-to-face interaction.     

Young Children’s Curiosity About Physical Differences Associated with Race: Shared Reading to Encourage Conversation

Many have called for re-examination of the “colorblind” philosophy to which some early educators have, tacitly or explicitly, adhered (e.g. Boutte et al. 2011; Derman-Sparks and Edwards 2010; Husband 2012). It has been argued that, while colorblind approaches may appear to be politically neutral, they actually exacerbate racial oppression. In this article, we advocate for a direct and active approach to raising conversations about race with younger preschool children. Based on the developmental nature of young children’s concepts of self and of other, our focus is on initiating discussions about concrete and observable physical aspects of human diversity associated with race. Young children notice and are curious about differences in skin color, hair texture, and facial features. Because these differences are salient, are accessible, and are of interest to young children they can serve as an effective starting point. We suggest shared reading of high quality illustrated children’s books, incorporating the principles of dialogic reading, as a potent springboard for discussions about race with very young children. Our purpose is to equip children, very early in their schooling, with a color-filled appreciation for and comfort with physical diversity of appearance. On that foundation, children may better proceed on the course of developing anti-racist attitudes.     

The changing pattern of higher education in England and Wales — The end of an era?

During the past twenty years great changes have taken place in British higher education. During the 1980s these changes have been even more noticeable, so that by the middle of the 1990s the pattern and the ethos of British higher education will be very different from that prevailing in the 1970s. Not only have there been structural changes but there have also been concerns about autonomy and freedom, accountability and appraisal in the face of government demands for improved management efficiency, restrictions on tenure and alternative forms of finance. This paper analyses these changes in universities, polytechnics and teacher education colleges and traces the growing intervention on the part of government. It also seeks to draw out implications for other education systems facing the same pressures. A glossary of abbreviations and acronyms appears on p. 301.

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Zusammenfassung Während der vergangenen zwanzig Jahre gab es in der britischen Hochschulbildung große Veränderungen. Im Laufe der 80er Jahre sind diese Veränderungen besonders deutlich geworden, und bis zur Mitte der 90er Jahre werden sich die Struktur und das Ethos der britischen Hochschulbildung von den in den 70er Jahren vorherrschenden stark unterscheiden. Es hat nicht nur strukturelle Veränderungen gegeben, sondern auch besorgte Überlegungen zu Fragen der Autonomie und Freiheit, Verantwortlichkeit und Beurteilung angesichts der Forderungen seitens der Regierung nach verbesserter Wirtschaftlichkeit der Verwaltung, Begrenzung der Amtszeiten und alternativen Finanzierungsformen. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden diese Veränderungen an Universitäten, Technischen Hochschulen und Pädagogischen Hochschulen analysiert, und es wird den zunehmenden Eingriffen durch die Regierung nachgegangen. Darüberhinaus wird versucht, Auswirkungen auf andere Bildungssysteme aufzuzeigen, die mit denselben Zwängen konfrontiert sind. Ein Glossar der Abkürzungen und Akronyme erscheint auf S. 301.

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Résumé Au cours des vingt dernières années, de grands changements sont intervenus dans l'enseignement supérieur en Grande Bretagne. Ces changements sont devenus encore plus sensibles durant les années 1980, si bien que, vers le milieu des années 1990, la structure et l'éthos de l'enseignement supérieur britannique seront très différents de ceux qui prévalaient dans les années 1970. Non seulement il y a eu des changements structuraux, mais on s'est également préoccupé d'autonomie et de liberté, de responsabilité et d'appréciation en dépit des exigences gouvernementales à l'égard d'une gestion plus efficace, d'une réduction de la période d'exercice des fonctions, et de nouvelles formes de financement. Le présent article analyse ces changements dans les universités, les collèges polytechniques et les écoles normales et décrit le rôle grandissant de l'Etat. Il s'efforce également d'en dégager les leçons pour d'autres systèmes éducatifs qui font face aux même pressions. Un glossaire d'abbréviations et d'acronymes apparaît à la page 301.

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Abbreviations and Acronyms CATE Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education - CHEs Colleges of Higher Education - CNAA Council for National Academic Awards - CVCP Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals - DES Department of Education and Science (equivalent to a Ministry of Education) - HMI Her Majesty's Inspectorate - HMSO Her Majesty's Stationery Office - INSET Inservice Education for Teachers - LEA Local Education Authority - NAB National Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education - PCFC Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council - PDEs Polytechnic Departments of Education - PGCE Postgraduate Certificate in Education - PICKUP Professional, Industrial and Commercial Updating Programme - PSHE Public Sector Higher Education (i.e., all higher education not under university control) - UCET Universities Council for the Education of Teachers - UDEs University Departments of Education - UFC Universities Funding Council - UGC University Grants Committee - WAB Welsh Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education - binary divide the separation between universities and polytechnics, etc. - White Paper a government document setting out official proposals prior to introducing legislation in parliament