Disciplinary exclusion: wicked problems in wicked settings

This paper uses Rittel and Webber’s categorisation of wicked problems in order to interrupt discourses around school behaviour. Each of the 10 characteristics suggested by Rittel and Webber are examined using the English education system as a vehicle by which to consider and interrogate their complexity. This endeavour is crucial as although the characteristics of wicked problems naturally overlap, the cannot, and should not, be conflated if we wish to understand how different facets of a wicked problem shed light, and create shadows, that impact on all members of a school community. That school communities can be wicked settings adds nuance to the complexity of the problems that we face when educating students whose behaviours challenge the norms of their educational environment.     

Books of the Month: Kidvid

TELEVISION AND BEHAVIOR: TEN YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE EIGHTIES (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1982—price not given, paper, two vols)

John P. Murray, TELEVISION & YOUTH: 25 YEARS OF RESEARCH & CONTROVERSY (Bowys Town Center for the Study of Youth Development, Research Use and Public Service Division, Boys Town, Neb. 68010—$10.00, paper)

TELEVISION'S IMPACT ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A SPECIAL INTEREST RESOURCE GUIDE IN EDUCATION (Oryx Press, 2214 N. Central at Encanto, Phoenix, Az. 85004—price not given, paper)     

Teacher education students' reflections on how problem‐based learning has changed their mental models about teaching and learning

Abstract

Students develop robust mental models of teaching and learning during their school years, and as such, often teach as they were taught—possibly perpetuating practices that limit intellectual inquiry in classrooms. This paper reports on an analysis, using a conceptual framework and NUD?1ST software, of a cohort of 3rd‐year teacher education students' reflections on changes in their mental models following their experiences in a problem‐based learning (PBL) topic. Results provide evidence that students do report changing mental models in areas such as (a) the value of case studies for engaging with subject content, motivating learning, and connecting theory with practice; (b) self‐reflection and peer collaboration for cognitive and professional growth; and (c) processes of inquiry for developing self‐regulated learning practices.     

Serious leisure: the sport of target shooting and leisure satisfaction

This study is designed to identify the underlying satisfaction dimensions gained through engagement in target shooting as a serious leisure pastime. The instrument design was based on the Leisure Satisfaction Scale. A total of 5502 useable surveys were collected through the Internet and a website related to target shooting and gun ownership. The results revealed eight dimensions: self-actualization, social interaction, location aesthetic, respite, physical benefit, connection and hedonic pleasure, which supplied the primary satisfiers of engaging in target shooting as a serious leisure activity. The demographic profile and dimensions of satisfaction may serve to dispel commonly held stereotypes of shooting hobbyists and those involved in gun ownership. The findings have important implications for leisure researchers and practitioners, to industry, both leisure and firearm related, and the target shooting community at large. This study adds to the literature of both target shooting and serious leisure.     

Family patterns and child abuse in a nationally representative American sample

Data on 1, 146 families with a child age 3 through 17 at home are presented. Child abuse information was obtained for a randomly selected child in each family. Child abuse was defined as an attack by a parent involving punching, kicking, biting, hitting with an object, “beating up,” or using a knife or gun. Over 14 out of every 100 American children 3–17 are subjected to abusive violence each year. These figures are at least 26 times greater than those of the National Center For Child Abuse and Neglect. Even so, for reasons outlined in the paper, they are underestimates. Families in which child abuse occurred are compared with other families. The results suggest that child abuse is brought about by the very nature of the society and its family system. This has profound implications for the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Although psychotherapy may be appropriate in some cases, a more fundamental approach lies in such things as a more equal sharing of the burdens of child care, replacement of physical punishment with non-violent methods of child care and training, eliminating the stresses and insecurity which now characterize our economic system, and strengthening the ties of individual families to the extended family and the community.     

Aspiring Teachers and Urban Education Programs

The Urban Review - Research stresses a need for more contextually nuanced urban teacher preparation programs that explore racially oppressive structures in society. This article presents a case...