Education & Pedagogy

Because of recent changes in general and special education policies, special educators who previously worked with secondary students in self-contained academic classes, resource rooms, or cotaught classes find themselves assigned to new roles that demand different collaborative skills. Based on 2 years of interviews, field notes, and observations in an inclusive high school, this study focuses on the perspectives of two special educators who redefined their daily practices in partnership with a university professional development specialist as they implemented an unusual collaborative-consultation model. Their responsibilities and relationships with teachers, students, and administrators are examined in light of the literature on collaborative models for inclusive education of high school students. (Contains 1 table.)

In anticipation of a globalising post-Fordist political economy, countries and universities are increasingly pursuing strategic transnational education and research alliances. This article analyses the Global Schoolhouse, a key education policy platform that aims to transform Singapore into a knowledge and innovation hub by establishing networks and collaborations with foreign universities. Two Global Schoolhouse initiatives are examined--the alliance between Singapore and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and the institutional restructuring aimed at re-modelling the National University of Singapore into a "leading global university centred in Asia". We outline some of the complexities and unanticipated outcomes which emerge when nations and their education institutions seek to globalise. (Contains 4 footnotes and 2 figures.)

The paper argues that values education has moved from being associated most heavily with the religious agenda of faith schools to being central to updated research insights into effective pedagogy. As such, it represents a vital approach to education in any school setting. The paper draws on an array of values education research and practice in making the case but centres especially on findings from a number of recent publicly funded projects in Australia with which the authors have been associated. Of special importance is evidence from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project and the Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience that provide both anecdotal and empirical evidence that high quality values education contributes to holistic educational development, including academic advancement, of students across all school sectors.

Historiography of education is not only a question of construction but also of selection. In 19th century "history of education" was typically a genre of "great educators", mostly male and only marginally female. This construct is influential up to now, at least in popular contexts of educational reasoning. The article discusses in the introductory section problems of selection of names and meanings within history of education, and then three types of historiographical writing that are not only concerned with "great educators" but have larger Philosophical impact. The first type is Herman Nohl's history of German progressive education, the second one is Emile Durkheim's history of Higher Education in France, and the third one is George Herbert Mead's Movements of Thought in 19th Century. The article compares them and discusses their implications for further development of historical writing in education.

The recent economic downturn and surge in unemployment has focused attention on education and training as a strategic response to Ireland's socio-economic crisis. However, that attention has been concentrated on training through statutory institutions, particularly FAS and the VECs. Longford Women's Link, a Women's Community Education centre in Co Longford, presents a case study of delivery of the FAS-funded Community Employment Scheme using the Women's Community Education approach. Evidence is presented that demonstrates effectiveness in personal, career and community capacity-building in addition to achieving labour-market activation with long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups of women. These outcomes argue that the Women's Community Education approach has a significant role to play in any education and training strategy. (Contains 4 figures.)

Literacy skills honed from reading books and writing papers has long been recognized as invaluable to building and sustaining intellect. Educators are charged with strengthening literacy programs, and they typically rely on conventional practices and increased time focusing on text-based media to do so, yet their efforts have not significantly increased test scores (Baer, Baldi, Ayotte, & Green, 2007; U.S. Department of Education, 2005). At the same time, these traditional classrooms neglect the rich digital literacy opportunities Web 2.0 tools offer to improve literacy programs and meet individual needs. This paper explores issues surrounding definitions of "new literacy" practices as they relate to Web 2.0 tools while drawing on pertinent, emerging research to discuss the value of integrating digital literacy applications in K-12 and higher education classrooms. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper begins by acknowledging the established and powerful link between educational beliefs and the teaching and learning practices of teaches and students. Based on this belief-practice connection, the paper documents the findings of a study that investigated the beliefs of a group of higher education teachers and students, most of whom were teaching and learning in a teacher education context. The paper concludes with a set of practical suggestions for university teachers and students involved in teacher education courses. The suggestions have been constructed by considering the messages from past literature and by drawing on the findings of the study reported in this paper. These recommended practical applications are expressed in terms of how they have been applied to a specific teacher education context. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This paper argues that the Tertiary and Further Education system in Australia has responded to globalisation in two paradoxical ways; the pro-active response of internationalisation and the reactive response of competency-based training. Competency-based training currently has a strangle hold on the TAFE sector and education has become a process of domestication and reproduction rather than liberation and inspiration. Using Bateson's systems model and Foucault's notions of discourse, it is argued that direct resistance to competency-based training is not an effective strategy and may even prove counterproductive. Given that internationalisation is a discourse that is allowed in TAFE in the current context, it is argued that educators can use this as a tool to critique competency-based training and gain space for education that is liberatory and constructive.

Preservice art teachers often reflect about their classroom observations and art teaching experiences through papers, journaling, and blogging. Zines, or "Do It Yourself" (DIY) magazines offer preservice teachers a unique and unconventional format to reflect on issues relevant to teaching art. This article discusses the definition of zines, their history and relevance for art education, and the process and outcomes of a zine assignment in a sophomore-level university art education course. It also discusses zine pages created within the semester-long course in terms of content, images, and themes relative to levels of reflective thinking. Using LaBoskey's (1994) conceptual framework, and Danielson's (1996) four domains of teaching (instruction, assessment, classroom environment and professional responsibilities) the author examines the students' projects. In addition, the author briefly discusses how zine production can support an Integral [art] Education. (Contains 3 figures, 4 resources and 2 endnotes.)

Going to where students and their families live, play, and socialize is one way of creating personalized relationships. In the author's years of teaching he has always found it is the little things that make a huge impact on all the lives of people involved. By incorporating a real life cultural application piece, teacher education programs can give students the tools for interacting, understanding, and better serving the diverse groups of children they will likely encounter in their classes. The kind of training described in this article has the potential to facilitate a stronger relationship between new teachers and their students' families. A strong partnership between teachers, students, and students' families can have a positive impact on the students' and families' engagement in the education process. In this article, the author shares some ideas for teacher education programs.

Faith ethos education has subjective elements in it that are elusive to planners and administrators of national and international systems. This paper looks at how Sikhs, a minority group both in India and in other countries to which they have migrated manage to retain their faith-based education programmes successfully and yet relate to the educational systems and practical needs of the society in which they live and work. The countries studied are India, the UK and the USA. Although recognition has been given to faith-based education in community development by international planners, the factors that link spiritual development and culture in education with social development have been neglected in research on education's contribution to socio-economic development. Sikh culture and education offer a case study which illuminates this. (Contains 4 notes.)

This qualitative study examines how a group of social studies teachers working in a suburban middle school with a predominantly affluent and white student body conceptualize multicultural and global education. The data reveals that several of the teachers experienced difficulties conceptualizing multicultural and global education, used them interchangeably, and did not articulate their importance to their students. In addition to interviews with teachers, classroom observations were conducted to see how they addressed multicultural and global education in class. The outcomes of this study indicate that pre-service and in-service teacher education should pay attention to delineating the distinct purposes of multicultural and global education and how these concepts can be infused into a social studies curriculum. (Contains 1 table.)

During the 1998-1999 academic year, a survey was conducted to look at current trends and issues in the profession of graphics education (Clark & Scales, 1999). The survey solicited information from the membership of the Engineering Design Graphics Division of the American Society for Engineering Education related to their view of future areas of growth, problems that exist, and direction the profession of engineering graphics education is headed in the future. This survey, conducted in the spring of 2004, is a five-year follow-up using the same instrument, but with new categories added to provide for current trends in post-secondary graphics education. New areas added to the survey asked questions on certifications, distance education, salaries, and research interests. (Contains 2 tables.)

The rapid growth of information technologies has influenced the way in which education is delivered and experienced. Little is currently known about the impact of distance education experience at the secondary level of the educational system on subsequent educational pursuits in the post-secondary education system. This research utilized archival data to explore the impact of high school on-line education experience on students' performance and persistence in the first year of university. The results of this analysis suggest that first year university performance and persistence is significantly different for students who have previous experience with on-line education experiences and those who do not. (Contains 4 figures and 1 note.)

Higher education policy and research tend to be dominated by the messaging systems of the North. De Sousa Santos argues that we need to start listening to the South and that we need to develop a sociology of absences. This paper attempts to engage with some of these absences by deconstructing participation in higher education, in quantitative and qualitative terms, in Ghana and Tanzania. The paper is based on interim findings from a research project on Economic and Social Research Council/Department for International Development-funded research project on Widening Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania: Developing an Equity Scorecard (www.sussex.ac.uk/education/wideningparticipation). It argues that, while globally the higher education sector has become associated with economic development and the hyper modernisation of the knowledge economy, some archaic patterns of participation appear to be continuing. (Contains 4 tables.)