Notion Of Education Research Articles

Getting beyond the "what" and the "how": Problematising pedagogy in early childhood education

The authors explore the notion of pedagogy in early childhood education, particularly the way it has become synonymous with provision of play-based programmes.

Conditions of domination: reflections on harms generated by the British state education system

Education in Britain increasingly appears to serve a very narrow notion of pedagogy, partly reflecting the ‘conditions of domination’ generated by the rise of the new managerialism in the delivery of public services. In the name of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, social progress is increasingly seen to lie in achieving continual increases in ‘productivity’, realised through giving management the absolute freedom to arrange its resources in whatever way it feels appropriate. At the heart of this critical reflection on these contemporary developments lies a concern for the role of education in democratic development, as well as the various harms that are the direct result of a profoundly reductionist and dehumanising ‘education’ system. The article concludes by outlining some alternative possibilities for more humane and democratic pedagogical processes.

Male teachers, homophobia, misogyny and teacher education

Placing issues of homophobia and anti‐lesbianism on the agenda of teacher education programmes often meets with resistance from some students, and others. Such resistance is indicative of broader attempts to maintain the straight face of schooling. However, one way in which it is possible to place such issues on the agenda in schooling and teacher education is to demonstrate how these discourses impact upon all students and teachers. A current opening for raising such matters within teacher education programmes is the problematisation of the calls for more male teachers, calls that are becoming pervasive in many Western education systems. Within the drives to attract more male teachers to the profession there is usually a silence relating to the ways in which homophobia and its counterpart, misogyny, work to construct normalised notions of teachers. This paper examines the ways in which these silences perpetuate existing gender regimes in schools to the detriment of female teachers, girls, and marginalised male teachers and boys. It then suggests that teacher education programmes use this topic to demonstrate the impact of homophobia and misogyny on all involved in education.

Betraying the Intellectual Tradition: Public Intellectuals and the Crisis of Youth

Building upon the late Pierre Bourdieu's belief that intellectuals had a major responsibility in bridging intellectual work and the operation of politics, this paper argues that intellectuals, especially those in higher education, need to recognise that youth is an important moral referent and political starting point for addressing a number of issues related to a wide ranging number of political problems, including environmental and class concerns to matters of race, gender, and disability. Youth invokes compassion and understanding, which are crucial to shaping the civic imagination. The emphasis on young people's experience is important because it foregrounds the relationship between power and the lived realities shaped by material relations of power. More specifically, young people provide a more crucial lens through which hegemony can be analysed, compassion mobilised, and politics engaged beyond local interests and national boundaries. Educators need a new language in which young people are not detached from politics but become central to any transformative notion of pedagogy conceived in terms of social and public responsibility.

Negotiating the Sands of Time: The First Hundredth XX

In the first decade of the millennium, gifted child education profit by looking back as a field and documenting where we have been. Dialogically, we also need to set a course for the future with clearly defined statements of intention grounded in the best practice of the present. In this opinion piece, I convey and discuss three foci--teacher education, research approaches, evaluation and accountability--each ripe for exploration and exploitation as scholars and practitioners of gifted child education pursue a broader sphere of influence in public education. Teacher Training People only see, what they are prepared to see.-Walt Whitman The search for excellence in education has challenged the classic approach to teacher education that includes coursework in lesson planning, classroom management (i.e., behavior control), practice teaching in small groups, and adolescent and child development. One learns about pedagogy, but not enough about children. Teacher shortages (either perceived or real) pressure teacher education programs to accelerate the certification of candidates. Little opportunity exists for preservice teachers to explore the philosophy behind their notion of teacher and learner or the diverse classroom environments they will inherit as practicing professionals. As preservice teachers gain experience working in the dynamic setting of a school, teacher education programs have migrated out from the university setting, with the aim of theory meeting practice. Awareness Training The next decade presents an opportunity for educators and practitioners trained in gifted child education to influence the preparation of teachers by modeling student-based teaching, enrichment for all, and appropriately directed differentiation based on diverse student abilities and interests. Preservice teacher field experiences must contain a component focused on education of the gifted and talented. Emphasizing gifted awareness training at the preservice level will help disseminate understandings about gifted child education as teacher candidates form their impressions about the students they will encounter in their classrooms. Once introduced to gifted and talented learner needs, they will be ready for additional opportunities to learn about students in their charge and be more likely to identify barriers to learning in the classroom. Leadership and Model Teaching Lively classroom teaching (and learning) can occur as behavioral objectives and classroom management are replaced by classroom leadership and investigations into student and teacher perceptions, expectations, and prior experiences in and across content areas. Teachers will no longer be in control of the content. Students will actively develop curriculum and be responsible for depth and breadth of knowledge acquisition and use. To accomplish these goals, gifted child educators in teacher training programs will need to enter school classrooms as day-to-day teachers, rather than researchers and scholars visiting in brief spurts, telling classroom teachers what they should be doing, and then returning to the ivory tower. Blitzkrieg research conducted for intense but brief periods with (or on) gifted children provides limited information about the complex lives these individuals lead. Such studies may earn a publication or two, but they contribute little to the depth and breadth needed to understand giftedness as something more than a test score, product, or performance. Flexible Programming In many schools, services for gifted children are limited to the program as it originally was proposed and approved by the school board. This is too often limited to academic areas involving language arts, mathematics, science, and sometimes creativity studies. If you are gifted in one of these areas, there are opportunities available to you. However, if you are gifted in foreign language acquisition, leadership, or have an emotional intensity, you are less likely to have your education or guidance needs met. …

What Does a Teacher Look Like?

This paper examines the construction of verbal and visual images of teachers and teaching in English‐language manuals of pedagogy from 1850 to the present. It arises from a number of interests arising from poststructural interests in reworking both Cartesian dualism and its implications for pedagogy. It examines manuals of teaching in the light of the notion of pedagogy as fully corporeal and performative, a concept which focuses attention on the reiterative (bodily) enactment of what have come to be established meaningful gestures, postures and actions. It argues that for the most part the verbal constructions of teachers and teaching in these texts offer a de‐corporealised, mentalistic account of teachers and teaching, but that in their margins they also construct the materials from which a more corporealised, performative account of teacher and teaching might be construed. Finally, it considers visual illustrations of teachers, and the extent to which they might offer a more thoroughly performative view of teaching. It concludes that this possibility is in fact contained by the pervasiveness of the dualist discourses in which they are framed.

Treating the Congenital Malaise in Teacher Education

When I finished reading John Goodlad's lead article for this issue, I thought perhaps there was a typo in the title and he meant the title to be Wither Schools of Education, describing a final stage of the congenital malaise (Goodlad, 1999 [this issue]). After 100 years of resistance to Dewey's notion of pedagogy and the continuing resistance of teacher education to any significant structural change, perhaps the congenital malaise has reached a terminal stage. Goodlad ends his article on a note that so saddened me that for several weeks I did not know how to respond. Schools of Education claiming that they are doing what is implied are not and probably will not.... Sustained optimism depends on our social and political democracy developing and adhering to an educational narrative that differs markedly from the one that dominates today (pp. 335-336). I was not shocked by these conclusions; I share them. I was saddened because it seemed as if John Goodlad had given up on us. I have long looked to John Goodlad as my hero in teacher education. He has sustained his optimism. He has kept us focused on the moral and ethical nature of teaching. He has stayed the course of improving teacher education when other leaders in professional education have jumped to more popular and prestigious causes. I have applauded nearly all of Goodlad's suggestions for improving teacher education. My single professional goal for 32 years has been to prepare better teachers. I have needed a hero. It is sad to see your hero lose optimism. We need John Goodlad to inspire us and to inspire the new generation of teacher educators. Without optimistic leadership, teacher education falls victim to the internal forces of tradition that abhor change, to bureaucratization that seeks operational definitions of teaching, and to the vagaries of the dominant political ideology. John's article has given us a revealing historical account of teacher education's evolution. It is not an optimistic account. It has given us insight into the root causes of our congenital malaise. It has given us seven lessons that reflect a lifetime of experience in teacher education. Within the limits-set for this paper, I will not be able to address all of these important issues. I will focus my comments on the congenital malaise and the bitter pill we might need to take to effect a cure. I will use the first person pronouns we and us to refer herein to teacher educators--an identity that I proudly claim. I am intrigued by John Goodlad's description of the congenital malaise. He connects the feeling of discomfort and weakness suggested by a malaise to our existence in an inhospitable environment. We not only feel badly about ourselves but we have good reason to do so! Others don't think highly of what we do or the teachers we graduate. The story of teacher education is one of a worsening state of affairs. John Goodlad rightfully singles out our thinly grounded theoretical instruction, our fruitless search for status through scientific research, and our derogation of teacher preparation in our own SCDEs. There is one artifact of our history missing from his analysis. I suggest that the undergraduate major in education is also responsible for the worsening of the malaise. It has been a mistake to package professional course work into an undergraduate major. The Undergraduate Major in Teacher Education and the Congenital Malaise The undergraduate major in education contributes to our congenital malaise because it limits our efforts to improve the quantity and quality of teachers, exacerbates the poor public perception of teacher education, interferes with teachers' need to gain subject matter depth, and hinders effective collaboration with subject matter departments. Granted, many wonderful teachers come from our undergraduate education majors, but there are inherent flaws that deserve our attention. A number of teacher education programs at the graduate level do not require a major in education and many undergraduate institutions have moved away from the major in education, but according to America's Teachers: Profile of a Profession (U. …

Fostering Elementary Teachers' Research on their Science Teaching Practices

Teachers As Researchers The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) emphasize the importance of engaging teachers in research. One professional development standard explicitly articulates the need for teaching teachers how to conduct research: Professional Development Standard C: Professional development for teachers of science requires building understanding and ability for lifelong learning. Professional development activities must... provide opportunities to learn and use the skills of research to generate new knowledge about school science and the teaching and learning of science (National Research Council, 1996, p. 68). A summary of the professional development standards chapter recommends changing emphases from teacher as consumer of knowledge about teaching to teacher as producer of knowledge about teaching (National Research Council, 1996, p. 72). The chapter on school science program standards describes conditions under which such a shift in emphasis can occur: Program Standard F: Schools must work as communities that encourage, support, and sustain teachers as they implement an effective science program.... Schedules must be realigned, time provided, and human resources deployed such that teachers can come together regularly to discuss individual student learning needs and to reflect and conduct research on practice.... Time must be available for teachers to observe other classrooms, team teach, use external resources, attend conferences, and hold meetings during the school day.... For teachers to study their own teaching and their students' learning effectively and work constructively with their colleagues, they need tangible and moral support.... As communities of learners, schools should make available to teachers professional journals, books, and technologies that will help them advance their knowledge. These same materials support teachers as they use research and reflection to improve their teaching (pp. 222-223). Pekarek, Krockover, and Shepardson (1996) recommend that the notion of teachers as researchers ought to be incorporated in science teacher preparation and professional development programs (p. 112). University researchers differ widely in their understandings of the concept of teacher as researcher. Duggan, Johnson, and Gott (1996), in a study apparently formulated, designed, analyzed, and communicated by the university researchers, suggest a very limited noncollaborative role for teachers as collectors of data. Feldman (1996), however, facilitated research that teachers formulated, designed, interpreted, and communicated. He analyzed the collaborative processes by which these teachers engaged in their research. My concept of teachers as researchers is close to Feldman's position. Underlying Beliefs Five beliefs underlie my practices as a university faculty member fostering teacher research: Prospective teachers can and should learn how to do research as they learn how to teach. My commitment to engaging prospective teachers in research originated in my experiences teaching in an experimental science and mathematics teacher preparation program (Lowery, Schoenfeld, & White, 1990). A central component of this graduate program was prospective teachers' participation in research. Many experiences commonly part of undergraduate courses and the field component (Posner, 1985) can incorporate a research emphasis. These experiences include reflecting upon beliefs about teaching and learning, writing journal entries describing and interpreting science learning events, using and critiquing science teaching materials, and developing and reflecting upon science lessons with classmates and children. Interpretive research methods also can be adapted for use in educating teachers (Cronin-Jones, 1991). Observing oneself learning science in open-ended inquiry contexts is also important. My approach, which makes explicit the teacher-as-researcher theme, is similar to many methods courses, particularly those of instructors who emphasize reflection (Abell & Bryan, 1997; Grimmett & Erickson, 1988). …

The Pain of Science: Rejoining Fenstermacher's Response

There is a way of granting praise (there is much to applaud in the provocative article) and there is a way of repealing that praise (van Manen's noble and lofty aspirations for pedagogy). Yet, am pleased that Gary Fenstermacher has cared to comment on Pedagogy, Virtue, and Narrative Identity in Teaching. My intent with this paper was to suggest that Canadian and U.S. educators may benefit from understanding and discussing the cross-cultural differences in the educational use and meaning of the concept of pedagogy as we encounter it in scholarly texts and research practices. At the outset of his response Fenstermacher rightfully places a cautionary footnote regarding cultural and national dimensions of knowledge: I wonder how it applies in French-speaking Quebec, in aboriginal schools ... in Native American schools. agree with him that one should be aware of the dangers of inclusiveness and exclusiveness, and one wants to guard against nationalistic sentiments that privilege certain views. My discussion of the notion of pedagogy concentrates on the implicit cultural understanding of the teacher-student relation. For this reason, can only speak from the perspectives of the two traditions that constitute my personal and professional cultural background. have lived half of my life in Holland and the other half in Canada. would not dare to claim to understand in the same living and linguistic manner the cultural experiences of Native North Americans, French Quebecois, Mexicans, Afro-Americans, Asians, or other ethnic or cultural traditions whose pedagogical and child rearing theories and practices may inform and enrich our mainstream educational discourses. We should try to learn from each other's languages and cultures, though am also aware that it is difficult to escape the roots of the tradition(s) in which we have grown up. However, Fenstermacher and seem to agree that mainstream educational literature in the United States and Canada seems rather one-dimensional in its cultural and ethnic sensitivity; indeed it is exactly this issue of the subtleties of cultural meaning that have tried to address in my work.

Teachers and Artificial Intelligence: The Logo Connection

This article describes a three-phase program for training special education teachers to teach Logo and artificial intelligence. Logo is derived from the LISP computer language and is relatively simple to learn and use, and it is argued that these factors make it an ideal tool for classroom experimentation in basic artificial intelligence concepts. The program trains teachers to develop simple demonstrations of artificial intelligence using Logo. The material that the teachers learn to teach is suitable as an advanced level topic for intermediate- through secondary-level students enrolled in computer competency or similar courses. The material emphasizes problem-solving and thinking skills using a nonverbal expressive medium (Logo), thus it is deemed especially appropriate for hearing-impaired children. It is also sufficiently challenging for academically talented children, whether hearing or deaf. Although the notion of teachers as programmers is controversial, Logo is relatively easy to learn, has direct implications for education, and has been found to be an excellent tool for empowerment-for both teachers and children.

The Role of Marketing

The Education Reform Act and, in particular, the Local Management of Schools will demand different skills, understanding and differing roles of senior management in educational establishments. This text draws on written assignments and experience of teachers and headteachers who piloted an MBA programme, designed specifically for senior teachers. Topics such as customers, product, price, promotion and the notion of teachers as a salesforce are unfamiliar to educators. They draw attention to the kind of strategic planning which will take place in schools as they take over responsibility for delegated budgets. All of this is new territory for the majority of state schools and this collection hopefully provides a useful resource.

Towards a re-definition of the role of the teacher of English as a Second Language to adults

Abstract In the current climate of English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching in Australia, there is an increasing stress on the greater direct participation of teachers in curriculum and materials development, including assessment and evaluation. The paper considers Stenhouse’s notion of Teacher as Researcher and its application in the ESL context. It raises questions for the ongoing re-examination of the role of the ESL teacher.