Gordon Skilling writes candidly of each way station in this personal odyssey: the idealism of his student years at the University of Toronto and Oxford; his presence in Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Nazi, and later Soviet, invasions; his opposition to the Marshall Plan, NATO, and U.S. intervention in Korea; the effect of McCarthyism on his academic life; his involvement with the Czech and Slovak dissident movements and finally the Velvet Revolution. The Education of a Canadian also captures conversations (...) with writers, journalists, scholars, and myriad friends throughout Russia and Eastern Europe, making this history a distinctly human yet forceful document of profound humanity and international scope. (shrink)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the continuity of teaching and learning is very important to provide sustainable education to all pupils. The most difficult aspect of language acquisition has always been the speaking component. Pupils’ lack of interest and the difficulty in teaching and practicing speaking skills in the traditional classroom are the main issues that hinder pupils’ speaking skills. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the flipped learning approach to improve primary school (...) pupils’ speaking skills. In this study, Blendspace was used to support the flipped learning method to help pupils improve their speaking skills. This study employed a mixed-method research design. For pre–posttests, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from Year 3 primary school students. The findings revealed that the use of Blendspace in teaching speaking has improved pupils’ speaking skills and that the pupils were motivated to practice speaking inside and outside of the classroom. Hence, the utilization of Blendspace in the flipped learning approach is an effective pedagogy to improve pupils’ speaking skills. The findings of this research would be useful for teachers and policymakers to assist pupils in enhancing their speaking abilities. (shrink)

Philosophy in the Classroom helps teachers tap in to childrena??s natural wonder and curiosity.

This publication aims to familiarize Polish Language teachers with various issues connected with the Theatrical Education in Schools. Part 1 is an attempt to define the set role of a School Theatre Supervisor (what should be emphasized here is that the teacher’s knowledge of the subject, set designing skill, and also acting and directing skill and his/her knowledge of the pupil’s psyche at different stages in the development of an young man). Part 2 deals with the Theatrical Education as a (...) part o f Polish language lessons, set in the early 21" century Polish reality (extracts from interesting theatre lessons, dramatic elements in the lesson, activities in the theatre lessons and theatre-journalism classes). Part 3 is a proposition of how to organize work in the school drama theatre (a suggestion on practice and methodology exposing various advantages gained through the school theatre activities). (shrink)

Publication date: 29 September 2016 Source: Author: Aida Cornelia Stoian This study highlights the results of an empirical research, whose purpose was to study the teachers` option of primary and preschool education to use learning situations for training pupils’ skills in relation to seniority in teaching and learning environment and to identify of the level of conceptual representation of the learning situations term in the opinion of teachers in primary and preschool education.We made a questionnaire in order to (...) identify the frequency teachers can organize learning situations and the teachers` conceptual representations of learning situation.The results have confirmed the conclusions to get teachers` adhesion to organize learning situations for pupils’ skills training, to develop teachers’ skills in harmonizing all the methods, means and teaching strategies with the objective and subjective factors determining the interaction between teachers and pupils. (shrink)

How Journalists Engage: A theory of trustbuilding, identity, and care explores the ways journalists of different identities enact trusting relationships with their audiences according to divergent sets of principles. Drawing from case studies, community work, surveys, interviews and focus groups, this book documents the now-established "built environment" powered with engagement journalism that represents the first major paradigm shift of the press' core values in more than a century. A proliferation of media-trust programs, grants, foundations, companies, collaborations, networks, and money (...) demands that journalists take on four new roles-Relationship Builder, Content Collaborator, Community Conversation Facilitator, and Professional Network Builder-and be fluent in eight skillsets: radical transparency, power dynamic accounting, mediation, reciprocity, media literacies, community offline work, needs/assets/solution analyses, and collaborative production. These are in addition to the normative skills related to being a watchdog and storyteller. The author posits that this trust-building theory manifesting demands journalism be enacted with an "identity-aware care" through "listening and learning." This identity-aware ethic of care-a theory that comes from developmental psychology and nurtured in gender and women's studies-prioritizes communities over the propping up of problematic institutions that news media have traditionally protected in the name of objectivity. Instead, this theory asks journalists to acknowledge and incorporate their own identities-especially the privileges, biases, and marginalization attached to them-and those of their communities, resulting in a more intentional moral voice focused on justice and equity so that all news participants can feel cared for within information-exchange about public affairs. (shrink)

Journalism is being transformed by the digital revolution. Journalists working for media organisations are having to file and update stories across multiple platforms under increasing time pressures. Meanwhile, anyone with sufficient literacy skills and access to the internet can aspire to practise journalism, and many are doing so. And yet journalism in any form still depends for its legitimacy on the observance of ethical principles and practices. For example, it has to maintain a commitment to telling (...) the truth, and to minimise deception and betrayal; deal with conflicts of interest; protect sources and their confidences; know how to report on traumatised and vulnerable people; and know when to respect privacy. Journalism Ethics for the Digital Age covers all these areas and more. It traces the ethics of journalism from their origins in philosophy to the new challenges brought about by digital technology, with practical examples to show how ethical values and principles can play out in the real world. An invaluable tool for ethical decision-making, this is a book for professional journalists and citizen journalists, for students in the disciplines of journalism, media, communications, and applied ethics, and for the engaged reader everywhere. (shrink)

This up-to-date collection of more than two dozen real-life cases illustrates the moral issues facing contemporary American journalists. It will help students hone their reasoning skills, encouraging them to think rationally and act with integrity.

The rapid growth of online media has led to new complications in journalism ethics and practice. While traditional ethical principles may not fundamentally change when information is disseminated online, applying them across platforms has become more challenging as new kinds of interactions develop between journalists and audiences. In Ethics for Digital Journalists, Lawrie Zion and David Craig draw together the international expertise and experience of journalists and scholars who have all been part of the process of shaping best practices (...) in digital journalism. Drawing on contemporary events and controversies like the Boston Marathon bombing and the Arab Spring, the authors examine emerging best practices in everything from transparency and verification to aggregation, collaboration, live blogging, tweeting and the challenges of digital narratives. At a time when questions of ethics and practice are challenged and subject to intense debate, this book is designed to provide students and practitioners with the insights and skills to realize their potential as professionals. (shrink)

Which epistemic skills or attributes must a journalist possess in order to produce competent science journalism? I aim to answer this question by bringing together insights from journalism, science communication, and epistemology. In §1, I outline the Epistemic Challenge for Science Journalism. In §2, I present the dominant answer in the literature, the Knowledge-Based Solution, and argue against it. In §3, I propose an alternative, the Confirmation-Based Solution. In §4, I argue that this solution can address (...) recent concerns regarding journalistic objectivity. §5 discusses my proposal in the context of epistemological debates about norms of assertion. §6 concludes. (shrink)

In order to realise increasingly complex objectives of compulsory education, it is necessary to have in place appropriate teaching concepts as well as assessment and testing guidelines. The question, however, is what should be assessed: levels of acquired knowledge, skills or attitudes? Should assessment be only a measure of the educational process outcomes, or should it also measure the process of knowledge acquisition itself? How should assessment be carried out in order to respect the principle of fairness and justice? (...) In this paper, we will present results of a research project in which we were interested to find out what teachers would assess if it were up to them to decide. Our survey was conducted on a representative sample of primary school teachers in Slovenia. In spite of clear regulations prescribing that teachers should only assess pupils’ progress in relation to the defined objectives and knowledge standards, teachers underlined the necessity to also consider other aspects of children’s development. (shrink)

The study aims to explore the impact of press clubs and the Journalists Association on the media environment in the UAE. The environment of journalism has witnessed several professional developments at various levels. Digital transformation has a crucial role in converting the media industry, which has led to changing media practices and business operations. The employment of modern technology related to artificial intelligence has introduced new media strategies such as algorithms, and metaverse, and the massive development of new technologies (...) that support media content and story production such as mobile journalism, data journalism, and citizen journalism. Undoubtedly, the successive evolution in the media sector and its impact on the enormous technological revolution raise many questions about the extent to which the skills of journalistic work keep pace with the changes of the digital age. This places more responsibilities on media institutions, whether organizational or professional. Press clubs and press associations contribute an essential role in implementing media development plans by transferring successful global practices, training media people, and executable recommendations through dialogue meetings that contribute to identifying the future needs of the profession and stimulating honest competition among journalists and media organizations. Therefore, this study aims to explore the role of professional press associations in supporting the profession by monitoring the latest practices and developing performance. This is according to the perceptions of both officials in these institutions and journalists’ perspectives. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it provides a model through which professional opportunities can be found that enhance the progress of media work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), identify the challenges facing news institutions and journalists, and present different perspectives to form an integrated vision of the reality and future of media in the country. (shrink)

At different times in their school career and across different subject areas, some pupils may require additional and/or more complex tasks from their teachers, since they find the work set to be insufficiently challenging. Recommendations for coping with these pupils’ needs are varied, but among other responses, it is common, in the field of ‘gifted and talented’ education, to advocate the use of critical thinking programmes. These can be very effective in providing the missing challenge through helping develop (...) pupils’ facilities for building and defending rational argument. However, the exercises can be just that; mental agility tasks that lack relevant context. When children engage in learning philosophy in school, they benefit from the experience of developing logical, rigorous argument; but the subject can offer more than critical skills practice. Since philosophy attends to questions about things that matter in pupils’ lives, discussions can have an ethical and moral dimension and as such can be more than an intellectual exercise. Pupils of all abilities and propensities can become involved in the discussions, but the open nature of the areas of debate lends itself particularly well to providing challenge for pupils who need enriched and extended tasks in order to remain engaged. Some of the well-rehearsed Philosophy with/for Children methods are also designed to help develop mutual respect and understanding and so philosophy not only appeals to the cognitive and intellectual in children, but places this development in a context that fosters positive personal qualities. (shrink)

During the last 42 years I have been a mediator in 48 countries, in some of them with success. One of the reasons for that success is that I have a certain skill: I've avoided any contact with journalists. For that reason it's with some trepidation that I enter this room and listen to the discussion today which was at such a high academic level and never touched reality.Let me start by posing some questions for you to consider. Are you (...) sure you know what Saddam Hussein stood for in the Gulf countries? I'm not thinking of anything we attribute to him but rather how he thought of it. Are you sure you know what the Serbian position was in the Yugoslavia conflict? Not the way others write it down but the way they thought it. Are you sure you know what Djakarta stood for in connection with East Timor? What were their goals? Do you know what is the meaning of N30 and A16? If you don't know what this N30 and A16 are, I don't think you live in this world. Do you know what it is and do you know what it means at the same time? There is absolutely no way reading the press for you to get behind any of the reasons why we have lousy media and that the media are major contributing factors to violence.So let me formulate it as a thesis: in a conflict you stand for something, you yearn for it but you have a feeling that there is something — whatever it may be — that makes it impossible for others to listen to it; you have a voice but they don't have an ear and whatever you say is twisted into unrecognition, and if you experience that over a period of let us say fifty years you may become tired and you may get the feeling that it doesn't matter the slightest, and you may just as well get violent because that seems to be the only language they understand. So I am saying that the major cause of violence is inattention to the subjective reality of the famous other. There is no other in the world. The construction of the other is: We are all human beings.We may not always like it but the Romans said it much more succinctly and much better than Habermas ever was able to say it: 'altera pars'. Listen to the other side. If you don't have that capacity you're lost. The psychological ability is called empathy. The people who know most about this are called actors, psychologists, sometimes religious people. It means the ability to get into the clothes of the other guy. You don't have to like him: empathy is not sympathy but you should understand his intellectual and emotional logic. (shrink)

This study examines how second-language English learners' grammar issues differ in rural and urban Pakistani schools. This study is quasi-experimental. The study uses a quantitative approach and SPSS-analyzed writing test samples. The key findings reveal that pupils struggle to understand complicated syntactic structures like qualifiers, adjectives, adverbs, and adjunct and complement categories, even though they understand subject-verb agreement. Lack of resources and poor language education exacerbate these issues in rural areas. Teachers emphasize the need for the government to improve (...) English grammar education and the necessity for custom learning aids to help rural students with their particular issues in grammar and syntax. Teachers also want enhanced professional development to master advanced grammar teaching methods. Students expressed mixed confidence in their grammatical skills since they were unsure how well they comprehended complex grammar principles. To assist students in comprehending and using grammar rules, the study recommends adding more interactive and relevant grammar assignments to courses and using the process-genre technique. The results also demonstrate the need for teachers to continue to study and have support networks to ensure good language sessions. Policy suggestions include equipping schools, especially rural ones, modifying the curriculum, and funding teacher training. This study enhances Pakistani second language learners' academic and employment prospects by identifying grammar issues and providing writing tips. Thus, it expands ESL instruction. (shrink)

The part of the system of education of academician I. P. Ivanov - the collective organizational activity is studied. Collective organizing activities (COA) is a method of organizing children’s life, when in planning, organizing and analyzing actively participates every child. We prove that the experience of participating in COA provides the development of organizational, prognostic, reflective, communicative skills of children, establishing an ability to work together, to self-regulation, the ability to make decisions. The collective organizing activity accumulates experience of (...) democratic interaction, which forms the democratic culture of the pupil. (shrink)

This paper aims to apply drama tasks (Gerard Finger, 2000) in the English class- room, which will add dynamism to the classroom, for the development of students’ oral competences. The aim is to work with drama in the Primary Education class- room through a series of tasks to improve oral communication, teamwork skills and to foster students’ self-esteem and confidence when producing oral language. This project addresses pupils in the sixth level of Primary Education. Theatre is a very (...) versatile tool that provides many resources and learning, helping to improve aspects such as corporal and oral expression and cooperative work. (shrink)

The rapid development of digital technologies has transformed the world but can be a double-edged sword. We study the interaction of important variables that affect individual news reporters’ performance in which digital technology is the dominant feature. A multilevel model illustrates how transactive memory and job competence affect individual performance. The empirical study includes data from 19 teams of news reporters and 211 valid survey responses, applying hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the data. The results indicate that transactive memory and (...) technology competence help to improve a reporter’s job performance. More importantly, teamwork competence fully mediates the relationships. Our findings thus suggest that teamwork competence is the core skill. Neither technology competence nor transactive memory alone translates directly into enhanced individual performance. (shrink)

Language for Learning in the Primary School is the long awaited second edition of _Language for Learning_, first published in 2004 and winner of the NASEN/TES Book Award for Teaching and Learning in 2005. This handbook has become an indispensable resource, packed full of practical suggestions on how to support 5-11 year old children with speech, language and communication difficulties. Colour coded throughout for easy referencing, this unique book supports inclusive practice by helping teachers to: Identify children with speech, language (...) and communication needs Understand speech, language and communication skills Consider roles and responsibilities at primary school Plan a differentiated and adapted curriculum Consider the language demands across subjects Adopt a whole school approach Make use of a wide range of positive strategies Empower children to access the curriculum Language for Learning in the Primary School comes complete with a wealth of photocopiable resources, giving teachers and teaching assistants the confidence to help children with SLCN more effectively in mainstream settings. It will also be an extremely useful resource for speech and language therapists, specialist teachers and educational psychologists. (shrink)

Based on the results obtained from primary education students—fifth and sixth graders—the aim of this work is to check the appropriate self-perceived behaviors during and at the end of the game. The study population was made up of 698 students from fifth and sixth grade in the Autonomous Region of Castilla–La Mancha (Spain). Data were collected through a questionnaire (scale) on the social skills of primary school students linked to the adequate skills when losing, the adequate skills (...) when winning, and the adequate skills during the game. Study results revealed that analyzed behaviors vary, depending on the moment of the game, being it more frequently during the development of the game than when losing or winning. (shrink)

This article uses Nigeria as a case study to examine the nature and consequences of the ethical dilemma African journalists face as a result of conflicting obligations to their profession and socio-politicaI environments. Professional skills and codes of conduct used by African journalists are adapted from Western libertarian news media philosophy that prescribes news media that are independent from the government. But African governments favor the development journalism philosophy that calls for a close working relationship between the news (...) media and government because of political instability and national development objectives. The conflicting expectations between the two philosophies create a clash of loyalties and ultimately an ethical dilemma for African journalists. (shrink)

Our study adopted a person-based approach with the aim to identify socio-behavioral profiles of primary school students based on peer group perception. The study involved 109 classes and their teachers, from the first three grades of elementary school. The final student sample consisted of 424 children, aged 6–9 years ( M = 94.9 months; SD = 9.7), of whom 58.3% were male. We used peer-group nomination to investigate the aspects that are linked to peer group acceptance and perception of classroom (...) behaviors, with reference to academic and relational criteria. We identified and defined six clusters. We validated these clusters by taking into consideration the children’s academic performances and the teacher’s perceptions of their relationship with the single students. The identified clusters were related to both of these aspects, and they show predictive value when referring to children’s behaviors as evaluated by their teachers. Implications for theory and educational policies are discussed. (shrink)

Results of an online survey reveal that, in contrast with the general belief, college students do not at all seem to be heavy users of online news media and online news features. A cluster analysis shows that the use of online news media and interactive features differs among the students, a majority of them being traditional users and some, non-users. Logistic regressions demonstrate that the level of digital skills is a better predictor of news media and interactive features use (...) than demographics. This article invites scholars in online journalism to emphasize on students’ differences rather than on similarities when it comes to measuring the impact of online news use. Our results suggest that online skills as a prerequisite for using online news media and features should be centrally taken into account in future research. (shrink)

This book reports on a research program designed to construct the basics of a new type of literacy that teaches pupils social problem-solving at individual and collective levels. It is the first of a series of books about a chain of intervention research subprojects started in 2009 teaching pupils basic skills to make well-balanced decisions; to resolve conflicts in a nonviolent manner; and to develop good social relationships and responsibility, critical thinking, and other abilities which give children (...) and young people the tools needed to pursue their options in life. According to the United Nations, there is no systematic program in schools that develops these capacities in pupils. This volume fills the gap by describing successful classroom interventions and by developing a framework for social problem-solving literacy as mandated by the United Nations Child Convention. (shrink)

Why focus on reading? Reading is one important human activity that is threatened by the knowledge economy in education. In this perspective, good reading tends to be fast reading. The objective for teachers is then to test pupils' reading skills according to how fast they read. In opposition to this, we think that good reading is a slow activity. A good text asks for a reading and a re-reading, again and again, because reading gives rise to thinking. Thus, (...) you can interpret our writing as a political act. We want to participate in education in a way that opposes the force of a knowledge economy. The aim of this article is to argue why prospective teachers have to train their capability [Ricoeur (2005. The Course of Recognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press) refers to four basic capabilities. He distinguishes between: the capability to speak, the capability to act, the capability to tell, and a fourth capability called imputation. Reading in this respect is subordinate to these basic capabilities] to read and, based on this, why we insist on this being a matter of necessity in order to develop reading as a reflexive activity, through what we have called ?slow reading? (this expression is meant to oppose the instrumentalization of reading toward a skill characterized as fast extractions of information, for instance, as measured in various tests). This represents one part of the argument that we are going to elaborate. The other part of the argument is related more specifically to the place of reading in the training of teachers, more precisely asking where this ?place? is. This has led us to ask the following question: Where are teachers' understandings challenged in teacher training? As our argument is laid out, we say that the place of reading is where teachers' understandings are challenged. This entails that this ?place,? this somewhere, is not a permanent ?dwelling?; it is rather something which has to be created (repeatedly) in a dynamic relationship between reader (teacher) and text. (shrink)

Teacher training has the opportunity and availability to raise awarness on the happiness of teaching. The stakes are high: inclusive education contexts require teachers to fully support their pupils’ heterogeneity. The positive psychology PERMA model (Seligman, 2011) seems to be an interesting evidence-based guide to build teacher training in happiness teaching. The PERMA model (Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement) provides an identification of the different factors needed for this happiness teaching training. It also highlights the importance of the (...) teacher-pupil relationship. This fundamental relationship is key to the classroom climate. It allows teachers to nurture the joy of teaching as well as learning, sharing a school project, and progressing -together with their pupils- to a common goal. In this vein, teacher training can give itself the means to foster socio-emotional skills which are the cornerstone to teaching as happiness teacher training. This training would aim both at offering the opportunity to experience positive psychology interventions and developing teachers’ reflexive skills. Gratitude practices, emotional regulation interventions, recognition and use of character strengths are levers that act both on intra- and interpersonal relationships. (shrink)

Early mathematical abilities matter for later formal arithmetical performances, school and professional success. Accordingly, it seems central to accurately assess numerical school readiness at school entrance. This is a prerequisite for identifying school-starters who are at risk to encounter difficulties in mathematics and stimulate their acquisition of mathematical fundamentals as soon as possible. In the present study, we present a new test which allows professionals working with children (e.g., teachers, school psychologists, speech therapists, school doctors) to assess children’s numerical school (...) readiness when they enter formal schooling in a simple, rapid and efficient manner. 346 children were assessed at the entrance of 1st grade (6-to-7-year-olds) with the novel numerical school readiness test (T1). In addition, children’s numerical skill levels were evaluated with classical arithmetical tests at T1 and a year later in 2nd grade (T2, 7-to-8-year-olds). Performance in these classical tests in 1st and 2nd grade systematically related to their early mathematical abilities assessed with the numerical school readiness test. By using the present test to evaluate numerical school readiness it is possible to identify pupils at risk for developing poor mathematical skills right from the start of formal schooling. Such a tool is needed, as a child’s scholastic level in mathematic at school entrance (or school readiness) is known to be critical for his or her future school and professional carrier (Currie & Thomas, 1999; Duncan et al., 2007; Pagani, Fitzpatrick, Archambault, & Janosz, 2010; Rivera-Batiz, 1992; Romano, Babchishin, Pagani, & Kohen, 2010). (shrink)

Ethical Reporting of Sensitive Topics explores the underlying complexities that journalists may face when covering difficult news stories. Reporting on issues such as suicide, sexual abuse, or migration is a skill that is often glossed over in a journalist’s education. By combining theory and practice, this collection will correct this oversight and give journalists the expertise and understanding to report on these subjects responsibly and ethically. Contributors to this volume are an international group of journalists-turned- academics, who share their first-hand (...) experiences and unique professional insight into best ethical journalistic practice for reporting on sensitive topics. Drawing from a range of case studies, contributors discuss the most appropriate approach to, for example, describing a shooter who has killed a group of schoolchildren or interviewing someone who has lost everything in a natural disaster. Readers are invited to consider factors which have the potential to influence the reporting of these sorts of topics, including bias, sensationalism, conflict of interest, grief, vulnerability, and ignorance of one’s own privilege. Ethical Reporting of Sensitive Topics aims to support all journalists, from students of journalism and individuals encountering a newsroom for the first time, to those veteran journalists or specialist journalists who seek to better their reporting skills. (shrink)

In this research, the Author attempts to deepen and analyze the first results that emerged from an exploratory survey of a descriptive nature aimed at students / teachers of the Specialization Course for didactic support activities for pupils with disabilities of the University of Catania. in the academic year 2021/2022 with the aim of investigating the quality and professional skills of the inclusive teacher. Along this direction, 663 teachers / students of the secondary school of I and II (...) degree were reached, currently engaged in specialization. This contribution presents the theoretical and methodological framework of the research and an initial description and analysis of some of the data collected. (shrink)

There are tensions within formal education between imparting knowledge and the development of skills for handling that knowledge. In the primary school sector, the latter can also be squeezed out of the curriculum by a focus on basic skills such as literacy and numeracy. What happens when an explicit attempt is made to develop young children's reasoning—both in terms of their apparent cognitive abilities and their basic skills? This paper reports an independent evaluation of an in-class intervention (...) called ‘Philosophy for Children’, after just over one year of schooling. The intervention aims to help children become more willing and able to question, reason, construct arguments and collaborate with others. A group of 48 volunteer schools were randomised to receive P4C or act as a control for one year. This paper reports the CAT results for all pupils in years 4 and 5 initially, and the Key Stage 2 attainment in English and Maths for those starting in year 5. There was no school dropout. Individual attrition from a total of 3,159 pupils was around 11 percent—roughly equal between groups. There were small positive ‘effect’ sizes in favour of the P4C group in progress in reading and maths, and even smaller perhaps negligible improvements in CAT scores and writing. The results for the most disadvantaged pupils were larger for attainment, but not for CATs. Observations and interviews suggest that the intervention was generally enjoyable and thought to be beneficial for pupil confidence. Our conclusion is that, for those wishing to improve attainment outcomes in the short term, an emphasis on developing reasoning is promising, especially for the poorest students, but perhaps not the most effective way forward. However, for those who value reasoning for its own sake, this evaluation demonstrates that using curriculum time in this way does not damage attainment, and so suggests that something like P4C is an appropriate educational approach. (shrink)

This paper is dedicated to Alonzo Church, who died in August 1995 after a long life devoted to logic. To Church we owe lambda calculus, the thesis bearing his name and the solution to the Entscheidungsproblem.His well-known book Introduction to Mathematical LogicI, defined the subject matter of mathematical logic, the approach to be taken and the basic topics addressed. Church was the creator of the Journal of Symbolic Logicthe best-known journal of the area, which he edited for several decades This (...) paper is in three sections. The first is written in journalistic style:the story of the life of AlonzoChurch is told, including some of the many anecdotes I have collected from different sources. The secondpart is devoted to his work, but is far from being exhaustive. The last part is more original; in it I attempto show that Church’s great discovery was lambda calculus and that his remaining contributions weremainly inspired afterthoughts in the sense that most of his contributions as well as some of his pupils derivefrom that initial achievement. Included are Kleene’s Recursion Theory and the completeness proof ofHenkin. I have added an appendix in which is presented the typed lambda calculus and a proof of theundecidability of first-order logic. (shrink)

This paper offers a critical exploration of the Philosophy for Children movement, which aims at the expansion of critical, creative and caring thinking skills in students through philosophical dialogue. It describe that such a practice can motivate children to take responsibility in recognizing their thinking and their actions which shape who one is becoming. The paper outlines the historical development of this dialogical framework followed by concentrating on some of the challenges and solutions with respect to the practice of (...) philosophy with children. Some of the dominating concerns raised by the critics of philosophical practice are addressed, before surveying the evidence to the effectiveness of such an approach using philosophical, sociological and psychological arguments. The paper offers a systematic critical review of studies that have implemented philosophical inquiry with children in different educational settings to find that its practice enables children to participate in an open community through reason. The concluding argument states implications for philosophical practice in the fields of implementation in education and future directions in research. The paper makes a final claim that engaged philosophical inquiry is a crucial and necessary means for the emergence and further social and emotional advancement in pupils where children can attain a stable sense of personal well-being. (shrink)

This article questions the effectiveness of “engagement teaching” when dealing with controversial subjects by exploring the role of fear in contemporary education about the Holocaust in the United Kingdom. It begins by assessing a governmental report about education and a series of related press reports and chain emails, whose assumption that secondary school teachers are afraid of teaching controversial subjects (in particular the Holocaust) triggered an international scandal about Holocaust education in the UK in April 2007. The author argues that (...) three forms of respectful fear or deference are undermined in Holocaust teaching: epistemological (towards historical knowledge); political (towards curricula); and intergenerational (towards teachers). The article further demonstrates that the object of fear expressed by journalists and the public was not the Holocaust itself, but the reversal of deferential relations between teachers and pupils in the school classroom and the supposition that we may not learn from history. Whereas history education is held up by policy-makers as a safeguard of social stability and of the transmission of values, the application of “engagement teaching” to controversial subjects may in fact undermine the authority of historical education and the enlightenment principles on which it is founded. (shrink)

In this controversial new book, Daisy Christodoulou offers a thought-provoking critique of educational orthodoxy. Drawing on her recent experience of teaching in challenging schools, she shows through a wide range of examples and case studies just how much classroom practice contradicts basic scientific principles. She examines seven widely-held beliefs which are holding back pupils and teachers: - Facts prevent understanding - Teacher-led instruction is passive - The 21st century fundamentally changes everything - You can always just look it up (...) -We should teach transferable skills - Projects and activities are the best way to learn - Teaching knowledge is indoctrination. In each accessible and engaging chapter, Christodoulou sets out the theory of each myth, considers its practical implications and shows the worrying prevalence of such practice. Then, she explains exactly why it is a myth, with reference to the principles of modern cognitive science. She builds a powerful case explaining how governments and educational organisations around the world have let down teachers and pupils by promoting and even mandating evidence-less theory and bad practice. This blisteringly incisive and urgent text is essential reading for all teachers, teacher training students, policy makers, head teachers, researchers and academics around the world. (shrink)

‘Interactional expertise’ is developed through linguistic interaction without full scale practical immersion in a culture. Interactional expertise is the medium of communication in peer review in science, in review committees, and in interdisciplinary projects. It is also the medium of specialist journalists and of interpretative methods in the social sciences. We describe imitation game experiments designed to make concrete the idea of interactional expertise. The experiments show that the linguistic performance of those well socialized in the language of a specialist (...) group is indistinguishable from those with full blown practical socialization but distinguishable from those who are not well socialized. The imitation game can also be used to indicate whether an individual can enter an esoteric domain and master the interactional expertise, a skill required by interpretative sociologists of science, anthropologists, ethnographers, and the like.Keywords: Expertise; Interactional expertise; Imitation game; Turing test; Colour blindness; Interpretative methods. (shrink)

There are tensions within formal education between imparting knowledge and the development of skills for handling that knowledge. In the primary school sector, the latter can also be squeezed out of the curriculum by a focus on basic skills such as literacy and numeracy. What happens when an explicit attempt is made to develop young children's reasoning—both in terms of their apparent cognitive abilities and their basic skills? This paper reports an independent evaluation of an in-class intervention (...) called ‘Philosophy for Children’, after just over one year of schooling. The intervention aims to help children become more willing and able to question, reason, construct arguments and collaborate with others. A group of 48 volunteer schools were randomised to receive P4C or act as a control for one year. This paper reports the CAT results for all pupils in years 4 and 5 initially, and the Key Stage 2 attainment in English and Maths for those starting in year 5. There was no school dropout. Individual attrition from a total of 3,159 pupils was around 11 percent—roughly equal between groups. There were small positive ‘effect’ sizes in favour of the P4C group in progress in reading and maths, and even smaller perhaps negligible improvements in CAT scores and writing. The results for the most disadvantaged pupils were larger for attainment, but not for CATs. Observations and interviews suggest that the intervention was generally enjoyable and thought to be beneficial for pupil confidence. Our conclusion is that, for those wishing to improve attainment outcomes in the short term, an emphasis on developing reasoning is promising, especially for the poorest students, but perhaps not the most effective way forward. However, for those who value reasoning for its own sake, this evaluation demonstrates that using curriculum time in this way does not damage attainment, and so suggests that something like P4C is an appropriate educational approach. (shrink)

To date, game-based learning programs that include comprehensive creativity skills and disposition training are still very limited. The present researchers developed a comprehensive game-based creativity learning program for fifth and sixth grade pupils. Further analysis presented relationship trends between mindful learning experience, flow experience, self-efficacy, and mastery experience. Eighty-three 5th and 6th grade participants undertook the six-week game-based creativity learning program. Upon the completion of experimental instruction, those who scored higher on the concerned variables improved more in self-evaluation (...) of both creativity ability and confidence, than their counterparts. Additionally, path model analysis revealed that mindful learning experience was a powerful predictor of both mastery experience and flow experience; it also influenced mastery experience through flow experience and self-efficacy during game-based creativity learning. The findings support the effectiveness of the game-based learning program developed in this study. Moreover, this study contributes to the theoretical construction of how game-based learning can be designed to facilitate mindful learning experience, flow experience, self-efficacy, and mastery experience during creativity training among pupils. Effective mechanisms include providing rewards for high-quality performance, challenging tasks, free choices of design components, immediate feedback, and idea sharing. The profound theoretical framework proposed in this study provides a valuable approach for creativity instruction through game-based learning or classroom instruction. (shrink)

Practically all the countries require the highly skilled staff. It is natural, that it is necessary to prepare them in higher educational institutions. In many high schools students were enlisted and are enlisted on the basis of knowledge and skills. It not an optimum variant because the second integrated parameter of an entrant, his mental potential and fundamentality of knowledge, is not taken into account. The specified very important parameter of an entrant is opened in the best way with (...) sums with parameters, that is sums with parameters serve some kind of a litmus piece of paper in definition of quality of the future student. It is the first reason to increase in number of sums with parameters on entrance examinations. The second, not less important reason, is connected with the following:these sums promote better development of the personality of a pupil, its individual propensities and abilities; they help to learn to work in conditions of small and significant uncertainties which are in abundance in our today's life. They develop variative and creative thinking and by those promote development of intelligence and increase of a level of fundamentality of knowledge. Existing textbooks and educational supplies do not contain adequate volume of a material doing of mathematical sums with parameters: there is no system, there are only separate examples, some of them are rather unsuccessful. The author leads ordering of sums with parameters, the technique of doing such sums is developed and corresponding educational supplies on paper and electronic carriers are published. (shrink)

Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Analytical Reading and Reasoning, Second Edition, provides a nontechnical vocabulary and analytic apparatus that guide students in identifying and articulating the central patterns found in reasoning and in expository writing more generally. Understanding these patterns of reasoning helps students to better analyze, evaluate, and construct arguments and to more easily comprehend the full range of everyday arguments found in ordinary journalism. Critical Thinking, Second Edition, distinguishes itself from other texts in the field by emphasizing (...) analytical reading as an essential skill. It also provides detailed coverage of argument analysis, diagnostic arguments, diagnostic patterns, and fallacies. Opening with two chapters on analytical reading that help students recognize what makes reasoning explicitly different from other expository activities, the text then presents an interrogative model of argument to guide them in the analysis and evaluation of reasoning. This model allows a detailed articulation of "inference to the best explanation" and gives students a view of the pervasiveness of this form of reasoning. The author demonstrates how many common argument types--from correlations to sampling--can be analyzed using this articulated form. He then extends the model to deal with several predictive and normative arguments and to display the value of the fallacy vocabulary. Ideal for introductory courses in critical thinking, critical reasoning, informal logic, and inductive reasoning, Critical Thinking, Second Edition, features hundreds of exercises throughout and includes worked-out solutions and additional exercises at the end of each chapter. An Instructor's Manual--offering solutions to the text's unanswered exercises and featuring other pedagogical aids--is available on the book's Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/wright. (shrink)

Technology Education offers an authentic and invaluable range of skills, knowledge, capabilities, contexts and ways of thinking for learners in the 21st century. However, it is recognised that it occupies a comparatively less defined and more fragile curricular position than associated, but longer established, subjects such as Mathematics and Science. While recognising that no single factor lies behind such a condition, this paper draws upon thinking in the philosophy of technology, technology education and the ontology of artefacts to argue (...) that transformation may be considered as an epistemic source for technology in a similar way to ‘proof’ within Mathematics and ‘interpretation’ within Science. Encapsulating technology's intimate relationship with materials, it is ultimately argued that the transformation of a technical artefact from an ill-defined into a well-defined ontological state constitutes a prime source of technological knowledge for pupils. Moreover, it provides an alternative route into further consideration about the nature of the domain, epistemology and curricular identity of the subject. (shrink)

Since Piaget (1936), the concept of development has concerned the forms of adaptation deployed by the subject within his environment. Inspired by this constructivist perspective, many approaches, such as professional didactics (Pastré, 2011), problematization (Fabre, 2009, 2011) and investigation approaches (Grangeat, 2011, 2013) have advanced the idea of training through situations. As part of the socio-constructivist expectations of the latest teaching programs, we analyze teacher activity during a “débriefing after observation” (Villeret, 2008) about Moon phases conducted in primary school classes (...) (Munoz & Villeret, 2012). In this article we examine whether “débriefing after observation” is a situation that allows for the development of teachers and pupils. We show that this activity allows pupils to learn, “problematize”, conceptualize and develop epistemologically based knowledge. It also allows the teacher to develop his skills to «do problematize» the pupils. These results allow us to discuss further the notion of «potential development situation» (Mayen, 1999) to complement it with the notions of “reactive and effective development situations”. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Philosophy and Rhetoric 34.4 (2001) 355-363 [Access article in PDF] Plato on Power, Moral Responsibility and the Alleged Neutrality of Gorgias' Art of Rhetoric (Gorgias 456c-457b) James Stuart Murray 1. Introduction You are sitting in your office on a quiet Thursday afternoon when an agitated university administrator enters with news that the students in your "Plato class" have just been interviewed on the city's largest radio station. According to (...) them, their professor claimed that the demise of their university is a direct result of the fact that senior administrative positions are held by a motley assortment of business-oriented, academically cynical, "renewal"-promoting "innovators" whose main preoccupation is "government funding opportunities" in areas of dubious academic importance.Your response might be: "That's not what I taught them." Or perhaps you might say, "That's not exactly what I taught them--I didn't say it was a 'motley' assortment." In either case, you would be relying on some form of what Robert Wardy (170, n.r 20) has dubbed the "blame students, not teachers defence." He asserts, perhaps correctly, that this defense gained the status of topos within the ancient rhetorical tradition. A version of it certainly does seem to show up in Isocrates' Antidosis (250-52) and perhaps in his Nicocles (3-4), and it is suggested by remarks in both Aristotle's Rhetoric (1355b) and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria (II,16,5). On this occasion, however, I am concerned with only one rendition, probably its earliest extant instance in Greek literature. In Plato's Gorgias, the eponymous sophist argues as follows: Imagine someone who after attending wrestling school, 1 getting his body into good shape and becoming a boxer, went on to strike his father and mother or any other family member or friend. By Zeus, that's no reason to hate physical trainers... and to exile them from their cities! For while these people imparted their skills to be used justly against enemies and wrongdoers, and in [End Page 355] defense, not aggression, their pupils pervert their strength and skill and misuse them. So it's not their teachers who are wicked, nor is this a reason why the craft should be a cause of wickedness; the ones who misuse it are supposedly the wicked ones. And the same is true for oratory as well. The orator has the ability to speak against everyone on every subject, so as in gatherings to be more persuasive, in short, about anything he likes, but the fact that he has the ability to rob doctors or other craftsmen of their reputations doesn't give him any more of a reason to do it. He should use oratory justly, as he would any competitive skill. And I suppose that if a person who has become an orator goes on with this ability and this craft to commit wrongdoing, we shouldn't hate his teacher and exile him from our cities. For while the teacher imparted it to be used justly, the pupil is making the opposite use of it. So it's the misuser whom it's just to hate and exile or put to death, not the teacher. (Gorgias 456d, 457a-b) 2Change "exile from our cities" to "fire from our universities" and this makes a good passage to remember when confronted by that agitated administrator mentioned above. Blame the students, not the teachers.Not much comment has been provoked by this defense of Gorgianic rhetoric and its underlying rhetor/boxer analogy, except over the question of whether we should read the passage as an accurate reflection of the words of the historical Gorgias or as a Platonic invention. In a previous generation, E. R. Dodds (212) reckoned that this defense was "probably the standpoint of the historical Gorgias," while E. A. Havelock (195) cautioned that "there is little--very little--that he [i.e., Plato] lets Gorgias say in the Gorgias." In our own day, and on a more general level, Thomas Cole (151) states that "Plato's... (shrink)

The Joy of Not Knowing takes every aspect of the curriculum and of school life and transforms it into a personalised, meaningful and enjoyable experience for all. It offers readers an innovative, theoretical and practical guide to establish a values-based, enquiry-led and challenge-rich learning to learn approach to teaching and learning and to school leadership. This thought-provoking guide provides the reader with a wealth of whole-class, easy-to-implement, malleable, practical ideas and case studies that can be personalised to the vision of (...) each setting, age-group and curriculum. It brings together, as a whole-school framework, the strategies that have been shown to have the greatest impact on practitioner's professional fulfilment and on children's life chances, love of learning, intrinsic motivation and enthusiasm for wanting to know. The Joy of Not Knowing: enables schools to launch the academic year with a bespoke JONK Learning to Learn Week that enables every student to succeed; develops philosophical, creative and critical problem-solving and multi-lingual thinking skills; establishes collaborative cultures of thinking, learning and leadership; Informs practice through active action research; incorporates a values-led democratic approach to school life; nurtures school-pupil-family-community partnerships. Designed for school leaders and practitioners at all levels and across all ages, this practical guide shows how all students can thrive and develop the dispositions of successful lifelong learners and global citizens. (shrink)

Tacit premises of science constitute researcher’s cognitive scheme, i.e. a set of a priori conditions of knowledge acquisition and application. Couple of assumptions make Polanyi’s idea considerably different than Kantian or behavioural or structural interpretations of cognitive scheme. He sees it more in hermeneutical or habitual terms — as system of (a) skills (dispositions to act), which (b) defines the level of competence; (c) cannot be verbally articulated; (d) is embodied (and hence unaware); (e) innate or acquired through practice (...) — in master-pupil relations; (f) undergoes constant modifications when applied; (g) conditions both theoretical actions (eg. categorisation, acts of assertion), as well as practical (manual skills, acts of perception). (shrink)

Summary Structured interviews were carried out with 176 secondary school teachers to elicit their views/opinions about their initial professional training and their later practical experience, with particular reference to classroom behaviour management. The results showed that the vast majority of teachers believe classroom management skills to be of major importance to them professionally. Nearly three?quarters of them were dissatisfied with the preparation in this area of professional skills provided by their initial training courses. Many thought that their colleagues (...) spent too much time on matters of order and control and 38% thought that they, themselves, did also. Generally, they showed an interest in attending training courses in classroom behaviour management. Many felt that such training could reduce stress among teachers and might help to reduce troublesome behaviour among their pupils. Nearly all of them thought that it would be of benefit to their younger colleagues who were just beginning their careers. (shrink)

The importance of self-regulated learning has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and measures for assessing students’ self-regulation skills and knowledge are greatly needed. We present the results of the first thorough adaptation of the Children’s Perceived use of Self-Regulated Learning Inventory. The inventory, consisting of 15 scales measuring nine components of SRL, was administered to a sample of 541 Slovenian ninth graders. Confirmatory factor analyses supported internal structure validity of most components, but two components required some structural modifications. Internal (...) consistency coefficients were acceptable for the majority of scale scores and were highly comparable to the original ones. While metric invariance across gender was confirmed, the scalar invariance of some scales needs further examination. Meaningful correlations with relevant externally assessed and self-reported self-regulation and school performance variables indicated good criterion validity of the inventory. The Slovenian version of the CP-SRLI thus proved to be a sufficiently valid and reliable instrument for assessing pupils’ learning self-regulation. (shrink)

During the preschool years, the socio-emotional responses children receive from interactions with teachers are incorporated into their own social behaviors. This is one of the key ways in which children acquire social and emotional skills. Based on field studies, it can be found that this learning process is not simple imitation of children, but of a more complex context of group interaction. To further clarify the impact of kindergarten teachers’ emotion on the sociometric status and behavior of 3–5 year-old (...) children in their classes, the researchers chose a Montessori mixed-age kindergarten in Beijing as the field site and observed five classes within the kindergarten over a 2-month period in this ethnographic case study. The study found that the power gap between teacher and pupil spreads rapidly to all children in the classroom as a result of the teacher’s emotions, and even stimulates power stratification within the children. In addition, there are differences in the social behaviors between the children of different levels of power. As preschool children are in a critical developmental window when social knowledge is being accumulated and social skills are being acquired, using power relations within the kindergarten classroom as an entry point to analyze the impact of teachers’ emotions on children’s social behavior provides a new breakthrough for the professional development of early childhood education and the better achievement of educational goals. (shrink)

This paper has two distinct but related goals: (1) to identify some of the potential consequences of the Internet for our cognitive abilities and (2) to suggest an approach to evaluate these consequences. I begin by outlining the Google effect, which (allegedly) shows that when we know information is available online, we put less effort into storing that information in the brain. Some argue that this strategy is adaptive because it frees up internal resources which can then be used for (...) other cognitive tasks, whereas others argue that this is maladaptive because it makes us less knowledgeable. I argue that the currently available empirical evidence in cognitive psychology does not support strong conclusions about the negative effects of the Internet on memory. Before we can make value-judgements about the cognitive effects of the Internet, we need more robust and ecologically-valid evidence. Having sketched a more nuanced picture of the Google effect, I then argue that the value of our cognitive abilities is in part intrinsic and in part instrumental, that is, they are both valuable in themselves and determined by the socio-cultural context in which these cognitive abilities are utilised. Focussing on instrumental value, I argue that, in an information society such as ours, having the skills to efficiently navigate, evaluate, compare, and synthesize online information are (under most circumstances) more valuable than having a lot of facts stored in biological memory. This is so, partly because using the Internet as an external memory system has overall benefits for education, navigation, journalism, and academic scholarship. (shrink)