Gathering thoughts -- Teachers who inspired me -- What am I? : Montessori? Steiner? eclectic? : Is it important? -- Which comes first? : a philosophical framework, theory and research evidence : what do teachers and other practitioners need to bring out their best work -- Working with principles which are interpreted and embedded in articulated practice -- The importance of parent partnership and the development of moral values and self-discipline -- Play : a very complex thing -- Finding how (...) to position myself in relation to play -- Inclusion : commonalities, differences"fragmentation or wholeness?"-- Cultivating creativity -- Remaining a generalist rather than becoming a specialist within one area of early childhood education -- Changing political climates -- How best to train teachers of young children -- Remaining a Froebelian but still exploring why and wondering "will I always be one?". (shrink)

The place of gilds in urban politics has recently attracted considerable interest. Scholars have come to view these organizations, especially those associated with the crafts, as powerful vehicles for influencing municipal affairs. No agreement about the nature of this influence has yet emerged; indeed, gilds have been variously interpreted as promoters of political brotherhood, allies of worker interests, and devices used by urban elites to control artisans and laborers. The prevalence of a different sort of influence has gone largely unnoticed, (...) however. In many English towns of the late Middle Ages a single fraternity came to dominate local government. (shrink)

Learning to accept and understand our identity as inhabitants of planet Earth is an essential aspect of living sustainably in a global community with others. What is involved in learning, that despite what divides us, we are first and foremost Earthlings and that the well-being of our planetary home is in our collective hands? What are the cognitive features of concepts that are inherent to thinking like an Earthling? This article considers themes that arise from research that inform what is (...) involved in developing a collective, planetary perspective as it relates to engaging in environmental sustainability. It samples research on how young people understand and reason about agency—their own and that of others—and about the relationship between individual and collective action. It considers the importance of recognizing and engaging with diverse perspectives on agency and collectivity as well as being able to adopt the perspectives of those in different roles and positions. While many of the concepts that are inherent to thinking as part of a collective community of Earthlings are challenging, many are also learnable and represent important instructional targets for helping the next generation to understand how to live together in sustainable ways on a small and finite planet. (shrink)

____Ethics of Eros__ sheds light on contemporary feminist discourse by questioning the basic distinctions and categories in feminist theory. Tina Chanter uses the work of Luce Irigaray as the focus for a critique of French and Anglo-American feminism as it is articulated in the debate over essentialism. While these two branches of feminism represent opposing views, Chanter advocates a productive exchange between the two.

The Botany of Desire:. Plant's‐Eye View of the World. By Michael Pollan. 2001. New York: Random House. 271 pages. $24.95 (hardback). ISBN 0‐375‐50129‐0.

Regulation of gene expression by premature termination of transcription, or transcription attenuation, is a common regulatory strategy in bacteria. Various mechanisms of regulating transcription termination have been uncovered, each can be placed in either of two broad categories of termination events. Many mechanisms involve choosing between two alternative hairpin structures in an RNA transcript, with the decision dependent on interactions between ribosome and transcript, tRNA and transcript, or protein and transcript. In other examples, modification of the transcription elongation complex is (...) the crucial event. This article will describe and compare several of these regulatory strategies, and will cite specific examples to illustrate the different mechanisms employed. BioEssays 24:700–707, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Building on organizational justice research, we extended the study of classroom justice to management education. In the first study, we identified the criteria that business students use to define distributive, procedural, and interactional fairness. In a second study, we found that management students? perceptions of both procedural and interactional fairness were significant and unique predictors of their evaluations of instructional effectiveness. However, procedural justice was the only significant predictor of overall evaluations of the course. Results of this study will aid (...) management educators in implementing procedures and treatment that students perceive as fair and also to serve as ethical role models for managers of the future. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Paragrana Jahrgang: 25 Heft: 2 Seiten: 174-182.

Tina is a global icon of hope. And now, with Happiness Becomes You, she shows how anyone can overcome obstacles in life--even transform the impossible to possible--and fulfill our dreams. She shows how we, too, can improve our lives, empowering us with spiritual tools and sage advice to enrich our unique paths. For decades, Tina has shined brightly as an example of someone who can generate hope from nothing, break through all limitations, and achieve success that endures. Drawing (...) on the lessons of her own experiences--rising out of sorrowful lows to stratospheric heights--she illuminates the practical principles of Buddhism and how they have helped her elevate from despair, adversity, and poverty to joy, stability, and prosperity."--Amazon.com. (shrink)

Engaging the theology of Thomas Aquinas with the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, Tina Beattie shows how Thomism exerted a formative influence on Lacan, and how a Lacanian approach can bring new insights to Thomas's theology. Lacan makes possible a renewed Thomism which offers a rich theology of creation, incarnation, and redemption.

In this paper, I will describe how Brentano was able to integrate descriptive philosophy and logical analysis fruitfully by pointing out Brentano’s concept of philosophy as a rigorous science. First I will clarify how Brentano attempted to turn philosophy into a rigorous descriptive science by applying scientific methods to philosophical questions. After spelling out the implications of such a descriptive understanding of philosophy, I will contrast this descriptive view of philosophy with a semantic-analytic understanding of philosophy as proposed by Frege. (...) After having thus set the stage I will argue that the current separation of philosophy into the seemingly antithetical strands of phenomenology and analytic philosophy may be seen as a consequence of how the term ‘rigorous science’ in ‘philosophy as a rigorous science’ is interpreted: Does a rigorous science grasp its object with as much exactitude as possible? Or is a science rigorous when its theories are expressed unambiguously, and their implications are drawn with precision? In the course of this investigation I will also point out how Brentano’s integrative use of descriptive philosophy and analysis can provide a suitable starting point for an equally successful integration of these methods in contemporary philosophy. (shrink)

A major influence on the education of young children since the late 19th century, the philosophical and practical tenets of Frobelian early childhood education require urgent re-articulation in light of current debate and developments in research and policy. This seminal Handbook responds to this need, drawing together a unique and valuable body of literature, research and case studies to make explicit the specific features of Froebelian education and provide key impulses for future research and practice in this area. Chapters present (...) the sometimes divergent perspectives of leading educationalists, and so offer a uniquely comprehensive overview of Froebelian approaches, and their interaction with contemporary policies and insights. The Handbook explores five significant areas of scholarship and practice: - Part 1 examines the original Froebelian principles and practices in early childhood education in different parts of the world. - Part 2 presents case studies, development projects and practitioner publications exploring Froebelian approaches to early childhood education. - Part 3 details research studies which document, debate and evaluate Froebelian approaches. - Part 4 considers how Froebelian approaches might be sustained and adapted for use in various cultural contexts across the world. - Part 5 offers a re-articulation of research and policy. An essential resource for in-service and future practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers involved in early childhood education, this key text will promote discussion, aid analysis and further the practical application of Frobelian principles. (shrink)

Drowning has been the cause of over 2.5 million preventable deaths in the past decade. Despite the fact that the majority of drownings occur in open water, assessment of water safety competency typically occurs in swimming pools. The assessment of water safety competency in open water environments brings with it a few difficulties, but also promises tremendous benefits. The aim of this position paper is to discuss the benefits and caveats of conducting assessments in open water environments as opposed to (...) closed and controlled environments, and to provide recommendations for evidence-based practice. The first theoretical section discusses the effects of the environment and key variables on various factors of assessment. These discussions are linked to the two perspectives of representative learning design and information processing theory. The second section presents two pilot studies of relevance and provides practical implications for assessment of water safety competency. It seems that a combination of pool-based practice and open water education may be ideal in assessing aquatic skills competency. Assessment in open water presents clear benefits regarding validity, but often poses seemingly unsurmountable barriers, which providers may have reservations about in the absence of clear evidence. Hence this article provides a robust discussion about competency assessment and signals the practical importance of faithfully reproducing the environment in which skilled behavior is most relevant. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In 1868, Lydia Becker (1827–1890), the renowned Manchester suffragist, announced in a talk before the British Association for the Advancement of Science that the mind had no sex. A year later, she presented original botanical research at the BAAS, contending that a parasitic fungus forced normally single-sex female flowers of Lychnis diurna to develop stamens and become hermaphroditic. This essay uncovers the complex relationship between Lydia Becker's botanical research and her stance on women's rights by investigating how her interest (...) in evolutionary theory, as well as her correspondence with Charles Darwin, critically informed her reform agendas by providing her with a new vocabulary for advocating for equality. One of the facts that Becker took away from her work on Lychnis was that even supposedly fixed, dichotomous categories such as biological sex became unfocused under the evolutionary lens. The details of evolutionary theory, from specific arguments on structural adaptations to more encompassing theories on heredity (i.e., pangenesis), informed Becker's understanding of human physiology. At the same time, Becker's belief in the fundamental equality of the sexes enabled her to perceive the distinction between inherent, biological differences and culturally contingent ones. She applied biological principles to social constructs as she asked: Do analogous evolutionary forces act on humans? (shrink)

Talin, a key integrin activator, is essential for cellular adhesion, signal transduction, and mechanical stability. Its transition between autoinhibited and active conformations allows dynamic regulation of adhesion in response to environmental cues. Cholesterol‐rich membrane microdomains, such as lipid rafts, organize and stabilize signaling platforms, influencing talin and integrin conformational states. Cholesterol is a switch modulating talin activation, integrin binding, and adhesion. Environmental pollutants, including heavy metals and air toxins, disrupt cholesterol homeostasis, destabilize lipid rafts, and interfere with talin–integrin interactions. These (...) disruptions impair adhesion, tissue repair, and signaling fidelity, contributing to atherosclerosis and cancer metastasis. Understanding talin's interaction with cholesterol‐rich domains offers critical insights into adhesion regulation and reveals the broader impact of environmental toxicants on cellular function. This framework emphasizes the importance of membrane composition, particularly cholesterol, in mediating the effects of environmental stressors and suggests potential therapeutic interventions. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Heute gilt Muhammad Ali in der öffentlichen Meinung als einer der bekanntesten und beliebtesten Sportler des 20. Jahrhunderts. Der vorliegende Beitrag liefert einen Rückblick auf den US-amerikanischen Sportler, dessen Image in den 1960er Jahren ein Gegenteiliges war. Bei der Darstellung des Wandlungsprozesses werden zwei Perspektiven verfolgt: Zum einen geht es um die Rekonstruktion des öffentlichen Images Muhammad Alis seit den 1960er Jahren, über das eine Analyse der zahlreichen Stellungnahmen von Berichterstattern und Reportern Aufschluss geben kann. Zum anderen geht es (...) um das Verhalten und die Einstellung Muhammad Alis selbst, welche in engem Zusammenhang mit der öffentlichen Rezeption seiner Person stehen. In Anlehnung an diese doppelte Perspektive wird, einem chronologischen Verlauf folgend, erläutert, wie sich das Image dieses Sportlers in den Augen der Öffentlichkeit von dem eines Verräters zu dem eines Märtyrers verändern konnte. (shrink)

Although Kant is often considered the philosopher who ended the reign of metaphysical dogmatism, the situation is not quite so clear. On the one hand, this analysis must bear in mind that Kant himself had a great interest in metaphysics, insofar as it was not dogmatic – Kant himself considered his Critique to be just a reform of metaphysics. On the other hand, the Critique of Pure Reason itself is a result of certain metaphysical-dogmatic preliminary decisions. In order to show (...) how one-sided the idea is that Kant simply did away with metaphysics, I will draw attention to the metaphysical presuppositions that shape the Critique of Pure Reason. The first thinker who attempted to explicate the metaphysical basis of the Critique was Kant’s friend and colleague Johann Georg Hamann. With Hamann’s guidance I will argue that even his Critique of Pure Reason was based on metaphysical presuppositions and that such an influence by metaphysical preliminary decisions is inevitable – even for such a sharp critic of metaphysical dogmatism as Kant. At the same time this text provides an introduction to Hamann’s thought, a thinker ahead of his times. (shrink)

For centuries most ontological systems have been based on the presupposition that the paradigmatic type of being is the kind of being things like stones and houses have. But if one looks at the beginning of Philosophy, at the emergence of philosophic thought, this choice was not obvious. For the pre-Socratics and even for Plato and Aristotle it was not obvious that reality is composed out of static and distinct elements. In this paper I investigate this relationship between a static (...) and a dynamic account of reality both in its historic as well as systematic dimension. I argue that ontologies are ultimately based on an analysis of predication and that dynamic ontologies are mainly based on an empirical or phenomenological investigation of singular and concrete reality. (shrink)

This book brings together contemporary theorists and practitioners to critically explore the state of psychogeography today.

CRISPR Cas9-powered gene drive allows for the rapid alteration of malaria-causing mosquitoes to spread an infertility gene or resistance to malaria among their species. Malaria eradication would be a great boon to human health. But many are concerned with driving genetic changes through a natural species. This chapter catalogs objections to the use of gene drive in mosquitoes for eradicating malaria. In-principle objections to gene drive use are not compelling. The most urgent concerns are related to the safety of the (...) technology for the environment and human health. Philosophers play a critical role in working along scientists to develop risk/benefit models that weigh the reasons for and against gene drive to eradicate malaria based on our best scientific knowledge and rigorous normative reasoning. (shrink)

I draw on Security Council Resolution 1674 to demonstrate that the political assumptions Jacques Derrida holds in his politically-oriented texts are inconsistent with the assumptions of his linguistic texts, and that Jürgen Habermas's political theory is consistent with the political implications of his approach to language. Habermasian pragmatism offers a critical theory of society and discourse of modernity that touches on the same themes of politics and meaning as Derrida and other deconstructionists, but is more coherent, consistent, and explanatorily persuasive.

In this article, I offer what I term a ‘embodied multi-material layering’ approach to study the phenomenon of laboratory or in vitro meat using insights from Don Ihde’s postphenomenological approach and Andrew Feenberg’s theory of critical constructivism. This approach offers a reflective, analytic, and normative model of technological analysis and critique that is indispensable to the study of the cutting edge technologies that combine bioinformatics with agrifood research and biomedical engineering.

Friedrich Froebel considers the origins of Froebelian early childhood education providing context to the development of his theories and ideas, critically examines the key themes of this philosophy of education and explores the relevance of Froebelian practice today. Tina Bruce explores the key aspects of Froebelian philosophy of education: the importance of family, the importance of highly trained teachers, the importance of nature, the whole child and the Froebelian concept of unity, mother songs, movement games, play and self-activity of (...) the child. Bruce considers the implication for Froebelian practice, the views of critics and supporters, the implications for education today and for research. (shrink)

This research note is meant to introduce into philosophical discussion the preliminary results of an empirical study on the state of blacks in philosophy, which is a joint effort of the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on the Status of Black Philosophers (APA CSBP) and the Society of Young Black Philosophers (SYBP). The study is intended to settle factual issues in furtherance of contributing to dialogues surrounding at least two philosophical questions: What, if anything, is the philosophical value of demographic diversity (...) in professional philosophy? And what is philosophy? The empirical goals of the study are (1) to identify and enumerate U.S. blacks in philosophy, (2) to determine the distribution of blacks in philosophy across career stages, (3) to determine correlates to the success of blacks in philosophy at different career stages, and (4) to compare and contrast results internally and externally to explain any career stage gaps and determine any other disparities. (shrink)

By means of data from the most comprehensive source of teacher data in the nation, Schools and Public School Teacher Staffing Survey (SASS), we designeda follow-up quantitative study to test the effects of two decades of national policy mandates on instructional time allotments for core academic subjects. We used data from the SASS data from National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) (1993/1994, 1999/2000, 2003/2004, 2007/2008) to examine national trends of continued marginalization of social studies by exploring the influence of recent (...) educational policy on defining elementary curricula in the 21st Century. With the reauthorization of NCLB in 2007 and newly mandated science testing in grades 3 through 5, we sought to understand statistically how this policy change has affected instructional decisions regarding time allocated to core academic subjects (ELA, mathematics, science and social studies) in elementary schools. Findings provide evidence of the national trend of the declining role of social studies in an era in which testing is associated with importance. Moreover, grade level disparities unique to social studies intensified the effects of 2007 NCLB policy mandates of science testing for 3rd through 5th grade students. Results provide a broader and nationally generalizable understanding of the declining role of social studies in elementary schools and the reduction of time practitioners spend teaching social studies. Thus, the growing imbalance in instructional time distributions for social studies and the tipping of the time distribution scales in favor of science document teacher responses to the expansion of testing mandates and the continued absence of studies from the national testing landscape. (shrink)

Postmodernity's Musical Pasts considers music after 1945 as a representation of concepts such as "historicity" and "temporality". The volume understands postmodernity as a period in which both modernism and postmodernism co-exist. It is attracted to a wider interpretation of "historicity" that focuses on the complex nexus of past-present-future. "Historicity" is understood as leaning closely on "temporality", generally thought of as the linear progression of past, present and future. The volume broadens the absolutist understanding of temporality to include processes which can (...) occur in circular, spiral, transcending and other formations. The book covers an extensive spectrum of topics from classical to popular and neo-traditional musics to concerns of the disciplines of musicology. Such a wide range of topics from both the centre and the periphery of the musicological canon mirrors the eclectic and diverse nature of the postwar era itself. The first section investigates how to understand manifestations of the past in musical composition with regard to time, on the one hand, and with regard to genre, style and idiom, on the other. A second section shows how time and history manifest themselves in art music. A third section takes the contrasts and transitional moments of post-1945 practices further by looking at the temporality of reception from different angles. A final part investigates questions of nostalgia and temporalities of belonging. TINA FR HAUF is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University, New York and serves on the faculty of The Graduate Center, CUNY. CONTRIBUTORS: Michael Arnold, Susana Asensio Llamas, Georg Burgstaller, Caitlin Carlos, Daniela Fugellie, Tina Fr hauf, John Koslovsky, Lawrence Kramer, Beate Kutschke, Laurenz L tteken, Max Noubel, Joshua S. Walden. (shrink)

It is hard to over-estimate the challenge that feminism poses to Roman Catholicism. Pope John Paul II's call for a 'new feminism' has led to the development of a Catholic theological response to the so-called 'old feminism'. _The New Catholic Feminism _sets up a dramatic encounter between the orthodox Catholic establishment and contemporary critical theory, including feminist theology and philosophy, queer theory, and French psycholinguistics, in order to explore fundamental questions about human identity, personhood and gender. From the naked bodies (...) of Eden to the 'gay nuptials' of liturgy, it argues that the strange and volatile world of Catholic sexual symbolism cannot be 'tamed' to meet the ideological agendas of either feminist theology or conservative Catholicism. Only through a radical re-evaluation of the sacramental significance of the sexed human body might the Catholic Church provide a redemptive response to the sexual politics of contemporary society. (shrink)

This book philosophically explores changing conceptions of race and equality in Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Equal Protection Clause since the enactment of the 14th Amendment. It traces these changing conceptions alongside the gradual elimination of the social equality of racialized persons from the Supreme Court’s list of priorities.

Historically people with learning difficulties1 have been either included in research without their consent or excluded from research that affects their treatment and care. Over the last 20 years, however, it has been recognised that to exclude the voice of people with learning difficulties (and other so called vulnerable groups) in research that reflects their lived experiences challenges our notion of ethical practice. Cognitive ability has traditionally been one of the key factors in determining ability to consent. This paper identifies, (...) through work with a group of men with learning difficulties, the impact of different ways of presenting information to prospective participants on their ability to understand key issues in relation to participation in research and hence their ability to give informed consent2. (shrink)

The emerging influence wielded on Japanese businesses by the sokaiya, or extortioners, raises issues not just of bribery but more fundamentally of corporate governance and transparency in the conduct of business. “If it were true that the Japanese companies in question were otherwise conducting their businesses in perfectly ethical ways, then sokaiya would not have any leverage”. The author has completed the first year of her MBA at London Business School after previously working with the Japanese Delegation to the OECD.

Using an Item response theory (IRT) analysis, this study examined ethnic and gender groups differences in exposure to content material (i.e. access to curriculum) assessed on the 12th grade NAEP US History 2010 exam. Employing multi-step data analysis procedures, authors examined race and gender using the NAEP Item Mapping Tool available through NCES. Results revealed item-level patterns, which suggest that females and Black students are more likely to answer questions, related to social history, particularly the Civil Rights, when accounting for (...) student achievement. While instructional exposure matters, how students of similar performance differentiate themselves on item response is related to demographics. These findings have substantial implications for social studies, which include the need to develop a more democratic curriculum that reflects the cultural identities of students in order to make history and history knowledge meaningful. Additionally, results have implications for tests. Assessments should be mindful of cultural validity of items and become more inclusive; perhaps aligning with a more culturally relevant curriculum. (shrink)