Archive for ‘education’

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6 February 2011

Media driving licence for primary schools

Niggemeier blogs about a pilot project for a “media driving licence” which has been introduced in Bavaria.

One particular set of materials aims to teach children in the 3rd and 4th grade about how news is produced, and how to evaluate the credibility of news sources. Newspapers are apparently credible and invariably double-checked. Blogs are full of mistakes, with no external observer to correct them.

Niggemeier:

Unter dem Vorwand einer guten Sache, nämlich Kinder dafür zu sensibilisieren, dass nicht jeder Information zu trauen ist und dass Quellen unterschiedlich vertrauenswürdig sind, erzählt der bayerische „Medienführerschein” ihnen das Märchen von der Überlegenheit gedruckter Nachricht. Es geht nicht nur um den Kontrast professionell ersteller journalistischer Informationen zu privaten Blogs — eine zumindest theoretisch sinnvolle Gegenüberstellung (auch wenn mit spontan gleich mehrere vermeintlich professionelle Medien einfallen, denen ich im Zweifel weniger Glauben schenken würde als einem unbekannten Blog). Die Unterrichtsmaterialen mischen das konsequent mit dem behaupteten qualitativen Unterschied zwischen Print und Online.

Most interesting about the materials is indeed the question of who produced them: the Verband Bayerischer Zeitungsverleger (Association of Bavarian Newspaper Publishers). Delightful. Niggemeier:

„Schau genau hin!” heißt die Lerneinheit. Zu ihren ehrenwerten Zielen gehört es, dass die Kinder (jedenfalls im Internet) auf den Urheber einer Nachricht achten sollen, um die Glaubwürdigkeit von Informationen bewerten zu können. „Firmen verfolgen eigene Interessen”, warnt das Begleitmaterial, „und werden vor allem sich selbst oder ihre Produkte ins rechte Licht rücken.”

In der Tat. Herausgeber der Unterrichtseinheit ist übrigens zufällig der Verband Bayerischer Zeitungsverleger (VBZV). Ich hoffe, Kinder und Lehrer schauen genau hin, entdecken dessen kleines Logo auf der Titelseite und denken sich ihren Teil, was von dieser Printpropaganda zu halten ist.

And there, of course, we see the internal contradiction in the materials themselves.

“Schau genau hin!” here as pdf.

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25 January 2011

Citizenship row in the UK

Once again, the curriculum is the site of emotional debates about what counts as “vital knowledge”, what kinds of memories, experiences, practices, stories, etc. “we” (who?) should be sharing.

On Thursday, Michael Grove, Conservative Education Minister, launched a review of the English national curriculum. There are concerns about what would follow forpolitical participation if Citizenship is no longer be a mandatory subject.

Two sides (both from The Guardian). In the red corner,

Last month, ministers unveiled which subjects would make up part of the new English baccalaureate qualification: maths, English, science, foreign languages and a humanity, such as history or geography. Gove has said that his intention is to “restore the national curriculum to its original purpose – a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines”.

And in the blue corner,

Andy Thornton, chief executive of the Citizenship Foundation, said [...] cutting citizenship would mean a return to “an era where only the privileged few will learn about how our democracy works, how laws are made, where our taxes go, and how they can make a difference in their communities”.

Check also the heated online comments reacting to the Guardian’s stories.

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20 December 2010

RSA animate and educational change

How radically would education change if Ken Robinson’s ideas – animated here at the RSA - were implemented.

…animated by cognitive media

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25 September 2010

Curriculum Studies

Curriculum studies is probably one area of educational research which deals most explicitly with discourse, and with the whole range of associated issues of knowledge, power, subjectivation, hegemonic projects, critical whiteness, etc. Here a selective selection of sites, which is admittedly quite North American heavy:

American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (AAACS) (association, journal, annual conference)

… is established to support a “worldwide” – but not “uniform” – field of curriculum studies. Our hope, in establishing this organization, is to provide organizational support for a rigorous and scholarly conversation within and across national and regional borders regarding the content, context, and process of education, the organizational and intellectual center of which is the curriculum.

Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies (CACS) (conference, SIGs)

… supports inquiries into and discussions of curricula that are of interest to Canadian educators. In context of CACS, the term “curriculum” is defined broadly as any complex structure, or set of structures, that supports learning and teaching.

JCTonline (home of Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice; Journal of Curriculum Theorizing (JCT); related to Foundation for Curriculum Theory)

JCT: Journal of Curriculum Theorizing is an interdisciplinary journal of curriculum studies. It offers an academic forum for scholarly discussions of curriculum. Historically aligned with the “reconceptualist” movement in curriculum theorizing, and oriented toward informing and affecting classroom practice, JCT presents compelling pieces within forms that challenge disciplinary, genre, and textual boundaries.

The journal is associated with the “Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice,” held in the autumn of each year.

Curriculum and Pedagogy group (conference, journal, edited books)

… is a gathering of diverse individuals seeking academic enrichment, social action, and professional engagement; Our conference is an annual space where work can be shared, valued, and disseminated to a diverse audience committed to educational reform and social change. The conference creates democratic spaces to advance public moral leadership in education through dialogue and action. It is characterized by its commitment to classroom teachers, school administrators and curriculum workers and in providing a venue for under-represented groups.

The newly inaugurated Laboratory for Educational Theory in Stirling seems to be re-invigorating curriculum thinking in the UK. It held an international seminar called “Whatever Happened to Curriculum Theory…?” in collaboration with the journal Pedagogy, Culture and Society in January 2010.

Journal of Curriculum Studies

…publishes original refereed contributions on all aspects of curriculum studies (including those derived from historical, philosophical, comparative and policy-related investigations), pedagogic theory, teacher education and development, assessment and evaluation, and the present state of schooling. In keeping with its international character, Journal of Curriculum Studies especially welcomes articles which extend the perspectives of curriculum beyond national boundaries.

Curriculum Inquiry

…is dedicated to the study of educational research, development, evaluation, and theory. This leading international journal brings together influential academics and researchers from a variety of disciplines around the world to provide expert commentary and lively debate. Articles explore important ideas, issues, trends, and problems in education, and each issue also includes provocative and critically analytical editorials covering topics such as curriculum development, educational policy, and teacher education.

And with a somewhat different approach to curriculum, focussing more on effective leadership in education, and less of discursive issues, the following two associations:

Australian Curriculum Studies Association Inc (ACSA) (leadership, eNewsletter, publications)

…was established in 1983 as a broadly based educational association supporting the professional interests of educators in curriculum work from all levels and sectors within and beyond Australia.

ACSA works to support educators so that all students have access to a meaningful, relevant and engaging curriculum. ACSA provides national advocacy and leadership in curriculum. It is committed to curriculum reform informed by the principles of social justice and equity and respect for the democratic rights of all.

ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) (leadership, blog, effectiveness, publications)

… is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner. Our 160,000 members in 148 countries are professional educators from all levels and subject areas––superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members.

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17 June 2010

Winter Method School – content and discourse analysis

Winter Schule: Öffentlichkeitsforschung – Methoden für Inhalts- und Diskursanalyse
16.11.10-20.11.10
FU Berlin, Germany

The Method School’s aim is to highlight the state of the art in the field and discuss
which research questions can be tackled by which computer-aided content and discourse
analysis. Large-n content analyses have become popular, as content data is now
accessible in digital format. Some of the new approaches go beyond counting single terms
in documents, and seek to understand the structure and the context of the content
analysed. Several approaches have entered the stage at which it becomes possible to
combine quantitative and computer-aided qualitative coding. The Method School will,
therefore, offer an introduction into some of the most widely used software packages in
the field, but also introduce the basics of content and discourse analysis.

Besides introductions by experienced lecturers, the programme includes intensive group
work, practical sessions using traditional and new computer software and possibilities
for students to bring in their own research ideas and approaches. Some common social
activities in the beautiful city of Berlin will round off the programme.

The Winter Method School is particularly designed for early doctoral students (first two
years) with a research interest in the public sphere and no or limited prior knowledge
in the field of content and discourse analysis. In exceptional cases, graduate students
will be accepted if they can demonstrate a profound interest in these research methods
and have plans to use them in their PhD studies. All applicants should be fluent in
English.

Places available: 20

Institution: Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, Fachbereich Politik- und
Sozialwissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin
Beteiligte Personen: Prof. Dr. Thomas Risse, Freie Universität Berlin
Dr. Marianne van de Steeg, Freie Universität Berlin
Dr. Roel Popping, Groningen University
Dr. Veronika Koller, Lancaster University
Brit Helle Aarskog, Bergen University
Kontaktperson: Wiebke Wemheuer
Email: methodschool-jmce AT polsoz..fu-berlin.de
Fax: +49 (0)30 – 838-55049
Adresse: Ihnestraße 22
14195 Berlin
Germany

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3 June 2010

Discursive agency and primary education

New project on primary schools combining discourse theory and critical educational studies at the University of Luxembourg: ProDIC-Discourse Structures and Dis-/Integration in Education: Promotion of Critical Discourse Competencies.

School as a social institution cannot be separated from its context; it is part of and influencing social reality (cf. New London School; Gee; Yurén). However, few schooling practices take into account this dimension of ‘agency’ of schools as institutions as well as of the implied individual actors, in the re-/co-/construction of social reality. The present project tries to cope with this lack by deconstructing institutionalised discursive constraints of agency in a Luxembourgish primary school, and by elaborating a critical concept of agency at the intersection of French discourse theory and critical educational research, that is adapted to the Luxembourgish socio-cultural context. It aims at finding ways to empower actors, in particular learners, to actively participate and take over responsibilities in the re-/co-/construction of the reality of school, classroom and learning activities, as well as of the individual life as social being and of society as a whole.

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28 May 2010

Design Literacies

Interesting new book from Routledge: Mary P. Sheridan, Jennifer Rowsell (2010) Design Literacies: Learning and Innovation in the Digital Age.

Design Literacies: Learning and Innovation in the Digital Age explores new ways of meaning making by examining the practices, stories, and products of new and digital media producers with the goal of understanding the logic of marketplace production.

Based on interviews with thirty new media and digital technology producers, including designers of video games, community activists and marketers of digital technologies, Design Literacies looks at the shared patterns and common themes and offers a window into contemporary out-of-school practices, a language to describe these practices and a pedagogy that better meets students’ needs in this new media and digital age.

With a foreword by Gunther Kress and an afterword by James Gee, Design Literacies: Learning and Innovation in the Digital Age will be of interest to postgraduate and graduate students of applied linguistics and education.

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26 May 2010

Revisioning Pragmatism

Conference honoring the memory of William James at the University of Hamburg, June 24 – 26, 2010.

This conference takes place on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of William James’s death. While we want to honor James — arguably the most famous American philosopher — as a great scholar and the father of pragmatism, the conference aims at much more: It examines the impact of pragmatism on various disciplines in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and tries to engage in a discourse that breaks new ground and advances new perspectives in theoretical debates that still seem to be largely dominated by European traditions.

As with James’s work itself, whose interdisciplinary character has inspired work especially in philosophy, psychology and physiology, this conference is also characterized by interdisciplinarity and transnational dialogue. Scholars from the fields of philosophy, literary and cultural studies, social science, and religious studies will explore pragmatism’s importance, potential, and current relevance.

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26 April 2010

Science textbooks, girls and performance

World Science reports that “mostly-male book images may reduce girls’ science scores“. Or to frame it more positively, more images of girls in the textbooks increased girls’ performance.

Part of the rea­son boys tend to out­score girls in sci­ence clas­ses may be that most text­books show pre­dom­i­nantly male sci­en­tists’ im­ages, a small ex­plor­a­to­ry study has found.

The stu­dy, on 81 young high-school stu­dents, saw the “gen­der gap” ap­par­ently re­versed when youths were tested based on a text con­tain­ing only female sci­ent­ist im­ages, in­ves­ti­ga­tors said. The gap re­turned in its usu­al form when ma­le-only im­ages were used—and van­ished when the pho­tos showed equal num­bers of men and wom­en sci­en­tists, re­search­ers said. … (April 23, 2010)

The full stu­dy: Jes­si­ca J. Good, Julie A. Woodzicka and Lylan C. Wingfield (2010). “The Effects of Gender Stereotypic and Counter-Stereotypic Textbook Images on Science Performance”, Jour­nal of So­cial Psy­chol­o­gy150 (2): 132-147. (Abstract)

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18 April 2010

Language and culture

Question: What percent of languages in the world are primitive in the sense of not having a system of sounds, words, and sentences that can adequately communicate the content of culture?
Answer here on the second “flashcard”.

More tutorials on human communication by Dennis O’Neil.

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