Philosophy of Teaching

The purpose of this study was to establish the usage of research and theory in the teaching of English language in secondary schools in Botswana. Altogether 100 questionnaires were administered in 19 secondary schools. The results of this study indicate that teachers rarely ever refer to language research in their teaching. Less value was also placed on the theoretical information acquired during training. The respondents indicated that their teaching is essentially based on utilizing their teaching experience and individual creativity.

PhD students have to take responsibility managing their own learning and getting a PhD. They are also responsible for determining what is required as well as for carrying it out, and must always keep in touch in regular meetings with the supervisor. The student is the main person responsible for his/her PhD research. Doing a PhD clearly indicates that this is a student's own research and work. The actual research using case study method where three Malaysian PhD students from three (...) major disciplines of study namely arts, science and social science were involved. However only one case study which focusing on Science discipline will be presented in this article. The reason being there were too many quotations have to be put in if better understanding of the story is to be achieved. This would make the article be too long if three case studies to be presented in this article. The objective of this research is to provide better guidelines for effective roles of a PhD Science student especially the foreign student. As a result, the research had developed the best effective roles in order for students to success in their study. (shrink)

The relationship between the supervisor and student plays important role in promoting the student's objectives. However, problem of compatibility usually occurs between them and therefore, they both need to know their roles in order to ensure good relationship. The purpose of this article is to investigate related elements in clinical supervision which could be implemented for graduate research student supervision. The article is designed by reviewing and discussing the related findings on the clinical supervision and graduate research student supervision literatures. (...) The element that used in the clinical supervision and graduate research student is studied in order to get better approaches for graduate student supervision practices. With the combination of elements between both approaches, it is hoped that it could provide benefit for relationship between student and supervisor in fulfilling the objectives proposed. (shrink)

The central conflicts of the world today are closely related to cultural, traditional, and religious differences between nations. As we move to a globalized world, these differences often become magnified, entrenched, and the cause of bloody conflict. Growing out of a conference of distinguished scholars from the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, this volume is a singular contribution to mutual understanding and cooperative efforts on behalf of peace. The term paideia, drawn from Greek philosophy, has to do with (...) responsible education for citizenship as a necessary precondition for effective democracy. (shrink)

The central conflicts of the world today are closely related to cultural, traditional, and religious differences between nations. As we move to a globalized world, these differences often become magnified, entrenched, and the cause of bloody conflict. Growing out of a conference of distinguished scholars from the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, this volume is a singular contribution to mutual understanding and cooperative efforts on behalf of peace. The term paideia, drawn from Greek philosophy, has to do with (...) responsible education for citizenship as a necessary precondition for effective democracy. (shrink)

One of the recent imperatives in higher education worldwide has been internationalization of the curriculum. The object of this article is to explore student perceptions of internationalization across diverse course offerings within one school of the University of South Australia . UniSA is notable in the Australian context as a university which from very early in its development enshrined internationalization among its seven ‘graduate qualities’. In this preliminary study, we explore the notions of internationalization of the curriculum as represented in (...) the literature, describing the context for internationalization at UniSA before exploring student perceptions. Our data reveal that on the whole students appear to have a deep and integrated sense of internationalization of the curriculum which at times clashes with a less developed conceptualization defined by their course of study. From our study we are able to begin to define certain principles which foster internationalization of the curriculum and draw some challenging conclusions about its future in higher education. (shrink)

The question of how we should engage with a philosopher’s racial thought is of particular importance when considering Kant, who can be viewed as particularly representative of Enlightenment philosophy. In this article I argue that we should take a stance of deep acknowledgment when considering Kant’s work both inside and outside the classroom. Taking a stance of deep acknowledgment should be understood as 1) taking Kant’s racial thought to be reflective of his moral character, 2) Kant being accountable for his (...) racial thought and 3) being willing to consider the possibility that Kant’s racial thought is consistent with and inextricable from his moral philosophy. Alternative forms of engaging with Kant’s racial work have either moral or pedagogical failings, which range from simply teaching the history of philosophy uncritically to outright deception. A stance of deep acknowledgement will allow philosophers to understand how Kant’s racial thought interacts with his moral philosophy and allow instructors to teach philosophy in a historically contextualized approach so as to not alienate students whose demographic was disparaged by Kant. (shrink)

In the wake of the digital, some have recommended that we abandon the tedium of teaching handwriting to children in service of promoting “more creative” digital literacies. Others worry that an early diet of keyboard and screen may have deleterious effects on children's social, emotional, and cognitive development, as well as their physical well-being. Yet in this debate, the algorithmic scripts and digital surfaces underwriting these new reading, writing, and mathematical practices are, with a few notable exceptions, almost exclusively ignored. (...) In this essay, Catherine Adams asks whether the digital, and the reading and writing spaces it affords, are of consequence to our habits of thinking and ways of being, particularly in light of the possible obsolescence of pen and paper in schools. She shows that writing using a word processor is no mere mechanical pressing of keys, but an intricate ballet of writerly reading eyes and readerly writing hands, caught up in a dynamic environment of algorithmic paratexts and copy-cut-paste thinking. (shrink)

The relationship between the Socioeconomic Status of students and their academic 'achievement was examined in this study. The research was carried out on a randomly selected sample of 623 Junior Secondary School students from four secondary schools in Ado-Odo, Ota, Ogun State. The parental educational and occupational background was used as a measure of family social status. Student achievement is a score of the standardized Junior Secondary School Examination in English language organized by National Examination Council [NECO]. Parental Social Economic (...) Status in particular has a significant and substantive independent effect on individual academic achievement. (shrink)

This study investigates the effectiveness of a preparatory programme on the acceptance of students with physical disabilities by their peers in inclusive schools in Tehran. The classrooms which had students with physical disabilities were included in this study. Two hundred and twenty?one third? to fifth?grade students (116 girls and 105 boys) were selected randomly and were placed in experimental and control groups. The Acceptance Scale (Form B) established by Voeltz was used to measure peer acceptance. Data were collected from two (...) groups before and after applying the preparatory programme. The data were analysed by t?test for independent groups and two?way ANOVA. The results showed increase of acceptance in experimental group. Also in comparing the level of acceptance in girls and boys, the results indicated that the acceptance in girls were more than boys. (shrink)

Despite a wealth of prior research, little consensus has arisen about the goals and effectiveness of business ethics education. Additionally, accounting academics have recently been questioned as to their commitment to accounting ethics education. The current study examines whether accounting students' perceptions of business ethics and the goals of accounting ethics education are fundamentally different from the perceptions of accounting faculty members. The study uses a survey instrument to elicit student and faculty responses to various questions concerning the importance of (...) business ethics and accounting ethics education. Statistical analyses indicate that students consider both business ethics and the goals of accounting ethics education to be more important than faculty members. Implications of these results for accounting faculty members interested in accounting ethics education are discussed. (shrink)

This chapter aims to revisit the notion of argumentation that is currently used in science education. After acknowledging a consolidated tendency of linguistics-based approaches to the study of ‘school scientific argumentation’, the chapter proposes to shift the interest towards an examination of the epistemic aspects of argumentation, i.e. those that derive from its central participation in science as a process and as a product. The premise of the chapter is that the contributions of the philosophy and history of science and (...) of other science studies and metatheoretical perspectives –which are here collectively called ‘HPS’– constitute a fruitful theoretical background to understand scientific arguments and arguing in educational settings. Based on this premise, five possible ‘bridges’ between argumentation and HPS are proposed; such bridges are identified through a ‘theory-directed’ literature review. (shrink)

Research on the well‐being of teachers was conducted at the request of the Department of Education in Flanders, Belgium. The goals were: to construct an instrument for the Education Inspectorate; and to conduct a survey in order to identify school‐related conditions relevant for teachers’ professional well‐being. Based on literature and panel discussions with teachers and principals, a questionnaire was constructed, tested and subdivided in subscales following a factor analysis. The questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of elementary and secondary (...) school teachers. A multilevel analysis reveals how differences in scores can be explained at school level. (shrink)

The basic question addressed in this study is whether accounting students, from four countries located in three different continents, are aware of ethical conduct and if there are any differences in awareness among these groups of students. The subjects are from Mississippi State University , the University of the Philippines , the University of Indonesia at Jakarta , and University of Tampere . Specifically, the study examined the studentïs perception of ethical relative to sixteen cases, each of which describes an (...) ethical dilemma. The results showed that, overall, the students from the four universities differ significantly in their perceptions of ethics. The students from the University of the Philippines indicated the highest degree of ethical awareness. The students from Mississippi State University and the University of Tampere showed almost identical scores. In seven of the sixteen cases, all four groups of students clearly showed ethical awareness. All four groups of students were indifferent of situtations that include training sales force on high-pressured selling techniques and hiring employees away from competitors. All four groups of students found nothing wrong with giving awards to customers based on dollar purchases to maintain customers loyalty. All four groups expressed their strongest disapproval of deceitful actions involving unsubstantiated adverstising claim, using high pollutant material to avoid raising price, and selling a banned carcinogen sleepwar in far flung areas with no means of knowing about the danger if the product.The recent emphasis on the inclusion of ethics in business curricula has given rise to the questions of how aware the business student is already of the subject. If the student has already learned of the difference between right and wrong, then the curricula would be different to that which would be required by student who does not know of this difference. The purpose of such a course would be to give the student some understanding of what would be considered ethical conduct before the student moves into the "real" world, whrere each segment of society is trying to define and apply ethical principles as perceived and required within that segment. Thus, in the business segment, a specific set of rules and accetable patterns of behavior have been developed; bankers, lawyers, accountants, doctors and other professionals have specific codes of ethics to which adherence is expected. The purpose of this study is to examine whether accounting students, from four countries located in three continents, viz., Mississippi State University , University fo the Philippines in Manila, University of Indonesia at Jakarta, and University of Tampere in Finland area aware of ethical conduct and if there are any differences in awareness among these four groups of accounting students. (shrink)

What do we aim at when we teach general introductory courses in moral philosophy? What should we aim at? In particular, should we focus on practice or theory? Should we make the study of ethics easy for the students, or should we alternatively aim at making the hardness of ethics attractive to them? This review discusses four recently published textbooks in ethics designed for beginners’ level courses. The books are different in organization and emphases. In each case, I have given (...) a short overview of the book’s contents, its aims and methods. I have also made some assessment about the usefulness of each: the philosophical territory it covers, the philosophical approach it puts forward, and the amount of preparation-work it leaves with the teacher. My overview thus gives the necessary information, and creates for the teacher the occasion for reflecting on—leaves the teacher with the task of deciding—what and how they want to teach. (shrink)

South Africa had a change in government and in education after the 1994 elections. A new curriculum was introduced and some of the underlying critical outcomes were to develop the learners to become critical thinkers. The methodology by which to teach these outcomes was not clear. An intervention programme, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is used in some countries across the world to promote thinking. Research across the world has shown that this programme has the ability to enhance the cognitive abilities (...) of learners exposed to it. Stories for Thinking (SFT) is an intervention programme based on the principles of Philosophy for Children and was introduced in some schools in an Education District of the Western Cape. This study investigates the perceptions of Intermediate Phase educators about the implementation of Stories for Thinking in this Education District. Educators were asked their strengths and challenges of the approach, their way of using it and the support they received. A qualitative research method was used and data were gathered to answer the research questions by means of questionnaires and interviews. Research findings indicate that educators perceived that Stories for Thinking was able to enhance the reading ability of the learners, it showed a significant improvement in their confidence levels, and a positive change in their general behaviour. Language was seen as a barrier to learning, but the evidence indicates that the community of inquiry can be used as a tool to overcome some of the barriers. It seems as if educators valued the support from the project leaders. It is concluded that this kind of intervention programme is worth introducing as long as all the role-players play their part and the setting is conducive.

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Within a context of rapid growth and diversification in higher degree research programs, there is increasing pressure for the results of doctoral research to be made public. Doctoral students are now being encouraged to publish not only after completion of the doctorate, but also during, and even as part of their research program. For many this is a new and challenging feature of their experience of doctoral education. _Publishing Pedagogies for the Doctorate and Beyond_ is a timely and informative collection (...) of practical and theorised examples of innovative pedagogies that encourage doctoral student publishing. The authors give detailed accounts of their own pedagogical practices so that others may build on their experiences, including: a program of doctoral degree by publication; mentoring strategies to support student publishing; innovations within existing programs, including embedded publication pedagogies; co-editing a special issue of a scholarly journal with students; ‘publication brokering’, and writing groups and writing retreats. With contributions from global leading experts, this vital new book: explores broader issues pertaining to journal publication and the impacts on scholarly research and writing practices for students, supervisors and the academic publishing community takes up particular pedagogical problems and strategies, including curriculum and supervisory responses arising from the ‘push to publish’ documents explicit experiences and practical strategies that foster writing-for-publication during doctoral candidature. _Publishing Pedagogies for the Doctorate and Beyond_ explores the challenges and rewards of supporting doctoral publishing and provides new ways to increase research publication outputs in a pedagogically sound way. It will be a valued resource for supervisors and their doctoral students, as well as for program coordinators and managers, academic developers, learning advisors, and others involved in doctoral education. (shrink)

First published in 1975, Donald Akenson’s book was at the forefront of a radically new approach to the study of Irish educational history. Instead of investigating the evolution of the schools as an isolated process, he explores the complex interrelations of Irish education, institutions and society, treating the schools as cultural litmus paper. By presenting Ireland’s schools as a reflection of the society that produced them, Professor Akenson demonstrates that they are, in truth, "a mirror to the face of Kathleen (...) ni Houlihan". (shrink)

Science lessons using inquiry only or history of science with inquiry were used for explicit reflective nature of science instruction for second-, third-, and fourth-grade students randomly assigned to receive one of the treatments. Students in both groups improved in their understanding of creative NOS, tentative NOS, empirical NOS, and subjective NOS as measured using VNOS-D as pre- and post-test surveys. Social and cultural context of science was not accessible for the students. Students in second, third, and fourth grades were (...) able to attain adequate views of empirical NOS, the role of observation and inference, creative and imaginative NOS, and subjective NOS. Students were not able to express adequate views of socially and culturally embedded NOS. Most gains in NOS eroded by the next school year, except for tentative NOS for both groups and creative NOS for the inquiry group. (shrink)

This book explores what motivates net-generation community college students to complete their degrees. By emphasizing relationships, personal growth, and support systems, the author’s research will empower educational institutions to increase retention and foster success.

The study investigated the influence of school type, school population and socioeconomic status of parents on secondary students' academic performance. Three hypotheses were postulated and tested at .05 level of significance. Survey research design was adopted to conduct the study. Participants included 680 students of public and private secondary schools in Akinyele L.GA of Oyo State selected through a simple random technique. Their age range was between 14- 18 yrs with a mean age of 15.7 yrs. The instruments used for (...) data collection was a self-designed questionnaire that contain information on the independent variables and WASCE 2003/2004 results of participants. Results of data analysis using zero- order correlation and t-test statistical procedure indicated that the parental SES, school type, school population and general school environment can make a significant contribution to students' academic performance. On the basis of these findings, suggestions and recommendations were articulated. (shrink)

Epistemological beliefs are the beliefs that people have about the nature of knowledge and knowing. Examined in this study were three aspects of the construct of students' epistemological beliefs in the Saudi Arabian culture. First, epistemological dimensions that male and female college students hold were examined. Second, the idea of domain-independence/dependence of these beliefs was tested with students from religious and science disciplines. Third, gender differences in regard to epistemological beliefs were investigated. ;It was found that epistemological beliefs have an (...) influence on students' perceptions of knowledge and processes of knowing. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were conducted to assess these phenomena. ;The sample contained 380 participants from upper level religion and science classes who lived in the Middle Region of Saudi Arabia. Two factors were identified in exploratory factor analysis: Active/Deep Learning and Simple/Certain knowledge . Effects for academic discipline were significant at the .05 and .000 levels of the two factors, respectively. Gender differences were significant at the .000 level for the Active/Deep Learning factor but not for the Simple/Certain factor. However, interaction was found to be significant at the .000 level between major and gender in the Simple/Certain Factor. This interaction was due to a larger difference among females as a function of major. Results from the open-ended question and the interviews yielded similar results. (shrink)

This study explored the transition to university as experienced by first-year students of English studies. The first year has been identified by existing research as a critical time for new students in terms of their persistence and success on their degree programme. However, there is a need for further research in the current UK higher education climate, especially within subject disciplines. Attempts to account for successful transition have investigated students’ social integration, the institutional environment, and theories of approaches to learning. (...) In particular, the study drew on research into academic socialisation and academic literacies to examine students’ accounts of joining first year and their development of student identities. While describing anxieties and concerns about adjusting to the new practices and discourses of English literature at university level, students’ identification with their chosen subject appeared closely implicated in their engagement with university study and their a... (shrink)

Each year a national day of commemoration of the war dead is celebrated on 11th November in the United Kingdom. Despite public controversy about the nature and purpose of remembrance, there has been no significant discussion of the role schools should play in this event. In this centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War, with the government planning to send groups from every secondary school in Britain to tour the battlefields of the western front over the next (...) four years, the question of how war should be remembered in schools is more pressing than ever. In this bold and rigorous pamphlet, David Aldridge takes a hard look at the reasons usually advanced for involving children and young people in commemorating the war dead, and finds many of them wanting. He critically examines the high profile in schools of charities, like the Royal British Legion, with vested interests in certain kinds of commemoration. And he argues forcefully for a justification of remembrance in schools that requires a major rethink of established rituals and practices. This is a compelling treatment of a topic high on the agenda of teachers and education policy-makers and will be an invaluable resource for anyone involved in planning centenary commemorative events for children and young people. (shrink)