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Issue #50 of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, "Learning With Treescapes in Environmentally Endangered Times Learning with Treescapes in Environmentally Endangered Times," is intended to be hopeful. Articles in this issue contribute to the envisioning of new practices and to an architecture of knowledge to waymark a more sustainable route into the future. Trees are vital for the present and future health of the planet, its inhabitants, and ecosystems. They store carbon and breathe out oxygen. Their leaves filter dangerous pollutants. Their branches provide shade and a shelter for a myriad of other beings, allowing diverse species to thrive. They provide cooling, control erosion, and filter water. Articles in this issue include stories from teachers and their students about learning with trees, and descriptions of how engagements with trees can transform research and ways of thinking, feeling, and being. Across multiple pieces, authors reflect on how connecting with trees facilitates greater connection among humans and between humans and the more-than-human occupants of our planet.

This volume draws together a selection of papers from YAC2018, the first meeting in the annual Year Abroad Conference series, which took place at Newcastle University in September 2018. The contributions collected here examine some of the opportunities, gains, and challenges the Year Abroad brings for both students and staff. They are presented around the five broad themes around which YAC2018 was organised: mental health, year abroad preparation, student perception of the year abroad, year abroad assessment, and employability. This volume will be of interest to academics and professional services staff involved in the preparation, administration, and management of the year abroad. [Newcastle University and the School of Modern Languages in particular provided organisational and financial support in the preparation of the event.]

This edited volume presents innovative current research in the field of Science Education. The chapter's deal with a wide variety of topics and research approaches, conducted in a range of contexts and settings. Together they make a strong contribution to knowledge on science teaching and learning. The book consists of selected presentations from the 12th European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) Conference, held in Dublin, Ireland from 21st to 25th August, 2017. The ESERA community is made up of professionals with diverse disciplinary backgrounds from natural sciences to social sciences. This diversity enables a rich understanding of cognitive and affective aspects of science teaching and learning. The studies in this book will stimulate discussion and interest in finding new ways of implementing and researching science education for the future. The twenty-two chapters in this book are presented in four parts highlighting innovative approaches to school science, emerging identities in science education, approaches to developing learning and competence progressions, and ways of enhancing science teacher education. This collection of studies showcases current research orientations in science education and is of interest to science teachers, teacher educators and science education researchers around the world with a commitment to bridging research and practice in science teaching and learning. [Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]

This issue of "Bank Street Occasional Papers" explores the value of time outside of school. Educators have given relatively little scholarly attention to young people's nonschool lives. Ignored or valorized, nonschool spaces show up in educational research only as a backdrop, implying that school learning is the yardstick by which to measure the young people's lives. Even scholars who focus primarily on nonschool spaces are limited by their inability to theorize nonschool learning without framing it in terms of school learning (Sefton-Green, 2012; Teitle, 2012). Yet this myopic view of school outcomes only serves to narrow the purpose and possibilities of nonschool time. Therefore, the editors of "Bank Street Occasional Papers" asked authors to expand the conversation about young people's lives outside of school. Contributing authors both engage with current literature on nonschool spaces and offer new and exciting ways to conceptualize nonschool activity and learning. Articles in this issue include: (1) What (and Where) Is the "Learning" When We Talk About Learning in the Home? (Julian Sefton-Green); (2) Global Childhoods, Asian Lifeworlds: After School Time in Hong Kong (Nicola Yelland, Sandy Muspratt, and Caja Gilbert); (3) Becoming-Belieber: Girls' Passionate Encounters with Bieber Culture (Kortney Sherbine); (4) Building After-School Islands of Expertise in "Wrestling Club" (Victor Sensenig); (5) Mapping the Social Across Lived Experiences: Relational Geographies and After-School Time (Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur and Louai Rahal); (6) Changing Through Laughter with "Laughter for a Change" (Laurel J. Felt and Ed Greenberg); (7) Enhanced Participation: Creating Opportunities for Youth Leadership Development (Clara Waloff); (8) Witnessing the Power of El Sistema in Urban Communities: Sister Cities Girlchoir (Erika Kitzmiller); and (9) Playing Outdoors: The Importance of the City as a Playground for Skateboarding and Parkour (Michael Jeffries, Sebastian Messer, and Jon Swords). Individual articles contain references.

HEPI's last foray into the debate on academic selection suggested grammar schools are successful in helping their poorer pupils reach highly-selective universities. In this response, a diverse set of voices use the latest evidence to challenge the idea that grammar school systems serve pupils better than comprehensive schools. This collection of essays also asks what lessons comprehensive schools might offer for the UK's highly-selective university system. Chapters in the volume include: (1) Introduction (John Furlong and Ingrid Lunt); (2) A Methodological Critique (Matt Dickson and Lindsey Macmillan); (3) Selective Secondary Education and Progression to Higher Education (Vikki Boliver and Queralt Capsada-Munsech); (4) What Do Cohort Studies Reveal about Grammar Schools, Higher Education and Social Mobility? (Alice Sullivan); (5) Rolling Forward Comprehensive Education: The Case for Including Universities (Tim Blackman); and (6) Concluding Comments (John Furlong and Ingrid Lunt).

This paper explores the value of encouraging adults in the United Kingdom to participate in learning in science through extensive consultations with practitioners in the field of science education. Data were also collected through a literature review and a brief survey to collect views regarding adults' participation in learning opportunities in science. This paper reports that the analysis confirmed the need to promote and develop additional opportunities for adult participation in education in the sciences, engineering, and technology. The following were among the nine broad suggestions for promoting more democratic access to dialogue and debate about science matters and to widen participation in related learning: (1) initiate planning for a more coherent and flexible lifelong learning curriculum responsive to communities and interest groups; (2) celebrate and promote examples of good practice encouraging adults to learn more about science for its own sake; (3) develop wider access to initial and in-service training provision in relation to science teaching; and (4) expand access to short courses in media presentation and communication for scientists and journalists. Thirty-eight specified recommendations directed toward specific agencies were also presented. The following items are appended: lists of core members of the Advisory Group on Adult Learners and Science and survey respondents; selected statistics; and a 53-item bibliography. (MN)

This document contains four papers that examine four diverse topics from the field of adult education: multiculturalism, ageism, mathematics, and new paradigm research. In "Editorial Introduction," Roger Fieldhouse gives an overview of the papers and the experience of their authors. The first paper, "Multi-Cultural Perspectives on Adult Education: Putting Policy into Practice" (Nancy Gidley), discusses the need for multicultural education and issues of curriculum, access, staff development, resources, and management. The role of nurse education in challenging ageist attitudes among student nurses in the delivery of health care to older adults is examined in Catherine Cadman's paper "Ageist Practice in Nursing: The Challenge to Professional Education." In her paper "Transposing Mathematics from the Margins to the Centre," Roseanne Benn discusses the links between democracy, adult education, and mathematics. Allen Parrott's paper "Adult Education and New Paradigm Research" describes new paradigm research and suggests that adult education would be an especially fertile ground for new-style inquiry methods and philosophy because of their accord with adult education values. (MN)

This document contains six papers examining the theoretical and practical development of university adult continuing education (ACE) curricula in the late 1990s. The following are among the factors considered in "An Exploration of the Factors Affecting the Adult Continuing Education Curriculum" (Roseanne Benn): goals; cultural, political, and educational forces; and experiences or philosophies of knowledge. "Word-Power: The Influence of Language on Practice in Curriculum Development" (Simon Trezise) explores the power of the dominant discourse and the power of individuals to resist or change it. The drive toward vocational relevance in ACE in the last 2 decades and its effect on curriculum development is analyzed in "A Re-formation of Liberal Values: Embedding Transferable Skills in the Adult Continuing Education Curriculum" (Roger Fieldhouse). The trend toward a "skills-based" history in ACE is traced in "Developing a History Curriculum for Adult Learners--A Case Study" (Lynne Thompson). "A Part-time Humanities Degree off Campus: Factors in Curriculum Design" (Ella Westland) describes efforts at the University of Exeter's outpost in Cornwall to respond to changing student demands and funding formulas. "Widening Access: A Curriculum for Distance Learning" (Caroline Whiting) outlines the process of setting up distance learning provision in ACE at Exeter. (MN)

The six articles in this issue tackle topics that relate to the role and function of numeracy in adult life. "Reading Comprehension in Written Mathematics Problems" (Sue Wareham) examines the levels of reading ability required of numeracy students and offers strategies to help students with limited reading skills. "Can Ordinary People Do Real Maths?" (Joan O'Hagan) tackles the issue of "real" math through a review of historical, philosophical, and cultural perspectives on the nature of mathematics and considers the consequences for tutors and students. "Numeracy: A Core Skill or Not?" (George Barr) reviews the place of numeracy within recently established core skills frameworks. "Sorting Out Statistics: Confessions of a Numeracy Tutor" (Sarah Oliver) considers the place of statistics in life and in the curriculum. "Learning Contracts in Higher Education: Towards Confidence in Developing Numeracy Skills" (Ian Beveridge, Gordon Weller) describes the development of numeracy support for Access (a program which attracts a lot of single parent mothers, housewives with older children, and non-mainstream groups) and higher education students at Luton College, England. "Effective Provision of Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Long-Term Unemployed Persons" (Joy Cumming), an article that reviews the provision of employment-related courses in Australia, evaluates the features of good practice in both literacy and numeracy, and considers the most effective approaches in developing numeracy skills. (YLB)

The six articles in this issue attempt to answer questions that have arisen due to the increase in programs that cross existing or traditional age barriers in literacy education. They draw upon recent and current research and practice both in the United Kingdom and the United States. "Family Literacy: An Intergenerational Approach to Education" (Sharon Darling) describes and comments on some current models for family literacy programs in the United States. "Intergenerational Literacy Intervention: Possibilities and Problems" (Peter Hannon) starts from research into school reading attainment and offers a framework for parental involvement in reading acquisition. "Workforce Education, Family Literacy, and Economic Development" (Thomas Sticht) places family literacy in the context of the needs of the work force and examines the interrelationship of literacy acquisition in these different areas. "Parent Involvement in Family Literacy: An Anti-Poverty Perspective" (Ray Phillips) traces the development of parent involvement initiatives against the background of broader social and policy change in the British/European context. "Techniques in Family Literacy" (Keith Topping) looks at specific techniques for parental intervention in basic skills acquisition by children, including paired reading, cued spelling, and paired writing. "A Typology of Family and Intergenerational Literacy Programmes: Implications for Evaluation" (Ruth Nickse) explores issues of evaluation by seeking to establish a typology of family literacy programs. (YLB)

This volume recognises how many researchers across the social sciences, and in comparative and international education in particular, see themselves as insiders or outsiders or, more pertinently, shifting combinations of both, in the research process. The book revisits and problematises these concepts in an era where the global mobility of researchers and ideas has increased dramatically, and when advances in comparative, qualitative research methodologies seek to be more inclusive, collaborative, participatory, reflexive and nuanced. Collectively, the chapters argue that, in the context of such change, it has become more difficult to categorise and label groups and individuals as being 'inside' or 'outside' systems, professional communities, or research environments. In doing so, it is recognised that individual and group identities can be multiple, flexible and changing such that the boundary between the inside and the outside is permeable, less stable and less easy to draw.The book draws upon an exciting collection of original research carried out in a diversity of educational systems from British, European, Latin American, Indian Ocean, South Asian, African and Chinese contexts and cultures. This develops a deep and innovative reconsideration of key issues that must be faced by all researchers involved in the planning and conduct of in-depth field research. This is a challenging and stimulating methodological contribution, designed to advance critical and reflective thinking while providing practical and accessible guidance, insights and support for new and experienced researchers within and beyond the field of comparative and international education. Following a foreword by Caroline Dyer, the following chapters are presented: (1) Positioning Insider-Outsider Research in the Contemporary Context (Lore Arthur, Elizabeth McNess, Michael Crossley); (2) 'Ethnographic Dazzle' and the Construction of the 'Other': Shifting Boundaries between the Insider and the Outsider (Elizabeth McNess, Lore Arthur, Michael Crossley); (3) Exploring the Concept of Insider' Outsider in Comparative and International Research: Essentialising Culture or Culturally Essential (Anna Robinson-Pant); (4) Constructing the Insider and Outsider in Comparative Research (Peter Kelly) (5) Beyond 'Insiders' and 'Outsiders' in Research for Education Policy-Making? The Discursive Positioning of the Researcher in International and Comparative Education (Nilou M. Hawthorne); (6) Mind the Gap: Reflections on Boundaries and Positioning in Research in International and Comparative Education (Claire Planel); (7) Methodological Challenges: Negotiation, Critical Reflection and the Cultural Other (Nicola Savvides, Joanna Al-Youssef, Mindy Colin, Cecilia Garrido); (8) Insider-Outsider-In Betweener? Researcher Positioning, Participative Methods and Cross-Cultural Educational Research (Lizzi O. Milligan); (9) Multiplicities of Insiderness and Outsiderness: Enriching Research Perspectives in Pakistan (Sughra Choudhry Khan); (10) Outside Inside, Inside Out: Challenges and Complexities of Research in Gypsy and Traveller Communities (Juliet McCaffery); (11) (Re)constructing Identities beyond Boundaries: Revisiting Insider-Outsider Perspectives in Research on International Students (Qing Gu); (12) Investigating Processes Underlying Identity Formation of Second Language Master's Students in UK Higher Education: Insiders or Outsiders (Hania Salter-Dvorak); (13) Coming Alongside in the Co-Construction of Professional Knowledge: A Fluid Approach to Researcher Positioning on the Insider-Outsider Continuum (Ed Wickins, Michael Crossley); and (14) Sharing Insights: How Culture Constructs and Constricts Knowledge (Maroussia Raveaud).

Discusses the 1993 British government White Paper "Realising Our Potential," which advocated closer cooperation by government, higher education, and the private sector in science and technology. It supports the White Paper's emphasis on increased funding for research and development (R&D) but criticizes its inattention to the low level of R&D investment in British industry. (MDM)

Reflecting the changing ideological and economic perspectives of the government of the day, the expansion of higher education in England has prompted numerous reforms aimed at reshaping and restructuring the sector and its funding. Leading to student riots and sparking some of the sharpest controversies in British higher education the reforms introduced in 2012/13 are by far the most radical and those concerning higher education funding and student finances the most far-reaching. This book seeks to unpack the drivers for the reforms while locating them in a broad historical, ideological, and policy context. Informed by the vast literature and research on higher education this book brings together recognised experts including leading academics and policy analysts. Divided into two parts, the first provides history and context while the second examines particular issues and themes arising including: historical antecedents of the reforms and tuition fee policies; the distinctive characteristics of the reforms; an economic critique of the limits to marketisation and the commodification of higher education; the drivers behind social mobility and widening participation and the subsequent impact of tuition fees; the consequences of fee setting policies among institutions; the impact on part-time students; the entrance of new providers in the higher education sector; the impact on institutional autonomy and freedom; and the policy vacuum on postgraduate education and the future of research. While the reforms have attracted significant media coverage focusing on the short-term consequences of the reforms, this book goes far beyond the media headlines to identify the nature of the reforms and to understand their impact on higher education institutions, students, and society as a whole. Contents include: (1) Introduction (Claire Callender and Peter Scott); (2) Public Expenditure and Tuition Fees: The search for alternative ways to pay for higher education (Michael Shattock); (3) The Coalition Government's reform of higher education: Policy formation and political process (Peter Scott); (4) A bridge too far: An economic critique of marketization of higher education (Gareth Williams); (5) The end of mystery and the perils of explicitness (Ronald Barnett); (6) As easy as AAB: The impact of the quasi-market on institutions, student numbers and the HE sector (Gill Wyness); (7) Widening participation and social mobility (Anna Vignoles); (8) Part-time undergraduate student funding and financial support (Claire Callender); (9) Aspects of UK private Higher Education (Paul Temple); (10) Postgraduate education: Overlooked and forgotten? (Geoff Whitty and Joel Mullan); (11) Leading the British university today: Your fate in whose hands?; and (12) Conclusion (Claire Callender and Peter Scott). An index is included.

This document contains 14 papers from the skills for the new millennium section of an international conference on vocational education and training (VET) for lifelong learning in the information era. The following papers are included: "Research on Vocational Education and Training as a Field for Knowledge Development--Starting Points for the CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) Research Arena" (Pekka Kamarainen); "Knowledge Development at the Interface of Research, Policy and Practice--Support for Knowledge Development within the CEDEFOP Research Arena (CEDRA)" (Graham Attwell, Alan Brown); "Use of Web-Based Collaboration and Knowledge Transformation Tools to Support the Development of a Learning Community to Enhance Career Guidance Practice" (Alan Brown, Graham Attwell, Jenny Bimrose); "Doing the Research Is Only Half the Job: The Impact of VET Research on Decision Making" (Chris Robinson, Sarah Hayman); "NCVER's (National Centre for Vocational Education Research's) Web Site and the VOCED Research Database" (Sarah Hayman); "The Renaissance of Vocational Education and Training: Miscellaneous Hints for Undernourished Elephants Yearning to Dance" (Robert Sadler); "Tele-Operation of a Manufacturing System for Vocational Education" (Francis H.F. Tsang, Jonathan K.F. Lee); "Worldwide Technology Trend of Electronics Products" (Lawrence Cheung); "The Implication of Advances in Wireless Data Communications on E-Commerce" (Lawrence Cheung); "New Roles of Vocational Education and Vocational Teachers for Technological Change: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education" (Che Keung Yeung, Choi Fung Cheng); "The Occupational Skill Testing and Certification Systems in Hong Kong" (S.P. Fu); "Distance and Open Learning--Web-Based Training (WBT) Development Process Consideration" (Donna Wing Yiu Lau); and "Industry Partnership for Graduation Stage of Higher Vocational Education" (Dan-dan Shi, Xiao-hong Chen). Most papers contain substantial bibliographies. (MN)

This collection of papers from an international conference on higher education teaching and learning includes: "Fostering Scientific Thinking with New Technologies: A Socio-Cognitive Approach" (Michel Aube); "The 'Classroom Flip': Using Web Course Management Tools to Become the Guide by the Side" (J. Wesley Baker); "Embracing Information and Learning Technology Within a New Learning Paradigm in UK Colleges" (C.J. Birch); "Project Based Learning: Equipment Specification" (Ed Boyapati); "Effective Teaching Using the Internet" (David Byres); "Empowerment Groups: A Creative Transition and Retention Strategy" (Joyce A. Carter); "Play it Again Sam: Creating Reusable Projects that Integrate Instructional Technology, Critical Thought and Active, Collaborative Learning into the Curriculum" (Karen Casto and Kris Bulcroft); "Critical Moments in College Teaching" (Michael Christie); "Paradigm Shift: Visual Communication and Empowerment" (Daniel J. Doyle); "Interactive Multimedia: Lessons from Learning Theory" (Richard Farr); "Asynchronous Discussions, Learning Communities and Participation of Students and Faculty" (Charles Graessle); "Edge of Chaos: The Sweet Spot for Internet-Rich Pedagogy" (Barclay M. Hudson); "Peer Critiques in the Teaching of Computer Programming" (William J. Joel); "Active Learning: Student Performance and Perceptions Compared with Lecture" (David A. Lake); "Improving Team Performance in Software Engineering" (Robert Lingard and Elizabeth Berry); "Innovative Strategies for Teaching and Learning at a Distance" (Pam Northrup); "Analytics: An Integrated Mathematics, Logic and Philosophy of Science Course" (Michael R. Pinter); "Andes: A Coached Learning Environment for Classical Newtonian Physics" (K.G. Schultz, R.N. Shelby, D.J. Treacy, and M.C. Wintersgill); "The Evolution of a Biology Course-Related Web Site" (Janet L. Stein Carter); and "French Topics Online: Natural Errors with Virtual Wine" (Katherine Watson). (Individual papers contain references.) (SM)

This monograph offers papers presented at the 1998 annual meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics. After an introduction entitled "The Pluralisation of Literacy" (Teresa O'Brien), the papers are: (1) "National Literacy Strategies: A Debate" (Jill Bourne, Gunther Kress, Brian Street, and Alison Sealey); (2) "Literacy and Oracy Assessment in an Early Years Intervention Project" (Sheena Gardner and Pauline Rea-Dickins); (3) "The Role of Social Class and Home Literacy Practices in Literacy Proficiency in a Group of Chilean Adolescents" (John Gibbons, Elizabeth Lascar, and Maria Isabel Mizon Morales); (4) "'How Many Bumps Does a Dromedary Have?': Literacies in the EFL Classroom" (Paula Kalaja and Ann Pitkanen-Huhta); (5) "Critical Literacy as Classroom Interaction" (Catherine Wallace); (6) "Authoring in Student Academic Writing: Regulation and Desire" (Theresa Lissis); (7) "Contrastive Rhetoric: New Research Avenues" (Ulla Connor); (8) "The 1998 Reform of German Orthography" (Sally Johnson); (9) "Women's Literacy in a Rural Pakistani Community" (Shirini Zubair); (10) "Issues for a Working Agenda in Literacy" (Gunther Kress); and (11) "Label Literacy: Factors Affecting the Understanding and Assessment of Baby Food Labels" (Guy Cook and Kieran O'Halloran). (Papers contain references.) (SM)

Issues in distance education at the tertiary level in Australia are addressed in three papers. The need to provide mature students with information before course attendance is discussed by Edward R. Reid-Smith in "Why Educational Advisory Services for Mature Students?" During 1982-1984, new external students at Riverina College of Advanced Education were sent a pre-course informational package that covered time management, motivation, finance, and the family. A "Returning to Study" correspondence course was also offered. E. David Meacham's paper, "Suggestions Arising from an Investigation of Distance Education in the United Kingdom," explores the relevance of external studies in the United Kingdom to educational practice at the Riverina College of Advanced Education. Information is included on external studies and industry, resource-based learning, staff development, design of learning materials, and computer-assisted learning. In "Motivation of Adults: Implications of Adult Learning Theories for Distance Education," Michael Hough considers the problem of motivating adults, with attention to: adult learning principles; needs and interests of adults; the design of adult programs; and implications for tertiary colleges and staff, particularly those involved in correspondence teaching. (SW)