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In Western countries, music educators have made efforts to revitalise enthusiasm for music education by integrating more mainstream and culturally-relevant genres into their curriculum. Conversely, current research indicates that popular music pedagogy in mainland China is not encouraged and faces many obstacles, as school music education is used to promote Chinese traditional music and bolster nationalism. This qualitative case study investigates how popular music pedagogy in an international school, based in China, accommodates the diverse cultural backgrounds of its Chinese and non-Chinese students when teaching Western and Chinese popular music. For 6 weeks, I had the privilege of closely observing a music class containing a mixture of 12 Chinese and non-Chinese students at an international secondary school based in Shanghai, China. Findings revealed that students were given autonomy to engage with their preferred music genre during lessons that focused on music performance and composition. Interestingly, Chinese students gravitated towards studying C-pop on their own accord, a domestic and sanitised form of popular music. However, the study of modern popular music genres was not prevalent during the music appraisal lessons. The challenges of integrating Chinese popular music pedagogy in an international classroom setting are also discussed.

There has been a rapid proliferation of electronic books in recent years. Given that dual-language books may impose extra cognitive load on children's information processing capacity, we investigated whether multimedia features in e-books (i.e., audio narration and tracking animation) were effective in directing preschoolers' attention to print in the target language. Seventy-one English-and-Mandarin speaking 4- to 6-year-olds were presented with single-language and dual-language e-books (with and without enhancing features) on a computer fitted with an eye tracker to read independently. Children attended more to their dominant language text than the other when reading dual-language texts silently but comparably in single-language texts. Most importantly, enhancing electronic features with synchronized dual-channel (visual and audio) inputs and attention-guiding cues effectively directed children's attention to print in both their dominant and nondominant languages. These findings provide important implications on how computerized electronic books affect children's attention to print and in turn support the development of children's emergent literacy.

In the West, the music practice of turntablism continues to gain traction and awareness both inside and outside of the music classroom, as DJing becomes more prevalent in mainstream music culture. This qualitative study investigates the extent and type of turntablism pedagogy in China, a country with different cultural and political values where traditional Chinese music remains the centre of Chinese music education. Twelve DJs from cities across China took part in a series of in-depth interviews. They were asked to recall their experiences learning how to DJ in China, as well as their opinions of turntablism's inclusion in music education. Findings showed that participants preferred independent learning methods. In particular, participants significantly depended on Chinese social media applications to learn about turntablism and develop a national DJing culture. An absence of turntablism and popular music pedagogy in Chinese music education was the main reason for participants' self-discovery and learning of turntablism. Findings also revealed a cultural disconnect between the younger generation engrossed in DJing versus the older generation's fixation on traditional Chinese music to uphold nationalism and patriotism in society. This study examines an ongoing struggle regarding the extent to which popular music performance practices can be accommodated to work with the political aims of Chinese music education.

External suspension from school is a common disciplinary practice in traditionally English-speaking countries. Few studies have sought student perceptions of school suspension, as well as measures of problem behaviours and emotional problems, and known factors that influence the development of antisocial behaviour, to examine associations between these variables. Three hundred and four adolescents, aged 12-17 years, from five schools in southern Australia completed a self-report questionnaire that asked about behavioural and mental health problems, and risk and protective factors known to be associated with suspension. Seventy-four of the participants had been previously suspended from school at least once. Having been previously suspended was associated with a greater level of problem behaviours and emotions, poor family management, low school commitment, reduced supportive teacher relationships, and interactions with antisocial peers. School suspension appears likely to be applied to students who lack the ability to self-regulate their behaviours and emotional problems in the classroom. By excluding students from school, pre-existing behavioural problems may be exacerbated by diminishing school protective factors and increasing exposure to known risk factors. Adolescents most at risk of being suspended would benefit from alternative school behaviour management policies and procedures that maintain the school as a protective factor.

This paper seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The questions addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s? Secondly, how has knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject's history? Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status of truth and becomes the accepted definition of what the subject is about? The theoretical perspective adopted in this study draws from both postmodernist critiques and sociologies of subject knowledge. It presents a critical sociology of knowledge that draws insights from both social historians of school subjects and the work of Michel Foucault. The study draws a distinction between knowledge as defined by formal educational authorities (articulated in syllabuses) and knowledge defined by those practising the subject (teachers and curriculum advisors).

Students' perceptions of their social and instructional interactions with their teachers play a key role in students' engagement. Understanding how the quality of these interactions can influence students' engagement in school is paramount to improving students' engagement. Eighty-eight year 7 students from three schools in the state of Victoria, Australia, completed a self-report survey. Participants reported their perceptions of teaching quality, and their own behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement in school. After controlling for individual (i.e., gender, age, academic grades, mental health) and family variables (i.e., parent support of education), teaching quality was uniquely associated with behavioral and emotional engagement. The findings indicated that teaching quality has an important, but not exclusive role in influencing students' engagement in school.

This paper draws on the experience of one of the authors, an ethnographic researcher who, in the course of her investigation into the everyday work and communication cultures of Australian public transport officers, spent 12 weeks undergoing training as a rail transit officer before spending four months on the job where she was rostered on duty alongside the regular transit officers. In addition to immersing herself in the world of the transit officers the ethnographer conducted extensive interviews with trainees, experienced officers and supervisors. The object of the research was to determine strategies to reduce risk and injury to the rail transit officers. Two specific recommendations are made. Firstly, that CCTV footage is used to provide training and professional development support across the organisation, and secondly, that field officers be recruited from within the workforce to support on-the-job induction. The four year project was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage grant.

This paper contributes to the important but small body of research on the role of private schools in Indian education. It uses a household dataset from India with a rich set of household covariates and student performance data on reading, writing, and mathematics. For both rural and urban India the results from regression analyses indicate that private school students perform better on tests controlling for covariates. In both contexts, however, the private school benefit becomes largely, statistically, insignificant after conducting multivariate analysis on data balanced using the propensity score matching technique. The paper also makes an initial attempt to identify "low-fee" private schools; within the regression framework it finds that children in such schools may perform no better than their public school counterparts. The data and methods used in this paper are not without limitations; however these analyses call into question the claim that private school effect may be unequivocally positive and highlights the potential heterogeneity in private school performance in the Indian context. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.)

The move toward recognizing teaching academics has resulted in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) gaining a greater prominence within the academy, particularly through the academic promotions system. With several Australian universities now providing opportunities for teaching staff who do not engage in research to be promoted, it is important that the teaching criteria for promotion are demonstrably of equal value to promotion based on research. However, examination of the definitions of SoTL reveals not only their variation, but also their limitations in terms of academic promotion. This paper examines the institutional concepts underlying promotion and compares these to definitions of SoTL. It argues for a broadening of the SoTL concept to meet the underlying institutional expectations of reward and recognition through promotion. (Contains 1 table.)

The purpose of this study was to assess the physiological and psychological impact of contemporary dance classes on adolescent females. Fifty-five females, aged 14 were recruited from secondary schools in the UK. The intervention constituted a program of contemporary dance classes with an emphasis on building muscular strength. Full ethics approval was granted by a Higher Education institutional Research Ethics Committee. A series of physiological and psychological assessments were undertaken pre and post the dance intervention: upper body strength, flexibility, aerobic fitness, self-esteem, intrinsic motivation, and attitudes toward dance and group physical activities were measured using standard procedures. A paired t-test was used to analyse changes between pre- to post-testing. There was a statistical increase in areas of physical fitness. Aerobic capacity and upper body strength increased significantly (p=0.001 and 0.002 respectively). No significant change occurred in flexibility. Self Esteem statistically increased (p=0.01). No change occurred in Intrinsic Motivation, however motivation scores were higher than average at pre-test stage. Attitudes towards dance were very positive both pre- and post-intervention. This study showed that dance can statistically improve components of physical fitness, and psychological well-being. Participants demonstrated positive attitudes towards dance. (Contains 2 figures.)

Premised on the basis that we all need to unlearn our socialisation from within an oppressive society as we develop ourselves as instruments for social justice, this article presents a framing model for facilitating the growth and development of educators into being/s for social justice. The model emerges from reflexive research on work with in-service educators in South Africa. The article focuses on what has been called the Trajectory Model. The model is contextualised briefly in relation to relevant literature and our work in a community of practice as social justice educators, before going on to a more detailed discussion of some of the component parts. Some conclusions are drawn from reference to experiences of working with the model in research and pedagogical praxis. (Contains 16 notes and 1 figure.)

Describes the Nuffield project that served as a resource for science centers across England and as a vehicle for the European Collaborative for Science, Industry, and Technology Exhibitions. Discusses the network of contacts extending from the BBC and British Association to science centers worldwide following the inception of the project by the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science. (JJK)

Interactive science and technology centers are described that emphasize "hands-on" science. Examined are the outreach programs offered by many centers which include traveling exhibitions and published resource materials. Examples of follow-up activities to a center visit are included. (KR)