International perspectives on the theory - practice divide in secondary initial teacher education

This paper is centred on one of the main issues that underpins the move towards more school based initial teacher training in England - who is developing the theoretical aspects of a teacher’s professional knowledge? Traditionally this has been one of the functions of the University. For the purposes of this paper we have focussed on the trainees' perspectives of what theoretical aspects of their training have been developed in schools , which teaching staff were involved and how well was this done

Improving subject knowledge and subject pedagogic knowledge in employment based secondary initial teacher training in England

Each year in England about 6,000 trainee teachers qualify by undertaking an employment-based initial teacher training route (EBITT), where training is mainly school based. Government inspectors have found that trainees on this route are weaker in subject knowledge and subject pedagogic knowledge compared to trainees following the more traditional one year training course (PGCE) of which about a third of course time is University based. EBITT providers are currently seeking to improve the subject knowledge aspect of training. To support this work the TDA have published a model for developing trainees' subject knowledge for teaching and suggest that providers review their provision against the model. In addition EBITT providers must also meet a new requirement that the total training time should be a minimum of 60 days. This new requirement presents a challenge to EBITT providers as most of the subject knowledge enhancement will have to be school-based. This paper seeks to find out: - how trainee teachers acquire subject and subject pedagogic knowledge while based in a school and - whether teaching staff in schools have the required subject and subject pedagogic knowledge and skills for this enhanced role. Data have been collected from trainees, school-based mentors, school-based Initial Teacher Training Coordinators and University assessors over a one year period. Data about the way trainees acquire subject knowledge was interpreted against the TDA model. The study finds that: - trainees acquire subject and subject pedagogic knowledge in a variety of highly individualistic ways that suggests that the TDA model only partially explains what is happening in practice and - there is a significant training need to ensure schools are well equipped to deliver high quality subject focussed training.</p

“But it did happen”: Sound as Deep Narrative in P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia (1999)

This paper explores how sound is used in P. T. Anderson’s Magnolia to convey the deep narrative of the film. Through analysing how sound is employed to suggest meaning, form associations and create narrative coherence for the viewer, I argue that sound conveys an underlying narrative of redemption which climaxes apocalyptically in the rain of frogs. I then read this aspect of the film theologically through Barth, by drawing comparisons between Magnolia’s claim to be ‘strange but true’ and the church’s creedal stake in strange stories which claim universal meaning and redemptive significance. By looking at Magnolia’s use of sound to convey narrative, lessons are drawn out for the church in terms of how it might humbly perceive but resolutely proclaim narratives of universal significance in the climate of postmodernity

Scholarships to be Established at Oxford under the Will of the Late Right Honorable Cecil John Rhodes

Booklet concerning the scholarships to be established at Oxford under the will of the late Cecil John Rhodes. Includes an extract from his testamentary dispositions

The ecclesiology of stanley hauerwas: resident aliens and die concrete church

This thesis focuses on Stanley Hauerwas' thought about the church insofar as it represents a concrete ecclesiological approach. I argue first that concrete ecclesiology, while often appearing in the work of its proponents as methodological presuppositions rather than an explicit doctrine of church, is sufficiently distinctive that Hauerwas' ecclesiology can be placed within it. Through exploring Hauerwas' theology in Chapter 1， I suggest that his ecclesiology shares key influences with concrete approaches through Barth, Frei, Wittgenstein and Yale postliberalism. Hauerwas also shares concrete ecclesiology's concerns in terms of its interest in the concrete church as a valuable subject for theological reflection, attention to distinctive Christian practices, theologically therapeutic and pastoral-minded approaches to reflecting on the life of the church, and concern for how the church interacts with the world. In Chapter 2, I evaluate Hauerwas' work by seeing how his ecclesiology deals with the realities of sin, division and confusion within the church. I argue that Hauerwas' rhetoric idealises the practices of the church, so there are limitations to the concreteness of his ecclesiology. Combined with Hauerwas' problematic and overstated use of narrative, this idealisation results in insufficient focus on the provisional and fallible nature of the church's practices, and a deleteriously pugilistic attitude towards the world. In Chapter 3， I explore how Barth balances his ecclesiology by holding its theologically centrifugal elements in tension with the various creedal contexts in which it is set forth. This not only mitigates Hauerwas' criticisms of Earth's ecclesiology, but also proffers ways in which a robust doctrinal setting would maintain the prophetic force of Hauerwas' challenges to the church without allowing Christian practice to bear the weight of realising God's kingdom. I then argue that Christ's resurrection is a helpful doctrinal setting for a methodologically and pastorally wise concrete ecclesiology

Investigating the effectiveness of a six-week exercise program for mental health outcomes among university students

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a six-week exercise program on university students’ mental health outcomes. The participants included 10 individuals enrolled at a Canadian university, representative of a range of educational programs (e.g., education, engineering, science) and varying year of study (first year to graduate studies). Using the Mental Health Inventory-38 (MHI-38) as a measure of Psychological Distress, Psychological Well Being, and overall mental health (Mental Health Index), paired samples t test demonstrated a nonsignificant change in the Mental Health Index scores, t(9) = 0.75, p \u3e .05 and Psychological Well-Being, t(9) = -0.55, p \u3e .05 from pre to post intervention. Due to violations of normality, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used to assess the median scores of Psychological Distress at two time points resulting in a nonsignificant decrease in Psychological Distress z(9) = -1.23, p \u3e.05. Due to a small sample size, low statistical power may have decreased the chances of finding a true effect if in fact present. The length of the program (six weeks), subjective reporting of completion of additional physical activity and intensity, and the time frame in which the program took place may have been factors that lead to the nonsignificant findings. Future researchers should test the effects of longer exercise programs, with a bigger sample, and at varying periods within an academic schedule. Despite the nonsignificant improvements in students’ mental health, it is important to note that their health did not significantly decline over the course of the intervention