The mycological legacy of Elias Magnus Fries

The taxonomic concepts which originated with or were accepted by Elias Magnus Fries were presented during his lifetime in the printed word, illustrative depiction, and in collections of dried specimens. This body of work was welcomed by the mycological and botanical communities of his time: students and associates aided Fries and after his passing carried forward his taxonomic ideas. His legacy spawned a line of Swedish and Danish mycologists intent on perpetuating the Fries tradition: Hampus von Post, Lars Romell, Seth Lundell and John Axel Nannfeldt in Sweden; Emil Rostrup, Severin Petersen and Jakob Lange in Denmark. Volumes of color paintings and several exsiccati, most notably one edited by Lundell and Nannfeldt attached fungal portraits and preserved specimens (and often photographs) to Fries names. The result is a massive resource from which to harvest the name–concept relationship with clarity. In the 20th century, nomenclatural commissions legislated Fries’s Systema and Elenchus as the “starting point” for names of most fungi, giving these books special recognition. The present paper attempts to trace Fries’s legacy from his lifetime to the recent past

University-affiliated schools as sites for research learning in pre-service teacher education

This article proposes that the ‘teaching/practice schools’ formally affiliated to initial teacher education programmes at universities, can be utilised more optimally as research sites by student teachers. The argument is put forward with reference to the role that such schools have played historically in teacher education in the United States (US), and more recently, in the successful Finnish teacher education system, in which research is highly valued as a requisite part of a teaching qualification. The authors propose that the single component of these schools, which has historically distinguished them from schools for work integrated learning (WIL), is that they are also research spaces and have retained some of the ‘lab’ character of earlier schools, such as the one established by John Dewey. In such schools, the authors argue, students learn to be reflective practitioners by positioning themselves as researchers, who reflect on practice in a research-rich environment. In a pilot study, the authors found that university and school personnel hold different views about research in the schools. The article recommends that careful consideration be given to the research function in these public schools as part of teacher training.Keywords: activity systems; Dewey; experimental schools; Finland; lab schools; practice schools; practitioner research;reflective practice; teacher education; teaching school

Student teachers’ situational engagement during teaching practice in Finland and South Africa

Peer reviewe

A comparison of student teacher learning from practice in university-affiliated schools in Helsinki and Johannesburg

In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to capture students' views of how and what they had learned from practice in two university-affiliated primary schools. With data from survey questionnaires, we found that students in the two customized programmes accentuated different domains of teacher knowledge. The newly established teaching practice school in Johannesburg afforded closer integration of university and school practicum experiences for students than the well-established school in Helsinki. The authors conclude that an innovative teacher education model can be re-invented in a significantly different context and also add new dimensions to the original.Peer reviewe

Early and Middle Jurassic mires of Bornholm and the Fennoscandian Border Zone: a comparison of depositional environments and vegetation

Suitable climatic conditions for peat formation existed during Early–Middle Jurassic times in the Fennoscandian Border Zone. Autochthonous peat and allochthonous organic matter were deposited from north Jylland, south-east through the Kattegat and Øresund area, to Skåne and Bornholm. The increase in coal seam abundance and thickness from north Jylland to Bornholm indicates that the most favourable peat-forming conditions were present towards the south-east. Peat formation and deposition of organic-rich muds in the Early Jurassic coastal mires were mainly controlled by a continuous rise of relative sea level governed by subsidence and an overall eustatic rise. Watertable rise repeatedly outpaced the rate of accumulation of organic matter and terminated peat formation by lacustrine or lagoonal flooding. Organic matter accumulated in open-water mires and in continuously waterlogged, anoxic and periodically marine-influenced mires. The latter conditions resulted in huminite-rich coals containing framboidal pyrite. The investigated Lower Jurassic seams correspond to peat and peaty mud deposits that ranged from 0.5–5.7 m in thickness, but were generally less than 3 m thick. It is estimated that on Bornholm, the mires existed on average for c. 1200 years in the Hettangian–Sinemurian and for c. 2300 years in the Late Pliensbachian; the Early Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) mires in the Øresund area existed for c. 1850 years. Aalenian uplift of the Ringkøbing–Fyn High and major parts of the Danish Basin caused a significant change in the basin configuration and much reduced subsidence in the Fennoscandian Border Zone during the Middle Jurassic. This resulted in a more inland position for the Middle Jurassic mires which on occasion enabled peat accumulation to keep pace with, or temporarily outpace, watertable rise. Thus, peat formation was sometimes sustained for relatively long periods, and the mires may have existed for up to 7000 years in the Øresund area, and up to 19 000 years on Bornholm. The combination of the inland position of the mires, a seasonal climate, and on occasion a peat surface above groundwater level caused temporary oxidation of the peat surfaces and formation of inertinite-rich coals. The spore and pollen assemblages from coal seams and interbedded siliciclastic deposits indicate that the dominant plant groups in both the Early and Middle Jurassic mires were ferns and gymnosperms. However, significant floral differences are evident. In the Lower Jurassic coals, the palynology testifies to a vegetation rich in cycadophytes and coniferophytes (Taxodiaceae family) whereas club mosses were of lesser importance. Conversely, in the Middle Jurassic coals, the palynology indicates an absence of cycadophytes, a minor proportion of coniferophytes (Taxodiaceae) and a significant proportion of club mosses. These variations are probably related to adaptation by different plants to varying environmental conditions, in particular of hydrological character