Democratic approaches to environmental education: Dream or possibility?

Research indicates that few teachers are currently using a democratic approach to teaching in environmental education even though much of the environmental education literature supports and encourages such an approach. Various explanations are offered for this situation although all agree that the principles, goals and processes of democratic pedagogy are often antithetical to the processes of contemporary schooling. Based on a case study of an attempt at democratic pedagogy in an Australian primary school, this paper explores some of the factors that may influence, assist or constrain teachers in their efforts to implement democratic approaches and strategies in the teaching of environmental education

Working the System: A Model for System-Wide Change in Pre-Service Teacher Education

This paper reports on a study undertaken to identify the strategies and models used to facilitate curriculum change within teacher education institutions. Findings indicate three main approaches, which we name the ‘resource development’, ‘action research’ and ‘contextual change’ models. A new model that combines the best features of each is proposed. In this paper we provide a brief overview of the three models, a rationale for the new model being proposed, and a discussion of the systems theory concepts underpinning the model. It is our contention that the Mainstreaming Change model provides a structure for change to occur simultaneously at a number of levels within a teacher education system. We conclude by discussing some issues that may facilitate or limit the effectiveness of the model in practice

Pursuing epistemological plurality in South Africa's Eco-Schools: Discursive rules for knowledge legitimation

Efforts to re-appropriate indigenous knowledges reveal a discursive friction experienced by Eco-School support workers in South Africa as they attempt to build an epistemologically pluralistic curriculum. This paper outlines the strategies that South African Eco-School support workers and teachers employ in negotiating this friction and highlights the discursive rules that govern what constitutes legitimate knowledge in the South African Eco-School. The unintended consequences of these strategies that may affect the representation of indigenous peoples is also discussed

A state-wide systems approach to embedding the learning and teaching of sustainability in teacher education

[Extract] Education systems have a key role to play in preparing future citizens to engage in sustainable living practices and help create a more sustainable world. Many schools throughout Australia have begun to develop whole-school approaches to sustainability education that are supported by national and state policies and curriculum frameworks. Pre-service teacher education, however, lags behind in the effort to build the capacity of new teachers to initiate and implement such approaches (Steele, 2010). Evidence suggests this is because there is limited or no core environmental or sustainability knowledge or pedagogy in pre- and in-service courses and programs available to teachers in a thorough and systematic fashion

Pursuing epistemological plurality in South Africa's Eco-Schools: Discursive rules for knowledge legitimation

Efforts to re-appropriate indigenous knowledges reveal a discursive friction experienced by Eco-School support workers in South Africa as they attempt to build an epistemologically pluralistic curriculum. This paper outlines the strategies that South African Eco-School support workers and teachers employ in negotiating this friction and highlights the discursive rules that govern what constitutes legitimate knowledge in the South African Eco-School. The unintended consequences of these strategies that may affect the representation of indigenous peoples is also discussed

Seven reasons why people don’t want to be teachers

The oldest profession – teaching – is no longer attractive. The Queensland Deans of Education revealed there have been alarming drops in first preference applications for this year’s teacher preparation courses. Queensland has experienced an overall 26% drop. Most alarmingly, UQ reported a 44% plunge. QUT saw a 19% drop. These figures reflect a national trend. ACU’s is down 20% for campuses in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. This follows disappointing interest in 2017. VTAC reported a 40% drop in 2017 compared to 2016. So why don’t people want to be teachers anymore? There are at least seven reasons people aren’t so keen

Embedding EfS in teacher education through a multi-level systems approach: Lessons from Queensland

This paper reports on the fourth stage of an evolving study to develop a systems model for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) into pre-service teacher education. The fourth stage trialled the extension of the model to a comprehensive state-wide systems approach involving representatives from all eight Queensland teacher education institutions and other key policy agencies and professional associations. Support for trialling the model included regular meetings among the participating representatives and an implementation guide. This paper describes the first three stages of developing and trialling the model before presenting the case study and action research methods employed, four key lessons learned from the project, and the implications of the major outcomes for teacher education policies and practices. The Queensland-wide multi-site case study revealed processes and strategies that can enable institutional change agents to engage productively in building capacity for embedding EfS at the individual, institutional and state levels in pre-service teacher education. Collectively, the project components provide a system-wide framework that offers strategies, examples, insights and resources that can serve as a model for other states and/or territories wishing to implement EfS in a systematic and coherent fashion

Erratum: Sequence data and association statistics from 12,940 type 2 diabetes cases and controls.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.179

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr