29 research outputs found
Greenbug Control
Greenbug infestations in the State of South Dakota are unusual and have generally been broken by the interaction of natural factors such as predators, parasites, and weather. In the 1949 outbreak, the greenbug was seldom if ever the sole cause of damage in infested fields and in most cases spraying would not have been paid for by the remaining crop. The chemicals available for control are exceedingly dangerous to man and livestock, and their use should not be encouraged except where a clear and definite need has been shown to exist
Reframing professional development through understanding authentic professional learning
Continuing to learn is universally accepted and expected by professionals and other stakeholders across all professions. However, despite changes in response to research findings about how professionals learn, many professional development practices still focus on delivering content rather than enhancing learning. In exploring reasons for the continuation of didactic practices in professional development, this article critiques the usual conceptualization of professional development through a review of recent literature across professions. An alternative conceptualization is proposed, based on philosophical assumptions congruent with evidence about professional learning from seminal educational research of the past two decades. An argument is presented for a shift in discourse and focus from delivering and evaluating professional development programs to understanding and supporting authentic professional learning
Teaching: Natural or Cultural?
In this chapter I argue that teaching, as we now understand the term, is historically and cross-culturally very rare. It appears to be unnecessary to transmit culture or to socialize children. Children are, on the other hand, primed by evolution to be avid observers, imitators, players and helpers—roles that reveal the profoundly autonomous and self-directed nature of culture acquisition (Lancy in press a). And yet, teaching is ubiquitous throughout the modern world—at least among the middle to upper class segment of the population. This ubiquity has led numerous scholars to argue for the universality and uniqueness of teaching as a characteristically human behavior. The theme of this chapter is that this proposition is unsustainable. Teaching is largely a result of recent cultural changes and the emergence of modern economies, not evolution