Toward a Pedagogy of the Absurd: Constitutive Ambiguity, Tension, and the Postmodern Academy

Over the course of the past few decades, scholars and theorists have engaged in a dynamic and concerted effort to interpret, make sense of, and resist a variety of social phenomena often categorized under the concept of “postmodernism.” This project has also been taken up by educators of various stripes, especially those who identify their work as belonging in a “critical” tradition such as critical theory or critical pedagogy. In this paper, I aim to join the discussion of critical education scholars through an analysis of Albert Camus’s work on the concept of the absurd. In particular, I interpret the absurd as it relates to the identity and work of critical academics in the postmodern university. After providing an orienting perspective of the key elements of postmodernity and critical pedagogy that are relevant to my project, I move into a discussion of the connections between Camus’s concept of the absurd and postmodernism. Working from this basis, I then suggest the relevance and value of the absurd to critical academics within two general constellations of challenges: critical thought/identity and moving from theory to practice, especially in the absence of any forthcoming consensus or unity of intellectual or ethical systems. I conclude by recapitulating my main arguments and gesturing toward potential for further development. Ultimately, the essay ends by raising the question of the value of raising a question

Brain-Based Learning and Whole Brain Teaching Methods

Whole Brain Teaching is a teaching strategy that combines cooperative learning and direct instruction. It is a strategy that has been implemented within many K-12 classrooms throughout the nation. In this article, the researcher defines Whole Brain Teaching, describes its impact on student learning, and highlights conflicts and myths. The researcher also presents ideas on future research. The purpose of this literature review was to find information regarding implementation of Whole Brain Teaching in an inclusive early childhood classroom

MINDFUL INQUIRY - A DEWEYAN ASSESSMENT OF MINDFULNESS AND EDUCATION

Mindfulness-based interventions are becoming an increasingly popular means for helpingstudents deal with the multidimensional challenges they face in contemporary educational settings. While potentially helpful, an uncritical employment of mindfulness in education can paradoxically function to reify the very neoliberal social conditions leading to the need for mindfulness in the first place. I assess this trend in educational theory and practice through John Dewey’s pragmatic philosophy. I show that the potential for both mindfulness and Dewey’s theory of mind and inquiry to support critical, sustainable social change is truncated by an uncritical retaining of the modern paradigm of mind that defines mind and cognition as private mental events internal to individual subjects. Following Dewey, I critique this view of mind as dubious according to the ontological assumptions underlying this paradigm. By presenting an original reading of Dewey’s theory of mind, life, and inquiry based on an autopoietic process ontology and the life-mind continuity thesis, I show that the sciences of mind are currently in the midst of a revolutionary period of science, shifting from a paradigm rooted in the substance metaphysical tradition to a new, transdisciplinary paradigm animated by process metaphysics and radically different theories of mind, life, and cognition, heuristically captured by the life- mind continuity thesis. On this view, life and mind are of a piece; where there is life there is mind. Showing that Dewey developed one of the first and most complete theories of this thesis, I integrate Dewey’s theories of mind and inquiry with the contemporary mindfulness movement and discuss how they can work together to enable a critical, socially engaged yet compassionate and uniqueness-respecting framework for a somatic-based holistic social inquiry in education. I call this mindful inquiry

Die Erdmandel (Cyperus esculentus L.) - ein neues Unkraut in Mais

Die Erdmandel (Cyperus esculentus L.) gehört zu den 10 wichtigsten Unkrautartender Welt. Sie ist eine ausdauernde Pflanze mit hohem vegetativen Reproduktionsvermögen. Da sie auf Grund ihrer Anspruchslosigkeit und ihrer widerstandsfähigen Sproßknollen nur sehr schwer und aufwendig zu bekämpfen ist, hat sie sich in fast allen Erdteilen verbreiten können. In den letzten Jahren hat sie auch in Deutschland als Unkraut Fuß gefaßt. Die Verbreitung der Erdmandel im Raum Damme (Kreis Vechta) wird untersucht und die Ursachen der Ausbreitung werden diskutiert. Die enormen Ertragsverluste durch Cyperus esculentus machen eine Bekämpfung unumgänglich, daher werden die verschiedenen Verfahren vorgestellt, die zur Zeit in Erprobung sind.Cyperus esculentus stated as one of the worst weeds in the world is still a rare, but locally quite noxious weed in Germany. Some changes in agriculture, such as herbicide programs to control predominantly annual weeds, less handhoeing, and a general tendency towards reduced tillage, may have contributed to its increase. In Damme (Kreis Vechta) yellow nutsedge is most troublesome in corn. A survey shows the general biology and a scheme of life cycle is constructed. Although chemical control is difficult and expensive it is possible in maize

Financial services used by small businesses: evidence from the 1998 survey of small business finances

Using newly available data from the 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances, this article offers preliminary findings regarding the characteristics of small businesses in the United States and their use of credit and other financial services. The main goals of the survey are to provide information on credit accessibility for small businesses, their use of financial services, and the sources of those services. The survey also provides a general-purpose database that can be used to study small business financing. Preliminary findings suggest that although the financial landscape has changed markedly since the previous survey in 1993, financing patterns and the use of particular suppliers have not.Small business ; Financial services industry

Response of Glacier Melt and Discharge to Future Climate Change, Susitna Basin, Alaska

A large dam for hydropower with a 67 km long reservoir is proposed in the Susitna basin, leading to multiple studies of the basin. This study focuses on the response of climate change of the Susitna basin glaciers and the effects on basin discharge

Winter bird densities and eastern wood-pewee breeding demography across a savanna-woodland-forest gradient in the Missouri Ozarks

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 12, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Frank R. Thompson IIIIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."May 2012"Savanna and woodland habitats were historically prevalent in the midwestern United States, and efforts to restore these communities are growing. Better knowledge of the responses of breeding and non-breeding birds to restoration of savanna and woodland is needed to inform management. Our objective was to determine densities of common winter migrants and resident birds in savannas, woodlands, and non-managed forests in the Missouri Ozark Highlands. We estimated detection probabilities and densities using distance and time-removal models to obtain robust density estimates. We surveyed 561 points along 42 transects, with 10-minute unlimited-radius point counts at 10 sites across the Missouri Ozarks December-February, 2009-2011. We fit distance models for 14 species and time-removal models for 6 species. Detection probabilities varied between distance and time-removal models and were affected by covariates such as observer, temperature, wind, vegetation type (savanna, woodland, and forest), and distance. Generally, restoration did not have a substantial impact on most winter birds, because density did not vary greatly for species across savanna, woodland, or non-managed forest. Dark-eyed Junco and Eastern Bluebird were the only species with considerably higher densities in restored savanna or woodland. We also studied the breeding demography of the Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens; hereafter Pewee), because it breeds across a gradient of wooded habitats ranging from open-canopy savanna, to woodland, to closed-canopy forest. Our objectives were to determine relationships between temporal factors and habitat structure and breeding demography and densities of the Pewee across the savanna-woodland-forest vegetation gradient during the breeding season. We determined nest success, clutch size, fledge rate, and breeding densities of the Pewee across the vegetation types and tested for effects of year, stage, ordinal date, nest height, percent stocking, and percent forest in a 10-km radius. We conducted point counts at 906 points at 15 sites and estimated detection probability and density of Pewees using distance models to examine the effects of observer, type of detection, minutes since sunrise, habitat type, day of year, and distance on detection probability. We found and monitored 310 nests at 13 study sites across the Missouri Ozark Highlands from 2009-2011. Nest stage had a strong effect on daily survival rate. Period survival increased with decreasing forest cover in a 10-km radius. Daily survival rate was 0.977 (95% CI: 0.972, 0.981), average clutch size was 2.568 (95% CI: 2.456, 2.679; n=111), and average fledge rate was 2.2 (95% CI: 2.034, 2.366; n=65) young per nest. Only 4 (1.25%) nests were parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Average feeding rate was 7.89 visits per hour (n=56), and frequency of parent visits to the nest was positively correlated with nestling age (p=0.049). We recorded 20 cases of double brooding in the Pewee, and some successful nests were reused for a second brood. Pewee densities were greater in woodland and forest vegetation types compared to savanna. In general, restoration did not have a substantial impact on Pewee nest survival, because survival did not vary greatly across savanna, woodland, or non-managed forest. Given the negative effect of stocking on clutch size, weak negative effect on nest survival, and lower densities in savanna, we suggest Pewees are well-adapted to intermediate stocking levels found in woodland

Development of new microspectro-photometric instrumentation Annual report, Oct. 1, 1965 - Apr. 30, 1966

Microspectrophotomer for spectroscopic studies of living cell