Ninian Smart and the Phenomenological Approach to Religious Education

This essay reviews and assesses Ninian Smart's contribution to religious education. Attention is given to his account of the nature and purpose of religious education as expressed and developed in a series of works published between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, beginning with The Teacher and Christian Belief (1966) and ending with Schools Council Working Paper 36, Religious Education in the Secondary School (1971), which was produced under his direction. Continuities and tensions in his thought are identified and discussed in the context of recent debates within religious education and the academic study of religion. Smart’s case for non-confessional religious education is considered, as is his support for a phenomenological approach to religious education. Although serious criticisms are raised, it is concluded that his work is of abiding significance and relevance to both British education and beyond.     

The stability of status orientations among young,white, rural women from three southern states

This paper reports the results of a panel study of young, white, rural women from Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas (N = 138). The study was primarily concerned with how social origin variables affected early educational and occupational orientations and how early states of these orientations affected the orientations themselves at a later point in time. The results indicated that mother's education had a greater effect than father's education, but in either case the effect is mediated by intervening influences such as early aspirations and expectations. These young women held very traditional status orientations (with 60% projecting the occupations of beautician, nurse, stenographer, or school teacher), and their orientations were quite stable between their sophomore and senior years in high school. Since there has been so little work reported on the status attainment process for women, and rural women in particular, this study does offer a limited insight into this phenomenon.     

John Dewey in France

The present article on John Dewey aims at pursuing thetraces of the reception of Dewey's work in France. Itis intended as a survey of the writers who have takennote of Dewey and his ideas, and is meant to functionas a sort of additive inventory, with no claim tocomprehensiveness. Some of the articles mentioned wereunfortunately unavailable for direct examination andare thus listed merely for purposes of information.Although the educational and philosophical writings ofJohn Dewey are actually indivisible, Dewey's oeuvrehas not been read in France and Europe generally as ofa piece, but has largely been registered in terms ofthose parts which have relevance to education andteaching. Indicative of this is the fact that it tookuntil 1975 for Democracy and Education (1916) –the book which, in Dewey's own view, most clearlypresented his linking of pedagogy and philosophy(Delledalle, 1975; Suhr, 1994) – to be published inFrance. Gérard Delledalle, the translator ofDemocracy and Education, is the only person so far inFrance to have dealt systematically with the whole ofDewey's writings. He has translated other works byDewey and has written several books on him, dealingexpressly with Dewey's philosophy of pragmatism as thefoundation of his theory of education.It is actually inadequate to restrict the reception ofDewey's work to France alone. Rather, one should speakof francophone Europe, for the first translations ofDewey's educational writings into French were made byAdolphe Ferriére, Ovide Decroly and ÉdouardClaparéde – a Swiss, a Belgian, and a Frenchman.It was thanks to them that Dewey's thoughts oneducation began to make an impact on the francophonemovement for school reform in the early twentiethcentury.Discussion of his theory of education is typified inFrance as well by a division into proponents of aconcept of `learning by doing' indebted to Dewey(particularly in France) and representatives ofauthoritarian forms of education, which reject Dewey.Although French thought has not yet concerned itselfclosely with pragmatism, Dewey's opponents believed(and still believe) that they could denounce him andhis theories simply by levelling the charge of``pragmatism.' This dualistic mode of thinking whichappears to be deeply rooted in France has proved to bean obstacle to the reception of Dewey and has led toneglect and rejection of his theories.     

Applying an occupational classification to the work histories of young men and women

Holland's occupational classification was used to analyze the work histories of a national representative sample of young men and women ages 14 through 24. Hypotheses tested were concerned with the psychological orderliness of occupational changes, the relationship between occupational experiences and aspirations, and the relationship between consistent occupational codes and the stability of work histories. The analyses supported the usefulness of the occupational classification for organizing the work histories of both young men and young women. For both sexes, the classification reflected regular patterns of job changes. The category of a person's earlier job was an efficient predictor of a person's subsequent jobs; likewise, the category of a person's current job forecasted the category of his vocational aspiration. The consistency of an occupational code was also related to job stability for whites but not for blacks.     

A theory of careers encounters sex: Reply to Holland (1976)

This paper is the third in a series beginning with a report (by the authors) of research on the application of Holland's theory of careers to women and men. Holland's response, “The Virtues of the SDS …” is considered, in particular, research he cites on the effect of the Self-Directed Search (SDS) on counselees and his advocacy of raw score reports of personality patterns. The widely divergent career options suggested to men and women by SDS raw scores are noted and misunderstandings concerning the implications of Holland's assessment procedures for his theory are discussed. Holland's defense of raw score reports of personality characteristics is found wanting, especially in light of the support provided for his theory by normed scores.     

The effects of special education labels on teachers' behavioral observations,checklist scores,and grading of academic work

This study addressed the question: Do special education labels bias teachers' evaluations of children? Thirty primary level teachers were given different labels for the same child: learning disabled, educable mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, normal, or no label. Teachers made behavioral observations from the same video-tape, completed a checklist, and graded the same academic work purportedly completed by the target child. Teachers' behavioral observations and grading of the academic work were not influenced by the special education labels, but the checklist scores were. Implications for the philosophical debate about the effects of labeling and for methods of classroom data collection by teachers are discussed.     

Dimensions underlying Holland's hexagon: Missing link between interests and occupations?

Holland uses a hexagon to model relationships among his six types of vocational interests. This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the nature of the interest dimensions underlying the hexagon. Two studies are reported. Study 1 examines the extent to which two theory-based dimensions—data/ideas and things/people—fit 27 sets of intercorrelations for Holland's types. Three of the data sets involve the mean scores of career groups (total of 228 groups and 35,060 individuals); 24 involve the scores for individuals (total of 11,275). Study 2 explores the heuristic value of the data/ideas and things/people dimensions by determining whether they contribute to the understanding of why interest inventories work. Two data sets covering a total of 563 occupations are used to calculate correlations between the vocational interests of persons and the tasks which characterize the persons' occupations. Each occupation's principal work tasks are determined from job analysis data obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor. Study 1 results provide substantial support for the theory-based dimensions. Study 2 results suggest that interest inventories “work” primarily because they tap activity preferences which parallel work tasks. Counseling and research applications of the data/ideas and things/people dimensions are suggested and implications for interest assessment are noted.     

Adjusting to work: Workplace mobility of young male workers in Israel

The study focuses on some of the correlates of workplace mobility of male workers aged 15 to 17, mostly apprentices, who were registered with the Skilled Department of the Youth Employment Bureau (Y.E.B.) for at least a year prior to the time of the field study. Data regarding these correlates, and longitudinal data concerning the sequence of job movements, were obtained in an interview held with a sample of those youths who resided in Tel-Aviv metropolitan area (n = 146) and from the Y.E.B.'s forms filled out in connection with their registration and job placements. Several measures of sociodemographic background, past work experience and present working conditions were included in the multiple correlation analysis. Controlling for longevity in the labor force, seniority in the first job emerged as the most efficient predictor of workplace mobility. Results suggest that the early stages of a young worker's process of occupational socialization are of importance in determining his future career decisions.     

Extending Holland's theory to the later years

Sixty-five men and women, aged 50 to 88 years, completed Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and a work history questionnaire. Each participant was assigned one-letter Holland personality type codes for his or her first full-time job, longest full-time job, last job (if retired) or present job (if employed), and hobbies. In general, VPI scale scores and high point codes were consistent with the occupational codes but less consistent with the hobby code. The usefulness of Holland's vocational theory to the aged population is discussed.     

A Heideggerian Phenomenology Approach to Higher Education as Workplace: A Consideration of Academic Professionalism

Heidegger’s early works provide his most important contribution to our understanding of being, while his discussion of the effects of technology on that being in his later works is one of his best known contributions. I use his phenomenological approach to understanding the workplace and then, from a range of potential applications, choose to describe the functioning of higher education as a workplace for academic professionals. Heidegger seemingly fails to offer a subtle approach to what is labouring, or to whether there is a substantive difference between labouring and working. To find such approaches I draw upon work of both Marcuse and Arendt which specifically relates to these distinctions.     

Learning from Levinas: A Response

In this paper I explore the question of how toapproach the writings of Emmanuel Levinas fromthe point of view of education. I argue thatLevinas has challenged the modern conception ofsubjectivity which underpins modern education.Instead of providing a new conception ofsubjectivity, his work should be understood asan attempt to account for the awakening of theuniqueness of the subject in ethical terms. Thecentral idea is that we come into presencethrough responding, through taking up – or notdenying – the undeniable responsibility whichprecedes our subjectivity. Levinas not onlyprovides us with a new way to `understand'subjectivity. `Responding' also suggests a wayto approach Levinas's writings that goes beyondthe simple application of his `truths' toeducational practice. Levinas's writingschallenge their reader to articulate a unique,unprecedented response. It is argued that thepapers to which this paper is a response alldisplay this approach to Levinas's writings. Itis further argued that `responding' is not onlya way to read Levinas, but ultimately a way tothink about education itself. To learn (fromLevinas) is to respond (to Levinas).     

Individual autonomy in organizations

This paper attempts to quantify the notion of an individual's desire for autonomy in an organization. It is shown that the basis for this concept can be formulated axiomatically, and a numerical function constituting the “degree” of autonomy can be derived. The relations between the individual's basic preferences, his/her feelings of autonomy, and the individual's performance as an organization member, are also studied. In this connection the loyalty of the member to the organization becomes important, and this notion is also developed axiomatically.     

A comparative study of later work experience among full-time,part-time,and unemployed male youth

This paper considers the unique contribution of prior labor market status, defined in terms of working time, on later work experience controlling for a number of demographic and work pattern variables. The labor market status variables are established on the basis of trends in a young man's early career experience. Part-time employment is found to be a viable early labor market alternative to the extent of later economic and occupational success. Early career unemployment is not a critical factor in retarding personal economic advancement, relative to educational background and first job experience, but does have negative job attitudinal consequences.     

Marc Richelle (1930–2021) and the Study of Temporal Regulation of Behaviour in Animals

This article discusses the contribution of Marc Richelle to the study of temporal regulation of behaviour in animals. Richelle was a pioneer of behavioural pharmacology in Europe in the 1960s, and some of his early pharmacological experiments, particular those involving chlordiazepoxide, are discussed. Richelle frequently tested drug effects on performance on fixed-interval (FI) and differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) schedules. Much of his later work, conducted with Helga Lejeune, involved cross-species comparisons of performance on FI and DRL, and often focused on potential differences between “timing competence” and “timing performance”. His work provided an unrivalled body of research on operant behaviour in different species, involving research on animals as different as cats and fish. Much of the work was reviewed in Richelle and Lejeune’s 1980 book Time in Animal Behaviour, which contained particularly influential accounts of collateral behaviour and inter-species comparisons.     

In support of extreme groups design for studying masculinity-femininity and intelligence

Humphreys (this issue) reanalyzed the data of Welsh and Baucom (1977) and stated that their conclusions were unsupportable. Humphreys's criticisms are inappropriate since his findings are based upon a measure of masculinity-femininity (M-F) which is different from the previous approach and based upon a sample which is somewhat different. Thus he addresses issues which are inconsistent with Welsh and Baucom's focus. Finally, Humphreys's insistence on correlational analysis to the exclusion of extreme groups design is viewed as inappropriately limiting.     

Bakhtin, Socrates and the carnivalesque in education

In this article, we critically review the application of Bakhtin's literary work to education with the aim of exploring the notion of carnival. We argue that Bakhtin's highly original interpretation of Socrates as a carnivalesque figure has been neglected in the literature. While Bakhtin's references to Socrates are scattered through different texts, he develops an interpretation that extends our modern view of the Socratic ‘method’ of teaching. From his Socratic reading, we argue that Bakhtin develops an epistemology that links authority, carnival and knowledge. As such, we will argue that carnival helps to bridge the gap between ‘authoritative’ and ‘internally persuasive’ discourse in Bakhtin's wider thought and, specifically, application of his ideas to education. In this Bakhtinian interpretation, a Socratic dialogue involves: (1) the subversion of authoritative discourse; (2) the discovery of knowledge through social cross-examination of ideas and (3) educating by personal example. Drawing on empirical educational examples already available in the literature, we will look at the difficulties and benefits involved in applying these aspects of the Socratic dialogue to formal education. Overall, however, we will argue both authority and internally persuasive discourse and carnival gives us an insight into the development of conceptual understanding and enables us to reflect on their application for classroom practice.     

A critical examination of Michael Polanyi's conception of skills

In this paper I will consider some of the main issues in Michael Polanyi's discussion of ‘Skills’ from Chapter 4 of his book Personal Knowledge published in 1958.The concept of ‘skill’ features prominently in psychological theories of human performance in activities such as games, gymnastics, swimming and dance; such theories are often applied to other spheres of human activity in which issues about skill acquisition arise. It is not surprising to discover that skill theory is considered to be essential to the study of human movement and physical education. Physical education teachers in schools have consistently maintained that ‘skill acquisition’ is a major objective for the P.E. curriculum — see Kane 1974. Yet concepts such as ‘skill’, ‘ability’ and ‘know-how’ are constituent features of practical knowledge therefore the notion of ‘skill acquisition’ on its own will not do as a curriculum objective since all instances of skill and practical knowledge are specific to their contexts, namely, to different practical activities. If particular activities are valued in schools in the pursuit of children's learning and education it seems necessary to clarify the epistemological features of such activities in order to understand what it means to teach them and what it means for children to learn and know-how to perform them successfully. It is in these respects that the concept of ‘skill’ in different human activities should attract the interest of physical education students. In order to draw attention to major features of Polanyi's thesis on the nature of ‘skill’ I shall consider the relevance of his ideas about skill and knowledge in relation to human action theory. I suggest that misconceptions may arise in teaching and learning theories relating to ‘playing soccer’ if the basic underlying ideas about ‘skill’ in human activities are inconsistent with ideas about human action or, say, practical reasoning. It is this issue that is not, in my view, attended to by Polanyi in his discussion of ‘skill’. Thus, if my criticisms of Polanyi's ideas are shown to be valid it will be necessary, by implication that is, to exercise caution before any attempt is made to use his thesis as a basis from which to formulate ideas about teaching skills and skill acquisition. The extensive use I make of quotations from Polanyi's writings is necessary because it is towards Polanyi's use of language in his explanation of ‘skills’ that much of my criticism is directed. It is hoped that what follows may provide students of human movement and physical education with an insight into Polanyi's view of ‘skills’ in particular and to issues related to skill theory and human action in general.     

Interrole conflict among married women: The influence of husband and wife characteristics on conflict and coping behavior

The present research investigated the conflict that women experience between their home and nonhome roles. All of the women in the sample (N = 115) were married and living with their husbands, had at least one child living at home, and were college students. It was found that women who placed a similar level of importance on work as their husbands experienced less intense conflict than women who differed from their husbands in career orientation. In addition, the number of children at home was positively related to a woman's conflict when her husband was highly work oriented. A woman's use of reactive coping strategies was negatively related to her life satisfaction when her husband was dissatisfied with his own life.     

Placement or placebo: Does additional information change special education placement decisions

The effect of relevant information on the decision to place pupils in special education services was investigated. Ten placement decision committees were given information on 12 referred pupils, half of which included social history information on the pupil and orthogonally half of which were recommended for special education services by an outside psychologist. Analysis of the committee's 120 decisions revealed no significant relationship either between the psychologist's recommendation and the committee's decisions or between the presence of social histories and the committee's decisions. The results are discussed in terms of information advocacy within the committees.