Psychoanalytic education in the twenty-first century: a syllabus for all seasons

I am suggesting that psychoanalytic training facilities restructure their curriculum to include opposing views, in an effort to avoid the inevitable disintegration of the field at large. Without a sense of requirement for any particular viewpoint, I have suggested the model of class modules, usually based around three differing positions, be applied in as many classes as possible. This method enhances the very nature of psychoanalysis while it extends the educational provenance of each separate institute, and specifically each teacher of psychoanalysis. In so doing, candidates across the board will feel and think in a more collegial manner, and may find that learning psychoanalysis is to learn something new and exciting.     

Normative pluralism: Islam, religion and law in the twenty-first century

Four new books on Islam and law provide the occasion for reflection on legal and religious pluralism. Bringing together a more nuanced and complex understanding of religion — one not determined by Enlightenment ideologies of separation — and of law — one also freed of Enlightenment notions of positivism and secularism — provide opportunities for ways to re-think the cultures of normative pluralism.     

Teaching psychodynamics in the twenty-first century

A lack of clarity in psychoanalytic education has negatively affected the educational experience of candidates now in training and makes it difficult for prospective candidates to understand the field. Three basic educational concepts--learning objectives, operationalizing, and adult learning theory--can help psychoanalysts teach and assess their students in a clearer, more objective way. Using these concepts has broad implications for both psychodynamic and psychoanalytic education in the twenty-first century.     

Educating career guidance practitioners in the twenty-first century

ABSTRACT

Rapidly changing policy contexts in England have dramatically affected the provision of career guidance, and the training and development of its practitioners. This paper takes an autoethnographic and self-reflexive approach to exploring the experience of a Senior Lecturer in Career Guidance who manages a centre that offers the Qualification in Career Guidance (QCG), and the Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development. Key questions are considered, such as: the effects of policy context on the type of qualification and curriculum offered, and their differences; the challenges of engaging learners in theoretical concepts and reflective approaches; and the tensions between ‘training’ practitioners and ‘educating’ them to develop a strong core of professionalism. The paper also considers the extent to which the learners develop as ‘knowledgeable social actors’.     

Children and computers. Approaching the twenty-first century

The "effects" that various forms of "computer" use are likely to have on different children's learning, motivation, and social behavior have been a source of heated debate and continuing controversy. In this article, various aspects of this controversy are characterized, and sources of disagreement concerning educational computing are examined. Difficulties in the current state of empirical research in this area are then considered, and recommendations regarding directions for future research are proposed.     

Imagining solidarity in the twenty-first century: towards a performative postsecularism

Imagining solidarity in the twenty-first century is particularly difficult in light of three factors: religious diversity, a religious/secular binary and uncertainty as to the political future. This article employs myth as a lens for exploring and developing responses to these difficulties coalescing around the term postsecular. It suggests that these difficulties are reproduced rather than overcome in Jürgen Habermas’ work. It then distinguishes between the postsecular, postsecularity and postsecularism to demonstrate how recent work offers new possibilities. Finally, it draws on original ethnography to develop this work. It claims that myth is central to how both religious and nonreligious people imagine solidarity. It suggests that myth is primarily performed rather than rationally argued, and calls for myths to be judged on the basis of the performances they produce. Finally, it suggests that the content of myths is less important than how and by whom they are constructed. Together, these insights constitute performative postsecularism.     

Questioning Pygmalion in the twenty-first century: the formation,transmission, and attributional influence of teacher expectancies

Teacher expectancy effects, the class of phenomena in which teacher beliefs about students influence student outcomes, are widely believed to operate through recursive processes of teacher-student interaction. Recent work in “wise” interventions has shown profound and robust effects in educational domains, and has attributed these effects to similar recursive processes (Yeager and Walton 2011). In this paper, we lay a foundation for forging connections between what we know about expectancy effects and how we might envision applying that knowledge as a lever in intervention research. We review the evidence for the existence and significance of teacher expectancy effects, as well as their possible mediators, including perceptual biases, confirmation biases, stereotyping, and attributional biases. We also hypothesize that empathy could play a role in mediating a relationship between expectancies and attributions. Finally, we propose a research agenda focused on the transmission, mediation, and attributional effects of teacher expectancies.