Russian and International Experience of Working with Personality Developing Inquiry

Introduction. Response to challenges of actual mass demand for personalisation of education is not feasible without specification of idea, models and mechanisms of usage of “learning inquiry”, which are determined by regional, cultural, social, and historical specifics of society. Relevance of the research is based on the necessity to clarify the term “learning inquiry” to facilitate practical implementation of mechanisms of personal educational logistic realised in digital environment. The article’s objective is to present results of analysis of local and international interpretations of the term “learning inquiry” (or its equivalent) as well as practices of its formation and usage. Materials and Methods. Local and global practices (formalised education, family education, “alternative” education) have been analysed with a searching depth of 5-8 years. Searching requests: educational inquiry, personal(sized) learning inquiry, personalized education, personalized learning, student-initiated learning, selflearning, etc. The following concepts have been reviewed: subjectivity, individualisation, personalization, personification, choice theories by D. Leontiev, intermediate action theory by B. Elkonin, theory of complicated systems and personality by K. Rogers, field theory by K. Levin, concept of deep knowledge by K. Duek, etc.; models and practices of active learning based on subjective position of a student. Results. Specifics of terminology related to personalized education are determined and described. A preterm “learning request” has been introduced via system of basic principles of creation of “learning inquiry” model. It has been shown that “learning inquiry” is realized via various educational institutions. In digital environment “learning inquiry” becomes a trigger for transformation towards educational logistic. Discussion and Conclusion. Research results contribute to development of practices of construction of position by participants of educational activity, to practices of work with learning inquiry, to enable to develop mechanisms of transformation towards personal educational logistic and, therefore, to facilitate readiness of educational systems to realisation of personalized education.

Hiding in Plain Sight

The incidence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Australia is rising. Women experiencing IPV seek assistance through Emergency Departments (ED). Women exhibit help-seeking behaviours to nurses who work in emergency over medical or allied health professionals. Nurses’ capacity to recognise the need to care for women experiencing IPV is essential. The aim of this study was to explore nurses’ capacity to care for women who have experienced IPV through outlining inhibiting factors that limit care and create a discourse that contributes to addressing these factors. Pre (n=10) and post (n=6) focus groups (FGs) were undertaken with nurses who work in ED. In between the FGs an intervention was applied to prompt change to caring practices. The discourse generated from the FGs was subjected to a Foucauldian discourse analysis from a poststructural feminist perspective. Participants’ capacity to care was found to be based on the values they formed on IPV, as shaped by their post-registration training. The formation of boundaries was fundamental in inhibiting the participants’ capacity to care. Challenging boundaries through educational inquiry into nursing values can be effective in shifting perspectives of IPV. The raising of awareness of IPV in our communities serves as a vital tool in eliciting cultural behaviour change within EDs and within nursing culture.

Systematic Reviews of Research in Basic Education in South Africa

Maringe ought to be commended for putting together an invaluable contribution to our understanding of research into a complex education system in South Africa. This volume provides a useful foundation to the current state of education quality in South Africa including the impact of interventions. It also brings to the fore challenges still facing education transformation. The evidence presented which, taken together, lays out a coherent view of how improvements could be made. Albert Chanee Head of Planning, Gauteng Department of Education For too long the weight of educational scholarship produced in South Africa has been limited to that simple and standard form called the literature review. Now, for the first time, education researchers are provided with an African-based text on the concepts and methods of conducting systematic reviews. In this exceptional work of editorship, Felix Maringe brings together some of the leading researchers on South African education to model and demonstrate how to review a significant body of research on a chosen topic which is adjudicated strictly on the basis of the quality and efficacy of the evidence in hand. I have no doubt that this remarkable book will become a standard reference for educational researchers in and beyond the African continent. It will also lift the quality of educational inquiry by equipping a new generation of scholars with the capacity for doing evidence-based research that compels the attention of policymakers, planners and practitioners alike. Prof Jonathan Jansen Stellenbosch University

Research-informed and Evidence-based Quality Assurance and Enhancement in Amateur/Grassroots Football: Strategic Educational Inquiry for Coach Leaders/Administrators

Coach leaders/administrators in diverse amateur and grassroots football contexts are increasingly accountable for sustaining strategic, state-of-the-art, evidence-based, effective, and efficient programs, initiatives, and services. However, coach leaders/administrators within these organizational settings face significant challenges (e.g., insufficient organizational support and research expertise) in enacting research-informed and evidence-based practices. Strategic Educational Inquiry (SEI) is a flexible and rigorous approach to practitioner research and is particularly useful for coach leaders/administrators to gather evidence for quality assurance and enhancement purposes. This paper critically examines whether and how SEI is applied in diverse amateur/grassroots football coaching contexts. Drawing on case study research using multiple case design, preliminary findings from this study indicate that SEI situates specific amateur/grassroots coaching programs and initiatives within the relevant research and professional literature; it focuses SEI on organization-specific priority research objectives, ethical inquiry, and appropriately aligned research methodology; and involves systematic data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of best practices. Critical organization-specific supports to facilitate implementation of SEI in diverse amateur/grassroots football contexts include: strategic coach education and skills training (e.g., access to state-of-the-art customized technology-enabled professional development experiences and expert mentoring support).

Philosophy, Death, and Education

Often regarded as one of life’s few certainties, death is both instantly familiar to us and deeply mysterious. Every adult will have encountered death in some form, sometimes through the loss of a family member, sometimes less directly via friendships with others or the viewing of news items on television or the Internet. Yet, few take the time to examine death closely and to consider its significance in shaping human lives. Death is of interest both for what we know about it (in observing and living with others who die) and for what we do not know about it (“What will happen to me after I die?”). Death seems, on the face of it, to lend itself well to both philosophical and educational inquiry. For, if, as Socrates claimed, philosophy prepares us for death, this suggests an educational process (“How does it prepare us?”) that warrants careful investigation. It is, however, not just philosophy that prepares us for death but also death that prepares us for philosophy. Our understanding of death can exert a powerful but often unnoticed influence over our ontological and epistemological views, our ethical commitments, and our educational endeavors. Death can prompt us to ask: What does it mean to be a human being? What do we value and why? What and how should we seek to know? How should we live?

Cosmopolitan Education in Agonistic Morality: Epistemological Restraint, Discourse Ethics, and Agonistic Pluralism

Cosmopolitan education has been much theorized, discussed, and proposed, but what, exactly, might it look like and what specific processes might it involve? Cosmopolitanism’s recognition of shared humanity and the subsequent entailment of democratic inclusion make explicit the moral and political nature of cosmopolitan education and philosophy. As an ethico-political process, existing political and ethical processes can be brought to bear on its educational manifestations. The political concepts of epistemological restraint, discourse ethics, and agonistic pluralism are offered as models for cosmopolitan education in agonistic morality: epistemological restraint is used to address the need for prioritization of moral inquiry over moral belief; discourse ethics addresses the necessity of inclusive and democratic dialogue; agonistic pluralism offsets the implications of the inevitability of pluralism in educational inquiry. All three combine to form a process of cosmopolitan education in agonistic morality.

Performance, the Arts, and Curricular Change

The need to improvise and take action as a practitioner draws on Schwab’s notion of deliberation and the Greek concept of poiesis. Inspired by an impromptu discussion with students at a computer summer camp, the author uses the worksof Sarason, Eisner, and Stenhouseto show how practitioner performance, student audience, educational inquiry, teacher as researcher, and curricular change are interrelated.