This article critically reviews how diagnostic models have been conceptualized and how they compare to other approaches used in educational measurement. In particular, certain assumptions that have been taken for granted and used as defining characteristics of diagnostic models are reviewed and it is questioned whether these assumptions are the…

This article examines Julio Cortázar's short story "Las babas del diablo" from a visual perspective and at the intersection of Roland Barthes's ideas on photography and Severo Sarduy's theory on the Neobaroque. I propose that in "Las babas del diablo" photography and the Neobaroque--two seemingly unrelated concepts--interact…

A critical analysis is developed of the dominant meanings of value in marketised higher education. In policy terms, this has become informed by the logics of the measured market whereby value has become synonymous with economic return and institutional accountability. The notion of value is one which permeates many discussions on the purpose of…

In the spirit of reformulating notions of critique, this response builds on the creative research experimentation that the authors enacted to consider air differently. The authors continue to be lured by generosity, curiosity, surprise, and wonder and suggest two feminist responses that relate to and generate knowledge in alternative ways. Two…

Background/Context: For more than a century, standardized achievement tests have been a feature of American education. Throughout that time, critics of standardized tests have argued that their use has detrimental effects on students, schools, and curriculum. Despite these critiques, the number and uses of standardized tests have increased…

The present paper is an analysis of the recently formulated concept of "Lived Pedagogy." With roots in phenomenology and narrative research and research on 'student voice', the concept is coined as a way to research participants' experience of practical pedagogy in school. The main theoretical and methodological challenges in "Lived…

Although person-first language is commonly used in many professional settings, this practice has received criticism from self-advocates and scholars who believe that identity-defining features, such as autism, cannot be separated from the individual. Arguments have been made that person-first language may perpetuate stigma by drawing attention to…

Whoa.nu started in 2000 as a community where members discussed all aspects of hip-hop in Sweden. The community became the most important place not only for discussions among members but also for releasing free albums and songs to the public and for arranging events. Moreover, the site was an educational hub for members to learn about hip-hop. The…

It seems reasonable to suppose that educational practices should be informed by philosophical and scientific understandings of the character and operation of mental processes. Clark and Chambers' 1998 'The Extended Mind' is a seminal paper in the philosophy of mind, but has received limited attention by educational researchers. Their Extended Mind…

There is a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon entitled 'The Real Reason Dinosaurs Became Extinct'. It shows three dinosaurs surreptitiously smoking cigarettes. Why would such a peripheral habit like burning some leaves cause an extinction? Like dinosaurs, neo-liberalism has had a bad press. There have been plenty of critiques of neo-liberalism, and…

This article examines the teaching of collaboration within tertiary education, critiquing the hegemony of a neoliberal mandate. This review of academic literature first identifies the significance of social capital and an intrinsic motivation to collaborate, to theorize how an important and complex graduate attribute (termed here 'collaborative…

The article explores how different concepts of "nature" were applied in secondary education in Germany around 1900 by examining the discussions on and practices in particular boarding schools. It will first scrutinise Enlightenment debates on "human nature" and how they were perceived in German secondary education in general…

Accepted definitions of educational leadership practice typically view it as influence to achieve organisational goals. Such definitions have been widely used over the last 30 years. During that time, the number of educational leadership theories/models has increased and cover the many aspects of educational leadership all of which implicitly or…

This article draws from a year-long ethnographic study documenting the use of comics in a school. Focusing on literacy work in a social studies classroom, it documents how comics were welcomed into and challenged classroom spaces. Comics were introduced, read, and engaged with collaboratively. While comics were able to support strategic practices,…

With, "The Mind on Paper," Olson hopes to amass the strongest empirical evidence needed, in his view, to support a more promising version of Goody's insights on literacy's impact on social and psychological change (Goody, "The domestication of the savage mind," Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1977). The book is also the…