Primary music education: the misrepresentation of the ideals of curricula in research

The author starts from a historical viewpoint to suggest that, at primary level, we have tended to perpetuate a nineteenth-century notion of music education. This is evident in the selection and organisation of musical content in curriculum documents, the scope of the teacher-pupil transaction implicit in these and the assumptions about music education which underpin research on practice conducted at official policy level. In light of the introduction of the 1999 Revised Primary School Curriculum, with its change in emphasis, she notes that it is timely to reconsider the situation. Central to this is the need to challenge the notion of music as a set of delineated skills, to explore the relationship between the primary teacher and music, and to move towards a notion of research which acknowledges the richness of multiple interpretations teachers bring to the curriculum.

Literacy Practices in and out of School in Karagwe : The case of primary school literacy education in rural Tanzania

This study has investigated the question of relation between literacy practices in and out of school in rural Tanzania. By using the perspective of linguistic anthropology, literacy practices in five villages in Karagwe district in the northwest of Tanzania have been analysed. The outcome may be used as a basis for educational planning and literacy programs. The analysis has revealed an intimate relation between language, literacy and power. In Karagwe, traditional élites have drawn on literacy to construct and reconstruct their authority, while new élites, such as individual women and some young people have been able to use literacy as one tool to get access to power. The study has also revealed a high level of bilingualism and a high emphasis on education in the area, which prove a potential for future education in the area. At the same time discontinuity in language use, mainly caused by stigmatisation of what is perceived as local and traditional, such as the mother-tongue of the majority of the children, and the high status accrued to all that is perceived as Western, has turned out to constitute a great obstacle for pupils’ learning. The use of ethnographic perspectives has enabled comparisons between interactional patterns in schools and outside school. This has revealed communicative patterns in school that hinder pupils’ learning, while the same patterns in other discourses reinforce learning. By using ethnography, relations between explicit and implicit language ideologies and their impact in educational contexts may be revealed. This knowledge may then be used to make educational plans and literacy programmes more relevant and efficient, not only in poor post-colonial settings such as Tanzania, but also elsewhere, such as in Western settings.

Education in primary school as a strategy to control dengue

A proliferação do Aedes aegypti é propiciada pelo habito de permitir a formação de criadouros em vários tipos de recipientes. Uma das formas de controla-lo é a disseminação do conhecimento sobre o vetor, por conduzir a conscientização e a tomada de medidas contra a sua proliferação. Para avaliar um método de ensino sobre o vetor e a dengue, foram comparando alunos de 5ª e 6ª séries antes e após a intervenção didática. Os alunos com intervenção foram mais aptos em reconhecerem as fases do ciclo e tiveram um discernimento maior sobre a importância dos mosquitos para a saúde. Eles também foram mais aptos em reconhecerem quais medidas de controle são mais eficientes e viáveis, repercutindo em suas residências que apresentaram duas vezes menos criadouros em relação aos que não tiveram intervenção.

Expert opinion as an instrument for assessing investment in primary education

Includes bibliography

Social Workers Involvement in Taiwan's 1999 Earthquake Disaster Aid: Implications for Social Work Education

On September 21, 1999, a strong earthquake devastated Taiwan's central areas and claimed more than two thousand casualties. Social work roles in the disaster aid were surveyed with standardized questionnaires six months after the earthquake; in addition, interviews of the key informants, documental research, focus groups and open-ended questionnaires were utilized to collect qualitative data. The study found that social workers had significant roles and functions in both rescue and recovery stages especially in linking the victims' needs with resources. Social workers, including from public and private sectors as well as from campuses including the faculties and students of social work departments, have been deeply involved in helping the victims. Regrettably, most Taiwanese social workers participated in the rescue aid with limited training in disaster aid; social work practice in disaster aid is not included in current curriculums of college level. This means that social work roles and functions in the disaster aid process have not been fully realized by Taiwan's society and professional education.