Starting with psychology
The most ‘important and greatest puzzle’ we face as humans is ourselves (Boring, 1950, p. 56). Humans are a puzzle – one that is complex, subtle and multi-layered, and it gets even more complicated as we evolve over time and change in different contexts.
When answering the question ‘What makes us who we are?’, psychologists put forward a range of explanations about why people feel, think and behave the way they do. Just when psychologists seem to understand one bit of ‘who we are’
1.1 Introduction To cover some of the concept of attention (we have only a unit, and there are whole books on the subject) I shall follow an approximately historical sequence, showing how generations of psychologists have tackled the issues and gradually refined and developed their theories. You will discover that initially there seemed to them to be only one role for attention, but that gradually it has been implicated in an ever-widening range of mental processes. As we work through the subject, two basic i
2.1 An evidence-based enterprise We have seen that psychology is an evidence-based enterprise and we have also seen that disputes about what should count as evidence have had an important impact on the development of psychology as a discipline. For example, the rise of behaviourism was driven by the idea that only observable behaviour is legitimate data for psychology because only data that can be observed by others, and agreed upon, can be objective. Many other disciplines have had less trouble with this issue
5 Obtaining descriptive statistics This activity demonstrates how a simple dataset can be used to produce some basic statistics. You will see how the data from a simple experiment can be described in a 3 Sharing the workload The new terms of reference for the premises committee of one nursery school were clear. The committee would meet three times: in October, February and June. In October they would tour the school with the headteacher and agree what improvements could be made to the school environment. In February they would check how the work was progressing, identify the money that was to be available from the budget in April, and agree thei 1.2.3 Legal requirements The third factor is legal obligation. In many countries it is unlawful to discriminate against disabled people as employees, as students, and as consumers of goods and services. Legislation requires employers, education establishments, and providers of goods and services to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to avoid discriminating against disabled people. In practice this means that, where ‘reasonable’, websites, software, buildings and other entities involved in employment, educati 4. Music and learning ‘In music the sages found pleasure, and saw that it could be used to make the hearts of the people good. Because of the deep influence it exerts on man, and the change it produces in manners and customs, the ancient kings caused it to be one of the subjects of instruction.’ Confucius (551–479 BCE) Dr Georgi Lozanov has done considerable research into the effects of music on learning, References 3.4 School Improvement Partners Following the introduction of School Improvement Partners during 2006–7, governing bodies will no longer be required to take external advice on the head teacher's performance management. Instead, each governing body will be advised by its School Improvement Partner on its management of the head's performance and appraisal. This advice (DfES/Ofsted 2005) will cover the areas currently covered by the External Adviser. 3.3 The purpose of the formal review meeting The purpose of this meeting is to: review performance against agreed objectives, and also in overall leadership of the school; agree objectives for the next year; set dates for in-year monitoring of progress. A statement must be agreed between the headteacher and governors that covers all of these areas, and which may be seen by the appropriate committee of the governing body when they review the head 3.2 Adviser time The governing body is allowed up to eight hours of external adviser time. These are split roughly: three hours for preparation before the meeting; one hour for writing/checking the review statement; four hours in school. The time allows for both the headteacher and the appointed governors to meet the adviser separately to discuss issues and, in the case of the governors, to seek advice. To do this, th Learning outcomes The aim of this unit is to: raise awareness of the process and principles of performance management/appraisal in schools; identify the negative aspects of appraisal systems and consider how these might be overcome; enhance understanding of the role of the governing body in the performance review process, especially in relation to reviewing the headteacher's performance; encourage discussion of performance with regard to pay awards, an Introduction School governors are responsible for establishing the performance management policy of the school and for reviewing the performance of the headteacher. This unit will guide you through these processes, including the appeals procedure should the headteacher have any concerns. You will also learn the importance of linking performance review to pay review. Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should: be able to explain what is meant by the term ‘the global dimension’; be familiar with the terminology used in relation to the global dimension; know why the inclusion of the global dimension in the primary school curriculum is important; know how the global dimension can enhance the primary school curriculum; be able to plan the global dimension into the secondary curriculum. 1 What is monitoring? Monitoring means gathering evidence to show what progress has been made towards strategic priorities and targets and the implementation of policies. Evaluation means making judgements about the results. DfES 2003, National Training Programme for New Governors, Module 2, p. 4. Monitoring is a key aspect of governors' remit; it is necessary so that governing bodies can carry out their strat Learning outcomes The learning outcomes for this unit are: To briefly explain the history and development of school governance. To explore the role of the governing body in the strategic leadership of schools. To familiarise governors with their statutory responsibilities. To explain the work of governors as partners with the headteacher in the strategic management of their schools. Acknowledgements This unit was prepared for TeachandLearn.net by Ronnie Goldstein and Alan Bloomfield. Ronnie Goldstein was formerly a lecturer in the Faculty of Educational and Language Studies at The Open University. Alan Bloomfield is Deputy Head of School of Education at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. The content acknowledged below is Pr 2.1 Looking forward Because it is easy to explain things looking backwards, we think we can then predict them forwards. It doesn't work, as many economists know to their cost. The world keeps changing. It is one of the paradoxes of success that the things and the ways which got you where you are, are seldom the things to keep you there. If you think that they are, and that you know the way to the future because it is a continuation of where you 1 A revolution in schools The school we are in today will not be the school we are in tomorrow. This is especially apparent when the government's Extended Schools and Every Child Matters agendas for English schools are added to the mix, together with remodelling and the changes to the 14 – 19 phase. For details of the bursar's key role in this process visit Bursar's role in remodelling [accessed 26 January 2007].
Admittedly, there is no ‘one size fits all’ business manager (or bursar) role. The position a Learning outcomes The learning outcomes for this unit are: to review a job description for a business manager that takes account of today's context; to understand how a business manager can support teaching and learning and all stakeholders; to understand and use a range of analytical tools; to apply these analytical tools to your school's situation, in particular responding to government agendas; to understand how benchmarking data can
Activity 4
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Other acknowledgements
