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THE NEWS
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
Pointing helps preschoolers understand the world: study
By Debra Black, ParentCentral.ca
Pointing may be an important way to help young children learn and comprehend the world around them, according to researchers at the University of Virginia. If you have some important information to convey to a preschooler it may be wise to point, advises Carolyn Palmquist, a graduate student in the psychology department at the University of Virginia and the lead author of a study published in Psychological Science. “We know from research children have a lot of experience with pointing in particular as a gesture used to convey important information,” she explains.
Full-day kindergarten pledge falls short: Ramp-up planned for September 2013
By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
Alberta parents shouldn't expect to see the full-day kindergarten promised by Premier Alison Redford this fall, but the province's education minister says as much as 50 per cent of Alberta kindergarten spots will be in full-day programs by the beginning of the 2013 school year. When fully ramped up, Thomas Lukaszuk said, full-day classes will cost the province an extra $200 million per annum, and will probably be an option rather than mandatory program.
Girls who drop out face lasting consequences: Role models to their children; Schools must do more to keep young women in high school, researchers say
By Max Harrold, The Gazette
Amy Rhoden just wasn't into high school, so she dropped out. It was a decision she later regretted, one that researchers say she and other girls face differently than boys. Although female dropouts are fewer statistically than male dropouts, girls' decision to drop out can have distinct, long-lasting consequences - even on the girls' eventual children, according to a new study by the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement, which represents 32,000 teachers in Quebec.
POSTSECONDARY ACCESS SUCCESS
New Academic Plan ready for implemention
By Bart Cummins, Thompson Rivers University
A year-long consultation process between Thompson Rivers University and its communities is now a working academic plan ready for implementation. Recently presented to the Board of Governors, TRU’s Academic Plan seeks to establish the institution’s reputation for having graduates who are flexible and adaptable. “This Academic Plan is a shared and joint vision of what constitutes the heart and soul of TRU,” said Dr. Ulrich Scheck, TRU Provost and Vice-Chancellor, “namely to provide access for students of all ages and backgrounds to an excellent and inspiring learning experience.
U of C tackling teaching complaints
By Jen Gerson, Calgary Herald
The University of Calgary is on the hunt for a new vice-provost in a bid to improve the quality of teaching at the institution. Students have long griped about lacklustre instruction, said Dylan Jones, the president of the students union. "Students are very concerned about the quality of teaching and the affordability of education," he said. "We're talking about quality of instruction, we're talking about technology in class-rooms, we're talking about classroom sizes. We're talking about . . . focusing on teaching and research and how you balance those things."
Mind the gap: No ‘people skills,’ no job
By Janet Lane and Todd Hirsch, The Globe and Mail
A young man shuffled into the interview room and slumped into a chair. He had jumped through the hoops of postsecondary education and seemed to be, at least on paper, a promising candidate. Yet, he was unable to convince an employer desperate to fill the job that he was the right person. He lacked communication skills, and didn’t pass the reading comprehension test. The position went unfilled.
Essential skills include communicating, working with others and thinking abstractly. We usually call these “people skills,” and if you don’t have them, you’re unlikely to succeed in Canada’s 21st-century workplace.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Israel's Higher Education Council wants more women in top faculty positions
By Talila Nesher, Haaretz
Although women in Israel are more highly educated on average than men, they are very much underrepresented in senior university faculty positions, and now the Council for Higher Education is trying to address the problem. In 2010, women represented 60 percent of master's degree recipients, a new high, but among the country's full professors, only 15 percent are women. In a first effort of its kind, the higher education council's planning and budgeting committee recently approved an action plan on the issue that was developed by a team headed by Rivka Carmi, who is chairman of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and also chairs the Committee of University Heads.
Can Germany Help Central Europe Confront Its Dark Past?
By Paul Hockenos, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Supported by Germany's ministry of science and education, the institute was established in 1993 to promote collaborative research, scholarly discourse, and exchanges between Germany and Poland, with a particular emphasis on the dictatorships and violence of the 20th century. It houses 14 historians and researchers—two-thirds of whom are German, the others Polish—whose publications at the institute include more than 75 books and hundreds of shorter studies.
Chinese Steve Jobs just a dream, say academics
By Shanghai Daily
CAN China produce its equivalent of Apple genius Steve Jobs? Two educational experts say such a dream is doubtful. "If we don't make a change in our educational mode that hardly inspires creativity, it will be impossible to breed our own innovative talents such as Jobs," said Yang Chunshi, a professor at Xiamen University in southeast China's Fujian Province. And Qian Feng, vice president of Shanghai-based East China University of Science and Technology, said some universities were too eager to enlarge their campuses, remodel teaching facilities and construct more high-rise buildings.
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