title: Hermeneutic reflections from visiting a project in Dumaria, India

authors: Smythe, Liz

subjects: India

abstract: When people from one culture visit the transformational development work in another country the question of 'understanding' is raised. This paper draws on the philosophical writings of Heidegger and Gadamer to show how interpretations are made in an experience of 'being there'. We argue that understanding is always on-the-way, influenced by past experience, interest, and mood. 'Being-there' affords an opportunity to move beyond taken-for-granted assumptions, to become more attuned to the hermeneutic 'as' that reveals the complex nature of 'meaning'. At the same time, we recognise that understanding always comes with the possibility of misunderstanding. Dialogue, where partners seeks to understand the experience of 'other, opens the way forward.

text: Hermeneutic reflections from visiting a project in Dumaria, India When people from one culture visit the transformational development work in another country the question of 'understanding' is raised. This paper draws on the philosophical writings of Heidegger and Gadamer to show how interpretations are made in an experience of 'being there'. We argue that understanding is always on-the-way, influenced by past experience, interest, and mood. 'Being-there' affords an opportunity to move beyond taken-for-granted assumptions, to become more attuned to the hermeneutic 'as' that reveals the complex nature of 'meaning'. At the same time, we recognise that understanding always comes with the possibility of misunderstanding. Dialogue, where partners seeks to understand the experience of 'other, opens the way forward.

year: 2007

title: Protracted armed conflicts, invisible civilian Suffering and international law (II)

authors: Alvarez-Jimenez, Alberto

abstract: The United Nations Security Council receives communications from Israel and Palestine almost weekly, telling the story of their civilians’ indescribable affliction. Fifty were sent from August 2013 to July 2014 – the 65th and 66th years of the conflict.¹ In one letter after another, both states expressed not a single word of concern for the other’s civilians.

text: Protracted armed conflicts, invisible civilian Suffering and international law (II) The United Nations Security Council receives communications from Israel and Palestine almost weekly, telling the story of their civilians’ indescribable affliction. Fifty were sent from August 2013 to July 2014 – the 65th and 66th years of the conflict.¹ In one letter after another, both states expressed not a single word of concern for the other’s civilians.

year: 2018

title: Perceptions, expectations and interactions: a study of teachers and pupils in five ethnically mixed primary classrooms

authors: St George, Alison

abstract: Teachers’ perceptions of their pupils, expectations for pupil general ability, teacher-pupil interaction and pupil achievement were investigated in this naturalistic study of 5 teachers and 90 pupils in their New Zealand ethnically mixed Standard 3 classrooms.
A pilot study showed that teachers at this level tended to perceive pupils in terms of constructs reflecting academic work skills, home background and personal/social attributes. Using rating scales developed from the pilot study it was apparent that the teachers had a conception of the ideal pupil. It was suggested that this influenced expectations for pupils’ ability to do well at school. Girls and Pakeha pupils were seen as being closer to the ideal pupil stereotype than boys or Polynesian pupils, and for Polynesian pupils this was reflected in lower teacher expectations. Teacher expectations tended to be borne out by standardized achievement test results and accounted for a large proportion of teacher rated achievement variance. Ethnic group made a small but significant independent contribution to achievement variance on two of the Progressive Achievement Tests and on teacher rated achievement.
Using data on teacher-pupil dyadic interaction collected with the Brophy-Good system, contrasting patterns of interaction were noted between expectation groups (high, middle and low teacher expectations). The differences were largely qualitative and there were no expectation group differences in the total number of public or private dyadic interactions. High expectation pupils initiated more contacts with the teacher, answered more open public academic questions and received a lot less criticism for work or behaviour than the other groups. The low expectation group experienced a greater proportion of teacher initiated contacts and were asked more direct public academic questions which were of the product rather than the process type. The middle expectation group generally fell in between the high and low groups, but received the most criticism and the highest proportion of process questions. Teachers appeared to be attempting to prevent inequalities in quantity of interaction and this was discussed in terms of the perception of pupil attributes. Expectation group differences in interaction were not always the same for boys and girls or for all teachers. Despite the differences in teachers’ perceptions and expectations for Polynesian and Pakeha pupils, no ethnic group differences in teacher-pupil interaction were evidenced. 
No consistent and clear-cut expectation group differences were found in pupils’ perceptions of teacher behaviour. There was a moderate positive correlation between perception of the quantity of teacher contact and observed interaction but not regarding the affective quality of teacher contacts. 
The findings were discussed in terms of the theory and research on person perception and expectation phenomena in interpersonal behaviour. Some practical implications for educational practice were commented upon.

text: Perceptions, expectations and interactions: a study of teachers and pupils in five ethnically mixed primary classrooms Teachers’ perceptions of their pupils, expectations for pupil general ability, teacher-pupil interaction and pupil achievement were investigated in this naturalistic study of 5 teachers and 90 pupils in their New Zealand ethnically mixed Standard 3 classrooms.
A pilot study showed that teachers at this level tended to perceive pupils in terms of constructs reflecting academic work skills, home background and personal/social attributes. Using rating scales developed from the pilot study it was apparent that the teachers had a conception of the ideal pupil. It was suggested that this influenced expectations for pupils’ ability to do well at school. Girls and Pakeha pupils were seen as being closer to the ideal pupil stereotype than boys or Polynesian pupils, and for Polynesian pupils this was reflected in lower teacher expectations. Teacher expectations tended to be borne out by standardized achievement test results and accounted for a large proportion of teacher rated achievement variance. Ethnic group made a small but significant independent contribution to achievement variance on two of the Progressive Achievement Tests and on teacher rated achievement.
Using data on teacher-pupil dyadic interaction collected with the Brophy-Good system, contrasting patterns of interaction were noted between expectation groups (high, middle and low teacher expectations). The differences were largely qualitative and there were no expectation group differences in the total number of public or private dyadic interactions. High expectation pupils initiated more contacts with the teacher, answered more open public academic questions and received a lot less criticism for work or behaviour than the other groups. The low expectation group experienced a greater proportion of teacher initiated contacts and were asked more direct public academic questions which were of the product rather than the process type. The middle expectation group generally fell in between the high and low groups, but received the most criticism and the highest proportion of process questions. Teachers appeared to be attempting to prevent inequalities in quantity of interaction and this was discussed in terms of the perception of pupil attributes. Expectation group differences in interaction were not always the same for boys and girls or for all teachers. Despite the differences in teachers’ perceptions and expectations for Polynesian and Pakeha pupils, no ethnic group differences in teacher-pupil interaction were evidenced. 
No consistent and clear-cut expectation group differences were found in pupils’ perceptions of teacher behaviour. There was a moderate positive correlation between perception of the quantity of teacher contact and observed interaction but not regarding the affective quality of teacher contacts. 
The findings were discussed in terms of the theory and research on person perception and expectation phenomena in interpersonal behaviour. Some practical implications for educational practice were commented upon.

year: 1978