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This paper reports the autobiographical narrative of Mr. L., as case-in-point example of the thresholding moment and the process of transitioning into Academia. The role of the lecturer-mentor and the multi-logic space that facilitates the process are clarified. I use hermeneutic phenomenology and interpretivism as methodological tools. This ex post facto qualitative study was done to elucidate the concepts and iterative processes involved in transitioning. I conclude that the novice student needs a lecturer-mentor guiding him through this life-changing event. [For the complete Volume 14, Number 1 proceedings, see ED568088.]

In his 2014 paper Potgieter presented a number of pertinent questions on education in a post-modern world. In this article I not only challenge some of the views informing these questions but also raise additional questions for debate and critical analysis. Two pertinent issues, both with religious undertones, are addressed, viz.: a) whether the construct, "evil", as employed by Potgieter in his argument, could be used as basis for the development of a theory on education; and b) whether a pedagogy of discernment could be used as a "primus inter pares." Using hermeneutic analysis, I argue that the religious embeddedness of these concepts as well as the relativity of claims made could be problematic in terms of a general theory on pedagogy meant to serve as a "primus inter pares." In contesting Potgieter's argument I therefore pose a number of counter claims for analysis and scrutiny. [For the complete Volume 13, Number 1 proceedings, see ED568595.]

Making use of hermeneutic phenomenology and morality critique as methodological navigation points, this paper challenges the phantasmatic prestige and power of normative orders and the education systems that are designed to keep them alive. It is suggested that what education needs is not morals and ethics, but a pedagogy of discernment that will teach pupils to keep their eyes open and to recognise the tragic truth that normative systems maintain themselves at the cost of obliterating the onticity of singularisation, mortality and the non-normalisability of the human condition. [For the complete Volume 12 proceedings, see ED597979.]

This paper presents findings of a critical ethnography that examined the relationship between gender and the definition of power, and its use in the politicized role of the superintendent. Based on Stewart Clegg's (1988) conceptualization of power relationships as "circuits of power," the ethnography was conducted in a larger metropolitan area headed by a female superintendent. Data were obtained from nonstandardized interviews with those in male circuits of power, those in female circuits of power, and those related to the superintendent either directly or indirectly. Other data sources included document analysis and nonparticipant and participant observation. Findings indicate that: (1) women define power differently than men; (2) when women operate according to the female concept of power (viewed as "power to" rather than as "power over"), their chances to acquire positions of power increase dramatically; (3) women who attain positions of power are most successful when they adopt female approaches to power that stress collaboration, inclusion, and consensus-building; (4) to become powerful, women must become culturally bilingual (speak the language of males while remaining feminine); and (5) women are normally excluded from the male circuit of power. Contains 70 references. (LMI)

This paper reports on how participation in a secondary school musical production, within a life skills education programme, may contribute curricularly and pedagogically towards equipping learners for meaningful, successful living in a rapidly transforming society. Using the life skills curriculum for the subject Life Orientation, and employing constructivist hermeneutic phenomenology, I compared the dialogic educative space offered by a musical production with that of an ordinary secondary school classroom context. This comparative study suggests that secondary school musicals, as holograms of life and reality may, curricularly as well as pedagogically, be understood as practice grounds for life skills attainment (including social justice), whereas traditional classroom practice perpetuates monologism. The musical provides a space for discovering and exercising human talents, social interaction, co-responsibility, mutual and reciprocal trust and knowledge and meaning-making whereas the traditional classroom no longer seems to be able to provide a nurturing and safe practice ground for life skills. [For complete volume, see ED567118.]

This is a record of the proceedings of the 30th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). The theme of the conference is "Mathematics: Essential research, essential practice." The theme draws attention to the importance of developing and maintaining links between research and practice and ties in with the joint day of presentations with the 21st biennial conference of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). This special feature highlights the benefits of collaboration between researchers, practicing classroom teachers, and curriculum developers. Volume 1 contains the following papers: (1) The Beginnings of MERGA (Ken Clements); (2) Teaching and Learning by Example: The Annual Clements/Foyster Lecture (Helen L. Chick); (3) Introducing Students to Data Representation and Statistics (Richard Lehrer); (4) Studies in the Zone of Proximal Awareness (John Mason, Helen Drury and Liz Bills); (5) Empowered to Teach: A Practice-based Model of Teacher Education (Janette Bobi); (6) Communicating Students' Understanding of Undergraduate Mathematics using Concept Maps (Karoline Afamasaga-Fuata'i); (7) Primary Student Teachers' Diagnosed Mathematical Competence in Semester One of their Studies (Karoline Afamasaga-Fuata'i, Paul Meyer and Naomi Falo); (8) An Online Survey to Assess Student Anxiety and Attitude Response to Six Different Mathematical Problems (Vincent Anderson); (9) Mathematical Investigations: A Primary Teacher Educator's Narrative Journey of Professional Awareness (Judy Bailey); (10) Describing Mathematics Departments: The Strengths and Limitations of Complexity Theory and Activity Theory (Kim Beswick, Anne Watson and Els De Geest); (11) Three Student Tasks in a Study of Distribution in a "Best Practice" Statistics Classroom (Anthony Bill and Jane Watson); (12) Teacher Researchers Questioning their Practice (Linda Bonne & Ruth Pritchard); (13) Imagined Classrooms: Prospective Primary Teachers Visualise their Ideal Mathematics Classroom (Kathy Brady); (14) Early Notions of Functions in a Technology-Rich Teaching and Learning Environment (TRTLE) (Jill Brown); (15) Collective Argumentation and Modelling Mathematics Practices Outside the Classroom (Raymond Brown and Trevor Redmond); (16) Visual Perturbances in Digital Pedagogical Media (Nigel Calder); (17) Professional Experience in Learning to Teach Secondary Mathematics: Incorporating Pre-service Teachers into a Community of Practice (Michael Cavanagh and Anne Prescott); (18) Young Children's Accounts of their Mathematical Thinking (Jill Cheeseman and Barbara Clarke); (19) Mathematical Reform: What Does the Journey Entail for Teachers? (Linda Cheeseman); (20) Year Six Fraction Understanding: A Part of the Whole Story (Doug M. Clarke, Anne Roche and Annie Mitchell); (21) Teaching as Listening: Another Aspect of Teachers' Content Knowledge in the Numeracy Classroom (Ngaire Davies and Karen Walker); (22) Essential Differences between High and Low Performers' Thinking about Graphically-Oriented Numeracy Items (Carmel M. Diezmann, Tom J. Lowrie and Nahum Kozak); (23) High School Students' Use of Patterns and Generalizations (Jaguthsing Dindyal); (24) The Teacher, The Tasks: Their Role in Students' Mathematical Literacy (Katherine Doyle); (25) Informal Knowledge and Prior Learning: Student Strategies for Identifying and Locating Numbers on Scales (Michael Drake); (26) Documenting the Knowledge of Low-Attaining Third- and Fourth-Graders: Robyn's and Bel's Sequential Structure and Multidigit Addition and Subtraction (David Ellemor-Collins, Robert Wright and Gerard Lewis); (27) Interdisciplinary Modelling in the Primary Mathematics Curriculum (Lyn English); (28) Students' Tendency to Conjoin Terms: An Inhibition to Their Development of Algebra (Judith Falle); (29) Towards "Breaking the Cycle of Tradition" in Primary Mathematics (Sandra Frid and Len Sparrow); (30) Exploring the Number Knowledge of Children to Inform the Development of a Professional Learning Plan for Teachers in the Ballarat Diocese as a Means of Building Community Capacity (Ann Gervasoni, Teresa Hadden and Kathie Turkenburg); (31) Technology-Enriched Teaching of Secondary Mathematics: Factors Influencing Innovative Practice (Merrilyn Goos and Anne Bennison); (32) Supporting an Investigative Approach to Teaching Secondary School Mathematics: A Professional Development Model (Merrilyn Goos, Shelley Dole, and Katie Makar); (33) Identity and Mathematics: Towards a Theory of Agency in Coming to Learn Mathematics (Peter Grootenboer and Robyn Zevenbergen); (34) Categorisation of Mental Computation Strategies to Support Teaching and to Encourage Classroom Dialogue (Judy Hartnett); (35) Student Experiences of VCE Further Mathematics (Sue Helme and Stephen Lamb); (36) Video Evidence: What Gestures Tell Us About Students' Understanding of Rate of Change (Sandra Herbert and Robyn Pierce); (37) The Role of Dynamic Interactive Technological Tools in Preschoolers' Mathematical Patterning (Kate Highfield and Joanne Mulligan); (38) Students Representing Mathematical Knowledge through Digital Filmmaking (Geoff Hilton); (39) What Does it Mean for an Instructional Task to be Effective? (Lynn Hodge, Jana Visnovska, Qing Zhao and Paul Cobb); (40) A School-Community Model for Enhancing Aboriginal Students' Mathematical Learning (Peter Howard and Bob Perry); (41) Benchmarking Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of their Mentoring for Developing Mathematics Teaching Practices (Peter Hudson); (42) Relational or Calculational Thinking: Students Solving Open Number Equivalence Problems (Jodie Hunter); (43) Scaffolding Small Group Interactions (Roberta Hunter); (44) Numeracy in Action: Students Connecting Mathematical Knowledge to a Range of Contexts (Chris Hurst); and (45) A Story of a Student Fulfilling a Role in the Mathematics Classroom (Naomi Ingram). Volume 2 contains the following papers: (1) Secondary-Tertiary Transition: What Mathematics Skills Can and Should We Expect This Decade? (Nicolas Jourdan, Patricia Cretchley and Tim Passmore); (2) The Power of Writing for all Pre-service Mathematics Teachers (Keith McNaught); (3) "Connection Levers:" Developing Teachers' Expertise with Mathematical Inquiry (Katie Makar); (4) Acquiring the Mathematics Register in te reo Maori (Tamsin Meaney, Uenuku Fairhall and Tony Trinick); (5) Teaching Ratio and Rates for Abstraction (Mike Mitchelmore, Paul White and Heather McMaster); (6) Setting a Good Example: Teachers' Choice of Examples and their Contribution to Effective Teaching of Numeracy (Tracey Muir); (7) Developing the Concept of Place Value (Mala Saraswathy Nataraj and Michael O. J. Thomas); (8) Interdisciplinary Learning: Development of Mathematical Confidence, Value, and the Interconnectedness of Mathematics Scales (Dawn Kit Ee Ng and Gloria Stillman); (9) Mathematical Methods and Mathematical Methods Computer Algebra System (CAS) 2006--Concurrent Implementation with a Common Technology Free Examination (Pam Norton, David Leigh-Lancaster, Peter Jones and Michael Evans); (10) A Concrete Approach to Teaching Symbolic Algebra (Stephen Norton and Jane Irvin); (11) Developing Positive Attitudes towards Algebra (Stephen Norton and Jane Irvin); (12) Changing Our Perspective on Measurement: A Cultural Case Study (Kay Owens and Wilfred Kaleva); (13) Enhancing Student Achievement in Mathematics: Identifying the Needs of Rural and Regional Teachers in Australia (Debra Panizzon and John Pegg); (14) The Growth of Early Mathematical Patterning: An Intervention Study (Marina Papic and Joanne Mulligan); (15) Whole Number Knowledge and Number Lines Help to Develop Fraction Concepts (Catherine Pearn and Max Stephens); (16) Identifying and Analysing Processes in NSW Public Schooling Producing Outstanding Educational Outcomes in Mathematics (John Pegg, Debra Panizzon and Trevor Lynch); (17) Teachers Research their Practice: Developing Methodologies that Reflect Teachers' Perspectives (Ruth Pritchard and Linda Bonne); (18) Teacher Professional Learning in Mathematics: An Example of a Change Process (Pauline Rogers); (19) Seeking Evidence of Thinking and Mathematical Understandings in Students' Writing (Anne Scott); (20) Utilising the Rasch Model to Gain Insight into Students' Understandings of Class Inclusion Concepts in Geometry (Penelope Serow); (21) Exploring Teachers' Numeracy Pedagogies and Subsequent Student Learning across Five Dimensions of Numeracy (Jane Skalicky); (22) The Complexities for New Graduates Planning Mathematics Based on Student Need (Carole Steketee and Keith McNaught); (23) Students' Emerging Algebraic Thinking in the Middle School Years (Max Stephens); (24) A Framework for Success in Implementing Mathematical Modelling in the Secondary Classroom (Gloria Stillman, Peter Galbraith, Jill Brown and Ian Edwards); (25) Eliciting Positive Student Motivation for Learning Mathematics (Peter Sullivan and Andrea McDonough); (26) Learning from Children about their Learning with and without ICT using Video-Stimulated Reflective Dialogue (Howard Tanner and Sonia Jones); (27) Dependency and Objectification in a Year 7 Mathematics Classroom: Insights from Sociolinguistics (Steve Thornton); (28) Pedagogical Practices with Digital Technologies: Pre-service and Practicing Teachers (Colleen Vale); (29) Procedural Complexity and Mathematical Solving Processes in Year 8 Mathematics Textbook Questions (Jill Vincent and Kaye Stacey); (30) Designing Effective Professional Development: How do we Understand Teachers' Current Instructional Practices? (Jana Visnovska); (31) "Doing Maths:" Children Talk About Their Classroom Experiences (Fiona Walls); (32) The Role of Pedagogy in Classroom Discourse (Margaret Walshaw and Glenda Anthony); (33) Australian Indigenous Students: The Role of Oral Language and Representations in the Negotiation of Mathematical Understanding (Elizabeth Warren, Janelle Young and Eva deVries); (34) Student Change Associated with Teachers' Professional Learning (Jane Watson, Kim Beswick, Natalie Brown and Rosemary Callingham); (35) Choosing to Teach in the "STEM" Disciplines: Characteristics and Motivations of Science, ICT, and Mathematics Teachers (Helen M. G. Watt, Paul W. Richardson and James Pietsch); (36) Percentages as Part Whole Relationships (Paul White, Sue Wilson, Rhonda Faragher and Mike Mitchelmore); (37) My Struggle with Maths May Not Have Been a Lonely One: Bibliotherapy in a Teacher Education Number Theory Unit (Sue Wilson); (38) Students' Conceptual Understanding of Equivalent Fractions (Monica Wong and David Evans); (39) Statistics Teachers as Scientific Lawyers (Joanne Woodward and Maxine Pfannkuch); (40) Developing Pedagogical Tools for Intervention: Approach, Methodology, and an Experimental Framework (Robert Wright, David Ellemor-Collins and Gerard Lewis); (41) Pedagogy and Interactive Whiteboards: Using an Activity Theory Approach to Understand Tensions in Practice (Robyn Zevenbergen and Steve Lerman); (42) International Perspectives on Early Years Mathematics (Jillian Fox); (43) Early Childhood Mathematics Education Research: What is Needed Now? (Bob Perry and Sue Dockett); (44) Trimangles and Kittens: Mathematics Within Socio-dramatic Play in a New Zealand Early Childhood Setting (Shiree Lee); (45) Children's Number Knowledge in the Early Years of Schooling (Ann Gervasoni); (46) Listening to Students' Voices in Mathematics Education (Brian Doig, Susie Groves, Coral Campbell, Judith Mousley, and Gaye Williams); (47) Students' Pedagogical Knowledge: A Source of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Brian Doig and Susie Groves); (48) Research Enriched by the Student Voice (Gaye Williams); (49) Listening to Student Opinions about Group Assessment (Judith Mousley and Coral Campbell); (50) Profiles of Thinking Skills and Levels of Motivation in a Problem-Solving Task (Sarah Buckley, Mary Ainley and Pip Pattison); (51) An Investigation of Mathematics Strategies in Traditional School Contexts and Real-World Contexts (Julie Clark and Kathy Brady); (52) Maori Student's Perspective on Their Mathematical Journey Through Maori Medium (Leeana Herewini); (53) Some Methodological Considerations in the Estonian Study about Students' Beliefs in Mathematics: Is Triangulation Necessary? (Kirsti Kislenko); (54) Progress in Mathematics--Learning through Home School Partnership (Denise Smith and Gaynor Terrill); (55) Exploring Data Representation and Statistical Reasoning through Integrated Investigations in a Grade 2 Classroom (Karen Ahearn); (56) Reform and Assessment Practice: The Need for an Investigation (Julie Anderson); (57) Autobiographical Research and Mathematics Curriculum (Andy Begg); (58) Mathematically Gifted Students Managing School Transfer (Brenda Bicknell); (59) Improving Procedures for Effective Teaching (Murray Black, Farida Kachapova and Ilias Kachapov); (60) Using Counter-Examples and Paradoxes in Teaching Probability: Students' Attitudes (Murray Black, Farida Kachapova, Sergiy Klymchuk and Ilias Kachapov); (61) Using Cabri Geometry to Explore the Geometric Properties of Parallelograms in Year 7 Mathematics Classrooms (Sahar Bokosmaty); (62) Defining Teacher Knowledge Needed in the Teaching of Statistics at Primary School Level (Tim Burgess); (63) Year 12 Students' Participation in Higher Mathematics Courses (Mohan Chinnappan, Stephen Dinham, Tony Herrington and Dale Scott); (64) Pre-service Primary Teachers Developing Positive Attitudes towards Teaching Mathematics (Julie Clark); (65) Measuring the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Language-In-Use for Algebra Learning: A Multi-Level Nested Modelling and DEA Approach (Robert de la Serna); (66) Te Poutama Tau (TPT): An Indigenous Response to the Numeracy Development Project 2002-2006 (Wini Emery and Leeana Herewini); (67) "I Have a Fear of Maths and it Does Worry Me a Bit as a Future Teacher:" The Cycle of Maths Anxiety (Gillian Frankcom); (68) Using Electronic Handwriting and Tablet PCs to Enhance Distance Students' Understanding of First Year Mathematics at University (Linda Galligan, Birgit Loch, Janet Taylor and Christine McDonald); (69) Mathematical Modelling in CAS Clothing (Vince Geiger, Rhonda Faragher and Trevor Redmond); (70) The Cognitive and Pedagogical Affordances of Digital Learning Tools on Early Mathematical Development (Kristy Goodwin, Joanne Mulligan and John Hedberg); (71) Revisions and Extensions of a Pirie-Kieren-Based Teaching Model (Peter Hughes); (72) An Insight into Norwegian Students' Thoughts about Mathematics (Kirsti Kislenko); (73) The Impact of Didactical Contract on Students' Perceptions of their Intentional Learning Acts (Troels Lange and Tamsin Meaney); (74) The Impact of an Intervention on the Development of Mathematical Pattern and Structure in the First Year of Schooling (Joanne Mulligan, Mike Mitchelmore, Coral Kemp, Jennie Marston and Kate Highfield); (75) Activity Theory as a Framework to Analyse the Positive Influence of Formative Assessment on Student Learning (Trish O'Toole); (76) Teaching Geometry with CAS in the Junior Secondary Classroom: A Case Study (Warren Palmer); (77) Wanted: One Great Maths Teacher! (Pamela Perger); (78) Building Early Childhood Educators' Knowledge, Skills and Confidence in the Facilitation and Assessment of Young Children's Mathematical Learning (Bob Perry, Elspeth Harley and Sue Dockett); (79) CAS in the Middle Secondary Years: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (Robyn Pierce); (80) Myths and Positioning: Insights from Hermeneutics (Steve Thornton); (81) Misconceptions in Locating Negative Decimals on the Number Line (Wanty Widjaja, Kaye Stacey and Vicki Steinle); and (82) Proportional Reasoning: A Global or Localised Development? (Vince Wright). [Individual papers contain references, figures, tables, and appendices.

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and behavioral standpoints), from this academic and practical scientific discipline, is aimed ultimately to benefit society. This International Conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the several areas within the Psychology field, new developments in studies and proposals for future scientific projects. The goal is to offer a worldwide connection between psychologists, researchers and lecturers, from a wide range of academic fields, interested in exploring and giving their contribution in psychological issues. The conference is a forum that connects and brings together academics, scholars, practitioners and others interested in a field that is fertile in new perspectives, ideas and knowledge. There is an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, which can supplement the view of the human essence and behavior, showing the impact of their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. This is, certainly, one of the reasons there are nationalities and cultures represented, inspiring multi-disciplinary collaborative links, fomenting intellectual encounter and development. InPACT 2016 received 332 submissions, from 37 different countries, reviewed by a double-blind process. Submissions were prepared to take form of Oral Presentations, Posters, Virtual Presentations and Workshops. It was accepted for presentation in the conference 96 submissions (29% acceptance rate). The conference also includes: (1) A keynote presentation from Prof. Dr. Richard Bentall (Institute of Psychology, Health & Society of the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom); (2) Three Special Talks, one from Emeritus Professor Carlos Amaral Dias (University of Coimbra, Director of Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Vice-President of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Private practitioner of psychiatry and psychoanalysis, Portugal) and Prof. Clara Pracana (Full and Training member of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Portugal), another from Emeritus Professor Michael Wang (University of Leicester, United Kingdom), and a third one from Dr. Conceição Almeida (Founder of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy, and Vice-President of the Board. Member of the Teaching Committee, Portugal); (3) An Invited Talk from Dr. Ana Vasconcelos (SAMS--Serviços de Assistência Médico-Social do Sindicato dos Bancários de Sul e Ilhas, founding member of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and member of NPA-Neuropshycanalysis Association, Portugal). Thus, we would like to express our gratitude to all our invitees. This volume is composed by the abstracts of the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT 2016), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). This conference addresses different categories inside Applied Psychology area and papers fit broadly into one of the named themes and sub-themes. To develop the conference program six main broad-ranging categories had been chosen, which also cover different interest areas: (1) In CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: Emotions and related psychological processes; Assessment; Psychotherapy and counseling; Addictive behaviors; Eating disorders; Personality disorders; Quality of life and mental health; Communication within relationships; Services of mental health; and Psychopathology. (2) In EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: Language and cognitive processes; School environment and childhood disorders; Parenting and parenting related processes; Learning and technology; Psychology in schools; Intelligence and creativity; Motivation in classroom; Perspectives on teaching; Assessment and evaluation; and Individual differences in learning. (3) In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: Cross-cultural dimensions of mental disorders; Employment issues and training; Organizational psychology; Psychology in politics and international issues; Social factors in adolescence and its development; Social anxiety and self-esteem; Immigration and social policy; Self-efficacy and identity development; Parenting and social support; and Addiction and stigmatization. (4) In LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY: Violence and trauma; Mass-media and aggression; Intra-familial violence; Juvenile delinquency; Aggressive behavior in childhood; Internet offending; Working with crime perpetrators; Forensic psychology; Violent risk assessment; and Law enforcement and stress. (5) In COGNITIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: Perception, memory and attention; Decision making and problem-solving; Concept formation, reasoning and judgment; Language processing; Learning skills and education; Cognitive Neuroscience; Computer analogies and information processing (Artificial Intelligence and computer simulations); Social and cultural factors in the cognitive approach; Experimental methods, research and statistics; and Biopsychology. (6) In PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL PSYCHOTHERAPY: Psychoanalysis and psychology; The unconscious; The Oedipus complex; Psychoanalysis of children; Pathological mourning; Addictive personalities; Borderline organizations; Narcissistic personalities; Anxiety and phobias; Psychosis; Neuropsychoanalysis. The proceedings contain the results of the research and developments conducted by authors who focused on what they are passionate about: to promote growth in research methods intimately related to Psychology and its applications. It includes an extensive variety of contributors and presenters by sharing their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. Authors will be invited to publish extended contributions for a book to be published by inScience Press. We would like to express thanks to all the authors and participants, the members of the academic scientific committee, partners and, of course, to the organizing and administration team for making and putting this conference together. (Individual papers contain references.) [Abstract modified to meet ERIC guidelines.]

In the course of engaging with a Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) project, we planned a yearlong Leadership Academy that fit under the "train the trainers" model for professional development. Midway through, teacher leaders rejected a traditional conception of leadership based on expertise, individualism, and the transmission of knowledge. This proved to be a moment of critical mass wherein the project was democratically reinvented around a model of shared leadership where teacher leaders were positioned as ambassadors of a culture of inquiry. We were able to document three catalysts for this shift as well as the conditions that existed such that these catalysts could prove effective at producing change. We present here our findings on what happens when we allow teachers to take power and experience agency in a teacher leadership development program. [For the complete proceedings, see ED583989.]

It seems as though the publication of "The Oxford handbook of philosophy of education" (Siegel, 2009) had evoked considerable discourse in the fields of philosophy and philosophy of education. The tensions and inconsistencies that were exposed between and within these fields prompted the question about the role of philosophy of education in the "practice" of education and teacher education. With a contingent exploration using hermeneutic phenomenology I have attempted to initiate a tentative resolution to this challenge--one that we may trust enough to base our actions upon. It reveals a conceptualisation of education and subsequently teacher education, which holistically encapsulates its quality imperative and its associated concerns like social justice and accountability. [For the complete Volume 13, Number 1 proceedings, see ED568595.]

Students begin their college studies with a set of epistemological beliefs about what they think knowledge is and how they think it is learned; for most students, the experience of college alters these beliefs in fundamental, transformative ways. This study explores the relation between epistemological beliefs, motivation, and cognition in two differing instructional contexts within the same mathematics course. The subjects included 438 first-semester calculus students at a large Midwestern research university. Students were enrolled in either experimental (New Wave) calculus sections or traditional calculus sections. Results indicated that intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy were correlated with sophistication of beliefs, though this was not true within the New Wave sections. This result suggests that students with more sophisticated beliefs, as measured by a strategies for learning questionnaire, are those students who reported that they are mastery-oriented and think that they are capable of doing well in mathematics. Intrinsically motivated students reported relative disagreement with the view of math as an isolated activity; the findings could be used to argue for the importance of group activities within mathematics. The results also provide some evidence for correlations between epistemological beliefs about mathematics and type of instruction. (RJM)

This paper examines the proposition that administrative policy has the properties of a myth, with myth defined as a grand narrative of explanation and justification. It illustrates the proposition with an example of radical restructuring in a large education system, the Department of Education in New South Wales, Australia. It reviews the testimony of a significant policy maker in education, the Scott Report (1989), and the findings of international research that examined the restructuring of nine education systems. In terms of their attributes, administrative policies appear to be largely societal myths about social order and service, although many examples of identity, eschatological, death-of-god, and other myths were found. When these myths cohere with institutional rules, formal structures, and the external policy context, they appear to generate legitimacy, resources, stability, and the survival of institutionalized organization. Where they do not, the converse appears to be the case and could account for intervention. It is concluded that because myths mediate existential, structural, social, and political perspectives on the "best way to be organized," mythic analysis should be developed as a way of comprehending organization. Contains 41 references. (Author/LMI)