* Introduction
hen our advisory board met in September of 1996 to develop an outline and
structure for the 1998 volume of the Review of Research in Education， we
did what boards like this must have done over the years--we brainstormed topics
and issues that deserved a place between the covers of the latest volume of RRE.
We grounded our brainstorming activity in three ways. First we looked to the past
by considering an analysis of topics covered in the first 20 odd volumes of RRE
and the last 10 years of the Review of Educational Research， trying our best to
uncover themes and issues that we had unintentionally obscured over the years.
Second， we looked to the future: Mindful of the dawn of a new century， we asked
ourselves which issues and questions our profession ought to be addressing as we
move into that new century. Third， we looked to the present and asked ourselves
which topics were so important at this point in our history that we could not help
but give them voice. At the end of the first day of our meeting， we had filled up
some 15-20 large sheets of chart paper with deserving topics and issues， enough
literally for a decade s worth of RRE volumes. So much to know， so little space!
As we looked across the topics， however， some themes began to emerge. For
example， we were sure that issues of special education had not been given full
voice， but what was especially interesting about special education were competing
views about how teaching and learning ought to be organized in our schools and
classrooms. It was the social aspect of how the learning of special students was
organized that intrigued us. And we knew it was time for technology to be
re-examined， but again what we found interesting about technology were the ex-
plicit and implicit social relations that are involved in technology-centered learn-
ing， especially in asynchronous learning contexts. We knew that tutoring was gath-
ering enough momentum， especially in early literacy programs， to deserve a full
review， but what had not been adequately addressed was the social face of tutor-
ing--the interactions between tutor and student. We also knew that motivation
deserved to be covered again， but we wanted a reading of the literature that empha-
sized motivation in the contexts of schooling， where social aspects would be domi-
nant. We had also committed ourselves to at least two chapters on methodology，
one which would enhance our quantitative tools and a second which would en-
hance our qualitative tools. And we were excited as we persuaded ourselves that
we would be able include methodological chapters related to the overall theme of
the volume.
By this point in the conversation， on the morning of day two of our meeting， that
theme was pretty clear to us. It would be the social organization of learning， and
we would address several important topics through that broad lens. What remained
was to sketch out the lead chapters， the chapters that would speak most directly to
|
内容加载中，请稍后...
商品评论（0条）