Martin Booth

Attitudes to the teaching of history and the use of creative skills in Japan and England : a comparative study

Abstract Students in Cambridgeshire comprehensive schools and in Yamanashi junior high schools aged between 12 and 13 years were given the same questionnaires which explored their views on the nature of history and their experience of history teaching methods. They undertook a test on the creative use of four historical pictures dealing with life for black South Africans in the 1970s, a topic which none had studied at school. The English National Foundation for Educational Research non‐verbal test of intelligence was also administered. In spite of the fact that the use of sources and empathetic historical thinking do not form part of the Japanese historical curriculum, the Japanese students did not perform significantly worse than the English, for whom the interrogation of sources and the deployment of creative thinking are a normal part of the history curriculum. If Japanese teachers want to make a change in their students’ attainment in history, there will be no alteration until there is a change in att...

The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the teaching role of the registrar

A project to improve the effectiveness of the training of doctors in hospital in the Anglia Region was started in 1995. In one hospital, work focused on registrars in four departments and the teaching they undertook on ward rounds. A content analysis system was used to quantify the verbal interactions between registrars and their trainees. The quantification highlighted particular teaching emphases or omissions during the ward round; the brief qualitative comment which was also given to the participants raised issues which registrar and trainees could focus on in future ward rounds. Given the significance of the transition to the Specialist Registrar Grade and the swifter progress to consultant grade, the work points to ways in which such a quantitative and qualitative analysis of teaching and learning during on-the-job situations can be enhanced and made more intentional. It could be undertaken on a regular though occasional basis without adding significantly to the time involved.

Teaching and learning in a neonatal intensive care unit

In 1994, a team of four from the University of Cambridge School of Education was commissioned by the postgraduate dean at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, to undertake a detailed examination of the training of doctors in hospitals in the Anglian Region. Their initial questionnaire and interview survey emphasised the crucial importance to trainees of on the job experience; training was mainly a matter of acquiring expertise through the practical service demands of the hospital. Interviews with junior doctors showed that much of this on the job training was implicit, opportunistic, and incidental and there was no clear understanding about the types of questioning or teaching strategies which could be employed. Trainees were also critical of the lack of feedback they received from senior doctors.1 The 1994 survey gave rise to a research and development project to improve the effectiveness of training for doctors in hospitals in the region. This paper charts the work in 1996 of one of the project team in developing on the job training in a neonatal unit. The work focused on two areas: (1) the ways in which consultant trainers could make more intentional and explicit teaching and learning before, during, and after ward rounds; (2) registrar/senior registrar involvement as teachers during service delivery. The neonatal unit operated in 1996 with three consultants, a senior registrar and registrar, and five senior house officers (SHOs). There was also some part time registrar support. There is a programme of formal teaching within the unit; staff are also informed of programmes within related specialties. The unit runs a partial shift system, and the structures and routines of this often militate against continuity and the logic of structured teaching and learning. Trainees, for example, will do a week of nights. Senior trainees have a vital role here as they are …

Teaching and learning of junior hospital doctors on ward rounds: the use of video recording analysis by an educationist

Video recording was used to study verbal and non-verbal teaching interactions of senior and junior hospital doctors on ward rounds. A lightweight Panasonic camcorder capable of giving good definition in low light conditions was used; radio transmitter lapel microphones and a light weight receiver attached to the camera ensured good sound, despite the peripatetic nature of the ward round. The tapes were analysed by an educationist to focus on specific interactions using a Content Analysis System. The system rests on explicitly formulated rules to categorize and quantify the nature of the verbal interactions. The edited tapes focused on key events which were then discussed with the doctors involved. The work was finely tuned to meet each departments needs. It highlights current training and suggests ways of further development, for example by encouraging trainees to use the video technique themselves. It shows the value of an educationist working closely with the medical teams and acting as a catalyst.