In the present study we have evaluated the knowledge, attitudes and intention to act in relation to HIV/AIDS related issues among Swedish students aged 15-18 years. An intervention group (n = 368) and a comparison group (n = 180) were followed for 2 years between 1989 and 1991. The teachers of the intervention group were obliged to specifically give a continuous and in-depth education while the comparison group received ordinary traditional education. We present the results from questionnaires given to all students before and after the study. There was a significant increase in knowledge of facts in the intervention group, and also changes in attitudes towards, for example, gay people, drug users and HIV infected individuals, in a desirable direction. In sex related issues there was also a desirable change in intention to act, but this was not seen in students' relation to alcohol. No significant changes at all in knowledge, attitudes or intention to act were seen in the comparison group. Our results show that it is indeed possible to influence students' attitudes and intention to act in HIV/AIDS related issues provided teachers start by defining the students' central conceptions and their relation to each other, and promote individual thinking and reflection.
The lack of attention to the role of emotions generally has led modern learning theories to neglect the importance of emulation as a pedagogical support to students’ learning. One reason could be that the influence of teacher personality is not considered in relation to learning outcome. Another reason may be that the concept of emulation has been used as a psychological conception for one‐way transmission. From a pedagogical rhetorical perspective, it is here argued that emulation and its pedagogical function is rooted in three human conditions: the biological, moral and political. The framework for this reasoning is discussed, as well as historical changes in pedagogical focus. Finally, it is concluded that the educative character of the teacher has a crucial impact on how willing students are to interact and share the teachers’ knowledge, skills and values. Therefore, there is a need for a greater awareness of these aspects to be developed among teachers.
Educational research in higher education needs a methodology for how to think and act in relation to how pedagogical interactions support learning. A methodology that can identify how pedagogical rhetorical qualities, such as confidence and a desire to learn, are embedded in a pedagogical interaction. This article presents an outline of a pedagogical rhetorical interactional methodology that enables us to elucidate the responsibility teachers in higher education have for supporting their students' desire to learn as well as for their actual learning. To illustrate how we can apply this methodological approach to empirical data, we present two examples I. A supportive learning context, and II. A non-supportive learning context. These examples illustrate that this methodological approach will contribute to a deeper understanding of what matters when teachers' expressions establish a pedagogical interaction.
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