University students' depression: a cross-cultural investigation

Australian, Iranian and Portuguese university students (n?=?967) completed the University Students Depression Inventory (USDI) in English, Persian and Portuguese languages, respectively. A series of MANOVA analyses were used to examine differences in depression symptoms as an effect of the country and demographic variables. Interactions were also examined. The results indicated that country, gender and year level had some impact on the depressive symptoms of the university students. Australian students were more depressed than the Iranian and Portuguese students, while Iranian students were more depressed than the Portuguese students. Sub-scales of USDI – Lethargy, Motivation and Cognitive/Emotional – were also used to compare the depressive symptoms of students. The Australian female students reported a significantly higher level of lethargy than their male counterparts. Similarly, the first-year male students from Iran were significantly more lethargic than the first-year Iranian female students. Iranian and Portuguese male students, compared to the female students of these countries, experienced a lower level of motivation. The Australian and Iranian students, compared to the Portuguese students, reported a significantly higher level of cognitive and affective symptoms. The scores on the Cognitive/Emotional sub-scale increased with the year level. Differences among students' depression are described and implications discussed.     

Troubling identities: teacher education students' constructions of class and ethnicity

Working with diverse student populations productively depends on teachers and teacher educators recognizing and valuing difference. Too often, in teacher education programs, when markers of identity such as gender, ethnicity, ‘race’, or social class are examined, the focus is on developing student teachers' understandings of how these discourses shape learner identities and rarely on how these also shape teachers' identities. This article reports on a research project that explored how student teachers understand ethnicity and socio‐economic status. In a preliminary stage of the research, we asked eight Year 3 teacher education students who had attended mainly Anglo‐Australian, middle class schools as students and as student teachers, to explore their own ethnic and classed identities. The complexities of identity are foregrounded in both the assumptions we made in selecting particular students for the project and in the ways they constructed their own identities around ethnicity and social class. In this article we draw on these findings to interrogate how categories of identity are fluid, shifting and ongoing processes of negotiation, troubling and complex. We also consider the implications for teacher education.     

A study of international students' perspectives on cross-cultural adaptation

The aim of this study was to discover and describe how international students experience and adapt to their new academic, social, cultural and linguistic environment. Questionnaires were given to 12 post-graduate students and interviews conducted on the basis of the responses. It might be expected, given the range of culture shock literature which often presumes the stressful and even pathological nature of cross-cultural transitions, that international students from cultures very different to that found in New Zealand would report high levels of frustration, stress and even depression. While most reported on obstacles to integration as being loneliness, mismatch of culture, frustration with the lack of deep integration with New Zealanders as well as irritation with aspects of their host culture, there was not a high level of stress reported. The greatest block to adaptation was lack of intercultural communicative competence.     

'There's no way this kid's retarded': teachers' optimistic constructions of students' ability

Historical research in the field of autism has suggested that judgements regarding the ability of students with autism should be made carefully, taking into consideration the person with autism's difficulty with communication, movement and performance in general. Although the historical literature has urged professionals to proceed with caution regarding judgements about ability, a haphazard understanding of people with autism as retarded prevails. This qualitative study analyses the experiences of four teachers who, within the context of the inclusive classroom, resist interpreting non-verbal students with autism as mentally retarded and seek to form a new understanding of ability. The following themes will be discussed: (1) finding situations where students demonstrate competence, (2) rethinking performance and understanding, and (3) expecting struggles.     

Preschool teachers' and students' attitudes towards playful preschool activities: a cross-cultural comparison between Germany and the Netherlands

This study compares the attitudes of preschool teachers and students between the Netherlands and Germany towards typical play activities in preschool. The data were responses to short video clips of preschool children's play and elicited the respondents’ attitudes through questionnaires. The data were analysed by classifying the written responses into four categories. The frequencies of the categories were tested with MANOVA with regard to expert–novice position and country. Differences between professionals and novices were found, and for professionals only, the four categories were interrelated, showing a stronger holistic view of early childhood activities. Differences were also found between the countries, and two of the categories seemed especially sensitive to cultural differences. We discuss how reflection on activities can add to a higher degree of professionalism, as well as a more profound understanding of ways to improve preschool teacher training.     

Metaphors as a reflection of middle school students' perceptions of school: A cross-cultural analysis

This study analyzes the perceptions of Turkish and American middle school students of school and schooling by examining the metaphors they produce. A total of 18 American and 24 Turkish students were interviewed as part of this study. The results show differences in the participants' perceptions of schooling by culture. Turkish participants perceived the school environment as family-like, care-giving, psychologically nurturing, educationally exemplary, and physically appealing. School was also seen as a fundamental prerequisite in the preparation for life and the possibility of employment, promising upward social mobility as an adult. Overall, while some American participants perceived school as a wild, crowded, chaotic, boring, painful, regulated environment in which students must learn to survive, others see it as a place of joy, caring, involvement, and learning. The study also indicates that metaphors are useful tools in understanding how students as real actors of school make sense of schooling and their experiences in school.     

Changes in perceptions of studying for the GCSE among Year 10 and Year 11 pupils

This research aimed to explore whether pupils’ perceptions of studying for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) altered during the two‐year period of study of this qualification. Six hundred and forty four pupils from eight schools in outer London completed a self‐report questionnaire on two occasions, once in Year 10 and once in Year 11, which elicited their responses to statements about studying. Overall, throughout the course pupils remained anxious about coursework, examinations and homework and the time required for them. There was little evidence that pupils developed an increased level of understanding about the demands of the GCSE or a wider range of study strategies to support effective learning. That the students in this research remained as uncertain about the demands of coursework and the quality of their work in Year 11 as Year 10 warrants attention from those who plan and deliver the GCSE.     

Year 3 student career choices: Exploring societal changes in constructions of masculinity and femininity in career choice justifications

This article reports on a survey of 332 Year 3 students from 14 Australian schools. We are interested in exploring Year 3 primary school student aspirations and what this data shows us about any societal changes, or not. This study is timely as it reports on contemporary data within an Australian educational context marked by significant investment in improving equitable gendered participation, particularly for girls entering STEM. Drawing on conceptions of masculinities and femininities as social constructions, we report on the participants’ desired occupations and explore their justifications for such choices. The top three occupations for boys included careers in professional sports, STEM-related jobs and policing/defence. Girls reported wanting to be teachers, veterinarians or to work in the arts as their top choices. As part of our exploration, we found issues of money and power—traditionally coded masculine—and conceptions of love and care—traditionally coded feminine—ingrained in boys’ and girls’ justifications for their desired trajectories. Findings are significant for illustrating how traditional constructions of gender are ingrained in career choices in the early years of primary school and how policy agendas to widen participation need to start early in life.     

Co-rumination in the friendships of girls and boys

This research addresses a new construct, co-rumination. Co-rumination refers to extensively discussing and revisiting problems, speculating about problems, and focusing on negative feelings. Friendship research indicates that self-disclosure leads to close relationships; however, coping research indicates that dwelling on negative topics leads to emotional difficulties. Co-rumination is a single construct that integrates both perspectives and is proposed to be related both to positive friendship adjustment and problematic emotional adjustment. Third-, fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade participants (N = 608) responded to questionnaires, including a new measure of co-rumination. Co-rumination was related to high-quality, close friendships and aspects of depression and anxiety. Girls reported co-ruminating more than did boys, which helped to account for girls' more positive friendship adjustment and greater internalizing symptoms. Other analyses addressed whether co-rumination and the related constructs of self-disclosure and rumination had different relations with friendship and emotional adjustment.     

Mental constructions and constructions of web sites: learner and teacher points of view

This research focuses on knowledge and ways in which knowledge may be constructed in the learner's mind. Specifically, it addresses the Web as a cognitive supporter for learning, organising and constructing a new domain of knowledge. In particular, the research analyses student reflection on constructing web sites. The analysis is based on an ongoing reflection of 40 prospective and in‐service teachers who took a course on educational computational environments. The students were asked to choose a complex topic and to document the process of constructing a web site that would present their chosen topic. They were to reflect upon the process with regard to their decision making, difficulties encountered, ways of thinking, considerations and insights. Student reflection is analysed from two perspectives: the first perspective examines how the task of constructing a web site contributes to student learning of complex topics, the second perspective views the students as teachers who explore how constructing a web site contributes to their understanding of learning processes.     

Opportunities and constraints: black-white differences in the formation of interracial friendships

In this article, we examine the effects of classroom characteristics on the interracial friendliness of students in desegregated classrooms. We argue that social psychological processes that affect cross-race sociability are set in motion by the classroom climate, the organization of instruction, and the class racial composition. The effects of these variables on the likelihood of cross-race friendships are observed in longitudinal data from 455 students in 16 fourth- through seventh-grade desegregated classrooms. The results show that classroom characteristics associated with "status-leveling" effects operate differently for black and white students. Ability grouping influences the interracial sociability of white students more than that of blacks, while the academic status of peers affects the cross-race friendships of blacks more than of whites. Race differences in the effects of classroom climate on interracial friendships are also observed.     

Security of attachment and preschool friendships

Attachment theory proposes that the quality of the mother-child tie predicts the quality of a child's other close relationships. The purpose of this study was to test whether security of attachment to mother is related to the quality of a preschooler's best friendships. 33 4-year-old and their best friends participated (mean age = 46 months). Attachment Q-set data were collected to score security of mother-child attachment. Security data were used to classify the friend pairs as secure-secure or secure-insecure. Best friend dyads were observed for a 1-hour free-play session. Each pair's behavior was described with the Dyadic Relationships Q-set, a measure designed to describe the behavior of a pair of children. Secure-secure pairs were more harmonious, less controlling, more responsive, and happier than secure-insecure pairs. The results are related to previous work on attachment and social competence.     

Characterizing and comparing the friendships of anxious-solitary and unsociable preadolescents

Friendships matter for withdrawn youth because the consequences of peer isolation are severe. From a normative sample of 2,437 fifth graders (1,245 females; M age = 10.25), a subset (n = 1,364; 638 female) was classified into 3 groups (anxious-solitary, unsociable, comparison) and followed across a school year. Findings indicated that it was more common for unsociable than anxious-solitary children to have friends, be stably friended, and participate in multiple friendships. For withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn children, peer rejection predicted friendlessness, but this relation was strongest for anxious-solitary children. The friends of unsociable youth were more accepted by peers than those of anxious-solitary youth. The premise that friendship inhibits peer victimization was substantiated for withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn youth.     

Turkish grade 10 students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: A national study

This study aimed to assess grade 10 Turkish students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and whether these conceptions were related to selected variables. These variables included participants' gender, geographical region, and the socioeconomic status (SES) of their city and region; teacher disciplinary background, years of teaching experience, graduate degree, and type of teacher training program; and student household SES and parents' educational level. A stratified sampling approach was used to generate a representative national sample comprising 2,087 students and 378 science teachers. After establishing their validity in the Turkish context, participants were administered a questionnaire comprising 14 modified “Views on Science‐Technology‐Society” (VOSTS) items to assess their views of certain aspects of NOS. A total of 2,020 students (97%) and 362 teachers (96%) completed the questionnaire. Participant responses were categorized as “naïve,” “have merit,” or “informed,” and the frequency distributions for these responses were compared for various groupings of participants. The majority of participants held naïve views of a majority of the target NOS aspects. Teacher views were mostly similar to those of their students. Teacher and student views of some NOS aspects were related to some of the target variables. These included teacher graduate degree and geographical region, and student household SES, parent education, and SES of their city and geographical region. The relationship between student NOS views and enhanced economic and educational capitals of their households, as well as the SES status of their cities and geographical regions point to significant cultural (specifically Western) and intellectual underpinnings of understandings about NOS. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1083–1112, 2008     

Missing friendships: understanding the absent relationships of local and international students at an Australian university

In recent years, research on higher education has increasingly examined the realities of internationalisation, with a particular focus on international students’ experiences and internationalisation at home programs. These studies have explored the friendships of international students, including their relationships with both locals and internationals from other countries. However, local students’ perspectives and experiences of friendship are largely absent from this literature. The few accounts examining local students’ lives explicitly focus on improving their cross-cultural knowledge and engagement, or on rare cases of local–international student friendships. The overriding assumption in this literature is that the understandings and social practises of local students are major barriers to their relationships with internationals. This paper addresses this gap by exploring local students’ perspectives on the absence of friendships with their international peers. We utilise findings from a research project on internationalisation at home, involving interviews and focus groups with local and international students and staff at an Australian university. Focusing on locals’ discussions of potential friendships with internationals, we propose that these missing friendships are an important area of study. We find that these friendships are missing for several interrelated reasons: local–international friendships are considered unnecessary and are therefore unimagined by locals, who tend to assume that similarity and affinity naturally lead to friendships, and the structures and spaces that might facilitate friendships are absent. Ultimately, uncovering why these friendships are missing sheds fuller light on how relationships might be facilitated, potentially informing and improving universities’ internationalisation initiatives.     

English language arts and the economy: discursive constructions of two fields

This article presents discourse analyses of two teachers’ statements about the economic payoff of studying English in the United States’ high schools. Specifically, the article examines how English teachers construe reading as an economic asset that can be developed in schools and used on the job. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of field and capital are mobilized to explore how teachers (a) construe and relate the fields of English and the economy and (b) define the resources operative in and across both fields. The present study uses methods of discourse analysis to develop detailed pictures of teachers’ theories of the economic dimensions of English (as described in original interviews). The teachers’ views are read against widely circulating arguments about the economic value of English. The teachers involved in the study construe basic skills reading as being of less economic value than practices of reading driven by curiosity and enjoyment.     

Antecedents of college students' study deficiencies: the relationship between course features and students' study activities

Students entering institutions of higher learning have been observed to be deficient in the skills and dispositions necessary for engaging in sustained autonomous study. Evidence from investigations comparing instructional features and students' study activities across different courses and grade levels suggests that (a) particular features of courses may act to prompt or inhibit the development of proficiency at academic studying; and (b) the difficulties experienced by postsecondary students may be traced to certain discontinuties between characteristics of courses at the secondary versus post-secondary levels. These discontinuities can be described in terms of three dimensions: (a) differences in the demands made on particular study activities associated with different coursework requirements; (b) the degree to which instructors provide supportive practices designed to facilitate or sustain students' productive study activities; and (c) the prevalance of teaching strategies designed to compensate students for their study deficiencies. Using evidence from extant research on studying and results from recent investigation of secondary-level courses, the claim is made that particular patterns of instructor-implemented demands (workload, test difficulty, and latitude for self-direction) and compensations (test review practices, overlap between test items and instructor handouts, and the presence of safety nets) might account for deficiencies in the study activities of postsecondary graduates. Further, improving the level of preparedness of secondary-level graduates for the demands associated with higher education courses is discussed in terms of the need for the provision of particular support practices (e.g., feedback, clear performance expectations, and guided practice) in secondary-level courses.