Perceptions of pre-service teachers on mentor teachers’ roles in promoting inclusive practicum: case studies in U.S. elementary school contexts

This case study examines a Chinese and Korean-Chinese pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their mentor teachers’ role in supporting inclusive practicum experiences in USA elementary school contexts. The findings demonstrate that a mentor teacher’s open conversations and willingness to host those students bring positive influence on their learning and growth. The findings also indicate that the facilitative roles of mentor teachers in the promotion of inclusive environments are intersected with the socio-cultural and political contexts of practicum schools and universities. The study concludes with implications for enhancing the inclusion of diverse pre-service teachers through collaborative roles of multiple practicum stakeholders, including pre-service teachers, mentor teachers, practicum schools, and universities.     

A Fish Out of Water: New Articulations of U.S.–Latino Identity on Ugly Betty

This essay examines representations of U.S.–Latino identity on the ABC television program Ugly Betty. The analysis argues that the show articulates a tension between ethnic “otherness” and cultural assimilation that symbolizes current negotiations of individual and collective identities among young, English-speaking Latinos in the United States. Furthermore, the essay argues that Ugly Betty symbolically endorses a new conceptualization of Latino identity in the United States. The conceptual framework of the analysis is the relationship between media representation and identity.     

Marketization of Education in China:An Assessment of its Impact on Educational Institutions

本文主要从优点和缺点两方面分析现代化、市场化对中国教育体制造成影响的和新产生的问题,并提出解决问题的政策思路。     

Variations on variability: effects of display composition on same–different discrimination in pigeons

Discriminating same from different multiitem arrays can be represented as a discrimination between arrays involving low variability and arrays involving high variability. In the present investigation, we first trained pigeons with the extreme values along the variability continuum (arrays containing 16 identical items vs. 16 nonidentical items), and we later tested the birds with arrays involving intermediate levels of variability; we created these testing arrays either by manipulating the combination of same and different items (mixture testing) or by changing the number of items in the same and different arrays (number testing). According to an entropy account (Young & Wasserman, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 23:157?C170, 1997), the particular means of changing variability should have no effect on same?Cdifferent discrimination performance: Equivalent variability should yield equivalent performance. In this critical test of an entropy account, we found that entropy could explain a large portion of our data, but not the entire collection of results.     

Coming of Age Too Soon: Journalistic Practice in U.S. Newspaper Coverage of “Early Puberty” in Girls

Following from a 1997 study documenting that U.S. girls were developing secondary sex characteristics (i.e., breasts and pubic hair) earlier than in previous generations, this qualitative and quantitative content analysis of U.S. newspaper coverage of early puberty in girls concludes that newspapers have framed the phenomenon as one in which girls' bodies have transgressed culturally prescribed dictates of childhood innocence. Although not necessarily evidence of a specific and unique moral panic, such coverage is (a) part and parcel of a larger and ongoing moral panic about youth growing up too fast and (b) further evidence of the kinds of journalistic practice employed when covering medical stories, in general, and “sexual health” stories, in particular.     

Politics in Language:on George Orwell’s View of Language in Nineteen Eighty-Four

Language stood in the foreground of George Orwell’s social and political thinking. Language is not only a vehicle for transmitting ideas, but also a product originating from social and political intera...     

Discrimination in grading: A scoping review of studies on teachers’ discrimination in school

Studies on teachers’ grading suggest that school grades depend not only on students’ performance but also on teachers’ bias toward specific social categories. Numerous studies tested the existence of discrimination in grading using different strategies and focusing on multiple students’ characteristics. This study aims to summarise those studies by identifying (1) the methodologies used, (2) the characteristics on which discrimination is based and (3) the empirical results. We conducted a scoping review where studies were selected blindly by the two authors. The initial search was conducted on ERIC, Education Database and PsycInfo and 37 studies were finally identified. A comparison among the included studies suggests that the main strategies used are experiments and regression analysis on the difference between blind and non-blind scores, while gender, race/ethnicity and migration background are the most frequently tested characteristics. Finally, on average studies confirmed the presence of discrimination in grading still with some exceptions and, sometimes, under specific conditions. To conclude, it is challenging to test teachers’ discrimination through grading and to date the methodologies used have some limitations. However, on average, empirical evidence suggests that school grades are affected by teachers’ bias.     

“To veil the threat of terror”: Afghan women and the ⟨clash of civilizations⟩ in the imagery of the U.S. war on terrorism

This article explores the role of widely circulated images of Afghan people in building public support for the 2001–2002 U.S. war with Afghanistan. Emphasizing images of women, I argue that these representations participate in the more general category of “the clash of civilizations,” which constitutes a verbal and a visual ideograph linked to the idea of the “white man's burden.” Through the construction of binary oppositions of self and Other, the evocation of a paternalistic stance toward the women of Afghanistan, and the figuration of modernity as liberation, these images participate in a set of justifications for war that contradicts the actual motives for the war. These contradictions have a number of implications for democratic deliberation and public life during wartime.     

Politics in Language: on George Orwell’s View of Language in Nineteen Eighty-Four

Language stood in the foreground of George Orwell’s social and political thinking. Language is not only a vehicle for transmitting ideas, but also a product originating from social and political interactions. This paper examines the language, particularly the abuse of language, in the context of politics presented in Nineteen Eighty-Four, so as to find out George Orwell’s view of language: language as a manipulated tool to control people’s minds.     

Rethinking syntax: A commentary on E. Kako’s “Elements of syntax in the systems of three language-trained animals”

Kako (1999) requests new studies of linguistic continua between humans and nonhumans. I question the value of such studies and the importance of determining whether any component of language is uniquely human. I argue that training of specific constructs (e.g., closed classes) may not provide appropriate data, and that whether a particular species lacks or has human-like syntax likely results from specific ecological/evolutionary pressures. Social factors purported to drive intelligence and communication in primates likely exist for nonprimates such as parrots; moreover, Grey parrots demonstrate rudiments of supposedly uniquely human abilities: supralaryngeal vocal tract control, anticipatory coarticulation, and sound play.     

On Swift’s Satiric Vision in Verses on the Death of Dr.Swift

Up till now only a few papers have been found to analyze the poem Verses on the Death of Dr.Swift.It is really rare seen the author himself has the poetic commentary on his own death.Some information about Swift and some brilliant passages and the language specific in the poem Verses on the Death of Dr.Swift are expounded.Some scholarly researches of the poem in the world are also conceded.     

Study on properties of residue-residue contacts in protein

INTRODUCTION Recognition of protein folding from aminoacid sequence is a challenging task. The structureand stability of proteins from different fold aremainly dictated by inter-residue interactions. In-formation on the distribution of contacts shown by20 amino acid residues can be used to predict thefolding type of each protein (Chan and Dill, 1998;Zhang and Kim, 2000; Gromiha, 2001; Gromihaand Selvaraj, 1999; Miyazawa and Jernigan, 1985;1996; Bahar et al., 1997; McDonald and …     

Determinants of pre‐school quality in Singapore. An investigation of the effects on teachers,of parents’ involvement

Parents are usually anxious about the quality of pre‐school education for their children and Singapore is no exception. As such, research into quality indicators of pre‐school care and education continues to receive much attention, especially in terms of identifying which aspects are related to positive outcomes for children, their parents and the policy makers. However, the significance of the day to day pre‐school experiences per se, are rarely investigated. Rather than considering outcomes, this paper reports a study which is concerned with pre‐school teachers' views on selected aspects of their working environment, in particular their dealings with parents, as determinant measures of quality in pre‐schools.

The majority of pre‐school centres in Singapore have a central structure and environment which by necessity adheres to government regulations. Except for teachers' views and feelings about aspects of their working conditions, most of the usual measures of centre quality are regulated. The study is concerned to identify which features of their day to day encounters most satisfactorily contribute to their roles as pre‐school teachers, and to examine any differences attributable to qualifications and experience.

The results show, that whilst there are some differences between teachers according to qualifications and experience, amongst the most positive features are satisfaction with parents' involvement, children's behaviour, and positive support from other teachers.     

D.H.Lawrence’s Criticism on Industrialization-The Ecocritical Study of Odour of Chrysanthemums

Through ecocritical study of Odour of Chrysanthemums,this paper reflects that the industrial civilization leads to damaged nature,distorted humanity and conjugal relation.     

Torsten Husén: A case of ethnocentrism in U.S. educational research?

This paper documents and discusses the lack of reference by U.S. educational researchers to the work of noted Swedish social scientist and educational researcher, Torsten Husén. The paucity of U.S. textbook or journal citations of Husén's writings and research is interpreted as an example of cultural ethnocentrism and academic imperialism in U.S. educational and psychological research. Crosscultural perspectives, interdisciplinary analyses, and global learning are proposed as methods of overcoming the methodological parochialism, overspecialization, and international fragmentation Husén describes as characteristic of much educational and social scientific research.     

Role of Computers in Educating Young Children: U.S. and Japanese Teachers’ Perspectives

This study was conducted with kindergarten teachers in the United States and Japan with respect to their beliefs about the role of computers in educating young children. Overall findings indicated significant differences in responses of teachers in the two countries. Generally, U.S. teachers had a more positive attitude toward computers in educating young children, while the Japanese teachers had more concerns. The teachers’ own sense of competence with computers was not related to their beliefs about computers and young children in either country. Respondents from both countries identified a lack of resources and clear guidelines for integrating computers in the classroom as challenges. These findings highlighted the need for training of early childhood teachers in integrating and using computers in the classroom.     

A Study on Teachers’ Occupational Belief in Local Universities and Colleges: Based on the Survey of a College in Xiamen

Abstract:

In higher education institutions (HEI), teachers’ occupational belief is an important factor to promote teachers’ development and maintain their occupational stability, so the research of teachers’ occupational belief has become more and more significant. This study took the teachers in a local college as samples. The following four aspects were analyzed: living conditions, occupational reputation, role expectation, and development expectation. According to the results of the survey, there are some new findings. For living conditions, the salary satisfaction of teacher is low and many of them show the tendency to resign. For occupational reputation, the overall evaluation of their reputation is at a general level. For role expectation, these teachers face different difficulties and also suffer the pressure in various aspects, especially in school requirements and their own demands. For development expectation, their satisfaction with promotion opportunities and working environment conditions is also low. Male and female teachers show noticeable discrepancy on public evaluation of teachers’ occupational reputation. Teachers with different discipline background and teaching ages have obviously different attitudes on public evaluation and individual evaluation of teachers’ occupational reputation. Teachers with different education background vary with each other on the issue of working pressure.