Research findings can change attitudes about corporal punishment

Positive attitudes toward the use of corporal punishment (CP) predict subsequent spanking behavior. Given that CP has frequently been associated with behavior problems in children and child maltreatment, this prevention work was designed to test whether adults’ attitudes could be changed by informing participants about the research findings on problematic behaviors associated with CP. Two random assignment studies are reported. In Study 1, we tested whether an active reading condition would result in more attitude change than a passive condition. With a sample of 118 non-parent adults, we found that after reading very brief research summaries on the problems associated with CP, there was a significant decrease in favorable attitudes toward CP. Contrary to expectations, the magnitude of the change was comparable for active and passive processing conditions. In Study 2, we extended our approach to a sample of 520 parents and included a control group. A significant decrease in positive attitudes toward spanking was observed in the intervention group, but no change for the control group. Parents who were unaware of the research showed more change after reading the summaries. Thus, these studies demonstrate that a brief and cost-effective approach to raise awareness of research findings can reduce positive attitudes toward CP. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.     

浅论魏晋时期肉刑复议

肉刑是中国奴隶社会刑罚体系的主体,因其耻辱刑和中间刑的双重性质,汉文帝废除肉刑,并没有提出具体完善的新刑来代替.自其废除之日就不断有复议肉刑的呼声,特别是魏共有三次复议内刑的讨论,东晋元帝时的讨论也非常激烈.本文结合当时具体历史环境,总结这几次复议肉刑的讨论,最终得出结论:肉刑复议并不能改变废除肉刑的历史潮流,但对其的讨论在中国历史上有积极意义.     

Changing public attitudes towards corporal punishment: the effects of statutory reform in Sweden

OBJECTIVE: One justification for a statutory ban on physical punishment is that passage of such legislation changes public attitudes towards the use of this form of parental discipline. The experience in Sweden is often cited as an example of legislation which changed public opinion. The aim of this brief article is to review the public opinion findings in Sweden in order to evaluate in greater detail the impact of changing the law. METHOD: A search was conducted to generate all published and publicly-available quantitative surveys of the public in Sweden and elsewhere. RESULTS: The results of time-series analysis of the data are clear. The 1979 legal reform in Sweden did not reduce the level of public support for parental use of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. Support for physical punishment began declining years before the reform was passed and the decline was in no way accelerated by the law reform. Changes in public opinion may have generated the legal reform, but the reverse is not true. Data from other jurisdictions also support the view that there is no relationship between the status of the law and the nature of public views with regard to corporal punishment. This result is consistent with analyses of the effects of legal reforms in other areas. CONCLUSIONS: The Swedish ban on corporal punishment did not affect public attitudes. Changing public views requires other initiatives.     

The relationship between attitudes toward corporal punishment and the perception and reporting of child maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effect of workers' attitudes toward corporal punishment on the workers' perception and reporting of child maltreatment. Three hundred twenty-five (325) potential entry level workers participated in this study. METHOD: Responding to vignettes in multi-item scales, study participants 1) rated their approval of parental discipline involving corporal punishment; 2) rated the seriousness of incidents of probable maltreatment; and 3) indicated whether or not they would report the incidents of maltreatment to child protective services. Data were analyzed using correlation analyses and multiple regression procedures. RESULTS: 1) Respondents with higher scores for approval of corporal punishment were less likely to perceive maltreatment; 2) respondents with higher scores for approval of corporal punishment were less likely to report maltreatment; 3) the likelihood that a respondent would report maltreatment was a joint function of the respondent's perception of the seriousness of an incident and approval of corporal punishment. CONCLUSION: Attitudes about corporal punishment are important predictors of reporting behavior. Social service agencies face a challenge to provide workers with training which will enable them to detect and report maltreatment despite workers' individual beliefs about discipline and punishment.     

“体罚”作为学校特殊教育方式的几个基本问题

体罚研究是一个涉及国家教育法规的敏感性课题。本文对学校体罚的研究原则、概念 和方法作了一个尝试性的探索,廓清了传统体罚与现代“体罚”的界线,提出了彻底抛弃传统体罚,合理 设计现代“体罚”教育方式的新构想,现代“体罚”,其实是一种建设性的惩戒方法。     

A randomized controlled trial of an intervention program to Brazilian mothers who use corporal punishment

This study evaluated a positive parenting program to Brazilian mothers who used corporal punishment with their children. The intervention was conducted in four agencies serving vulnerable children, and at a home replica laboratory at the University. Mothers who admitted using corporal punishment were randomly assigned between experimental (n = 20) and control group (n = 20). The program consisted of 12 individual sessions using one unit from Projeto Parceria (Partnership Project), with specific guidelines and materials on positive parenting, followed by observational sessions of mother-child interaction with live coaching and a video feedback session in the lab. The study used an equivalent group experimental design with pre/post-test and follow-up, in randomized controlled trials. Measures involved: Initial Interview; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – parent and child versions; Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); observational sessions with a protocol; and a Program Evaluation by participants. Analysis of mixed models for repeated measures revealed significant positive effects on the BDI and SDQ total scores, as well as less Conduct problems and Hyperactivity in SDQ measures from the experimental group mothers, comparing pre with post-test. Observational data also indicated significant improvement in positive interaction from the experimental group mothers at post-test, in comparison with controls. No significant results were found, however, in children’s observational measures. Limitations of the study involved using a restricted sample, among others. Implications for future research are suggested.     

Using picture books to teach mathematical concepts

Summary We have just provided a few picture books and activities that can enhance children's understanding of mathematics. There are many picture books that can teach children about mathematics. We hope that this article helps you to begin to use those books as a starting point for creating a mathematics-enriched early childhood classroom.     

Two daddy tigers and a baby tiger: promoting understandings about same gender parented families using picture books

There is a small body of work examining how picture books can be used with young children and their families to develop understandings of contemporary issues including diversity and practices towards inclusion. This article describes a study in one New Zealand kindergarten that explored teachers’ interpretations of children’s responses to a selection of picture books featuring same gender parented families. The research sought to go beyond traditional understandings of families and the dominant discourse of heteronormativity. Findings show that despite children reportedly being open to the possibilities of non-traditional families in their setting, and their play, teachers appeared hesitant to ask probing questions or fully engage with children’s thinking, or their own, to explore understandings in this area. Nevertheless, this research demonstrates that taking tentative steps towards making an alternative discourse available through the proactive use of curriculum resources does not have to be ‘difficult’ or ‘dangerous’. In inclusive educational settings, lesbian and gay headed families can be affirmed, and children can be supported to construct understandings about ‘family’ outside of normative boundaries.     

Understanding teachers' attitudes to change in a Logomathematics environment

We describe the views and attitudes of a group of Portuguese primary teachers as they unfolded during a course aimed at introducing a Logo-mathematical culture. We identify what was at stake for them in interacting with such a culture by focusing on sketches of two participants. The study had threefold aims: to describe and analyse attitudes towards mathematics and mathematics teaching; to examine the interactions between participants' attitudes and their activities on the course; and to investigate what kinds of influences the course had on their attitudes.     

Using deductive reasoning to promote the change of students' conceptions about force and motion

Deductive reasoning is a basic logic form used in scientific explanations and predictions. In dynamics, the process of finding the direction of force acting on a moving object, from the change of its motion, can be structured as a syllogism that is an elementary model of deduction. In this study, the syllogistic form of a scientific explanation task was used to help middle school students change their prior conceptions about force and motion. However, because the conclusion drawn from a syllogistic explanation task contradicted students' prior ideas, many rejected the conclusion or reached another conclusion without using deductive reasoning. From the preliminary interview using the syllogistic explanation task with eight students, we found four factors preventing students' use of deductive reasoning. In the main interview designed to remove these obstacles, it was observed that 26 of the 27 students could find the direction of force correctly by using deduction. Finally, implications for classroom teaching are     

A constructivist attempt to change attitudes towards children with special needs

ABSTRACT

A research programme was initiated to promote positive attitudes towards children with special needs. Fifteen students each taught four lessons to children from second to sixth class in Primary Schools. Their approach was constructivist involving discussion and activities designed to provide opportunities for the children to reconsider their ideas. A post‐test was given to 465 experimental and 326 control children. Experimental children were different from controls in being more prosocial in a number of ways. Children who knew somebody with a mental handicap were affected by the programme differently in comparison with inexperienced children, largely by becoming more aware of the difficulties of children with special needs. There were a number of age and gender differences in the ways children think about mental handicap.     

Using books to nurture the social and emotional development of gifted students

One of the ways teachers can help gifted students to deal with the challenges of growing up is through bibliotherapy. Such facilitated dialogue about literature is discussed in this article. Following a brief discussion of the definition of bibliotherapy, a few basic guidelines for selecting appropriate materials to use with students are given. The practice of bibliotherapy involves several steps but the discussion step led by the teacher is crucial in helping students to interact with the literature. To illustrate the interactive process, a menu of discussion questions for each of six books is given; suggested activities are included for each book. Through this process of interacting with literature, teachers can help students to grow emotionally and socially.     

简论晚明小说观念的新变

小说观念到晚明产生了很多新的变化,文章从三方面探讨了其新变:第一,由“史馀”到文学的小说本体论的变化;第二,由认知、劝诫到审美的小说功能论的变化;第三,由“实录”到“虚构”的小说创作论的变化。     

Using invention to change how students tackle problems

Invention activities challenge students to tackle problems that superficially appear unrelated to the course material but illustrate underlying fundamental concepts that are fundamental to material that will be presented. During our invention activities in a first-year biology class, students were presented with problems that are parallel to those that living cells must solve, in weekly sessions over a 13-wk term. We compared students who participated in the invention activities sessions with students who participated in sessions of structured problem solving and with students who did not participate in either activity. When faced with developing a solution to a challenging and unfamiliar biology problem, invention activity students were much quicker to engage with the problem and routinely provided multiple reasonable hypotheses. In contrast the other students were significantly slower in beginning to work on the problem and routinely produced relatively few ideas. We suggest that the invention activities develop a highly valuable skill that operates at the initial stages of problem solving.     

Factors shaping community attitudes to school mathematics: Implications for future curriculum change

The goals of mathematics education are pressured by political, social, and economic forces that are often expressed through the medium of public opinion. Public opinion is formed largely by the preceptions of what is rather than the reality itself which may be known by only a few. The recommendations of committees of enquiry are activated in the world of average people and typical teachers — not the rarefied world of specialised professional knowledge in which the recommendations are typically incubated.This paper reports on community perceptions of school mathematics with respect to the four areas of content, individual values, attitudinal aspects, and folklore. Factor analysis identified five predictor variables (derived from the respondents' own backgrounds), and five criterion variables (describing their views and values as to what school mathematics should be). Analysis of variance was used to explore the contribution of the predictor variables and selected demographic variables to the criterion factor scores. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for the effective implementation of recommendations for change in mathematics education.     

Interactive whiteboards and talking books: a new approach to teaching children to write?

This article presents work undertaken with a class of Scottish Primary Six children (aged 10) to investigate the use of interactive whiteboard technology and interactive talking books in whole‐class writing lessons. The paper reports on a research project with three aims: to investigate how the use of an interactive whiteboard to reflect on the language and style of professional authors influenced the children's own writing; to examine the effect of this experience on the writing and behaviour of children with additional support needs; and to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using such technology in whole‐class writing lessons. The resulting evidence suggests that while some children benefited from the approach, teaching children to write through examination of professional models of writing in whole‐class lessons did not promote the most effective learning even where the text was provided in such an interactive medium. The implications of these results for practitioners who wish to use talking books and whiteboard technology to teach writing are discussed.     

Using principles to help undergraduates learn about leadership

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of action research by ten preservice teachers earning their associate's degree in early childhood education from a small university in the West. Their goal was to assess the impact of their teaching on student learning with children birth to 8 years of age. This study represents the use of undergraduate action research in early childhood at the associate degree level, and also contributes to the early childhood teacher education knowledge base in the use of the action research method in early learning centers as a means of professional development as well as a tool to guide daily instruction, problem solving, and decision making.

Using a variety of informal assessment procedures, the preservice teachers studied the effects of specific learning strategies or activities, first upon the development and learning of the young children they taught, and then upon the results from the assessments in order to guide further instruction.