Religious coping,meaning‐making and stress: perspective of support staff of children with disabilities in residential disability centres in Oman

Staff providing support to children with disabilities in residential disability centres in Oman are exposed to stressful work environments which may put them at an increased risk of burnout. Previous research has examined predictors of stress in disability support staff, but there is little consensus as the findings are inconclusive. Using a cross‐sectional design, a short survey examined religious coping styles, meaning and inner sense of peace, attitude to meaning in life, organisational religiousness practices and stress of 142 female disability support staff from community disability centres in Oman. Multiple regression analyses indicated that positive religious coping was more predictive of stress than negative religious coping. There was an association between meaning‐making and stress in disability support staff. Religious organisation explained most of the variance in stress scores and was the best predictor of stress in disability support staff. Implications of the study are discussed in relation to the role of both culture and religion.     

The body donation program at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre: A successful experience in Brazil

The use of dissection to study human anatomy is the foundation for educational excellence among future health professionals, as it offers an ideal opportunity to learn the body's morphology in three dimensions while also providing students with a more humanistic education. The shortage of bodies for dissection, combined with the Brazilian population's lack of knowledge concerning the possibility of voluntarily donating their own bodies, led to the creation of the Body Donation Programs for Education and Research in Anatomy at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA). The program is based on three pillars: Informing the general public about the program, donor registration, and donation itself. Since the creation of the donor program in 2008, there has been an increase in both the number of donations made during donor's lifetime and the number of bodies received by the university. There has also been a shift in relation to the origin of these bodies, as before the creation of the program most bodies were unclaimed cadavers, while today most of the bodies are sourced from voluntary donations. The initial results regarding the public's acceptance of the possibility of making body donations have been encouraging, as shown by the annual growth in donor registrations. Consequently, the quality and quantity of the material available for educational purposes have greatly improved. Anat Sci Educ. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

The effects of classroom and school environments on student engagement: the case of high school students in Abu Dhabi public schools

Drawing on data from a merged data set from a student survey and a parent survey that were conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2013, this article uses a multilevel framework to investigate the effects of individual characteristics and the classroom and school environments on high school students’ school engagement in a modernising education system that is different from Western ones. The results of the three-level model revealed that while students’ attributes remained strong predictors of their school engagement, the social and organisational environment of classrooms and school also greatly shaped the extent to which students emotionally and cognitively engaged with their school and learning. This study provided evidence to support the interactive nature of the impact of multilevel environments on student engagement. The policy and research implications were also discussed in the empirical context of Abu Dhabi.     

Relations among student attention behaviors, teacher practices, and beginning word reading skill

The role of student attention for predicting kindergarten word reading was investigated among 432 students. Using Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behavior Rating Scale behavior rating scores, the authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis, which yielded three distinct factors that reflected selective attention. In this study, the authors focused on the role of one of these factors, which they labeled attention-memory, for predicting reading performance. Teacher ratings of attention-memory predicted word reading above and beyond the contribution of phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. In addition, the relations between four teacher practices and attention ratings for predicting reading performance were examined. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors found significant interactions between student attention and teacher practices observed during literacy instruction. In general, as ratings of attention improved, better kindergarten word reading performance was associated with high levels of classroom behavior management. However, better word reading performance was not associated with high levels of teacher task orienting. A significant three-way interaction was also found among attention, individualized instruction, and teacher task redirections. The role of regulating kindergarten student attention to support beginning word reading skill development is discussed.     

Filling a curriculum gap in chemistry

In most science courses at secondary level, the teaching methods used are not tailored to present different approaches to meet the individual differences in pupils’ learning styles or motivation. Much in the detailed objectives, and blow‐by‐blow worksheet approach, will appeal to the conscientious pupil but may turn off the more creative and curious pupil.

Mini‐projects (problem solving at the bench) were used as a vehicle to motivate the curious pupils. Correlations of factors such as convergence/divergence, field‐dependence/field‐independence and motivational traits with ‘success’ in mini‐projects are set out in this paper. The evidence indicates that those who do best in practical problem solving of the mini‐project type are the curious, field‐independent and divergent pupils. However, all categories of pupils were stimulated to varying degrees by the projects.     

The contribution of primary school teachers to curriculum planning and development in Iraq

ABSTRACT

This article describes the role of primary school teachers in Iraq in connection with curriculum change and development. It identifies the ways in which professional teachers have been faced with increased central control and concludes by responding directly to the Ministry of Education. A survey involving interviews and question‐ naires was conducted with primary school teachers of different school location, age, gender, experience, qualifications and subjects taught, and in various school locations. Headteachers and education officials were also interviewed to establish the degree of involvement of primary teachers in their curriculum planning process.     

Childhood Problems in a Sudanese City: A Comparison of Extended and Nuclear Families

The relation between emotional and social development and family structure in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was examined. Children between the ages of 4 and 9 living in extended and nuclear families were compared on mothers' ratings of a range of childhood problems. Analysis revealed that children in nuclear families had more conduct, emotional, and sleep problems, poorer self-care, and were more likely to be overdependent than those living in extended families. They were also less likely to be breast fed, to be weaned later, and to have grandmothers involved in child care. Linear multiple regression revealed that, of these 3 childcare factors, grandmother's involvement was the strongest predictor of normal social and emotional adjustment. The possible protective characteristics of the extended family are discussed in relation to the importance of the grandmother as maternal advisor, social support, and socialization agent.     

Cumulative trauma disorders among educational interpreters. Contributing factors and intervention.

Upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders became a potentially significant occupational hazard among sign language interpreters at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in the 1988-89 academic year. The following case control study was conducted to identify factors that might play a role in developing, exacerbating, and maintaining upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders among interpreters. Investigations were conducted to determine whether medical status, physical capacities, interpreting styles, pain, fatigue, and job stress differed among NTID's sign language interpreters. This report provides a general summary of selected findings as well as a conceptual framework that should help clarify the factors associated with upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders in sign language interpreters. The results indicated that the upper extremity cumulative trauma disorder diagnosed most often is tendinitis rather than a nerve entrapment syndrome (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome). Analysis of the frequency of potential biomechanical risk factors indicated that those reporting pain demonstrated higher frequency of hand and wrist deviations from the neutral position, higher frequency of the upper extremities leaving a predefined work space, fewer rest breaks during interpreting sessions, and higher evaluator ratings of pace of finger and hand movements. Specific features of interpreting styles were associated with increased pain and fatigue.