Adolescents’ Evaluation of Teachers Using Disparaging Humour

Abstract High school students viewed a video‐taped lecture of a professional actor playing the role of a teacher. Four films were presented, one of which was a control film in which no humour was used. The other three films contained (a) self‐disparaging humour (directed toward the teacher), (b) other‐disparaging humour (directed toward the students, and (c) mixed humour (a combination of a and b). All 186 10th graders from four classrooms participating in the experiment were given sociometry of humour tests. Results showed that the teacher using mixed humour received the highest evaluations on ‘appeal’ and ‘originality’ factors; the other‐disparaging teacher was perceived as most powerful, while the teacher not using humour at all was perceived as the most systematic in his teaching method. The sociometry of humour test revealed that students with a sense of humour are more appreciative of a teacher using humour, than are students who do not possess this attribute.     

School websites as a novel internationalization assessment tool

This article presents a case study on internationalization assessment. The international, intercultural and global dimensions at the school level are examined, focusing on the case of one particular secondary school in Israel. A novel, practical assessment tool is presented for the measurement of internationalization intensity and scope at the school level, based on systematic analysis of school websites and adapted from the existing assessment tool for higher education institutions. The results are verified by an in-depth interview with the principal of the focus school, confirming that the proposed tool can be easily used in large-scale studies. According to the assessment conducted, it was found that internationalization processes take place in each of the tested domains, although a large variation was found in intensity and appearance. This case study of an Israeli secondary school may serve as a point of departure to study internationalization in the secondary education system through the proposed comprehensive, reliable and easy to use school website assessment tool.     

The effects of group stereotypes on adolescents' reasoning about peer retribution

This study examined the effects of negative group stereotypes on adolescents' reasoning about peer retribution. The sample of adolescents was drawn from central and northern Israel and consisted of 2,604 Arab and Jewish students (ages 13-17; grades 7-11). A quasi-experimental, between-subject design was used, in which the students in each grade were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 peer retribution scenarios. The findings provide evidence that Arab and Jewish students have stereotypes about one another and that in-group bias affected their approval and reasoning about peer retribution only in specific situations. This inquiry provides evidence that it was the number of justifications endorsed within a specific domain that distinguished Arab and Jewish respondents. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Meaningful actions and motivated projects in the transition to adulthood: two case illustrations

A framework for understanding career transitions based on the joint processes and goals of those engaged in the transition and significant others in the person’s social network was used to study the transition to adulthood of youth aged 17–19 years and their families. Twenty parent-youth dyads participated in this study in which a transition project was identified and monitored for 6 months. Two cases are used to illustrate the characteristics of the motivated transition project at the levels of meaning, functional processes, and conscious and unconscious behaviour and structural support and resources.     

Experimenting with global governance: understanding the potential for generational change

The appropriate role for the United Nations in international dispute resolution is a matter of high profile discussion and controversy. This paper begins with this ambivalence about the appropriate role for the United Nations in the world and examines several sets of issues that relate to the future of support for the UN within the US and the prospects for global governance more generally. First, we briefly review two thematic strands in previous and contemporary scholarship:(1) arguments for increased global governance in contemporary world affairs, driven by perceptions of the changing nature of the political, social, economic and military challenges in the contemporary world system. This debate is also put in the context of the relevance of public support for global governance institutions; and (2) why it is valuable to study how the current generation of adolescents perceive issues of global governance and the impact that their views may have on that nexus in the coming years. We then move to an analysis of data generated from an experimental study of American adolescents and their attitudes toward global governance.     

基于GIS的安徽蚌埠耕地地力评价

目的:基于GIS进行耕地地力评价工作,为土地管理者和政策的采纳提供依据,促进精准农业的发展.方法:以安徽蚌埠Landsat 8遥感影像提取的农田图为基本评价单元,使用Delphi法和层次分析法确立16个评价因子及各自的权重,建立评价体系.利用数学方法对定量因子进行隶属度计算,再进行蚌埠市地力等级分级,并完成地力评价.结果:蚌埠市耕地大部分属于二、三等级,分别占耕地总面积为50.38％、34.59％.一、四、五等级分别占耕地总面积为2.98％、11.61％、0.43％.结论:根据蚌埠市耕地地力现状,做出土壤质量的提升、耕地质量与数量管理、耕地资源的合理利用相关建议.     

Parenting a child with a cochlear implant: a critical incident study

This study aimed to describe and categorize the attributes that parents of young children with cochlear implants (CIs) consider as facilitating their parental coping experience. I interviewed 15 hearing mothers and 13 hearing fathers (including 12 married couples) whose children had CIs, using the critical incident technique that asked parents to describe significant incidents (observable behaviors, thoughts, feelings) that facilitated their parenting experience. A total of 430 critical incidents were documented and sorted into 20 categories. Further analyses supported the suggested categorical system's validity and reliability. Results indicated various sources of influence on parents' coping experience, associated with social contextual aspects (e.g., professionals' support, sharing experience with others, family's/friends' consistent involvement, intervention services), with the parent himself or herself (e.g., taking action, personal resources, incorporating deafness into daily life), and with the child (e.g., child characteristics, identifying progress and success). The current research substantiates the soundness of implementing early intervention models such as the developmental system model (Guralnick, 2001) and the support approach to early intervention (McWilliam & Scott, 2001), which coincide with ecological theory and recognize that families need various combinations of resources, social support, information, and services to help them address the stressors associated with parenting in general and parenting a child with special needs in particular.     

Becoming teacher leaders in Israel: a meaning-making model

Consensus is growing that teacher leadership benefits teaching quality and student performance. Despite the recognition that teacher leadership contributes to teachers’ professional development, little is known about how it is developed and how teachers experience the transition to the teacher-leader role. This study explores the internal mechanisms underlying the transition to and formation of teachers’ professional identity as teacher leaders. It is based on 60 interviews: 41 teachers who were selected to participate in a leadership training programme, 10 principals and 19 teacher-leaders’ colleagues. The findings led to a model with four central components: (1) Overall professional identity; (2) The experience of ‘being chosen;’ (3) An internal meaning-making process; and (4) External forces.     

Elements of Teachers' Pedagogical Knowledge Regarding Instruction of Higher Order Thinking

This study investigated elements of pedagogical knowledge when students' higher order thinking was an explicit and focused instructional goal. The findings suggest a model that consists of 6 elements. It seems that, for all these elements, the source of differences between teachers' various pedagogies may be tracked to the basic distinction between a traditional transmission-of-knowledge approach to instruction versus a reform oriented constructivist approach. The findings portray how these two pedagogies are played out when higher order thinking is viewed as a distinct educational goal. Appropriate activities are insufficient for students' active thinking. In the absence of adequate pedagogies, teachers adopt algorithmic approaches for teaching thinking that decrease the cognitive demands of tasks. Practical recommendations are discussed.     

Contribution to the Collective by Religious‐Zionist Adolescent Girls

The act of contribution to the collective raises a major dilemma in contemporary religious Zionism in regard to girls and women: how to maintain their traditional restriction to the domestic sphere while allowing participation in national tasks that demand their presence in the male‐dominated public sphere. From in‐depth interviews conducted with 37 seventeen‐year‐old religious girls studying in a unisex residential boarding high school, we uncover the manner in which these girls, as they proceed to young adulthood, experience the act of contribution in three social arenas: the Bnei Akiva youth movement, national service and the domestic sphere. Our analysis reveals a gradual recruitment to contribution during the passage from girlhood to womanhood, paralleled by the gradual intensification of feminine’ qualities. This process facilitates the girls’ participation in the public sphere without challenging the traditional gender dichotomy. It also constitutes a central practice by means of which religious‐Zionist society recruits the girls to the Israeli collective yet keeps them within its own socio‐cultural boundaries.