Recording of Achievement: Involving and Informing Parents from Ethnic Minorities

Books reviewd

R. Klein, Defying Disaffection: How Schools are Winning the Hearts and Minds of Reluctant Students

C. Wright, D. Weekes and A. McGlaughlin, ‘Race’, Class and Gender in Exclusion from School

S. Decker, S. Kirby, A. G. Wood and D. Moore, (eds) Taking Children Seriously: Applications of Counselling and Therapy in Education

Denis Lawrence, Teaching with Confidence: A Guide to Enhancing Teacher Self-Esteem

J. Elliott and M. Place, Children in Difficulty: A Guide to Understanding and Helping     

Adult recognition of school bullying situations

Bullying and harassment by school peers has received increasing attention as their relation to personal problems and more extreme forms of violence has become better recognized. Emphases of empirical studies have focused on characteristics and behaviours of both school bullies and their victims. There is a need to place these traits and actions into the context of the situation in which they occur, in order to expand the research and allow for the development of more sophisticated and comprehensive educational, prevention and intervention programmes. A total 251 professionals (teachers and counsellors) participated in this empirical study on the ability of professionals to differentiate between bullying and other forms of conflict. Participants were asked to judge the severity of 21 scenarios depicting different combinations of situational characteristics and also whether they constituted bullying situations or not. Results indicated that physical threat or abuse was seen as more severe than verbal or social/emotional abuse, and professionals more often rated physical conflicts as bullying even when they did not fit the definition. The repeated nature of an abusive relationship and an unfair match between participants were bullying situation characteristics found to be related to the responses of more and less effective situation evaluators. Implications for pre- and in-service training of educators were considered based on study results and previous research.     

Reducing anxiety in gifted children by inducing relaxation

Sixty-four parents of Chinese gifted children who reported themselves to be traditional or Westernized parents were compared on their endorsement of Chinese traditional and Western parenting values and beliefs as well as their parenting style dimensions in terms of dominating control, guan, and warmth. Regardless of their degrees of Westernization, these parents seemed to be more characterized by collectivistic than individualistic thinking approaches based on Nisbett's conceptualization. More Westernized parents valued nonconformity significantly more than conformity, whereas less-Westernized parents placed more emphasis on the importance of unconditional respect for elders and interdependence than on conditional respect and child independence. Regarding parenting styles and practices, though all parents endorsed the practice of warmth significantly more, followed by guan, and significantly less dominating control, there was suggestive evidence that less-Westernized parents practiced guan more than more-Westernized parents. Implications of the findings for parenting gifted children are discussed.     

Re-reading the reading lesson: episodes in the history of reading pedagogy

Reading pedagogy is constantly an object of discussion and debate in contemporary policy and practice but is rarely a matter for historical inquiry. This paper reports from a recent study of the history of reading pedagogy in Australia and beyond. It focuses on a recurring figure in the historical record—the ‘reading lesson’. Presented as a distinctive trope, the reading lesson is traced in its regularity in and through the discourse of reading pedagogy, starting in 1930s Australia and moving back into 19th-century Europe, and with specific reference to the UK and the USA. Teaching reading is expressly identified as a moral project—something that, it can be argued, clearly continues into the present.     

IN‐SERVICE TRAINING IN GERONTOLOGY: A CASE STUDY OF STATEWIDE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

This report describes the design and conduct of a statewide training needs assessment based on joint state agency and university planning. Sample findings are presented for both the statewide population (N = 736) and various job function groupings. Differences in expressed training needs across job function groups are examined, and strategies for providing effective and efficient training are discussed.     

Using Multimedia Graphic Organizer Software in the Prewriting Activities of Primary School Students: What Are the Benefits?

The use of multimedia graphic organizer software and how it influenced the prewriting process for primary school children were evaluated. An analysis of writing samples generated by second-grade students with diverse writing abilities was carried out. Students were given two opportunities to participate in prewriting activities—one without and one with the use of multimedia graphic organizer software. The results indicated that the use of multimedia graphic organizer software can provide some benefits to writing for elementary school children.     

Beginning literacy: links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning

Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week summer institute and throughout the school year. We shared with them research about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. We followed the experimental group and a control group into their classrooms for a year, assessing teachers' classroom practices and their students' (n = 779) learning. The study yielded three major findings: We can deepen teachers' own knowledge of the role of phonological and orthographic information in literacy instruction; teachers can use that knowledge to change classroom practice; and changes in teacher knowledge and classroom practice can improve student learning.