Early Childhood Services in Ireland

This paper gives background information on early childhood services in Ireland and presents the results of a survey of the preschool experiences of 1065 children. The results of the survey suggest that the majority of children experienced some form of early childhood service before starting school. The most common service was a playgroup although a significant proportion of the children had experienced home‐based care with a relative or family day care provider. The implications of the findings for the development of a policy on early childhood services are discussed.     

Design and environmental technologies: Does ‘green-matching’ actually help?

This paper investigates whether a green kind of design helps firms increase their capabilities for inventing in the environmental domain and whether it does so more than ‘standard’ design. It also investigates whether the effect of ‘green-matching’ between new design and technologies is conditional on firms’ innovative capabilities, as reflected by their R&D expenditure. We address these research questions with respect to the world's top R&D investors, looking at their intellectual property rights at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and proposing an original textual identification of green designs and trademarks. We find that green design increases environmental inventions by top R&D investors, and to a greater extent than non-environmental ones. Standard design also stimulates environmental inventions, but to a lesser extent than green design. The ‘green-matching’ actually helps, but internal innovative capabilities are required to make it effective: a green-tech ‘prize’ emerges from green design, but only once a minimum threshold of R&D expenditure has been reached.     

Impact of peer mediation programmes to prevent bullying behaviours in secondary schools / El impacto de los programas de mediación entre iguales para prevenir conductas de acoso escolar en los centros de secundaria

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of peer mediation programmes at a secondary school, as compared to another centre that did not have any such programme. The impact would be evaluated by means of three levels of variables: pro-victim attitudes, the roles adopted by the youngsters and the school climate (this last item was analysed from two perspectives: that of the pupils and that of the teachers). In order to attain this goal, students from 12 to 14 years old (N = 323) and 17 teacher-tutors were administered different questionnaires in Time 1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and Time 2 (after programme intervention). Results highlight the validity of peer mediation programmes when it comes to fostering pro-victim attitudes, preventing the increase of negative roles and improving the school climate.     

Pedro Gutiérrez Bueno’s Textbooks: Audiences, Teaching Practices and Chemical Revolution

Pedro Gutiérrez Bueno wrote two editions of a chemistry textbook between 1788 and 1802. The paper offers a comparative view of both editions taking into account Gutiérrez Bueno’s biography, his intended audience and the changes related to the so-called chemical revolution. Some conclusions are at odds with common images about scientific revolutions and the role of textbooks in science. The analysis aims to shed some light on the multiple historical forces shaping textbooks and the way in which scientific change is assimilated by their writers. This research was partially supported by the program BHA2002-04611-CO3-02     

Changes in the Multi‐Level Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Reading Achievement in Sweden in 1991 and 2001

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school‐ and individual‐levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10‐Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between‐school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and reading achievement at school‐level are the two main focuses. Applying a two‐level structural equation modeling technique, it was found that the between‐school differences in reading achievement were greater in RLS 2001 than in RLS 1991, and the school SES effect has been strengthened over time. These changes indicate that educational inequality in Sweden has increased over time. Some possible explanations to these changes are discussed with reference to school reforms and demographic changes.     

First‐Generation Undergraduate Students' Social Support,Depression, and Life Satisfaction

First‐generation undergraduate students face challenging cross‐socioeconomic cultural transitions into college life. The authors compared first‐ and non‐first‐generation undergraduate students’ social support, posttraumatic stress, depression symptoms, and life satisfaction. First‐generation participants reported less social support from family and friends, more single‐event traumatic stress, less life satisfaction, and marginally more depression symptomatology than non‐first‐generation participants, but significant generation–gender interactions showed first‐generation women doing worse and first‐generation men doing better than others.     

La adquisición del rol y la identidad sexual? función de la familia

Resumen

Este trabajo examina el proceso de adquisición de la identidad y el rol sexual, así como algunos factores que condicionan esta evolución. Se utiliza el método clínico piagetiano, con la ayuda de imágenes gráficas.

Entre las conclusiones más importantes cabe señalar: 1) La adquisición de la identidad y el rol sexual tiene lugar, en sus aspectos más destacados, entre los dos y tres años de vida, 2) La conservación (autoaplicada) de la identidad no es alcanzada hasta los 5–7 años, aproximadamente, 3) Los roles sexuales reproducen de forma particularmente directa la situación del núcleo familiar.     

Status of Individuals' Planning to Prepare for Retirement in Turkey

This research was conducted in Ankara province for the purpose of examining the status of planning in preparation for retirement as an individual and as a family of individuals who show differences in educational level. Individuals who lived in Ankara province, who were 3 years from retirement according to age limit, and who had social security from one of the three official government plans (The Pensions Fund For Civil Servants of The Republic of Turkey, Social Insurance Institution, or Social Security Organization of Artisans, and Craftsmen and other Self-Employed People) were the research population from which 393 individuals were chosen using the Stratified Random Sampling Method. There was a higher percentage of individuals who stated that they had not planned for retirement than those who had. Of the individuals who stated that they had made plans, 80.7% had made those plans about their financial status. Individuals who thought that it was necessary to have an educational program for preparing for retirement also wanted “financial status” topics at the head of the list of topics for such a program.