Weaving the threads of meaning: a characteristic of children's spirituality and its implications for religious education

Although well documented from a British perspective, empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of primary school children in the Australian context is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding which emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of children's spirituality in Catholic primary schools. The characteristic has been termed weaving the threads of meaning. It describes the way in which the children who participated in this study appeared to use their sense of wonder as a means of expressing their spirituality by piecing together a worldview based around their attempts at meaning making. This article argues that the existence of this characteristic presents a challenge for religious education, in particular for those programmes which operate within faith schools where the Christian narrative forms a source of the authoritative wisdom to be handed on to its students.     

Bridge21 – exploring the potential to foster intrinsic student motivation through a team-based,technology-mediated learning model

It is generally accepted that intrinsic student motivation is a critical requirement for effective learning but formal learning in school places a huge reliance on extrinsic motivation to focus the learner. This reliance on extrinsic motivation is driven by the pressure on formal schooling to ‘deliver to the test’. The experience of the use of ICT in formal learning is marked with a naive and largely unfulfilled assumption that it would of itself promote a ‘game-changing’ shift in student motivation. This study investigates the effectiveness of a team-based, technology-mediated model called Bridge21 to encourage intrinsic student motivation. The data for the study come from 425 secondary school students, average age 16 years, who participated in workshops of 3.5 days in duration. The workshops took place in an out-of-school learning environment in one academic year. Bridge21 seeks to provide a vehicle to allow the transfer of control of learning from the teacher to the team and in this way to encourage and promote student autonomy. The principal findings reported in this paper are that participation in the workshops had a direct positive impact on the students’ perceptions around their learning and on their intrinsic motivation to learn.     

Fungal diversity on fallen leaves of Ficus in northern Thailand

Fallen leaves of Ficus altissima, F. virens, F. benjamina, F. fistulosa and F. semicordata, were collected in Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand and examined for fungi. Eighty taxa were identified, comprising 56 anamorphic taxa, 23 ascomycetes and 1 basidiomycete. Common fungal species occurring on five host species with high frequency of occurrence were Beltraniella nilgirica, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Ophioceras leptosporum, Periconia byssoides and Septonema harknessi. Colletotrichum and Stachybotrys were also common genera. The leaves of different Ficus species supported diverse fungal taxa, and the fungal assemblages on the different hosts showed varying overlap. The fungal diversity of saprobes at the host species level is discussed.     

Trajectories of self-perceived math ability,utility value and interest across middle school as predictors of high school math performance

Although many studies have documented developmental change in mathematics motivation, little is known about how these trends predict math performance. A sample of 288 participants from the United States reported their perceived math ability, math utility value and math interest in 5th, 7th and 9th grades. Latent growth curve models estimated developmental trajectories in each of these constructs. Mathematics interest and utility value decreased across time, but there was no significant change in self-perceived math ability. Slopes and intercepts of all mathematics motivation variables correlated with one another. Even when controlling for prior mathematics performance, students who self-reported high math ability in 5th grade had higher standardised test scores than their peers in high school five years later. Neither math utility value nor math interest intercepts or slopes predicted later performance. Understanding the predictors of math performance is important for supporting students’ success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.     

Lenghth of Maternity Leave and Quality of Mother-Infant Interactions

The aim of this study was to assess the association between the length of maternity leave and the quality of mother-infant interactions; 198 employed mothers of 4-month-old infants were interviewed and videotaped in their homes during a feeding time. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated a direct association between shorter length of leave and more negative affect and behavior in maternal interactions with their infants. Infant and mother stressor/protective variables added significantly in predicting the quality of the mother-infant relationship. There were also significant interaction effects between the length of leave and these variables. Mothers who either reported more depressive symptoms or who perceived their infant as having a more difficult temperament and who had shorter leaves, compared with mothers who had longer leaves, were observed to express less positive affect, sensitivity, and responsiveness in interactions with their infants. The public policy implications of the relation between length of maternity leave, maternal and infant individual differences, and the quality of mother-infant interactions are discussed.     

‘I never heard the word methodology’: personal accounts of teacher training in Ireland 1943–1980

This article examines the experiences of 27 retired secondary school teachers (respondents) who completed initial teacher education (ITE) courses between 1943 and 1980. The eldest respondent completed ITE in 1943 and the youngest in 1980. The timespan 1943–1980 is not purposeful but dependent on the cohort that volunteered to take part in the study. Twenty-one of the cohort completed ITE prior to 1970 and four between 1970 and 1979, while only two did so in the 1980s. Consequently, much of the data and discussion relates to the period between the mid-1940s and late 1970s – one not characterised by pedagogic innovation in ITE, or education generally, in Ireland as successive governments struggled with economic challenges, the most prescient of which are discussed later in this study. All universities offering post-primary ITE in Ireland during this period were attended by at least one of the cohort and collectively they taught in 17 of Ireland’s 26 counties, while one respondent taught for a time in Northern Ireland. The majority of the cohort (63%) taught in rural towns, 28% in urban towns or cities while 9% taught in rural locations. The diversity of school-type is noted, as is the year in which the respondent began teaching. The respondents’ experiences of ITE demonstrate negligible differences depending on geographical location. Twenty were female and seven male. The age range was 96 (Sr. Boniface) to 65 (Mike). All of the respondents were accorded anonymity. Based on oral testimony the study suggests that ITE offerings in this period were conservative and consensualist in nature, that the social changes that characterised Irish society in the 1960s failed to impact upon teacher education programmes but that, according to respondents, the last decade has seen significant changes in ITE and in the dispositions of those entering secondary school teaching.     

A Maximal Graded Exercise Test to Accurately Predict VO2max in 18–65-Year-Old Adults

The purpose of this study was to develop an age-generalized regression model to predict maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) based on a maximal treadmill graded exercise test (GXT; George, 1996) George, J. D. 1996. Alternative approach to maximal exercise testing and VO_2max prediction in college students. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 67: 452–457. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Participants (N?=?100), ages 18–65 years, reached a maximal level of exertion (mean?±?standard deviation [SD]; maximal heart rate [HR_max]?=?185.2?±?12.4 beats per minute (bpm); maximal respiratory exchange ratio [RER_max]?=?1.18?±?0.05; maximal rating of perceived exertion (RPE_max)?=?19.1?±?0.7) during the GXT to assess VO_2max (mean?±?SD; 40.24?±?9.11 mL·kg^?1·min^?1). Multiple linear regression generated the following prediction equation (R?=?.94, standard error of estimate [SEE]?=?3.18 mL·kg^?1·min^?1, %SEE?=?7.9): VO_2max (mL·kg^?1·min^?1)?=?13.160?+?(3.314 × gender; females?=?0, males?=?1) ? (.131 × age) ? (.334 × body mass index (BMI))?+?(5.177 × treadmill speed; mph)?+?(1.315 × treadmill grade; %). Cross validation using predicted residual sum of squares (PRESS) statistics revealed minimal shrinkage (R_p ?=?.93 and SEE _p ?=?3.40 mL·kg^?1·min^?1); consequently, this model should provide acceptable accuracy when it is applied to independent samples of comparable adults. Standardized β-weights indicate that treadmill speed (.583) was the most effective at predicting VO_2max followed by treadmill grade (.356), age (?.197), gender (.183), and BMI (?.148). This study provides a relatively accurate regression model to predict VO_2max in relatively fit men and women, ages 18–65 years, based on maximal exercise (treadmill speed and grade), biometric (BMI), and demographic (age and gender) data.