The Dynamics of Picturebook Communication

This article offers new perspectives and theoretical tools to interpret and appreciate the complex relationships that can exist between words and pictures. The spectrum of text/image interaction is laid out and analyzed, and several picturebooks from different countries are explored to uncover a number of intriguing dynamics ranging from the simple to the highly elaborate. Text/image interaction may give rise to significant ambiguity, and the article points to future opportunities for dual audience research in this field. The article offers a taste of Nikolajeva and Scott's How Picturebooks Work (Garland, 2000).     

The Implementation of a Positive Behaviour Management Programme in a Primary Classroom: a case study

This paper will both describe and discuss the application of stimulus and contingency control methods (positive behaviour management) in an attempt to elicit more socially and academically positive behaviour from the class of children in the case study. The programme was preceded by a comprehensive cognitive, behavioural and social assessment of the class, undertaken in the first term of the school year, which determined the nature of the intervention. The quantitative results of the positive behaviour management programme are analysed and discussed as well as the more qualitative data gained from children, parents and teachers.     

Good practice for enhancing the engagement and success of commencing students

There is widespread recognition that higher education institutions (HEIs) must actively support commencing students to ensure equity in access to the opportunities afforded by higher education. This role is particularly critical for students who because of educational, cultural or financial disadvantage or because they are members of social groups currently under-represented in higher education, may require additional transitional support to “level the playing field.” The challenge faced by HEIs is to provide this “support” in a way that is integrated into regular teaching and learning practices and reaches all commencing students. The Student Success Program (SSP) is an intervention in operation at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) designed to identify and support those students deemed to be at risk of disengaging from their learning and their institution. Two sets of evidence of the impact of the SSP are presented: First, its expansion (a) from a one-faculty pilot project (Nelson et al. in Stud Learn Eval Innov Dev 6:1–15, 2009) to all faculties and (b) into a variety of applications mirroring the student life cycle; and second, an evaluation of the impact of the SSP on students exposed to it. The outcomes suggest that: the SSP is an example of good practice that can be successfully applied to a variety of learning contexts and student enrolment situations; and the impact of the intervention on student persistence is sustained for at least 12 months and positively influences student retention. It is claimed that the good practice evidenced by the SSP is dependent on its integration into the broader First Year Experience Program at QUT as an example of transition pedagogy in action.     

First- and second-order configural sensitivity for greeble stimuli in baboons

Previous studies on nonhuman primates have shown inconsistencies in their processing of first- and secondorder relational properties of facial stimuli. Using greeble stimuli sharing configural properties with faces, this study assessed configural processing in baboons. Five baboons were trained to recognize a positive stimulus among pairs of greebles in a two-alternative forced choice task. They were then tested with new stimulus pairs involving either a first-order version, with modifications in global qualitative spatial relations, or a second-order version, with modifications of finer spatial relations. Performance remained above chance in all test conditions, including when only second-order cues were available, but it was higher for first-order trials. It is proposed that an extensive training with greebles led to the processing of second-order relational properties. These results demonstrate that configural sensitivity is not restricted to faces in baboons and suggest that a common mechanism may support configural processing for face and nonface stimuli.     

Responding to the death of a pupil – reflections on one school's experience

This article written by Peter Lloyd Bennett, educational psychologist, and Carole Dyehouse, headteacher, provides a personal account of how one primary school responded to the death of a pupil. The authors describe the process by which bereavement within the school community became a valued learning opportunity within the school curriculum. Involving the parents as soon as possible was considered important and the responses of the parents of the bereaved child influenced the arrangements made by the school. Staff were available to children to help them come to terms with their bereavement and the tragic nature of the child's death. Decisions about the arrangements involved the school management team, the governors, the teaching staff, the non-teaching staff and the pupils represented by the school council consisting of elected members of each class. Staff were sensitive to children who were enabled to contribute in their own way and all parents were encouraged to involve themselves at the level at which they felt comfortable. At the end of this honest and moving article, the authors provide reflective and analytical comments about their shared experiences and offer a list of resources that will be of great relevance to practitioners.     

Understanding Academic Freedom: The views of social scientists

The current debate about academic freedom has been marked by a lack of clarity and consistency as to what academic freedom actually means. Sometimes it is described solely in terms of individual freedoms; at others in terms of an interplay between individual, collegial and institutional freedoms. Sometimes it is presented as a set of rights; at others, as a pairing of rights and responsibilities. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the range of understandings of academic freedom experienced amongst social scientists in Australian universities. The investigation was undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective and five different ways of understanding academic freedom were constituted, based on two primary dimensions of variation in views: the types of constraints regarded as an appropriate part of academic freedom; and the role of self and other (i.e., peers, institution, society) in creating academic freedom. The structural relationships found between different ways of viewing academic freedom in this study provides a broader framework within which to interpret the range of views found in the literature and public debate.     

Editing an African scholarly journal

African scholarly publishing faces multiple challenges in a vast continent where scholars themselves are handicapped by poor facilities and often find it difficult to publish in scholarly journals abroad. The Journal of Social Development in Africa attempts to meet these challenges by offering a dedicated service to scholars, improved reviewing practices, marketing on the Internet, expanding email communication, and by attempting to collaborate and network with similar publishers in Africa and abroad.