Childhood victimization and lifetime revictimization

OBJECTIVE: To examine the fundamental hypothesis that childhood victimization leads to increased vulnerability for subsequent (re)victimization in adolescence and adulthood and, if so, whether there are differences in rates of experiencing traumas and victimizations by gender, race/ethnicity, and type of childhood abuse and/or neglect. METHODS: Using a prospective cohort design, participants are individuals with documented cases of childhood physical and sexual abuse and neglect from the years 1967 through 1971 and a matched control group. Both groups were interviewed in-person (mean age 39.5 years) in 2000-2002 using a new instrument to assess lifetime trauma and victimization history. RESULTS: Abused and neglected individuals reported a higher number of traumas and victimization experiences than controls and all types of childhood victimization (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) were associated with increased risk for lifetime revictimization. Significant group (abuse/neglect vs. control) by gender and group by race/ethnicity interactions were found. Childhood victimization increased risk for physical and sexual assault/abuse, kidnapping/stalking, and having a family friend murdered or commit suicide, but not for general traumas, witnessing trauma, or crime victimization. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide strong support for the need for early intervention with abused and neglected children and their families to prevent subsequent exposure to traumas and victimization experiences.     

Education,the science of learning,and the COVID-19 crisis

PROSPECTS - In the COVID-19 crisis, the science of learning has two different responsibilities: first, to offer guidance about how best to deal with the impact of the current situation, including...     

iTEC: conceptualising,realising and recognising pedagogical and technological innovation in European classrooms

Innovation, a complex concept, underpinned a four-year pan-European research project designed to increase the effective use of technology in school classrooms. This article revisits evaluation data collected during the project and explores the challenges of conceptualising, realising and researching ‘innovation’. The authors describe how innovation was conceptualised, highlighting key issues, not all of which could be resolved in the project. The development of an approach to support teachers to change their practices facilitated the realisation of innovation in the classroom. This approach, through which researchers and national pedagogical coordinators worked with teachers to develop their teaching and learning practices with technology in potentially innovative ways, is outlined. Case study data are then used to exemplify how teachers and other stakeholders applied this approach and how they perceived innovation in practice within their own countries. Through a discussion of these cases, the article highlights the challenge of defining innovation in different country settings and, in turn, the complexity of identifying its occurrence. It concludes by proposing the next steps for similar research endeavours.     

The Long-term Contribution of Early Childhood Education to Children's Performance--Evidence from New Zealand

Evidence from the longitudinal Competent Children project is provided which shows the continuing contribution of early childhood education to children's competencies at age 10. Among the New Zealand sample, children had higher average scores if they had 3 or more years of early childhood education in general. The quality of their final early childhood education centre, particularly related to teacher-child interaction, also continued to show enduring associations with children's performance. The socio-economic mix of the children's final early childhood education centre also had a bearing on their competency levels 5 years later. L'e´vidence du projet longitudinal 'Enfants Compe´tents' ici fournis montre la contribution continue de la e´ducation de la premie ¤ re enfance aux compe´tences des enfants a ¤ l'age 10. Parmi l'e´chantillon de la Nouvelle-Ze´lande, les enfants avaient des points moyens plus hauts s'ils avaient trois anne´es ou plus d'e´ducation de premie ¤ re enfance en ge´ne´ral. La qualite´ de leur dernier centre d'e´ducation de la premie ¤ re enfance, particulie ¤ rement connexe a ¤ l'interaction de l'enseignant et l'enfant, continuait aussi a ¤ montrer des associations durables avec la performance des enfants. Le me´lange socio-e´conomique du dernier centre d'e´ducation de la premie ¤ re enfance fre´quente´ par les enfants avait aussi un rapport avec leurs niveaux de compe´tence 5 anne´es plus tard. La evidencia del proyecto longitudinal llamado "Nin ¨ os Competentes" aqui´ presentada demuestra la contribucio´n continua de la educacio´n de la nin ¨ ez temprana a las capacidades que tienen los nin ¨ os a los 10 an ¨ os. En la muestra de Nueva Zelanda, los nin ¨ os teni´an puntos medios ma´s altos si teni´an tres o ma´s an ¨ os de educacio´n preescolar en general. La calidad del u´ltimo centro preescolar al cual han asistido, particularmente la calidad relacionada a la interaccio´n de la maestra y el nin ¨ o, tambie´n continuo´ a demostrar asociaciones duraderas relacionadas al desempen ¨ o de los nin ¨ os. La mezcla socioecono´mica del u´ltimo centro preescolar frecuentados por los nin ¨ os tambie´n tuvo efecto sobre sus niveles de capacidad 5 an ¨ os ma´s tarde.     

‘This education is not for our students’: responses of Mexican educators to globalising education policies and practices

This article explores the relationship between travelling education policies and a 2008 Mexican high-school reform from the perspective of Mexican educators. Using an ethnographic approach, consisting of interviews, classroom and community observations, and document analysis, study findings show that the educators participating in this study contest the notion that education policies and practices can be seamlessly transferred from one locale to another. They also suggest that when they are transferred, locally responsive practices may be threatened.     

The Benefits of Intergenerational Learning in Higher Education: Lessons Learned from Two Age Friendly University Programs

This article focuses on the role of universities in the promotion of intergenerational learning and the facilitation of reciprocal sharing of expertise among learners of all ages. The principles of the Age Friendly University are used as a particular lens for interpreting two university programs, one in the United States and one in Ireland. Though different in operational implementation, core commonalities emerged within the nature of benefits to younger learners, older learners, the university, and the community. A review of these benefits illustrates how universities can provide opportunities for older and younger learners to co-create experiences and mutually enrich each other’s lives.     

Gudaga goes to school study: methods used in understanding school transitions and early education experiences of an urban Aboriginal cohort

The Gudaga Goes to School Study described the transition to school and early education experiences of 117 urban Aboriginal children and their families. This paper outlines the methods and design of the study. A life course approach, employing multidimensional and multi-theoretical frameworks was used to capture the complexity of issues surrounding the transition and early school experiences with multi-methods used to collect data from children, parents and teachers. Quantitative data included questionnaires, checklists and educational assessments to track children’s academic progress, school attendance, and social/emotional/behavioural development. Qualitative data consisted of semi-structured interviews and focus groups to gain the perspective of stakeholders. Children also participated using photography and drawing mediums. The community controlled study was conceived, designed and conducted in close consultation with the local Aboriginal community.     

Structure reconsidered: Towards new foundations of explanatory transitions theory

The most prominent framework for studying socio-technical transitions to date is the multi-level perspective (MLP). While appreciated for its flexibility and usefulness for studying socio-technical transitions it has not been without its critics. In this paper we focus on the ontological foundations of the MLP and its (in)ability to explain transitions and how they come about. The purpose is to initiate development of an explanatory theory for socio-technical transitions, by carrying out an immanent critique of the ontological foundations of the MLP together with a methodological critique. We show that the ontological foundations of the MLP to a large extent inhibits explanatory capacity. The argument is fourfold: since structure and agency are understood as inseparable, (i) the causal influence of material properties are undervalued, and (ii) different degrees of structural constraint and freedom of actors are ignored. As a consequence (iii) transitions are reduced to shifts in the maturity and spread of socio-cognitive rules, without analysis of systemic change. Moreover, (iv) mechanisms are reduced to recurring patterns of events which cannot explain why some transitions fail while others succeed. To remedy these limitations we outline alternative critical realist foundations for transitions theory.     

Une introduction non classique aux algorithmes d'addition et de soustraction

The aim of our study was to analyze a didactical sequence for the teaching of addition and subtraction procedures and algorithms. In the conception of that sequence, we have taken into account diagnostic and repair models for procedural bugs in addition and subtraction algorithms, as well as learning and teaching methods for multi digit additions and subtractions. The didactical sequence included situations involving many of the characteristics associated with procedural bugs; however, when the children encountered those situations they had many conceptual tools to detect their mistakes and correct them, giving that way a meaning to the actions made in addition and subtraction procedures and algorithms. Our teaching activities were submitted to second grade school children (7–8 years old). The didactical interactions and the procedures used by children in problem solving activities were analyzed in order to get a better understanding of the interaction between numbers, numeration and operations knowledge which are involved in the construction of addition and subtraction procedures and algorithms and to relate children's knowledge acquisition to the didactical situations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.