Child abuse: A study of the child''s perspective

This study ascertained the child's response to various types of abuse and neglect. With interviews and questionnaires for the staff of a child psychiatric unit, the mothers and the children involved, we assessed the severity, frequency and duration of physical abuse, verbal abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect or sexual abuse of children. The physically abused children accepted blame for mild but not severe mistreatment. Verbally and sexually abused children did not believe it was their fault if the mistreatment was moderately extensive but did if it was mild or severe. The relationship between extent of abuse and blame was less clear for neglect, but children usually though it was their fault. Verbal and sexual abuse appeared to have a greater impact on the children's perception of themselves and the world. Verbally abused children were more angry and more pessimistic about their future. Although physical abuse appeared to make some children feel they were unwanted at birth, how much the mother wanted her children was not related to the extent of any type of abuse. Both the type and extent of mistreatment appear to have different effects on the child's subjective experience. The use of the visual analogue scale in this study made it possible to differentiate a continuum of severity and frequency of five types of mistreatment without the need for definition.     

Games for the very young baby

The very young infant who enters into any day care setting is more dependent on the caregiver than he or she ever will be again. The infant has not yet developed the physical and social skills with which older babies can manage to call attention to their needs. Caregivers (and parents) of young babies understand that there are several important sets of abilities an infant needs to develop before he or she evolves into the busy, sitting-up, smiling, babbling 6-month-old. The adults can, and should, provide assistance. A loving and attentive caregiver can both protect and enhance the infant's natural development by regularly engaging in the “interaction games” described here. They are designed to be fun, to combine gentle rhymes and song, and to be conducted in a cheerful, relaxed fashion. Don't “teach”—DO create a warm, friendly playtime. The best time for interaction games is when the baby and caregiver are both rested, attentive, and in good spirits. After you try it a few times, use your own judgment to determine if a particular game is successful or not. Just as you will have your favorites, different babies like different things too! Once baby and caregiver use the first games in each set, once they enjoy them and make them their own, they can go on to the next, more difficult activities. Christine Z. Cataldo coordinates research projects and teaches courses on infant education, parent programs, early intervention, and atypical young children. She consults with day care centers, nursery schools, and special programs for the very young.     

Surfel-based surface modeling for robotic belt grinding simulation

INTRODUCTION The simulation and verification technologies of numerical controlled (NC) manufacturing processes have been developed since the end of the 1970s, and a lot of significant accomplishments have been achieved. This kind of technology has important im- pact on product development and quality control. The designed CAD model can be produced to virtually reduce or even eliminate expensive experiments on testing material. If any potential problem, such as collision, improper parame…     

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers'' Perceptions of Factors in an Holistic Methods Course Influencing their Confidence in Teaching Science

Lack of confidence towards science is a major factor in the avoidance of teaching science at elementary school. This paper reports the results of a survey that asked 28 pre-service elementary teachers what they believed contributed to their confidence towards science and the teaching of science during a second year science unit where an holistic teaching/learning approach was taken. The holistic nature of the unit was based on a model that considered six major factors to be important influences on the confidence of the pre-service teacher. Using median values, and ranking from the most to least important factor influencing their confidence, the pre-service teachers identified practicum, teacher educator, pedagogical content knowledge, learning environment, assessment and reflection. Factors within pedagogical content knowledge, ranked from most to least important, were science pedagogy, science activities, children's views of science, science content knowledge and investigating scientifically. The wide variability in responses highlighted that no single factor was perceived to be a major contributor to the pre-service teachers' confidence, but rather a balanced mix was necessary. Implications for pre-service elementary science education units are discussed.     

Gender,policy and initial teacher education

An examination of gender discourses within New Labour education policy on the preparation of students for a career in teaching in the UK reveals a contradictory yet, at the same time, complementary position. In the guidelines outlining the Standards that a prospective teacher has to achieve, the ways in which gender informs pupils’ educational opportunities is ‘played down’ in that it is not addressed directly. Rather ‘gender’, along with ethnicity, social class, disability and sexuality is embedded within the broader concept of ‘diversity’. At the same time, gender is foregrounded in education policy on the recruitment of teachers with the drive by the Training and Development Agency to encourage men into primary schools. This article explores these tensions and relates these to the published research on the experiences of male primary teachers. It concludes by arguing for a recognition of student/practicing teachers’ real concerns regarding the gender issues which influence and inform their professional choices and careers rather than those set by the Government agenda.     

Developmental,gender, and practical considerations in scoring curriculum‐based measurement writing probes

The present study focused on CBM written language procedures by conducting an investigation of the developmental, gender, and practical considerations surrounding three categories of CBM written language scoring indices: production‐dependent, production‐independent, and accurate‐production. Students in first‐ through eighth‐grade generated a three‐minute writing sample in the fall and spring of the school year using standard CBM procedures. The writing samples were scored using all three types of scoring indices to assess the trends in scoring indices for students of varying ages and gender and of the time required to score writing samples using various scoring indices. With only one exception, older students outperformed younger students on all of the scoring indices. Although at the middle school level students' levels of writing fluency and writing accuracy were not closely associated, at the younger grade levels the CBM indices were significantly related. With regard to gender differences, girls outperformed boys on measures of writing fluency at all grade levels. The average scoring time per writing sample ranged from 1‐1/2 to 2‐1/2 minutes (depending on grade level). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 379–390, 2003.     

Guiding Boys in the Early Years to Lead Healthy Emotional Lives

Research has shown that there are distinct differences in the psychological development of boys and girls. It has also been found that boys have more problems in their teen years and into adulthood because of problems during early childhood, particularly in the area of handling emotions. This article first describes gender differences that are supported by research and how society, parents', and teachers' influences shape gender identity during early development. Second, the article discusses problems boys in particular may face later in life if they are not taught how to handle their emotions during childhood. Third, suggestions are offered for teachers and parents to guide boys in early childhood to mature in more emotionally sound ways.     

Head Start Teachers Across a Decade: Beliefs,Characteristics, and Time Spent on Academics

We examined changes in teachers’ beliefs regarding developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experience Survey. In addition, we examined how teacher education, credentials, and professional experience relate to beliefs about DAP and explored how these relationships differ by cohort. We also explored teachers’ reports of time spent in math and literacy focused activities. Findings indicate that after 2003, developmentally appropriate beliefs decreased significantly, while developmentally inappropriate beliefs increased. Results also showed significant increases in the frequency of literacy activity across the decade, while the frequency of math activity was more consistent. Despite these changes, teachers with more education consistently held the most appropriate beliefs. These findings indicate that teacher education may buffer against influences of pushed down curricula and increased accountability. This study also illustrates that policies at the national level have the potential to impact children’s day-to-day classroom experiences.     

Exploring the potential for and promise of incorporating distributive and procedural justices into post-secondary assessment of student learning

This paper explores the potential of incorporating constructs of distributive justice and procedural justice into summative assessment of student learning in higher education. I systematically compare the process used by managers to evaluate employee performance in organizations – performance appraisal (PA) – with processes used by professors to assess student learning in academe. These procedures are remarkably similar in terms of objectives to facilitate and measure performance/learning, criteria for defining desired performance/learning, the procedures used by raters to evaluate performance/learning, and the procedure used by employees and students to assess fairness of their PA/grades. I then summarize empirical research regarding distributive justice (DJ) and procedural justice (PJ) in organizations. Finally, I posit how positive attitudes and behaviors associated with DJ and PJ in organizations might transfer to benefit students, professors, administrators, and universities in academe.