‘Doing research was inspiring’: building a research community with teachers

This paper reports on a mixed-methods study related to K–12 teachers’ understandings of what research is, and what enables or inhibits teacher use of research in the classroom towards informing their instructional practices. In a collaboration exemplifying school board and university partnerships, we examined the nature of associations between teachers and education research(ers). Our findings indicated that teachers felt both connected and disconnected to research practices in education. Participants suggested ways to establish and sustain better links and collaborations among the communities of teaching and research. This paper emphasizes the importance of universities, schools and teachers working together to conduct meaningful research and apply current knowledge in the field of education.     

“Feminism Begins at Home”: The Influence of Mother Gender Socialization on Daughter Career andMotherhood Aspirations as Channeled Through Daughter Feminist Identification

Intercultural communication in contexts

Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama, Intercultural Communication in Contexts. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1997.

Communicating in the classroom

Kathleen Kougl, Communicating in the Classroom. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1997.

Relating: Dialogues and dialectics

Leslie A. Baxter and Barbara M. Montgomery, B.M., Relating: Dialogues and dialectics. New York: Guilford, 1996.     

An Examination of Relational Uncertainty,Romantic Intent,and Attraction on Communicative and Relational Outcomes in Cross-Sex Friendships

This investigation explored the impact of relational uncertainty and its correlates (i.e., attraction and romantic intent) on cognitive, communicative, and behavioral outcomes in cross-sex friendships. Participants included 352 people who reported on a current cross-sex friendship. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that social attraction increased relational satisfaction while relational uncertainty decreased relational satisfaction. Further, social attraction decreased topic avoidance while romantic intent and relational uncertainty increased topic avoidance. Finally, social attraction increased the use of relationship talk, routine contact and activity, and emotional support maintenance behaviors, while relational uncertainty decreased the use of these maintenance behaviors. This study provides researchers with a starting point for understanding the consequences associated with interpersonal attraction, romantic intent, and relational uncertainty in cross-sex friendships.     

Understanding Relations Among Early Family Environment, Cortisol Response, and Child Aggression via a Prevention Experiment

This study examined relations among family environment, cortisol response, and behavior in the context of a randomized controlled trial with 92 children ( M  =   48 months) at risk for antisocial behavior. Previously, researchers reported an intervention effect on cortisol response in anticipation of a social challenge. The current study examined whether changes in cortisol response were related to later child aggression. Among lower warmth families, the intervention effect on aggression was largely mediated by the intervention effect on cortisol response. Although the intervention also resulted in significant benefits on child engaging behavior, cortisol response did not mediate this effect. These findings demonstrate meaningful associations between cortisol response and aggression among children at familial risk for antisocial behavior.     

The Better Beginnings, Better Futures project: findings from grade 3 to grade 9

Although comprehensive and ecological approaches to early childhood prevention are commonly advocated, there are few examples of long-term follow-up of such programs. In this monograph, we investigate the medium- and long-term effects of an ecological, community-based prevention project for primary school children and families living in three economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Ontario, Canada. The Better Beginnings, Better Futures (BBBF) project is one of the most ambitious Canadian research projects on the long-term impacts of early childhood prevention programming to date. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development informed program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Using a quasi-experimental design, the BBBF longitudinal research study involved 601 children and their families who participated in BBBF programs when children were between 4 and 8 years old and 358 children and their families from sociodemographically matched comparison communities. We collected extensive child, parent, family, and community outcome data when children were in Grade 3 (age 8–9), Grade 6 (age 11–12), and Grade 9 (age 14–15). The BBBF mandate was to develop programs that would positively impact all areas of child's development; our findings reflect this ecological approach. We found marked positive effects in social and school functioning domains in Grades 6 and 9 and evidence of fewer emotional and behavioral problems in school across the three grades. Parents from BBBF sites reported greater feelings of social support and more positive ratings of marital satisfaction and general family functioning, especially at the Grade 9 follow-up. Positive neighborhood-level effects were also evident. Economic analyses at Grade 9 showed BBBF participation was associated with government savings of $912 per child. These findings provide evidence that an affordable, ecological, community-based prevention program can promote long-term development of children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods and produce monetary benefits to government as soon as 7 years after program completion.     

An integrative model of attitudes toward immigrants

The research tests an integrative model of attitudes toward immigrants. Underpinned by Integrated Threat Theory and the Instrumental Model of Group Conflict and incorporating aspects of the contact and multicultural hypotheses, the model proposes direct paths linking five latent variables: multicultural ideology, contact with immigrants, intergroup anxiety, perceived threat and attitudes toward immigrants. Data generated from a random telephone survey of 500 New Zealand households demonstrated a very good fit for the model. The latent personal (multicultural ideology) and situational (contact with immigrants) variables represented exogenous factors and were related to each other. More frequent intercultural contact led to decreased intergroup anxiety, which, in turn, predicted diminished perceptions of threat and more positive attitudes toward immigrants. At the same time, a second path from multicultural ideology led to decreased perceptions of threat and, in turn, to more positive attitudes toward immigrants. The advantages of an integrative approach to attitudes toward immigrants are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research.     

The prediction of psychological and sociocultural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions

This study attempts empirically to distinguish psychological and sociocultural forms of adjustment during the process of cross-cultural transitions. One hundred and five sojourners (Malaysian and Singaporean students in New Zealand) completed a questionnaire which examined psychological well-being (depression) and sociocultural competence (social difficulty) in relationship to the following variables: expected difficulty, cultural distance, quantity and quality of social interactions with both host and fellow nationals, attitudes towards hosts, extraversion, life changes and personal variables such as age, sex, length of residence in New Zealand, cross-cultural training, and previous cross-cultural experiences. Multiple regression analysis was employed to construct predictive models of psychological and sociocultural adjustment. Satisfaction with relationships with host nationals, extraversion, life changes, and social difficulty combined to account for 34% of the variance in psychological adjustment. Cultural distance, expected difficulty, and depression combined to account for 36% of the variance in sociocultural adjustment. It was concluded that although psychological and sociocultural adjustment are interrelated, there is a need to regard these factors as conceptually distinct.