PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION OF ADULTS AS OBSERVED IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

The 37 Caldecott Medal award‐winning children's books and 129 runner‐up books were subjected to a content analysis in order to evaluate the portrayal of adults in children's literature, both fictional and nonfictional. Of the total 166 books analyzed, 43 were excluded from the data because they contained no adult portrayals. For the 123 books subjected to final content analysis, and the 751 characters contained in these books, the data revealed statistically significant differences on four variables: (1) more male than female adults were represented; (2) more healthy than physically handicapped adults were portrayed; (3) more positive than negative or neutral illustrations of adults occurred; (4) adults were represented more in fictional than in nonfictional children's books. Results were interpreted as demonstrating that children's literature portrays neither adult figures nor adult life in a realistic manner.     

A thematic analysis of the self‐directed learning experiences of 13 breast cancer patientsy

Although self‐directed learning is a common response for many of the 183 000 American women who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, very little is known about the nature of the experience for them. Four themes emerged from interviews with 13 breast cancer patients describing their self‐education efforts in regard to their disease. A qualitative paradigm was used for this study with data collected using a pilot‐tested semi‐structured interview protocol. Purposeful sampling technique was employed to identify information‐rich subjects who were within three years of diagnosis and who had used self‐directed learning extensively in coping with their breast cancer. Using the constant comparative method, four common themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews. First, empowerment: the women in this study felt stronger and more in control in their breast cancer situations because of their self‐directed learning efforts. Second, connectedness: the women in this study satisfied their need for connecting with other people in meaningful ways, particularly with other survivors, through their self‐directed learning efforts. Third, selective learning: the women in this study were interested in learning about those things which directly related to their situations and which they perceived as positively influencing their ability to cope. Finally, the search for meaning: the women in this study were searching for more than just information about breast cancer. They also sought to understand why they had breast cancer and what meaning the experience should have for them in the future. The findings support prior research in regard to important aspects of self‐directed learning, women and learning and breast cancer. At the same time, the results have contributed new information about self‐directed learning in a crisis situation suggesting that in such cases the emotional context must be considered.     

Complicity and control in the workplace: a critical case study of TQM,learning, and the management of knowledge

This article analyses how a Total Quality Management process with an embedded workplace literacy programme was implemented in an industrial manufacturing plant. Designed as an insider/outsider team research project, data were collected through interviews with management personnel, education and training providers, and hourly workers. Findings reveal that the Total Quality Management process and the literacy programme were implemented under the guise of providing education and training for workers, but were driven by corporate policy to reduce labour costs. The study also examines the way in which adult education was complicit in controlling workplace knowledge.     

Prioritizing the education of marginalized young people in Brazil: a collaborative approach

This paper explores constructions of the ‘new’ university student in the context of UK government policy to widen participation in higher education. New Labour discourse stresses the benefits of widening participation for both individuals and society, although increasing the levels of participation of students from groups who have not traditionally entered university has been accompanied by a discourse of ‘dumbing down’ and lowering standards. The paper draws on an ongoing longitudinal study of undergraduate students in a post–1992 inner‐city university in the UK to examine students' constructions of their experiences and identities in the context of public discourses of the ‘new’ higher education student. Many of the participants in this study would be regarded as ‘non‐traditional’ students, i.e. those students who are the focus of widening participation policy initiatives. As Reay et al. (2002) discovered, for many ‘non‐traditional’ students studying in higher education is characterized by ‘struggle’, something that also emerged as an important theme in this research. The paper examines the ways in which these new student identities both echo the New Labour dream of widening participation and yet continue to reflect and re‐construct classed and other identities and inequalities.     

Educating the educators: developing those who support learning for students with additional learning needs

This article reports findings from a research project which developed and introduced the Enhanced Learning Support Assistant Programme (ELSAP) as a source of professional development for learning support assistants who were supporting students with additional learning needs in a college of further education in England. The purpose of this article is to share findings from the project and to highlight the benefits experienced when learning support assistants can participate in professional development activity. The research project was a mixed methods study with participants drawn from learning support assistants within one college of further education in England. Data were collected throughout the 14‐week intervention. Findings indicate that the programme had a positive effect on participants' confidence, sense of professional identify and of being valued, as well as improving their ability to perform their role.     

Space modulators and the gat people: Ambiguity reduction and mass communications

There are many different ways of looking at mass communications’ basic role. Professor William L. Burke, who teaches broadcasting and film courses at Kansas State University, offers as his thesis that the basic task of communications in general is in reducing ambiguity, and that a labeled space modulator is far better than an unlabeled one in doing this!     

Relationships among the communication skills

This article explores the potential as well as the procedures for microteaching as a valuable and effective aid in training future teachers of speech.