Conversational asymmetry and the child's perspective in developmental and educational research

Developmental research and educational practice involve conversations between children and adults. The conversational aspects of these situations have rarely been occasions for reflection. Discrepancies between the child's expectations and the adult's intentions can lead to misunderstanding, for example, at school or during a research interview. Communication can only succeed when the interlocutors agree about the ground rules relevant to the situation. When researchers and educators communicate with children, it is advisable that they understand the children's perspective on the interaction. In this article I argue that analysing adult‐child and child‐child interactions are particularly informative for shedding light on children's perspectives. Methodological aspects of interaction research are discussed. An overview of my research shows that, by clarifying the rules and conventions of the interaction, adults may help children to perform successfully. My interaction studies of pretend play and of students' discussions at school demonstrate that children reflect on the rules of interaction and make efforts to construct the communication tools they need for participating as competent partners in interactions with others.     

Early childhood special education dental and oral hygiene procedures for young children with special needs

Summary The provision of dental services, including dental treatment and oral hygiene maintenance, to special-needs children presents unique challenges to health care professionals as well as to the parents and guardians of these special patients. A knowledge of dental care and of the implications of the various disorders common to these patients is vital to the long-term dental health of children with special needs. Limitations in treatment choices must be carefully explained to parents or guardians if inappropriate expectations are to be avoided. Many of the techniques of delivering quality dental services are difficult, time-consuming, and complicated. Yet it should be noted that the restoration of a diseased mouth takes more time and is more costly both monetarily and psychologically than efforts to provide adequate maintenance and prevention. When caregivers take the time to offer assistance to the young child with special needs, the best form of health care is being provided: prevention.     

Meditation in Higher Education: The Next Wave?

This article describes the design and advocacy of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz and Contemplative Studies curriculum at The University of Michigan School of Music. The curriculum combines meditation practice and related studies with jazz and overall musical training and is part of a small but growing movement in academia that seeks to integrate contemplative disciplines within the educational process. The article considers issues such as the structure of the curriculum, the reconciliation of contemplative studies and conventional notions of academic rigor, the avoidance of possible conflicts between church and state, and other challenges encountered in gaining support for this plan, after weeks of intensive debate, from a 2/3 majority of the faculty.     

The construction of word meaning in a multicultural classroom. Mediational tools in peer collaboration during mathematics lessons

In this article, we examine the construction of word meaning by students during collaborative activities in a multicultural classroom at a Dutch primary school. The analysis is based on recordings of student talk in small groups of four or five students during mathematics lessons. Difficulties with specific terms and expressions frequently arose during group work. Students could easily ask each other about the meaning of difficult words as a part of the collaborative activities they were accustomed to. In the groups with both Dutch and minority children, the minority students addressed their Dutch classmates as language experts. Conversations about language difficulties also occurred in the groups with only minority students. The conversations about word meaning revealed four patterns: (1) ignoring a question about the meaning of a word, (2) showing the meaning using gestures, (3) explaining, or (4) discussing word meaning. In none of the cases were the language problems solved by referring to the everyday meaning of the word. Instead, the conversations focussed directly on the specialised meaning which the word had in the context of the mathematics lesson. This means that the children used the mathematical discourse as a mediational tool for constructing a mathematical meaning of the words.     

The reaction of managers to the pre- acquisition stage of a corporate merger: A qualitative study

Conclusion The study in this article provided insights into the emotional needs of managers during the Preacquisition Stage of a potential acquisition. One manager claimed that mergers are the wave of the future. If one of six managers believes this in the retail industry, then we might assume that one out of every six employees has thought this at some time in his/her working life or at least thought about how mergers in general affect his/her working life. Therefore, it seems vital that retail employees have the attitude that Acquisitions, of course, produce stress, but they are not always bad experiences that end up hurting the employees. With the opposite attitude, the Preacquisition Stage will most likely be fraught with low employee morale, increased stress, resistance to change, higher turnover, and lower productivity.The managers in the current study shared their reactions to the announcement of a potential merger. As can be expected, much stress and uneasiness was occurring. The suggested interventions in this article will help the EAP counselor respond to the stress through crisis, preventive, and educational methods. The employee assistance counselor can no longer wait for the merger to occur; rather, he/she must be involved early in the merger process, during the Preacquisition Stage. If employee assistance counselors do not begin insisting on early involvement, business mergers may remain on a contractual level only. The contractual level allows Hunsaker and Coombs (1988) to conclude that the psychological needs of the merging work forces are not typically considered, and people issues are mishandled as the acquirer improvises instead of following a strategically designed, systematically conducted program for corporate integration (p. 57). A systematically conducted program may help managers and employees feel more secure about their own careers; thus, about mergers in general.     

Negotiating school-university partnerships: Participants' voices in co-reform

Although many educators recognize the importance of voice, fostering voice in those who have traditionally been voiceless has been difficult. This article, like the program that it describes, tackles that challenge by having participants speak for themselves. Specifically, the participants speak about their involvement in the first year of an alternative teacher education project. In describing their involvement, the participants focus on their roles and relationships as well as the type of partnership and collaboration that emerged from this project.     

Narrative-Based Learning Activities for Science Ethics Education: an Affordance Perspective

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Boasting a wide range of interactive and engaging features, narrative-based learning has become increasingly popular in educational settings....