Readers are very important people

Reading groups for visually impaired people (VIPs) are a relatively recent phenomenon. This article reports on an ethnographic study of a VIP reading group. It provides a brief overview of the history of alternative formats and then focuses on reading autobiographies which have been constructed with members of this group. It concludes by suggesting that VIP reading groups present interesting opportunities for exploring ideas of reading and readers.     

Faculty autonomy: Perspectives from Taiwan

Recent legislative initiatives indicate thatlong-standing traditions of centralized state controlof higher education in Taiwan are being displaced bynew arrangements emphasizing institutional autonomy. Autonomous institutions are assumed to be flexible andresponsive, given their relative freedom fromgovernment control. Institutional autonomy is assumedto ``trickle down' to organizational members, who arethen empowered to devise unique solutions to solveparticular problems. Asserted benefits ofinstitutional autonomy may not accrue, however, whereorganizational members are unable to determine thestructures and processes of their work. The purposeof this study was to examine relationships betweeninstitutional autonomy and dimensions of facultyautonomy. Findings lend conditional support to theclaim that faculty members work within the constraintsof ``regulated autonomy,' where their individualbehaviors are delimited by government and management.     

Participation patterns of Korean adolescents in school-based career exploration activities

Variations in the school-based career exploration activities of Korean high school students were examined. Data represented 5,227 Korean adolescents in Grade 11 contained in the Korean Education Longitudinal Study of 2005, a nationally representative longitudinal database administered by the Korean Educational Development Institute. Latent class analysis identified four classes or approaches reflecting some combination of school availability and student use of career-related activities, including minimal-, limited-, moderate-, and high-activity groups. Multiple-group analysis revealed that curriculum track (i.e., vocational or academic emphasis) was an important determinant in classification.     

The effect of sensory awareness training on interpersonal social distance in fourth graders

The use of sensory awareness training and the place of training (youth hostel or regular classroom) were systematically controlled in 4 fourth-grade classrooms. The Horace Mann-Lincoln Social Distance Scale was given. A 2-way nested analysis of variance produced significant effects of intervention training in both settings. This supports the hypothesis that sensory awareness and personal contact promote lessening of social distance within groups. The training methods described in this study can easily be adapted for use in elementary classrooms as a part of group activities and as a counseling technique.     

President's Page

This month President Judy Springer has invited Eileen Spector to use this space to make some important observations. Eileen was Persident of the Chicago Chapter for two years. She is now National Awards Committee Chair, as well as Treasurer of the Chicago Chapter. She is a Senior Trainning Specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where she does program development, internal consulting, O. D. and classroom instruction, She specializes in communications, management training, computer user training and basic psychology.