A Measure of Self-Esteem in Singapore Secondary Schools

Stanley Coopersmith (1981. p. 5) defines self-esteem as “the evaluation a person makes and customarily maintains with regard to him- or herself. ‘Self-esteem’ expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval and indicates the extent to which a person believes him- or herself capable, significant, successful and worthy.” This judgement of worthiness of oneself is relatively enduring and general rather than transitory and specific. A person's self-esteem may vary across different areas of experience and role-defined conditions but one will presumably weigh these areas according to their subjective importance and then arrive at a general level of self-esteem. Attitude toward the “self” may or may not be noticed consciously. However, it can be detected through one's behaviour and performance.     

Practical intelligence and elementary-school teacher effectiveness in the United States and Israel: Measuring the predictive power of tacit knowledge

One important aspect of teacher effectiveness, of course, is formal knowledge of one or more academic disciplines. But another aspect of teacher effectiveness may be informal, or tacit knowledge of how to handle challenging situations, or even crises, that arise in the classroom. Tacit knowledge is what a person needs to know to succeed in an endeavor that is typically not explicitly taught and that often is not even verbalized. It is procedural knowledge, and thus is not just a static form of knowledge, but rather, knowledge in use. We constructed a measure of tacit knowledge for elementary-school teachers, in order to determine the teachers’ likely effectiveness in dealing with problematical classroom situations. In Study 1, our primary goal was to determine whether our measure predicted principals’ ratings of the teachers’ classroom performance as well as teachers’ ratings of their own effectiveness. We found that teachers who scored higher on our tacit-knowledge inventory generally were rated as more effective by their principals, but as less effective by themselves. In Study 2, we investigated whether responses to problematical situations that were viewed as better or worse, respectively, in the United States were also viewed as better or worse, respectively, in Israel. We found a high correlation between responses in the two countries. We concluded that it is possible to measure an important aspect of teacher effectiveness via a measure of tacit knowledge, and that comparable measurements may be possible across at least two cultures.     

The Relationship of Maternal Employment to Early Adolescent Daily Experience With and Without Parents

This study examines how maternal work may shape pre- and young adolescents' daily life experience. According to the procedures of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 295 10– 13-year-old children carried electronic pagers for 1 week and completed self-report forms in response to random signals sent every other hour. Their daily experience did not differ by maternal employment status, with the following exceptions: full-time maternal employment was associated with more time doing homework with mothers and less time in general leisure, while part-time employment was associated with more time doing sports with parents. Relative to those with nonemployed mothers, youth with part-time employed mothers reported more positive daily moods and higher self-esteem, while youth reported time with full-time employed mothers to be the friendliest. While children with employed mothers spent no less time with family, parents, friends, in class or alone, they spent more time alone with fathers.     

Reading in able and disabled readers from around the world: same or different? An illustration from a study of reading‐related processes in a Swahili sample of siblings

Erratum . Journal of Research in Reading 29:2, 252 In this article, we discuss two characteristics of the majority of current behaviour‐ and molecular‐genetic studies of reading ability and disability, specifically, the ascertainment strategies and the populations from which samples are selected. In the context of this discussion, we present data that we collected on a sample of Swahili‐speaking siblings from Tanzania. With this sample, we (1) explore the efficiency and practicality of the single proband sibpair design and (2) provide data on the predictability of reading and spelling performance using reading‐related componential measures in a novel Swahili‐speaking sample. Specifically, we present the selection criteria, discuss the pattern of behavioural and behaviour‐genetic results obtained on the sample and compare these results with those available in the literature. We report behavioural and behaviour‐genetic correlations in this sample that are comparable with other studied samples in other languages, and discuss the similarities and differences. Thus, we demonstrate the suitability and effectiveness of the single sib ascertainment method for genetic analyses of reading ability and disability in novel samples in previously unstudied languages.     

The Effect of Attitudes on Science Achievement: A Study Conducted Among High School Pupils in Cyprus

The purpose of this study was to examine how pupils' attitudes towards science and their beliefs about themselves affect their achievements in science, and vice versa. Cyprus provided an interesting location for the study, being a developing nation that has adopted educational ideas from a variety of countries, including the US, UK and Greece. The results of this study demonstrated the differential effects that science achievement and science attitudes can have on each other, depending on the characteristics of the educational systems of the country. The findings indicate various directions for future research.     

Some multiplicative structures in elementary education: a view from relational paradigm

Educational Studies in Mathematics - The multiplicative reasoning that students should develop in elementary school is a key area of research in contemporary mathematics education. Researchers...     

Effect of two different intensity distribution training programmes on aerobic and body composition variables in ultra-endurance runners

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different intensity distribution training programmes (polarized (POL) and threshold (THR)) on aerobic performance, strength and body composition variables in ultra-endurance runners. Twenty recreationally trained athletes were allocated to POL (n?=?11; age: 40.6?±?9.7 years; height: 175.4?±?7?cm; weight: 73.5?±?10.8?kg; fat mass 18.4?±?6.0%; VO₂max: 55.8?±?4.9?ml/kg/min) or THR group (n?=?9; age: 36.8?±?9.2 years; height: 178.5?±?4.2?cm; weight: 75.5?±?10.4?kg; fat mass 14.9?±?5.3%; VO₂max: 57.1?±?5.2?ml/kg/min) and performed the 12 weeks training programme. Both programmes had similar total time and load but a different intensity distribution (POL?=?79.8?±?2.1% in Zone 1; 3.9?±?1.9% in Zone 2; 16.4?±?1.5% in Zone 3; THR?=?67.2?±?4.6% in Zone 1; 33.8?±?4.6% in Zone 2; 0% in Zone 3). Body composition, isokinetic strength and aerobic running performance were measured before and after each programme. Both groups decreased fat mass after training (POL= Δ–11.2%; p?=?.017; ES?=?0.32; THR= Δ–18.8%; p?p?=?0.003; ES?=?0.71) and 12?km/h (Δ–4.5%; p?=?.026; ES?=?0.73) and running time to exhaustion (Δ2.4%; p?=?.011; ES?=?0.33). No changes were observed in strength and no significant differences were observed between the group in any variable. Compared with THR distribution, 12 weeks of POL training efficiently improves aerobic performance in recreational ultra-endurance runners.     

Art collections and taste in the Spanish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Siglo</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">de Oro</Emphasis>

We analyze art pricing in a unique dataset on Madrid inventories between 1600 and 1750. We estimate a price index for the Spanish art market that is used for a general historical analysis of art during this period, showing a large increase in the real price of paintings during the XVII century. Then we examine the price differential between domestic and foreign paintings: At the beginning of the century domestic production was priced substantially below imported paintings, but the price gap was gradually reduced during the century. We argue that such a price convergence was not the fruit of variations in real exchange rate, relative supply or home bias, but was associated with increasing prices for the new domestic painters of the XVII century. Increasing remuneration for painting may have induced artistic innovations by domestic producers and created the conditions for the development of the Siglo de Oro of Spanish art.     

I Have a Friend on the Other Side of the Earth: twinning classes from different cultures to introduce environmental and development education

This paper describes an educational activity that was undertaken by starting an exchange of letters between Italian and Indian students. The main goal of this initiative was to encourage friendly relationships among students living in very different cultures and socio‐economic conditions, through direct communication. The general objectives of this initiative were: to encourage Italian and Indian children to have an affective, cognitive and emotional openness towards different people, cultures and environments; to make the concept of ‘global village’ more real and the ties that constitute our interdependent world more actual; to stimulate a reflection upon the ‘Western’ model of development, that destroys our resources, the resources of other peoples and of future generations. In this work targets related to several subjects have been identified: geography, environmental science, foreign language and social studies. A few possible interdisciplinary teaching paths have been pointed out, which originated from the development of cross‐curricular themes (environment, development, world studies). Our approach has stressed the comparison between ‘us’ and ‘the other’, the deliberate effort to put oneself in the others’ place and to see the world through ‘their’ eyes. Thanks to the exchange of letters this comparison has been made more concrete, immediate and relevant. Finally, some critical thoughts about the experiences that have been carried out up till now will be suggested in order to open a debate with teachers and researchers who have had similar experiences and to provide useful elements to those who are willing to take the path of environmental and development education through the exchange of letters among their students.