Value priorities in the United Germany: Teachers and students from East and West compared

A study of the value orientations of teachers and students of the teaching profession was conducted in East and West Germany based on a theory that discriminates ten types of values (universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, security, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction). Samples of 188 West German and 204 East German teachers as well as 377 West German and 274 East German students were studied using a 56-item value survey. Multivariate analyses of variance showed that:

1. Values in the East and the West can be seen as opposing each other most strongly on the polarity of self-direction vs. security with the former more important in the West, the latter in the East;
2. Differences between teachers and students (regardless of area of origin) are at least equally large as those between East and West.

From a cross-national perspective, however, the differences between East and West appear less substantial: Both East and West German samples exhibit the general West European profile which contrasts with samples from East Europe and around the world. They attribute high importance to values that express concern for others and openness to change and low importance to values that emphasize the status quo. Implications of the findings for educational policies in East Germany are discussed.     

Setting the normative boundaries: crucial epistemological benchmarks in comparative education

Historians of comparative education have ordinarily viewed the development of that field as having progressed in stages, from impressionistic traveller tales to systematic investigations, with each stage eclipsing the previous one in rigour and acceptability. In this essay, I show that this common ‘Darwinian’ view is simplistic and distorts the real development of comparative education. Rather than in stages, I contend that the field has developed within three epistemological streams: positivist, relativist, and historical functionalist. These streams, each shaped over many decades, continue to be alive and well and delineate the field’s normative boundaries. Indeed, comparativists differ markedly in defining the field, because their definitions arise out of whichever particular epistemological stream they embrace. What we need is a definition that encompasses all normative streams, and the one that I propose is: comparative education is the application of the intellectual tools of history and the social sciences to understanding international issues of education.     

Planning for the integration of the digital library, clinical decision support, and evidence at the point of care

Integrating knowledge-based resources at the point of care is an important opportunity for hospital library involvement. In the progression of an IAIMS planning grant, the digital library is recognized as pivotal to the success of information domain integration throughout the institution. The planning process, data collection, and evolution of the planning project are discussed.     

Longitudinal Trajectories of Family Functioning Among Recent Immigrant Adolescents and Parents: Links With Adolescent and Parent Cultural Stress,Emotional Well-Being,and Behavioral Health

This study examined longitudinal effects of adolescent and parent cultural stress on adolescent and parent emotional well-being and health behaviors via trajectories of adolescent and parent family functioning. Recent immigrant Latino adolescents (M_age = 14.51) and parents (M_age = 41.09; N = 302) completed measures of these constructs. Latent growth modeling indicated that adolescent and parent family functioning remained stable over time. Early levels of family functioning predicted adolescent and parent outcomes. Baseline adolescent cultural stress predicted lower positive adolescent and parent family functioning. Latent class growth analyses produced a two-class solution for family functioning. Adolescents and parents in the low family functioning class reported low family functioning over time. Adolescents and parents in the high family functioning class experienced increases in family functioning.     

Instructional and Distributed Self-leadership for School Improvement: Experiences of Schools in the Kavango Region

This article uses the lens of self-leadership to understand the leadership practice of school principals in the Kavango region of Namibia. Self-leadership emphasises the focus on leading the self to enhance one's leadership in the organisation. Self-leadership will always function with other leadership styles; hence, the article uses instructional and distributed leadership styles to understand the possibility of principals having an influence on the improvement of academic quality in schools. This article explores how six secondary school principals in the Kavango region have employed self-leadership styles to improve and sustain the performance of learners. The study adopted a qualitative method that examined the selfleadership of the six school principals in the Kavango region. The data were collected from the six principals and two teachers of each school by using semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that school principals unknowingly employ self-leadership in their schools and in the process use distributed leadership together with instructional leadership to collaborate and share their leadership with teachers.     

Preschool inclusion in the United States: a review of research from an ecological systems perspective

Using an ecological systems conceptual framework proposed by Bronfenbrenner, research on the inclusion of preschool children with disabilities in programs with typically developing children was reviewed. Drawing mainly from studies conducted in the United States, research on child characteristics (biosystem), classroom practices (microsystem), family perspectives (mesosystem), social policy (exosystem), culture (macrosystem), and changes in variables across time (chronosystem) is described. Positive developmental and behavioral outcomes occur for children with and without disabilities in inclusive settings, although as a group, children with disabilities are not as socially integrated as their typically developing peers. Parent attitudes are generally positive although they voice some concerns about inclusion. Several social policy issues within the U.S. system (e.g., enforcement of standards, fiscal issues) serve as barriers to and facilitators of implementation of preschool inclusion, and cultural variables shape the nature of inclusive classrooms as well as family access to inclusive settings.     

Deaf parents and pediatric cochlear implantation: an exploration of the decision-making process

The study examined factors in deaf parents' decision between cochlear implantation (CI) and traditional hearing aids for their child. The subjects were 6 Flemish children ages 5-9 years with severe/profound congenital hearing loss, with at least 1 deaf parent. The researchers, who conducted thematic content analysis of qualitative data collected through parent interviews, found that with the exception of a family with 1 hearing parent, parents gave priority to Deaf identity, sign language, and ethical issues in deciding between CI and hearing aids. Medical risks were also mentioned. The researchers conclude that the decision-making processes of the parents involved factors that have also been found among hearing parents, as well as aspects that have not been reported to play a role in hearing parents' decision making. A further conclusion is that deaf parents' perspective merits attention in professional practice and empirical research.     

Attachment,Entitlement, and the Impostor Phenomenon in Female Graduate Students

This study examined the utility of attachment and entitlement as predictors of the impostor phenomenon in female graduate students. Findings suggested that individuals with high levels of self‐reliance/self‐assurance entitlement are able to associate positive feedback with stable internal attributes. Those with anxious attachment and narcissistic expectations/self‐promotion entitlement, however, were unable to openly accept positive feedback because of perceived deficits in self‐worth. Implications are discussed for addressing these issues with female college counseling clients.