Challenges Faced by Canadian Social Work Field Instructors in Baccalaureate Field Supervision

ABSTRACT

This article examines the challenges faced by social work field instructors in two Canadian provinces. The results are based on the responses from 239 field instructors to a questionnaire survey. Findings highlight student difficulties, administrative issues with the social work schools, and practicum setting challenges. These demands hinder the optimal implementation of social work field education, reveal the concerning gatekeeping role of schools of social work, and discourage some social workers from taking on (or continuing) as field instructors. Implications for social work student placements, supervision of students, academic programs, and directions for future research are presented.     

Predictors for Mathematics Achievement? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study

Numerical processing has been extensively studied by examining the performance on basic number processing tasks, such as number priming, number comparison, and number line estimation. These tasks assess the innate “number sense,” which is assumed to be the breeding ground for later mathematics development. Indeed, several studies have associated children's performance in these tasks with individual differences in mathematical achievement. To date, however, most of these studies have cross‐sectional designs. Moreover, the few longitudinal studies either use complex tasks (e.g., story problems) or investigate only one of these basic number processing tasks at a time. In this study, we examine the association between the performance of children on several basic number processing tasks and their individual math achievement scores on a curriculum‐based test measured 1 year later. Regression analyses showed that most of the variance in children's math achievement was predicted by nonsymbolic number line estimation performance (i.e., estimating large quantities of dots) and, to a lesser extent, the speed of comparing symbolic numbers. This knowledge about the predictive value of the performance of 5‐ to 7‐year‐olds on these markers of number processing can help with the early identification of at‐risk children. In addition, this information can guide appropriate educational interventions.     

Intergenerational transmission of gender segregation: How parents’ occupational field affects gender differences in field of study choices

The study explores how parents’ occupational field affects gender differences in educational fields. On the one hand, the theory of direct transfer predicts that adolescents enter fields similar to those of their parents because of intergenerational transmission of occupation‐specific resources and that adolescents are more likely to draw upon the resources provided by the higher‐status parent. On the other hand, the theory of sex‐role learning predicts that boys and girls are more likely to choose more gender‐stereotypical fields of study because they learn ‘appropriate’ gender‐role behaviour from their parents’ occupational field and that boys are more likely to learn this behaviour from their father and girls from their mother. We use longitudinal data collected from adolescents and their parents in the Netherlands (N = 2,497) and tested our hypotheses using multiple‐group structural equation modelling and multinomial regression analyses. In line with sex‐role learning, results show that especially mothers who are employed in a more feminine occupational field influence their daughters to enter a more feminine field of study (health, biology, agriculture and veterinary) and their sons to enter a more masculine field of study (science and technology). Mothers’ occupational field therefore not only influences girls’ field of study, but also boys’. This study highlights the role of horizontal characteristics when examining which field of study adolescents enter. Contrary to the stratification literature, which primarily focuses on fathers, this study concludes that mothers play a more important role in gender differences in fields of study.     

An examination of some difficulties in integrating Western science into societies with an indigenous scientific tradition

Few would argue that science and technology have had an impact throughout the world. When we speak about such impacts we are implicitly talking about Western science. Historians of science (especially in science textbooks) tend to place the beginnings of modern science at the time of Bacon, with a slight nod to Greek influences. There is little or no recognition of the scientific traditions of Eastern societies (such as China, India, and the Islamic world) and other indigenous cultures. Although there is no argument that science did not develop in the same manner in these societies, it is argued that they have a scientific tradition that should be considered when incorporating modern science into those societies. The difficulties in doing that are discussed, as is the question of the universality of science. The universality of science as a systematized set of processes for learning about the world is supported, but the culture that has arisen around it, resulting in a certain arrogance, is not. It is argued that the benefits of science and technology can be incorporated without the loss of cultural integrity if the society takes over its own research agenda and paradigms and maintains pride in its own traditons. The role of science education in this process is discussed.     

Do students notice stress in teachers? Associations between classroom teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence

The goal of the present study was to investigate the link between elementary school teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence (SEC). A total of 676 Grades 4–7 students in 35 classrooms rated their classroom teachers' SEC. In addition, teachers self-reported their current level of experienced burnout at work (i.e., depersonalization and emotional exhaustion). Multilevel analyses revealed significant classroom-level variability (i.e., 34%) in student-ratings of teacher SEC. Teacher burnout significantly predicted student-rated teacher SEC, over and above significant student-level variables (school self-concept, sense of autonomy in the classroom) and contextual variables (teacher age, school neighborhood income). Specifically, higher levels of teacher burnout were related to receiving lower SEC ratings by students. Teacher burnout explained a significant portion of the classroom-level variability in student-rated teacher SEC. The present study emphasizes the link between teacher burnout and the SEC. Furthermore, given that teacher reports (burnout) were linked to student reports (teacher SEC), these findings also suggest that students notice stress in their classroom teacher.     

Effect of Secondary Schools on Academic Choices and on Success in Higher Education

Follow-up data from a group of final-grade students of the 65 schools that participated in the Flemish Longitudinal Research in Secondary Education project (Van Damme, De Fraine, Van Landeghem, Opdenakker, & Onghena, 2002) were collected to study the long-term effects of the secondary school on the educational choice when leaving secondary education and on subsequent outcomes in higher education. Multilevel logistic regression models showed significant long-term effects of secondary schools on both outcome variables. Indications are found that the effects are mediated by the achievement level of the students at the end of secondary education. An important additional finding was that grade repetition has negative long-term consequences after leaving secondary education, which raises questions about a justified policy regarding students that are at risk of academic failure.     

Learning in non-formal education: Is it “youthful” for youth in action?

This article offers insights into the practices of a non-formal education programme for youth provided by the European Union (EU). It takes a qualitative approach and is based on a case study of the European Voluntary Service (EVS). Data were collected during individual and focus group interviews with learners (the EVS volunteers), decision takers and trainers, with the aim of deriving an understanding of learning in non-formal education. The research questions concerned learning, the recognition of learning and perspectives of usefulness. The study also examined the Youthpass documentation tool as a key to understanding the recognition of learning and to determine whether the learning was useful for learners (the volunteers). The findings and analysis offer several interpretations of learning, and the recognition of learning, which take place in non-formal education. The findings also revealed that it is complicated to divide learning into formal and non-formal categories; instead, non-formal education is useful for individual learners when both formal and non-formal educational contexts are integrated. As a consequence, the division of formal and non-formal (and possibly even informal) learning creates a gap which works against the development of flexible and interconnected education with ubiquitous learning and mobility within and across formal and non-formal education. This development is not in the best interests of learners, especially when seeking useful learning and education for youth (what the authors term “youthful” for youth in action).     

Epistemic beliefs and beliefs about teaching practices for moral learning in the early years of school: relationships and complexities

While investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society, little is known about early years teaching practices that promote learning of moral values. This paper reports on observations and interviews with 11 Australian teachers, focusing on their epistemic beliefs and beliefs about teaching practices for moral education with children aged 5–8 years. The analysis revealed three main patterns of thinking about moral education: following others, reflecting on points of view, and informing reflection for action. These patterns suggest a relationship between epistemic beliefs and beliefs about teaching practices for moral learning which have implications for teacher professional development concerning experiences in moral education.     

Youth's Conceptions of Adolescence Predict Longitudinal Changes in Prefrontal Cortex Activation and Risk Taking During Adolescence

The development of cognitive control during adolescence is paralleled by changes in the function of the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). Using a three‐wave longitudinal neuroimaging design (N = 22, M_age = 13.08 years at Wave 1), this study examined if youth's stereotypes about teens modulate changes in their neural activation during cognitive control. Participants holding stereotypes of teens as irresponsible in the family context (i.e., ignoring family obligations) in middle school showed increases in bilateral ventrolateral PFC activation during cognitive control over the transition to high school, which was associated with increases in risk taking. These findings provide preliminary evidence that youth's conceptions of adolescence play a role in neural plasticity over this phase of development.     

Reconstituting the ADHD girl: accomplishing exclusion and solidifying a biomedical identity in an ADHD class

In this study, we explore what happens to young people labelled as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after they have been excluded from mainstream class and placed in a special class. More specifically, we focus on how a specific disability identity is locally accomplished and ascribed to a girl placed in an ADHD class containing only boys. Data are drawn from the communication books that regularly passed between the parents and teachers, and from ethnographic work in a special class for children aged 7–12 years diagnosed with ADHD, during a period of one school year. We draw on ethnomethodology, especially membership categorisation analysis, when investigating unfolding trajectories of shifting identifications during a school year. The detailed analysis reveals that the girl is accomplished as capable of managing her life in school at the beginning of the year, but by the end is constructed as disabled and identified as a typical ADHD girl in very subtle ways in the teacher's communication with the parents. Furthermore, our analysis highlights how the process of exclusion and social identification of the girl as a typical ADHD girl is mutually constructed and achieved across classroom activities in everyday schooling contexts.