Child abuse and neglect—rare, but perhaps increasing, phenomena among the samia of Kenya

This study shows that child abuse and neglect as understood in the West are comparatively rare phenomena among the Samia of western Kenya. The existence of an extended family situation and a strong clan structure are importantly related to positive care accorded to children. However, due to increased migration to towns, socioeconomic change, and interethnic marriages, the clan unit has been eroded thus resulting in cases of child abuse and neglect. Several such cases are reported in this study. The Samia traditionally practice the “evil eye” which is here considered to be a form of child abuse. Our findings, therefore, also have implications for previous efforts to define child abuse cross-culturally.     

Students’ perceptions of mathematics classroom learning environments: measurement and associations with achievement

In this study, we measured students’ perceptions of mathematics classroom learning environment and investigated their associations with students’ achievement. The Mathematics-Related Constructivist-Oriented Classroom Learning Environment Survey (MCOLES) was developed with seven dimensions and 56 items, using theories surrounding classroom learning environment. For a sample of 423 grade 10 students from five schools in India, we validated the MCOLES by exploratory factor analysis and then by confirmatory factor analysis, which suggested the exclusion of 11 items and yielded an 11-factor solution. For achievement on a topic taught, mainly medium correlations emerged with the learning environment factors, suggesting practical implications for classroom teaching. This study is methodologically significant in proposing and validating the new MCOLES for measuring classroom learning environments in secondary-school mathematics.

     

A retrospective account of the transition education program

In view of the uniqueness of the initiatives in post-compulsory education in Australia in the 1980s, a retrospective account is provided of one of the most significant initiatives, namely, the Commonwealth government’s Transition Program. Based on a synthesis of case studies of West Australian, Victorian and South Australian transition projects, it was found that it is possible to transform the traditional curriculum, improve student-teacher relationships, involve students in decision-making and enhance students’ self-esteem, satisfaction with school and ability to interact with each other and with adults. Some projects, however, led to increased workload and stress among teachers closely involved. General factors found to facilitate school change were: support of the principal and other senior staff, support from the system (eg., consultants), financial support, availability of people to act as project co-ordinators, support from project committees, and the availability of teachers on time release. Factors impeding school change were jealousy and resentment among non-participant teachers and staff turnover.     

Parental Involvement in Education: how do parents want to become involved?

Increased parental involvement in schooling is one of the central plans of government policy. The planned integrated schools in Northern Ireland provide direct evidence of high levels of parental participation in action. The experience of the schools suggests, that whilst parental involvement is relatively easy to generate during the initial stages of the setting up of a school it is much more difficult to sustain over the long term. There is also potential for difficulties to arise, both between groups of parents and between parents and staff, over the range of issues which parents wish to influence and the direction of that influence. Parents wish to participate in the running of the schools in many different ways and this leads to the development of the concept of levels of involvement’. Whilst quite large numbers of parents want a direct involvement in the education of their own children only a small number seek the type of wider commitment to policy development implicit in positions such as that of school governor.     

Working-class women study social science degrees: remembering enablers and detractors

In this article, we report on a feminist memory work project conducted with 11 working-class women in Australia. Participants responded to the question: what helps and hinders working-class women study social science degrees? The women confirmed that to succeed at university, they needed opportunities, resources, support and encouragement. We called these enablers and considered the role of ‘enlightened witnesses’ [Miller, 1997. The essential role of an enlightened witness in society. Retrieved from http://www.alice-miller.com/index_en.php?page=2]. Hindering the possibility of university success were detractors of many forms including inadequate resources and social conventions that discouraged the women from study. We describe saboteurs as undermining people and forces that the women had to overcome. We found that enlightened witnesses, broadly conceptualised, go some way but not all, to mitigating detractors and saboteurs that continue to hamper fair and meritocratic access to tertiary education.     

Assessment of the psychosocial environment of university science laboratory classrooms: a cross-national study

A strong tradition in educational research has involved several widely-used instruments assessing student or teacher perceptions of characteristics of actual or preferred classroom psychosocial environment. Existing instruments, however, are unsuitable for one of the most important settings in science teaching, namely, the science laboratory class. Consequently, the present research aimed to develop and validate a new instrument, the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), which is specifically suited to science laboratory environments at the higher education level. The SLEI assesses students' or teachers' perceptions of five dimensions of actual or preferred classroom environment, namely, Student Cohesiveness, Open-Endedness, Integration, Rule Clarity, and Material Environment. A distinctive feature of the design of the study was that the instrument was field tested and validated cross-nationally in six different countries, namely, the USA, Canada, Australia, England, Israel, and Nigeria. The total sample consisted of 1720 students in 71 university laboratory classes. Various item and factor analyses guided the evolution of a refined version, and attested to each SLEI scale's internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, factorial validity, predictive validity (i.e., ability to predict student outcomes), and ability to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classes. An important finding was that the SLEI is equally valid for use in its actual and preferred versions, and for the individual or the class mean as the unit of analysis. As well, separate within-country analyses confirmed the validity and usefulness of the SLEI in each of the six countries involved in the field testing. Overall, the study attested to the general advantages of employing cross-national designs in learning environment research.     

Culturally-Sensitive Factors in Teacher Trainees' Learning Environments

The aims of this research were to cross-validate the Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire (CLEQ) in the local context of Brunei and to evaluate culturally-sensitive factors (gender equity, collaboration, deference, competition, teacher authority, modelling and congruence) in teacher trainees' learning environments. Data were collected from 475 teacher trainees enrolled at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam by administering a slightly modified version of the CLEQ (Fisher & Waldrip, 1997). Factor and reliability analyses supported the instrument's suitability to evaluate six of the seven culturally-sensitive factors (excluding teacher authority) associated with the cultural learning environment of Bruneian teacher trainees. The students generally believed that both genders are treated equally and that they are independent learners, although, to some extent, they were reluctant to give their independent views in their classes. Further research is recommended for investigating the factors that contribute to the unusual finding that the students were equally cooperative and competitive. The data revealed no gender differences in trainee teachers' perceptions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Global citizenship and the importance of education in a globally integrated world

As national borders dissipate and technology allows different cultures and nationalities to communicate on a regular basis, more individuals are self-identifying as a global citizen. Using Social Network Analysis and multi-level modelling, this study explores factors associated with global citizen affinity and finds that education plays an important, perhaps the most important, role in individual’s affinity towards this self-identification. Results clearly indicate that more education, not national economic or social integration, is more closely associated with an individual’s positive identity as a global citizen. Additionally, the magnitude of the education effect is greater in more socially integrated societies.     

Physical and Psychosocial Environments Associated with Networked Classrooms

This article reports a study of the learning environments in computer networked classrooms. The study is unique in that it involved an evaluation of both the physical and psychosocial classroom environments in these computerised settings through the use of a combination of questionnaires and ergonomic evaluations. The study involved administering a student questionnaire designed to assess aspects of the psychosocial learning environment in these settings, and relating these factors to students satisfaction and to important aspects of the physical learning environment. The sample consisted of 1404 students in 81 classes in Australia and Canada. A questionnaire assessing five aspects of psychosocial environment exhibited good factorial validity and internal consistency reliability. When satisfaction was used as a dependent variable, classroom psychosocial environment (especially autonomy/independence and task orientation) was significantly and directly associated with students satisfaction with their learning. In contrast, no direct associations were found between student satisfaction and measures of the physical classroom environment, such as the workspace and visual environments. However statistically significant associations emerged between physical and psychosocial learning environment variables in classrooms using new information technologies. These associations suggest a model of educational productivity for learning environments in technology-rich classrooms. Qualitative case studies provided more detailed information about selected classrooms.     

Learning Environments Research in Asia: Editor's Introduction

A recent book entitled Studies in Educational Learning Environments: An International Perspective not only traces the remarkable expansion of the field of learning environments internationally, but it also provides a unique focus on the distinctive contributions made by Asian researchers. Asian researchers have translated and cross-validated questionnaires that originated in the West, and have used them in various lines of research. Gaps in Asian research on learning environments and desirable directions for future research are considered.