The student voice in well-being: a case study of participatory action research in positive education

Positive education blends academic learning and student well-being. Although research and application in positive education is growing, most has involved psychologists and educators applying strategies in schools, with little research that involves student voices in the development and implementation of a school’s positive education strategy. Assumptions are frequently made about what is best for student well-being, with little input from the students themselves. This paper describes a case study of participatory action research (PAR) carried out by students (N = 10) at a publically funded Australian school aiming to implement positive education. PAR is a form of collective inquiry undertaken by the people that the issue directly affects. The PAR group researched the school community regarding well-being during the school year. Mixed methods examined PAR student’s well-being, self-efficacy, autonomy, social and emotional assets, and other competencies before and after the process. Student involvement allowed the school to better understand their students’ well-being, and student-led communication about positive education laid the groundwork for its implementation. Results suggested benefits for the PAR students, particularly in engagement and self-efficacy. This realistically scaled study suggests that involving students using a framework of PAR is a promising, accessible, evidence-based, and developmentally beneficial approach to the implementation of positive education.     

Young Voter Perceptions of Political Satire as Persuasion: A Focus on Perceived Influence,Persuasive Intent,and Message Strength

This study focuses on the perceived effectiveness of political satire. A pair of experimental studies using original satirical works offer findings for audience perceptions regarding two types of satire, juvenalian and horatian, compared to traditional opinion-editorial argumentation. The two studies produced replicable findings that indicate clear perceptions of persuasive intent associated with both types of satire, and horatian satire ranking lower than traditional opinion-editorials in perceived message strength and perceived influence on self.     

Authority of the FCC over broadcast content: Memorandum of special counsel to national association of broadcasters

Global television programming fairs (MIP-TV, MIPCOM, NATPE) have received little attention from media scholars. Nevertheless, as this article demonstrates, these fairs serve a variety of crucial business and cultural functions in international television trade. Although they have come under fire recently from executives and industry observers alike, this article argues that such fairs are semi-permanent features of the international syndication industry. As such, they warrant more serious consideration by media scholars from numerous disciplinary backgrounds who hope to understand both the economic and cultural operations of television globalization.     

Black youth, identity, and ethics

This article examines stage models of racial identity that researchers and educators use to explain the subjective processes that influence how black youth navigate school. Despite the explicit challenge that most models of racial identity have posed to racist discourses in the research literature, the underlying ethics of their developmental trajectories is constrained by a politics of respectability that subverts a larger project of affirming black humanity. I use interview data to propose an alternative model for how black adolescent identity is formed. I conclude with a discussion of the importance of rethinking black adolescence in the context of changes in communication technologies associated with postindustrialism and globalization.     

Relationship between perceived and observed student-centred learning environments in Qatari elementary mathematics and science classrooms

Recently, Qatar established educational reform in charter (independent) schools focusing on curriculum standards, student-centred teaching, standards-based assessment, English as the language of instruction, and extensive professional development. A primary area of emphasis was the creation of student-centred mathematics and science classrooms characterised by inquiry and active student participation. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the learning environments of Qatari mathematics and science classrooms at two levels: in higher- and lower-performing Qatari schools implementing the recent Education for a New Era reform elements; and in classes of teachers who experienced professional development focused on student-centred teaching strategies and those who did not. Participants included teachers and students in 47 grade 3 and 4 mathematics and science classrooms. Classroom observations were conducted and student learning environment surveys were administered at the beginning and end of the semester. Results indicated low levels of student-centred instruction, despite significant improvement over time. Few differences by level of school performance or professional development participation existed. However, Personalisation emerged as a key learning environment variable related to teachers’ implementation of student-centred instruction.     

Stars

Whitney Stine's Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis (New York: Hawthorne, 1974---$12.95)

Elizabeth: The Life and Career of Elizabeth Taylor (New York: Doubleday, 1974---$10.00)

Marilyn Monroe, My Story (New York: Stein & Day, 1974---$5.95)

Raymond Strait's The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1974---$7.95)

Jack Hawkins' Anything for a Quiet Life: An Autobiography (New York: Stein and Day, 1974---$7.95)

Richard Schickel's Harold Lloyd: The Shape of Laughter (Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society, 1974---$14.50)

Roger Manvell's Chaplin (Boston: Little-Brown, 1974---$6.95)

John McCabe's The Comedy World of Stan Laurel (New York: Doubleday, 1974---$7.95)

Arthur Lennig's The Count: The Life and Films of Bela “Dracula” Lugosi (New York: Putnam, 1974---$10.00)

Donald F. Glut's The Dracula Book (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press)

David Dalton's James Dean: The Mutant King (New York: Straight Arrow Books, 1974---$9.95)

Ray Milland's Wide-Eyed in Babylon: An Autobiography (New York: Morrow, 1974---$7.95)

Warren G. Harris' Gable and Lombard (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974---$7.95)

Anthony Curtis (ed.) The Rise and Fall of the Matinee Idol: Past Dieties of Stage and Screen, Their Roles Their Magic, and Their Worshippers (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1974---$9.95)

Sol Chaneles and Albert Wolsky's The Movie Makers (Secaucus, N.J.: Derbibooks, 1974---$19.95)

John Kobal's 50 Super Stars (New York: Bounty Books/Crown, 1974---$9.95, paper)

John Springer and Jack Hamilton's They Had Faces Then: Super Stars, Stars and Starlets of the 1930s (New York: Citadel, 1974---$19.95)

James Robert Parish's Hollywood's Great Love Teams (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1974---$14.95)     

Faculty Collaboration to Improve Equity,Access, and Inclusion in Higher Education

This article documents the Critical Friends Group (CFG) process five university colleagues used to blend the theoretical frameworks of Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2002 Rose, D. and Meyer, A. 2002. Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  [Google Scholar]) and Interactive Phase Theory (McIntosh, 1990 McIntosh, P. 1990. Interactive phases of curricular and personal re-vision with regard to race, Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. (Paper # 219) [Google Scholar]) as tools to increase equity and access in our classrooms. Using the CFG reflective approach, the faculty collaboratively reviewed their syllabi and implemented innovations in their classroom practice. This article presents a theory of action that emerged as well as nine tensions related to teaching and participation in a learning community. Implications for equity and access in higher education and future inquiry are presented.