Violent video games and morality: a meta-ethical approach

This paper considers what it is about violent video games that leads one reasonably minded person to declare “That is immoral” while another denies it. Three interpretations of video game content are discussed: reductionist, narrow, and broad. It is argued that a broad interpretation is required for a moral objection to be justified. It is further argued that understanding the meaning of moral utterances—like “x is immoral”—is important to an understanding of why there is a lack of moral consensus when it comes to the content of violent video games. Constructive ecumenical expressivism is presented as a means of explaining what it is that we are doing when we make moral pronouncements and why, when it comes to video game content, differing moral attitudes abound. Constructive ecumenical expressivism is also presented as a means of illuminating what would be required for moral consensus to be achieved.     

Postevent cues bias recognition performance in pigeons

In the present study, we examined whether the presentation of postevent cues would bias recognition in a visual delayed matching-to-sample task with pigeons. Postevent cues were either consistent with the original target stimulus (i.e., they were the same as the correct choice option at recognition), inconsistent (i.e., they were the same as the incorrect recognition option), or neutral (i.e., they were different from both the correct and the incorrect recognition options). In Experiment 1, a single colored light served as the target stimulus. In Experiment 2, the target stimulus was one of three lights presented in a sequence. Both experiments demonstrated that recognition choices were biased toward the option corresponding to the postevent cue, but only if the cue occurred at the end of the delay interval. The present results mirror those found using the misinformation paradigm with human subjects.     

The Organisation of Parent Involvement

A model for the organisation of parent involvement in schools is proposed. The model addresses parents' needs and their strengths, in order to facilitate the development of school policy and plans for the participation of parents     

Enacting taboos as a means to an end; but what end? On the morality of motivations for child murder and paedophilia within gamespace

Video games are currently available which permit the virtual murder of children. No such games are presently available which permit virtual paedophilia. Does this disparity reflect a morally justifiable position? Focusing solely on different player motivations, I contrast two version of a fictitious game—one permitting the virtual murder of children, the other virtual paedophilia—in order to establish whether the selective prohibition of one activity over the other can be morally justified based on player motivation alone. I conclude that it cannot, for reasons discussed.     

Will UN Article 24 lead to the demise of special education or to its re‐affirmation?

Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) contains the first legal enshrinement of the right to inclusive education for people with disabilities. The UNCRPD maintains that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have a basic human right to be educated in mainstream schools. However, this does not take into account their moral right to receive the education most appropriate to their needs. Therefore, it is asserted by this review that fully implementing Article 24 may not be in the best interest of all children with SEND. Article 24 calls for all countries to implement a fully inclusive education system, thereby rendering special education provision obsolete. This review article provides a critique of this possibility, addressing the issues and practical implications involved.     

Inclusive special education: development of a new theory for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities

Inclusive education and special education are based on different philosophies and provide alternative views of education for children with special educational needs and disabilities. They are increasingly regarded as diametrically opposed in their approaches. This article presents a theory of inclusive special education that comprises a synthesis of the philosophy, values and practices of inclusive education with the interventions, strategies and procedures of special education. Development of inclusive special education aims to provide a vision and guidelines for policies, procedures and teaching strategies that will facilitate the provision of effective education for all children with special educational needs and disabilities.     

A meta-ethical approach to single-player gamespace: introducing constructive ecumenical expressivism as a means of explaining why moral consensus is not forthcoming

The morality of virtual representations and the enactment of prohibited activities within single-player gamespace (e.g., murder, rape, paedophilia) continues to be debated and, to date, a consensus is not forthcoming. Various moral arguments have been presented (e.g., virtue theory and utilitarianism) to support the moral prohibition of virtual enactments, but their applicability to gamespace is questioned. In this paper, I adopt a meta-ethical approach to moral utterances about virtual representations, and ask what it means when one declares that a virtual interaction ‘is morally wrong’. In response, I present constructive ecumenical expressivism to (i) explain what moral utterances should be taken to mean, (ii) argue that they mean the same when referring to virtual and non-virtual interactions and (iii), given (ii), explain why consensus with regard to virtual murder, rape and paedophilia is not forthcoming even though such consensus is readily found with regard to their non-virtual equivalents.     

A survey of parental involvement in middle schools in New Zealand

This article reports the results of a survey of parental involvement (PI) policy and practice in middle schools in a large New Zealand city. Principals at all 11 middle schools in the city were contacted and agreed to be interviewed. Interviews were conducted using a schedule that focuses on 11 aspects of PI: encouraging parents into school, policy formation, acting as a resource, collaborating with teachers, sharing information on children, channels of communication, liaison with school staff, parent education, parent support, involving diverse parents, and teacher professional development. Analysis of data from the interviews indicates that there are some common strengths and weaknesses with regard to PI in middle schools. There were also important differences between schools in the types of PI they engaged in as well as some clear gaps in provision. Implications for improving the practice of PI in middle schools and for further research are discussed.