Youth exposure to violence prevention programs in a national sample

This paper assesses how many children and youth have had exposure to programs aimed at preventing various kinds of violence perpetration and victimization. Based on a national sample of children 5–17, 65% had ever been exposed to a violence prevention program, 55% in the past year. Most respondents (71%) rated the programs as very or somewhat helpful. Younger children (5–9) who had been exposed to higher quality prevention programs had lower levels of peer victimization and perpetration. But the association did not apply to older youth or youth exposed to lower quality programs. Disclosure to authorities was also more common for children with higher quality program exposure who had experienced peer victimizations or conventional crime victimizations. The findings are consistent with possible benefits from violence prevention education programs. However, they also suggest that too few programs currently include efficacious components.     

Upset among youth in response to questions about exposure to violence,sexual assault and family maltreatment

To assess whether youth are upset by being asked questions about sensitive kinds of abuse, victimization, family maltreatment, and sexual victimization in the course of standard epidemiological surveys. A national sample of youth aged 10–17 were interviewed on the telephone by experienced interviewers as part of the National Survey of Children Exposed to Violence. At the end they were asked whether answering questions had upset them. Of the youth interviewed, 4.5% reported being at all upset and 0.8% reported being pretty or a lot upset. However, only a minority of those upset, .3% of the total sample, said they would not participate again had they known about the content. But even in this group, the regret about participation was mostly due to the length of the survey, not the types of questions being asked. Thus, asking about exposure to abuse and sensitive kinds of victimization in standard interview surveys is associated with low levels of respondent upset due to the nature of the questions.     

Mathematics and Science Learning Opportunities in Preschool Classrooms

Research Findings: The present study observed and coded instruction in 65 preschool classrooms to examine (a) overall amounts and (b) types of mathematics and science learning opportunities experienced by preschool children as well as (c) the extent to which these opportunities were associated with classroom and program characteristics. Results indicated that children were afforded an average of 24 and 26 min of mathematics and science learning opportunities, respectively, corresponding to spending approximately 25% of total instructional time in each domain. Considerable variability existed, however, in the amounts and types of mathematics and science opportunities provided to children in their classrooms; to some extent, this variability was associated with teachers' years of experience, teachers' levels of education, and the socioeconomic status of children served in the program. Practice or Policy: Although results suggest greater integration of mathematics and science in preschool classrooms than previously established, there was considerable diversity in the amounts and types of learning opportunities provided in the preschool classrooms. Affording mathematics and science experiences to all preschool children as outlined in professional and state standards may require additional professional development aimed at increasing preschool teachers' understanding and implementation of learning opportunities in these 2 domains in their classrooms.     

Teaching Theories of Victimology

While there has been significant growth in victimology theories since its roots in the mid twentieth century, these developments have not been adequately transferred to victimology textbooks. This paper evaluates the representation of theories in victimology textbooks using a content analysis approach. It specifically examines the amount of space dedicated to theory, what specific theories are discussed, and the way theories are integrated into the text. Although these texts provide a solid foundation in the historical development of victimology, measuring victimization, and to a lesser extent, the criminal justice response and remedies for victims, students are often not given a framework for which to understand and explain patterns and risk factors of victimization. In light of the paucity of attention to theories of victimology, suggestions for teaching theories of victimology in ways that supplement existing texts and implications for future textbooks are discussed.     

Intergenerational learning at a nature center: families using prior experiences and participation frameworks to understand raptors

Using a sociocultural framework to approach intergenerational learning, this inquiry examines learning processes used by families during visits to one nature center. Data were collected from videotaped observations of families participating in an environmental education program and a follow-up task to draw the habitat of raptors. Based on a thematic analysis, researchers developed two themes about the learning processes at play in the nature center, related to the use of prior knowledge. First, families’ prior knowledge used at the nature center came from informal education activities: (a) observation in the outdoors and spaces designed to represent an aspect of nature, (b) media (including books and Internet), and (c) experiences at informal education institutions. Second, when sharing prior knowledge, participation frameworks were created through the conversation that leveled the hierarchy between parent and child allowing for negotiation and collaborative idea formation. In the nature center, families valued social harmony by positioning their children as capable contributors of environmental knowledge. Suggestions to researchers taking a sociocultural approach are given, including the potential of ‘participation frameworks’ as an analytical tool to study learning interactions and as a potential tool for environmental educators to encourage families to create roles and structures for successful learning outcomes in nature centers.     

Going Down the Rabbit-hole: Teachers’ Engagements with ‘Dialectical Images’ in Canadian Children’s Literature on Social Justice

This article explores the attraction of Canadian elementary teachers to children’s stories that narrate trauma, particularly the trauma associated with First Nations peoples’ experiences in Canadian residential schools as told by Indigenous authors. The teachers’ responses to these texts are conceived of as occurring within a ‘contact zone,’ situated between dominant white culture (the culture shared by the teachers) and the historically marginalized cultures represented in the stories. An interpretative lens of critical nostalgia is developed, placing the question of contact zones within the context of memory studies, trauma studies, curriculum theory and critical pedagogies related to remembrance. The paper identifies the need for developing critical nostalgia as a productive form of pedagogical remembrance, drawing on Roger Simon’s adaptation to an educational context of Walter Benjamin’s notion of the dialectical image.     

Towards leadingful leadership literacies for higher education management

This paper locates ‘leadingful leadership literacies’ as a lens for considering changing contexts for leadership and work in higher education management. It makes a contribution to higher education leadership studies by offering an empirical account of expanded notions of leadership. These extend the field beyond those unwilling to critique managerialist knowledge claims. I will argue that not only managerialist practices per se are of concern as we face discontinuous change in the sector – changes which move well beyond rationalist truth claims – but that these remain largely unchallenged and have moved into spaces that should be (re)claimed by leadership.     

Examining the task and knowledge demands needed to teach with representations

Representations are often used in instruction to highlight key mathematical ideas and support student learning. Despite their centrality in scaffolding teaching and learning, most of our understanding about the tasks involved with using representations in instruction and the knowledge requirements imposed on teachers when using these aids is theoretical. In this study, we examine the task and knowledge demands for teaching integer operations with representations by analyzing teaching practice. Teaching integer operations is used as an intensity case, as integer operations are challenging for students, and teachers are often required to employ several representations to teach this topic. Following a practice-based approach while also taking prior literature into consideration, we first generate a list of tasks entailed in teaching with representations and then discuss the knowledge demands imposed on teachers to successfully undertake this work. We highlight these tasks and knowledge demands by analyzing and discussing an integer addition and an integer subtraction episode for each of two teachers, Bonita and Karen. Based on our analysis, we organize the generated knowledge components using the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching framework. We conclude by drawing implications for teacher educators and curriculum developers.     

Examining relational engagement across the transition to high schools in three US high schools reformed to improve relationship quality

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in students’ relational engagement across the transition to high school in three schools reformed to improve the quality of student–teacher relationships. In order to analyze this data we employed latent growth curve (LGC) modeling techniques (n = 637). We ran three LGC models on three indicators of relational engagement: perceived teacher press (Middleton and Midgley in Contemp Educat Psychol 27:373–391, 2002), perceived teacher support (Goodenow in Psychol Sch 30:79–90, 1993a), and perceived school belonging (Goodenow in J Early Adolesc 13, 21–43, 1993b). For each model we estimated the latent means of the observed variables, the intercept, and the slope. Our hypothesized model for each of the variables included estimates for the contribution of team status (no team, cross-team, pure teamed), total absences in 8th grade, race (white/non-white), gender, gifted status, and socio-economic status. Alternate models were run dropping non-significant exogenous variables from the model one at a time. In each case, the hypothesized models, including five exogenous predictors, evidenced poor fit. However, alternate models including fewer exogenous predictors evidenced better fit, allowed for the estimation of intercept differences and rate of change, and accounted for significant amounts of variance in relational engagement. Findings are situated within the context of school reform designed to improve relational engagement.     

Romantic relationships: an important context for HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention programmes with young people

Romantic relationships are central in the lives of young people. This paper uses data on romantic relationships from urban youth in the USA to illustrate how using a relationships perspective in HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention programmes broadens the skills and content covered, and contextualises the learning to enhance relevance and use. Self-report survey data were collected using electronic handheld devices for a school-based randomised trial. The survey sample includes 911 young people (mean age = 12.4 years) representative of their schools. Logistic regressions explored associations between selected sexual behaviours and relationship characteristics. For all participants, having more boy/girlfriends, dating alone, ever touching and ever having had oral sex were associated with an increased likelihood of having vaginal sex. Among young people with current partners, having a partner three or more years older, length of relationship and ever having oral sex were associated with an increased likelihood of having vaginal sex. The study data confirm the importance of accounting for relationships in sexual risk reduction programmes, and provide avenues for enhancing the relevancy of typical school-based prevention programmes.