A Model of Client Impression Formation

A three-phase model of clients' impression formation in counseling and psychotherapy was articulated and put to initial empirical validation. The model describes the clients' impression-formation process, describes changes in client impressions as therapy progresses, and suggests the relevance of client impressions for therapy outcome. An attempt at empirical validation by using a clinical population lent some support to certain aspects of the proposed model.     

Towards Understanding of Social Capital and Citizenship Education

Social capital is often seen as an indicator of the effectiveness of a society. Societies that are healthy and functioning are also well stocked with social capital. However, social capital is not necessarily 'good'. In the disturbingly troubled times facing western democracies since 2001 the concept of social capital appears all the more relevant. Societies which are significantly divided, it may be argued, demonstrate less trust, civic engagement, positive networking and mutual cooperation among members. In turn this can negatively affect the quality of life of members. This argument is examined from the perspective of school programmes of citizenship education in democratic and newly democratic states. What constitutes divided societies is discussed in other articles within this issue, but the emphasis is upon severe divisions, invariably involving violence. Some of the comments in this paper are speculative and potentially contentious. Nevertheless it is important to raise these issues at this time, particularly for the benefit of emergent and newly formed democracies who may see education and social capital formation as the panacea for their future. We suggest there are many 'lessons' for divided societies wishing to enhance their social capital, including an increase in student years of schooling, designing citizenship education based on inclusive democratic citizenship, and engaging students in active participation to build trust, cooperation and networking skills.     

Effects of Contextual Constraints and Non-fixated Words in a Simple Reading Task

An experiment is reported which investigates the perceptual span available to skilled readers in a single fixation. After adult readers had listened to an incomplete sentence they were presented tachistoscopically with a word which they were to name aloud. Congruency between sentence and word facilitated naming, but the presence of an unattended word in the right visual field confounded this relationship. If the unattended word was also congruent, then the naming response was further facilitated, but a congruent unattended word interfered with the naming of an incongruent attended word. This relationship did not hold for unattended words which were presented in the left visual field, and which did not appear to have been processed for meaning. An effect of an unattended word upon the naming of a fixated word suggests that skilled readers recognize the meanings of more words than are fixated. Skilled readers may use the meanings of words ahead of fixation to enrich their interpretation of the text, or use those words more simply as markers to guide future eye-movements to the location of the next useful fixation.     

Trends in Gerontological Counselor Preparation

This study identifies current trends in preparation of counselors to work with older persons, including specialty course work in gerontological counseling and the extent to which gerontological counseling content and issues are incorporated into existing required and elective counselor preparation courses. Recommendations for increasing such content in existing courses, rather than the introduction of new specialty courses, are presented.     

Intercultural-bilingual Education for an Interethnic-plurilingual Society? The Case of Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast

This paper aims to contribute to an emerging literature which treats multilingualism as more than, and distinct from, 'bilingualism plus'. It considers some paradoxes and tensions which arise when current Latin American models of 'intercultural-bilingual' education are applied to plurilingual and interethnic regions, such as Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast region. Here, three indigenous and two Afro-Caribbean minorities interact in common or overlapping territories, in ways which often entail the development of multilingual repertoires and dynamic, multifaceted identities. The paper focuses on intercultural-bilingual education programmes initiated in 1985, in two indigenous languages and in English/English-Creole, each with Spanish. It explores some complexities of Coast people's linguistic and cultural practices through autobiographical accounts, by workers in the programmes, of the development of their multilingual repertoires and allegiances. Finally, it suggests that the programmes' efficacy for the maintenance and revitalisation of cultures and languages and for the development of 'interculturality' is limited by their binary conception and design (vernacular+dominant language), and offers some pointers for further research towards their modification.     

Competencies,Credentialing, and Standards for Gerontological Counselors: Implications for Counselor Education

Nationally endorsed competencies, a certification process, and standards for specialty training in gerontological counseling have been developed and approved. Implementation of the gerontological counseling specialty in counselor education is considered.     

PROGRAMS OF STUDY AS A BASIS FOR SELECTION, PLACEMENT AND GUIDANCE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

Studies of collegiate success and attrition are generally conducted at the all-college level. The definition of academic programs that are homogeneous in the abilities and interests of their students and the grading standards of their faculties may lead to more accurate prediction of success and more effective control of attrition.
Homogeneous curricular groups were defined via Ward's hierarchical grouping analysis applied to curricular means on high school percentile rank, four ACT subscores, first semester GPA, and 16 Kuder scores. Programs so defined differed on scientific-verbal and competitive level dimensions. Prediction of grades was more accurate within programs than colleges. Drop and transfer rates were correlated with discriminant scores.
The programs are discussed as promising units within which differential selection and placement strategies might reduce attrition.     

The Use of Research to Improve Professional Practice: a systematic review of the literature

In a keynote address to the Teacher Training Agency Annual Conference, Professor David Hargreaves suggested that teaching could become an evidence-based profession if educational researchers were made more accountable to teachers. This systematic literature review set out to explore: how teachers use research; which features of research encourage teachers to use research findings in their own practice; whether medical practitioners make greater use of research findings than teachers; and approaches to dissemination. Two key ideas emerge from this review. First, there appear to be common barriers to research use in both medicine and in education. Findings suggest that there is a need to create a culture in the public sector which supports and values research. There are, however, a number of factors, which appear to be more specific to the education field. Key differences in the way that research knowledge is constructed in the social sciences has led to researchers being challenged about their findings, particularly in relation to the context, generalisability and validity of the research. For these reasons the development of communication networks, links between researchers and practitioners, and greater involvement of practitioners in the research process, have emerged as strategies for improving research impact.