Mothers’ and Fathers’ Reports of Their Supportive Responses to Their Children’s Negative Emotions Over Time

Objective. Parents’ emotion socialization practices are thought to be moderately stable over time; however, a partner’s socialization practices could initiate change. Design. We examined mothers’ and fathers’ reports of their supportive responses to their children’s negative emotions when the target child was 7 years old and again at age 10. We tested a dyadic, longitudinal path model with 111 mother–father pairs. Results. Significant actor and partner effects emerged: Parents’ age 7 responses predicted their own age 10 responses and their partners’ later responses. Conclusions. Parents’ reported responses to children’s negative emotions during middle childhood are predicted by their own earlier responses and by their partners’ responses.     

Promoting greater understanding in peers of children who stammer

Children who stammer are often negatively stereotyped by other children and by teachers. They can also be easily identified as targets for teasing and bullying by peers. This may adversely affect their interaction levels in school and lower their self‐esteem. This article suggests an approach aimed at reducing the development of adverse attitudes and behaviours. It describes presentations about stammering given to 9–11‐year‐olds. It shows how these can increase children's understanding of this speech difficulty and alter their negative behaviour towards a child in their class who stammers. A case study is used to illustrate the benefits of such a presentation for one such child who stammers.     

Batman and Batwoman go to School: popular culture in the literacy curriculum

This case study is an investigation into the effects of the introduction of a theme from popular culture into a socio‐dramatic role play area, focusing on the effects on children's literacy activities. A Batman and Batwoman HQ was set up in a base containing two classes of 6‐ and 7‐year‐olds and a range of literacy materials was placed within it. Methods included participant observation, interviews, use of video camera and collection of statistics. The findings indicate that the incorporation of themes from popular culture into the curriculum can motivate children whose interests are usually excluded from the classroom.     

The North Carolina Child Care Corps: The role of National Service in Child Care

The purpose of the present study is to document the impact of training and ensuing experience on the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of AmeriCorps national service volunteers in child care classrooms. The North Carolina Child Care Corps (NCCCC) combined federal (AmeriCorps) and state (Smart Start) dollars in the state of North Carolina to improve existing teacher-child ratios by providing trained teachers for child care centers. Participants (Corps members) in the project received four weeks of intensive training in child development and early childhood education and were then assigned to child care classrooms in counties receiving Smart Start funding in five regions of the state. Corps members did not replace existing staff, but were added as assistant teachers above and beyond the mandated teacher-child ratios. Results from Year One of the project indicate that the NCCCC was successful in training Corps members in the areas of child development and early childhood appropriate practices. However, Corps members showed a decline in the appropriateness of their interactions with children after nine months of service in child care classrooms. Implications concerning the use of AmeriCorps volunteers to improve the quality of child care are discussed.     

'Classification' and 'Judgement': Social class and the 'cognitive structures' of choice of Higher Education

The issue of social-class-related patterns of access to Higher Education (HE) has become a matter of public debate in the UK recently, but is on the whole portrayed one-sidedly in terms of issues of selection (elitism), and the social dimensions of choice are neglected. Here, drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council research study, choice of HE is examined using Bourdieu's concepts of 'classification' and 'judgement'. HE is viewed in terms of its internal status differentiations. Students' positive and negative choices are addressed using qualitative and quantitative data, and the 'accuracy' of status perceptions are also tested. It is argued that choices are infused with class and ethnic meanings and that choice-making plays a crucial role in the reproduction of divisions and hierarchies in HE, but also that the very idea of choice assumes a kind of formal equality that obscures 'the effects of real inequality'. HE choices are embedded in different kinds of biographies and institutional habituses, and different 'opportunity structures'.