The development of a perceived masculinity scale

This essay posits that masculinity can be usefully understood from a communication perspective, and it specifically defines masculinity as a social and symbolic construct. In this view, the meanings and associations attributed to masculinity are a product of the enduring images and characteristics people have ascribed and assigned to men in groups over time. Based upon a survey of contemporary published research regarding masculinity, it is concluded that masculinity is now a multidimensional construct which attributes ten traits to people viewed as masculine which are examined in terms of: (1) physiological energy; (2) physical characteristics; (3) gender‐related sociocultural roles; (4) idealized gender; (5) gender preferences; (6) subjective gender‐identity; (7) gender‐related age identity; (8) gender‐related racial and national identities; (9) lust; and, (10) male eroticism. Specific questionnaires used to measure these dimensions are reviewed, and based on the responses of 562 subjects, the reliability and validity of one of these questionnaires is examined in detail. The essay concludes by recommending the use of the Perceived Masculinity Questionnaire 47, and it outlines some of the uses that can be made of a Perceived Masculinity Scale, especially some potential classroom uses.     

Letters to the editor

This study examines editorial photography in nine major erotica magazines to determine how pictures vary as a function of the social class, gender and sexual preference of the intended readership. The analysis reveals that upwardly‐mobile, heterosexual men are treated to idealized images, whereas working‐class, heterosexual men are presented with more mundane yet highly‐sexualized images. Heterosexual women are provided with photographs of nude males in a low‐sexual context. Magazines for homosexual men present images, except for gender, very similar to those created for upwardly‐mobile, heterosexual men. These patterns are discussed from a functionalist perspective to show how erotica magazines contribute to social‐order maintenance.     

A rejoinder to Sarangapani and Winch

A statistical relationship between student affect and student achievement is routinely observed—students who like a particular subject also tend to do well in that subject. Theory suggests that the underlying causality is a mutual influence relationship in which affect influences, and is influenced by, achievement. Published analyses, however, usually assume a unidirectional influence—affect influences achievement. To the extent that the latter assumption is an over‐simplification, as theory suggests it is, then current understandings of the importance of affect for achievement are probably in error to some degree. The analyses reported here take a position consistent with theory to model the underlying causality of the relationship between affect and achievement as bidirectional. To this end, the present analyses formulate a non‐recursive structural equation model which specifies affect and achievement as influences on each other. This model is estimated separately for each of 23 nations, 19 of which are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). All 23 nations participated in the OECD‐sponsored Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a programme whose focus is national achievement levels in populations of 15‐year‐olds. The results of these analyses lend support to the proposition that affect and performance exist in a mutual influence relationship, though the nature of this relationship varies between countries.     

There are Children Here: Service Learning for Social Justice

In this article, The Social Justice Education in Schools (SJES) Project integrates field-based study and existing research to identify five key Principles of Social Justice Education in Schools. An outgrowth of the federally funded Massachusetts Coalition for Teacher Quality and Student Achievement, the SJES Project seeks to positively impact teacher preparation, student achievement, and social justice practice in urban environments. The authors ground their discussion in their partnership with Rodriguez Elementary School, and present specific points of inquiry to facilitate K-12 educators, administrators, and community members' critical reflection on their own school environments. By developing a concrete framework for Social Justice Education in Schools, the authors hope to encourage future empirical research explicitly linking Social Justice Education to student achievement.     

The Role of Set for Variability in Irregular Word Reading: Word and Child Predictors in Typically Developing Readers and Students At-Risk for Reading Disabilities

ABSTRACT

In a quasiregular orthography like English, children inevitably encounter irregular words during reading. Previous research suggests successful reading of an irregular word depends at least partially on a child’s ability to address the mismatch between decoded form and stored word pronunciation, referred to as a child’s set for variability, and the word’s relative transparency, measured here using a spelling to pronunciation transparency rating. Item-level analyses were used to explore the relationship between general child performance on the set for variability mispronunciation task, word specific set for variability (predicting reading of that word), spelling to pronunciation transparency rating, and irregular word reading. Significant predictors included general word reading, general set for variability performance, and item-specific set for variability performance; word frequency and spelling to pronunciation transparency rating; and an interaction between word reading and the transparency rating. Results underscore the importance of considering both general and item-specific factors affecting irregular word reading.     

Learning Visualization Strategies: A qualitative investigation

The following study investigates the range of strategies individuals develop to infer and interpret cross-sections of three-dimensional objects. We focus on the identification of mental representations and problem-solving processes made by 11 individuals with the goal of building training applications that integrate the strategies developed by the participants in our study. Our results suggest that although spatial transformation and perspective-taking techniques are useful for visualizing cross-section problems, these visual processes are augmented by analytical thinking. Further, our study shows that participants employ general analytic strategies for extended periods which evolve through practice into a set of progressively more expert strategies. Theoretical implications are discussed and five main findings are recommended for integration into the design of education software that facilitates visual learning and comprehension.     

A ‘whole-school/community development’ approach to preventing and countering bullying: the Erris Anti-Bullying Initiative (2009–2011)

This paper describes how a ‘whole-school/community development’ anti-bullying programme was designed, implemented and evaluated in an initiative in Erris, Co. Mayo, Ireland, involving local primary and post-primary schools and community groups. Students from seven participating schools (five primary, two post-primary) completed modified versions of the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire both prior to and following programme implementation. Thereafter, there were reductions in students' reports of involvement in bully/victim problems and increases in their reports of feelings about bullying and countering bullying that were consistent with an anti-bullying ethos. The sizes of these effects were modest, in some cases perhaps due to the significantly low incidence of students' involvement in bully/victim problems prior to the programme. This model is in continued use in Erris, and in its further development it is intended to seek out opportunities to implement and evaluate it in other locations.     

A RE‐EXAMINATION OF THE PAST: SOME ORIGINS OF THE “SECOND BEST” NOTION

A premise of the current criticism that community colleges are institutions that promote social tracking and inhibit social mobility was reviewed and analyzed. The relationship between the roles of the two‐year college and the research university as proposed by Harper and Lange was examined. The thesis that junior colleges emerged when universities supported their growth as feeder institutions was tested by the case history of the development of community colleges in Wyoming. Findings of this study were that: (a) the University's opposition did not halt the development of community colleges, (b) community colleges were comprehensive and community‐based from the outset in Wyoming, and (c) establishment of the transfer function was not predominant in the rationale for the community college movement. It was concluded that the stereotypic explanation of two‐year college development from transfer‐oriented “junior” colleges to comprehensive institutions may be incorrect, and that many two‐year colleges may have been comprehensive from inception.     

Multi‐sensory storytelling as an aid to assisting people with profound intellectual disabilities to cope with sensitive issues: a multiple research methods analysis of engagement and outcomes

The importance of storytelling in social, cultural and educational contexts is well established and documented. The extension of storytelling to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) has in recent years been undertaken with an emphasis on the value of sensory experience and the context storytelling provides for social interaction. The present study builds on earlier curriculum orientated research with a view to describe patterns of social and story‐oriented interaction during storytelling. The stories dealt with sensitive topics raised by family carers who wished the young person with PIMD to understand. Behavioural observation during storytelling sessions explored changes in engagement while semi‐structured interviews with parents and professionals explored the extent to which the experience had benefitted the young person with respect to the sensitive topic. Positive changes in engagement with the story were shown for seven of the eight participants. For six of the seven, a parent and a professional agreed that the outcome of the experience positively enabled the participant to cope better with the sensitive topic. The specific multi‐sensory storytelling factors leading to these outcomes are discussed, as is the issue of proxy reporting and determining the nature of understanding in people with PIMD.     

Urban teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of migrant children in the Chinese educational institution: a comparative study

Recently China has been undergoing an unprecedented urbanisation process which has resulted in millions of rural families living in urban areas. As part of a study of Chinese migrant children's educational experiences, surveys and interviews were conducted with primary school teachers in a metropolitan city in East China. The objectives of this study were to describe teachers’ perceptions of migrant children's education in both migrant schools and in public schools, and to investigate differences in their beliefs between school types. Results found that urban teachers’ perceptions of educational inclusion of migrant students were slightly negative in general. However, teachers in public schools showed significantly more positive attitudes to inclusion of migrant students than migrant school teachers. In the light of these findings, the paper concludes with implications for practice and policy for education of migrant children in China.