Newspapers in Education and Children's Writing

Emphasis upon authenticity in children's writing leads us to consider the possibilities in engaging children in producing authentic texts such as newspapers. In this article David Wray and Jane Medwell discuss their research into the effects of three approaches to this newspaper production, one of which involved the collaboration of a teacher with a worker from the Newspapers in Education scheme. The very positive outcomes of this partnership are stressed.     

Suicide Prevention Program on a Diverse College Campus: Examining the Effectiveness of a Peer-to-Peer Model

With the high prevalence of college students experiencing psychological distress, it is becoming increasingly important to provide prevention and early intervention programs in addition to traditional psychological counseling services. This study examined the effectiveness of a suicide prevention program led by peer educators/trainers on a diverse college campus. Twenty-five suicide prevention workshops were conducted with 479 attendees. Preworkshop and postworkshop assessments revealed significant improvements in participants’ knowledge of suicide and resources. Recommendations for campus-wide suicide prevention efforts using diverse peer educators that reflect the students’ demographic and cultural background, recruitment strategies, and utilization of outreach programming in suicide prevention.     

Two worlds,one site: leading practices and transitions to school

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an account of a cross-sectorial study investigating whether shared understandings of practices might enhance continuity during transitions to school. Applying an ontological lens to cross-sectorial leading practices, the paper sheds light on the contextualised realities of transitions to school as a site specific lived experience. The paper begins with an overview of the ways transitions to school practices are understood, including emerging perspectives of transitions as continuity practices. Then, cross-sectorial concepts of leadership and leading are presented to highlight fundamental differences in the ways these practices are enacted across the sectors. The paper presents empirical evidence of the ways leading practices can work to establish shared understandings of transitions to school practices and policies. Given ‘little research has been done on the direct effects of leadership on transitions’ (OECD. [2017]. Starting Strong V: Transitions from Early Childhood Education and Care to Primary School. Paris: OECD Publications, 95) the paper contributes to emerging discourses that construct transitions to school as continuities.     

Publication by men and women with same-sex and cross-sex PhD supervision

The rates at which men and women published during and after PhD training in psychology were compared for samples experiencing same-sex and cross-sex supervision. When allowance was made for the research productivity and impact of the supervisor, women supervised by women published at similar rates to women supervised by men. Similarly, men supervised by men did not publish on average more often than men supervised by women. Further, there was no difference in mean publication rate between men and women who had completed their PhD degrees in the same university under supervision of the same advisor. Although the analyses provides no evidence that publication is more frequent following same-sex than cross-sex supervision, the possibility that supervision by an advisor of the same sex advantages graduates in other ways needs to be assessed.     

Moving Beyond the Lecture: Inspiring Social Justice Engagement through Counter-Story Using Case Study Pedagogy

Abstract

The paper examines participant perceptions of the effectiveness of using case studies with college students (undergraduate – doctoral) to teach social justice and educational equity. Findings indicate that participants who identified with the characters in the cases were able to draw connections between the case and their own personal experiences. They felt the cases broadened their understanding of the topics and increased their sense of empathy and their commitment to principles of social justice.     

The family as a developmental system: Impact on the career development of individuals with disabilities

Conclusions The current high rates of unemployment and underemployment of individuals with disabilities is evidence that traditional approaches to career development and transitions planning have not adequately met the needs of persons with disabilities. An individual's family and significant others have been recognized as having major impact on career development, although the ongoing dynamics of family influence on career development are not fully understood (Lopez & Andres, 1987). Currently, there is a lack of a conceptual framework to guide professionals in developing programs to utilize the family as a resource in the career development of individuals with disabilities. The developmental approach, as discussed in this article, is a sound basis for developing intervention strategies designed to assist the family and the individual to promote the career development of persons with disabilities.     

Gender,National Identity and the Royal (Argyll) Commission of Inquiry into Scottish Education (1864–1867)

Concern over the state of education in Scotland saw the Argyll Commission set up in 1864. Its reports revealed differences in the experience of schooling throughout Scotland as well as resistance to Anglicisation. Nevertheless, the influence of English attitudes is reflected throughout the reports. So too are the themes of social control and the interaction of class, gender and nationality. The Commission was not primarily concerned with gender issues, but it insisted that the ‘democratic’ tradition, which favoured the talented poor boy, should be safeguarded, while it was clear that the position of women in Scottish education would be profoundly affected by its outcome. The hope was that increased employment of schoolmistresses would not result in loss of the schoolmaster’s professional status. Rather, the former were to be enlisted in defence of the national education tradition against the encroachment of inferior English policies.     

Putting Making into High School Computer Science Classrooms: Promoting Equity in Teaching and Learning with Electronic Textiles in Exploring Computer Science

Recent discussions of making have focused on developing out-of-school makerspaces and activities to provide more equitable and enriching learning opportunities for youth. Yet school classrooms present a unique opportunity to help broaden access, diversify representation, and deepen participation in making. In turning to classrooms, we want to understand the crucial practices that teachers employ in broadening and deepening access to making. In this article, we investigate two high school teachers' approaches in implementing a novel eight-week, electronic textiles unit within the Exploring Computer Science curriculum, where students designed wearable electronic textile projects with microcontrollers, sensors, and LEDs. We share teachers' emergent practices in transforming their classrooms into makerspaces, including valuing student expertise and promoting connections in personalized work. We discuss the ways these practices succeeded in broadening access to making while deepening participation in computing and establishing home-school connections.     

Black Grandmothers in Multigenerational Households: Diversity in Family Structure and Parenting Involvement in the Woodlawn Community

We report here the frequency of black grandmothers' coresidence in households with first-grade children, their patterns of involvement in parenting, and the degree to which family structure and employment affected the grandmothers' parenting involvement in a 1966/1967 community-defined population. Coresidence between grandmothers and their target first-grade grandchildren was found in 10% of the households. The 130 grandmothers' parenting involvement was substantial, second only to mother involvement, and was characterized by 2 parenting activity patterns: control and punishment, and support and punishment. The degree of grandmothers' parenting involvement differed by family structure, with grandmothers in mother-absent homes most likely to be involved. Grandmothers' employment did not moderate their engagement in parenting behaviors. These findings are consistent with previous reports of significant parenting involvement by black extended family members.     

Researching undergraduate social science research

The experience(s) of undergraduate research students in the social sciences is under-represented in the literature in comparison to the natural sciences or science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The strength of STEM undergraduate research learning environments is understood to be related to an apprenticeship-mode of learning supported by more experienced (post-graduate) peers, often through ongoing research projects. Studies of undergraduate research reveal that this is not typical in the social sciences, and students report facing specific challenges to the development of their identities as researchers that include fear, intellectual confusion and emotional unsettlement. This paper examines how a social science learning environment, designed as a research study itself, fostered beginning researchers communities of practice, realised a distinct mode of apprenticing based on peers’ similarly peripheral community membership, and enabled students to reframe emotional unsettlement. It argues that, effectively mediated, talk can powerfully improve undergraduate social science research students’ experiences.