Why Go to a Counsellor? Attitudes to, and Knowledge of Counselling in Australia, 2002

Knowledge about, and attitudes to counselling and counsellors were surveyed in 226 participants representative of the general public in northern New South Wales and the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. As well as information about the training required, types of treatment offered, familiarity with a counselor, benefits and drawbacks of counselling, and issues of cost, professionalism and registration, participants were also asked whether they had sought, or would ever seek the assistance of a counselor, and what it was that counsellors did that could be of benefit to participants. Data indicated that the sample considered that counsellors' primary roles were listening, supporting, and helping to solve problems. About 80% of all participants thought there needed to be more counsellors, and 79% stated that they would be willing to pay for a counsellor's services. A series of questions asked participants to make some comparisons between counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers on issues such as: communicative ability, whether they would refer a friend in need, type of treatment offered, and what specific problems were best treated by each of the four professionals. Overall, counselors were most likely to be consulted for 13 of 20 presenting problems. Issues of professional training and recognition are discussed.     

Interpreting Reading Comprehension Test Results: Quantile Regression Shows that Explanatory Factors Can Vary with Performance Level

One of the most important findings to emerge from recent reading comprehension research is that there are large differences between tests in what they assess—specifically, the extent to which performance depends on word recognition versus listening comprehension skills. Because this research used ordinary least squares regression, it is not clear that the findings apply similarly to poor and good readers. The current study uses quantile regression to assess whether there might be differences within tests in the relative contributions of component skills as a function of performance level. There were 834 individuals (ages 8–18) who took 5 reading comprehension tests. Quantile regression showed that, for 3 of 5 tests, the contributions of word recognition and listening comprehension vary as a function of reading comprehension skill. These quantile differences hold across both younger and older readers. Our findings show that what skills a test assesses vary not only with the specific test used but also with how well the person performs.     

Enabling the Use of Research Evidence Within Educational Policymaking in Europe

Despite a political climate demanding evidence-informed decision making in education both within individual countries and at the international level, empirically grounded European research in this field is scarce. This paper reports on a European Commission-funded study that sought to identify and analyze different initiatives across Europe aimed at furthering research-informed policymaking in education, one of a number of comparative analyses in this emerging field. The nature and extent of activity in this area is outlined and an analytical framework is developed to assist understanding. Potential reasons for the observed variation among countries are discussed, along with some of the methodological and conceptual challenges involved in undertaking empirical work in this area. Practically, it is hoped that the results of the mapping exercise and the framework provide a platform for further empirical and conceptual research on research use, an area of study that until recently has been largely ignored by education researchers.     

Book selection and bookfund management at Imperial College Libraries

Book selection has been a rather neglected area of professional concern in recent years. This paper examines the experiences of the Imperial College (IC) Libraries, where there has been a review and reorganisation of book selection practices. The new system harnesses the subject expertise of both Departmental and Central Library staff. This article describes current selection practices at IC, highlighting the differences in approach to the selection of listed textbooks as compared to other monographs. There is also a consideration of the role of users in the selection process and of the use of current awareness tools. The increasing influence of electronic services is discussed.     

Differential Treatment of Whole Classes by a University Dance Teacher

abstract

The purpose of this case study was to examine whether a university dance teacher treated students in two dance classes differentially. Based on instructor feedback results, it was found that students were treated differentially. Students in the beginning jazz class received less instructive feedback than students in the beginning modern dance class. Data were collected through informal interviews and analysed following tenets of qualitative research. Themes which emerged from the interviews included the teacher's teaching philosophy, her style of teaching, her preference for one dance style over the other, her physical limitations, and the mixture of student abilities. It was suggested that this differential treatment was the result of the teacher viewing the two classes differently through her own lenses composed of her beliefs, curricular knowledge, values, movement preferences, and experiences as a student herseff. Findings from this study have relevance for teacher educators, dance teachers, and pre‐service teachers. The importance of personal teaching philosophy, teaching style, preference for a specific dance style, and specific movement preferences cannot be overlooked as factors affecting one's teaching. When these factors impact instructive feedback negatively then alternative measures must be considered to enhance the teaching‐learning environment.     

‘Native to native … we'll recapture our spirits’: The world indigenous nations games and north American indigenous games as cultural resistance

For centuries, colonizing governments have utilized cultural policies to eliminate Aboriginal culture, to make ‘citizens’ out of Native peoples in part by forcing them to relinquish language, cultural practices and traditions and have encouraged them to embrace mainstream values and cultural practices. In the Canadian context, sport has been utilized by the Canadian government as a civilizing agent to assimilate Aboriginal peoples. This paper analyses the history of this process in Canada and explains how Aboriginal leaders inverted this process to achieve self-determination through sport, in particular through the North American Indigenous Games and the World Indigenous Games. In this sense, we argue, sport has been historically contested terrain, wielded to disempower and to empower Aboriginal peoples.