Literacy skills in children with cochlear implants: the importance of early oral language and joint storybook reading

The goal of this study was to longitudinally examine relationships between early factors (child and mother) that may influence children's phonological awareness and reading skills 3 years later in a group of young children with cochlear implants (N = 16). Mothers and children were videotaped during two storybook interactions, and children's oral language skills were assessed using the "Reynell Developmental Language Scales, third edition." Three years later, phonological awareness, reading skills, and language skills were assessed using the "Phonological Awareness Test," the "Woodcock-Johnson-III Diagnostic Reading Battery," and the "Oral Written Language Scales." Variables included in the data analyses were child (age, age at implant, and language skills) and mother factors (facilitative language techniques) and children's phonological awareness and reading standard scores. Results indicate that children's early expressive oral language skills and mothers' use of a higher level facilitative language technique (open-ended question) during storybook reading, although related, each contributed uniquely to children's literacy skills. Individual analyses revealed that the children with expressive standard scores below 70 at Time 1 also performed below average (<85) on phonological awareness and total reading tasks 3 years later. Guidelines for professionals are provided to support literacy skills in young children with cochlear implants.     

To act and learn: a Bakhtinian exploration of action learning

This paper considers the work of the Russian social philosopher and cultural theorist, Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin as a source of understanding for those involved in action learning. Drawing upon data gathered over two years during the evaluation of 20 action learning sets in the north of England, we will seek to work with the ideas of Bakhtin to consider their value for those involved in action learning. We consider key Bakhtin features such as Making Meaning, Participative Thinking, Theoreticism and Presence, Others and Outsideness, Voices and Carnival to highlight how Bakhtin's can enhance our understanding of the nature of action and learning.     

Investigating Business Schools' Intentions About Offering E‐Commerce Education Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior*

This study investigates business schools' intentions about offering e‐commerce education (ECE) using an extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB). The need for an adequate match between future supply and demand of e‐commerce skills constitutes the main motivation for the study. The results show that most business schools consider ECE important for an adequate preparation of their students for today's competitive labor market. In addition, the proposed ETPB fits well the empirical data and predicts 65.2% of the variances in the schools' intentions about offering ECE. The results can help business schools in their curriculum decisions in at least two ways: (1) through the likely effect of social contagion and (2) through the constructs in the ETPB. First, institutional theory clearly indicates that organizations tend to adopt a new behavior when there is evidence that other organizations in their population have adopted or are likely to adopt that behavior. Having provided such evidence for ECE, this study is likely to promote the adoption of this educational product innovation. Second, the fact that the postulated ETPB fits well the empirical data suggests that administrators of business schools may pay attention to the key constructs when making curriculum decisions. Overall, the study has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it contributes to a growing literature on the adoption of innovative educational products like ECE. Practically, it provides valuable insights that administrators of business schools can use in their strategic curriculum decision making.     

The Decline in Adult Activities Among U.S. Adolescents, 1976–2016

The social and historical contexts may influence the speed of development. In seven large, nationally representative surveys of U.S. adolescents 1976–2016 (N = 8.44 million, ages 13–19), fewer adolescents in recent years engaged in adult activities such as having sex, dating, drinking alcohol, working for pay, going out without their parents, and driving, suggesting a slow life strategy. Adult activities were less common when median income, life expectancy, college enrollment, and age at first birth were higher and family size and pathogen prevalence were lower, consistent with life history theory. The trends are unlikely to be due to homework and extracurricular time, which stayed steady or declined, and may or may not be linked to increased Internet use.     

Leadership development in Higher Education: A literature review and implications for programme redesign

Leadership development (LD) activity and its effectiveness has not been explored rigorously across changing university settings globally. As Higher Education settings change radically throughout the world, Higher Education professionals are operating in more uncertain environments, and leaders are taking increasingly complex and diverse approaches to their leadership roles. LD activities therefore become important in supporting this highly complex context, yet little is known in the literature about LD and its impact in Higher Education. We examine peer‐reviewed work on LD in Higher Education settings globally to understand what may be learned about its content, processes, outcomes and impact. Our results suggest the current literature is small‐scale, fragmented and often theoretically weak, with many different and coexisting models, approaches and methods, and little consensus on what may be suitable and effective in the Higher Education context. We reflect on this state of play and develop a novel theoretical approach for designing LD activity in Higher Education institutions.