Reflections on a post September 11 student‐led project: Teaching strategies that foster tolerance and emotional coping

Abstract

Sixteen preservice teachers participated in a service‐learning project to build tolerance in the community as a result of their desire to do something or to make a difference after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Student reflection papers revealed an increase in student tolerance and feelings of competence after participating in the project. Student‐led project work enabled students to direct their own learning, reflect on feelings about terrorism and tolerance, participate in collaborative relationships and make a contribution to campus and community life. Advocacy and mentoring are discussed as key teaching strategies for replicating project outcomes. © 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.     

Some problems in interracial communication: An interracial group case study

An interracial group case study has revealed that sensitization, lack of shared experience, stereotyping, racial intragroup pressures, and variables in physical environment all contribute in varying degrees to the problems arising in interracial interaction.     

Looking for love in all the wrong places: Accessing sexual and reproductive health information via the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature

The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature has been described as a cultural barometer. It supports scholars of history and culture by providing access to ideas circulated via the mass media in earlier times, but its own coverage and indexing practices also reveal attitudes and values toward issues of the time. The Progressive Era (1900–1924) coincides with the founding and growth of the Readers' Guide. Examining how the Readers' Guide directed readers' attention to matters of sexual and reproductive health in its first quarter century demonstrates changes in social attitudes and has implications for scholarly work. The array of index terms required to locate information on this topic indicates both barriers to information access for contemporary readers as well as challenges for present-day scholars concerned with recovering information of the era.     

Social and emotional problems associated with integration in the Israeli junior high school

Teachers and pupils in 28 integrated junior high schools in Israel were interviewed and observed to determine the kinds of social and emotional problems encountered in integrated schools. Though these schools are mandated to achieve both academic and social goals, academic aspects of schooling are inordinately stressed while the social goal is neglected. This strategy has major implications for teaching methods, curriculum, tracking, extra-curricular activities and staff morale. Furthermore, while bright, achieving disadvantaged pupils tend to gain socially and emotionally from this strategy, most disadvantaged children sustain significant losses in the social and emotional spheres and meaningful ethnic integration in the school is not achieved. It is recommended that the school invest greater resources in enhancing pupils' social and emotional development and that there be a dual emphasis in integrated schools on academic and personal development. Implementation of this recommendation requires retraining teachers to provide them with concrete skills in both areas that can be applied in the heterogeneous class.     

Imagery use in elite youth sport participants: reinforcing the applied significance of achievement goal theory

This study examined the motivational profiles of elite youth athletes to determine whether individual differences in goal orientation corresponded with differential levels of imagery use. Two hundred ninety male (n = 88) and female (n = 202) young athletes (M = 16.6 years, SD = 1.48) completed the Perceptions of Success Questionnaire (POSQ, Roberts, Treasure, & Balague, 1998) to assess dispositional goal orientations and the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblas, 1998) to assess frequency and function of imagery use. A two-stage cluster analysis on the POSQ scores revealed a three-cluster solution with a multivariate analysis of variance indicating significant differences among cluster groups in imagery use. Athletes in Cluster 3 (higher task/higher ego) used significantly more imagery, regardless of the function than athletes in Cluster 1 (lower task/moderate ego) or Cluster 2 (moderate task/lower ego). These findings are discussed with reference to the role of achievement motivation in influencing young athletes' behavioral investments in mental strategies.