Life satisfaction in children and youth: Empirical foundations and implications for school psychologists

A central component of positive psychology is subjective well‐being (SWB). One facet of SWB receiving increased research attention is children's perceived quality of life (PQOL). Existing research related to child and youth PQOL is reviewed, followed by a discussion of the implications of the research for school psychology practice. Research with children and adolescents reveals that PQOL has a wide ranging nomological network including personality, environmental, and activity variables. Furthermore, PQOL appears to mediate relationships between the environmental experiences of youth and problem behavior. Implications are discussed within the context of calls for greater attention by school psychologists to prevention, non‐traditional assessment, direct service, consultation with teachers and parents, diversity issues, and the science‐practice connection. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 81–93, 2004.     

Digital play: a new classification

Abstract

This paper draws on an ESRC-funded study of play and creativity in preschool-aged children’s use of apps in the UK. The main objectives of the study were to collect information about access to and use of apps in the home, establish the most popular apps and identify the features of those apps that are successful in promoting play and creativity. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data, including video filming of children using the most popular apps. In identifying play types that emerged in the analysis of data, the team utilised an established taxonomy, which outlines sixteen play types. This taxonomy was reviewed and adapted to analyse data from the project relating to digital play. Through this process, an additional type of play, transgressive play, was identified and added to the taxonomy. The paper outlines the implications of the revised taxonomy for future studies of play.     

Education and schooling

An analysis of the concept of education has been thought necessary by philosophers of education in the past in order to provide a measuring stick against which the genuineness and quality of purportedly educational activities and educated people could be gauged. R.S. Peters and John Wilson have both offered new analysis of education and it is here argued that each fails: Peters' because it will allow too much to count as educational and Wilson's because it will permit too little. The author's position is that the concept of education is too vague to admit of precise characterization, hence further analysis is futile. In its place is offered an analysis of the concept ofschooling. Schooling is less vague and can be divided intotypes of schooling each of which provides criteria for establishing the genuineness and quality of educational activities and educated people.

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Zusammenfassung In der Vergangenheit wurde eine Analyse des Erziehungsbegriffs von Erziehungsphilosophen für nötig gehalten, um einen Maßstab zu schaffen, anhand dessen Echtheit und Güte von beabsichtigten erzieherischen Aktivitäten und der Ausgebildeten abgelesen werden könnte. R.S. Peters und John Wilson haben beide eine neue Erziehungsanalyse vorgeschlagen, und der Autor legt dar, daß eine wie die andere fehlschlagen: Peters Analyse, weil sie erlaube, zu viel zum Erzieherischen zu zählen und Wilsons, weil sie zu wenig gestatte. Der Autor meint, daß der Erziehungsbegriff viel zu ungenau ist, um abgrenzende Beschreibung zuzulassen, und daher weitere Analyse vergeblich ist. Stattdessen wird eine Analyse des BegriffsSchulung vorgeschlagen. Schulung ist weniger ungenau und kann in zwei Schulungstypen unterteilt werden, welche beide Kritieren liefern, zur Feststellung von Echtheit und Güte der erzieherischen Aktivitäten und der Ausgebildeten.

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Résumé On pensait autrefois que l'analyse du concept de l'éducation présentée par les philosophes de l'éducation était nécessaire à l'élaboration d'une échelle de mesure d'après laquelle on pouvait apprécier l'authenticité et la qualité des activités pédagogiques visées et des personnes instruites. R.S. Peters et John Wilson ont présenté l'un et l'autre une nouvelle analyse de l'éducation et l'on démontre dans cet article que les deux échouent: celle de Peters parce qu'elle prend trop en considération l'aspect pédagogique, celle de Wilson pas assez au contraire. L'auteur pense que le concept de l'éducation est trop vague pour permettre une définition précise, ce qui rend tout autre analyse futile. On offre donc à la place une analyse du concept de l'instruction. L'instruction est moins indéfinie et peut être divisée entypes d'instruction, chacun pouvant fournir les critères de détermination de l'authenticité et de la qualité des activités pédagogiques et des personnes instruites.

     

‘The State is Me.’ My Role as a Conservator: Do Conservators Have Power Within the Cultural Structure?

ABSTRACT

Preventive conservation plans must include the collaboration of all the different departments within an institution to be able to diagnose the situation, provide proper maintenance, and allocate a budget. Preventive conservation entails understanding the collection’s needs, organizational culture, institutional priorities, and risk factors. Beyond the intervention of objects, the conservator is the creator of guidelines and the implementer of solutions. In this paper, need-based approaches are provided showcasing how tailor-built preventive conservation plans became merged into the backbone of everyday activities. In the Louis C. Morton Auction House in Mexico City, diagnosis tools were adapted, redefining conservation terms within a business-oriented model to guarantee success. In the National Museum of Art in Mexico, the sustainable preservation plan categorized actions within their realization capability. Tasks were allocated to different departments and suppliers; outsourcing, not the responsibility, but the commitment of continuity with service providers via contracts. At the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the complex conservation projects have focused on high standard continuity. Motivating people to participate in the steady innovation, an encyclopaedic museum must have not only to conserve its collections, but also to serve as an international example.     

Feeling Bad About Feel-Good Ads: The Emotional and Body-Image Ramifications of Body-Positive Media

In recent years beauty companies have produced advertising campaigns purporting to make women feel better about their bodies and reverse the damage of thin-ideal media (e.g., The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty). Despite being celebrated in the popular press for the effort, little is known about how effective these advertisements are at healing issues of poor body image. In addition, little work has been done to explore the relationship between discrete emotions and body image. The present study was an experiment aimed at capturing the different discrete emotions experienced in a body-positive advertisement compared to traditional beauty ad. Findings assert that participants reported experiencing positive (e.g., elevation and hope) and negative (e.g., guilt and pride) discrete emotions significantly more than their counterparts in the traditional beauty ad condition. Results also show no significant difference in postexposure thin-ideal internalization between the two conditions.     

Effects of Immersive,Sexually Objectifying,and Violent Video Games on Hostile Sexism in Males

Research suggests that media images depicting aggression against sexually objectified women may promote hostile sexism in men. We empirically tested if such effects might occur when men commit simulated acts of aggression against sexualized female opponents in video games, and if such effects might be heightened by psychological immersion (i.e,. the sensation of “presence” while gaming). In two studies, male participants played a first-person-shooter game, with the sex and sexualization of opponents experimentally manipulated. Results indicated that game play increased hostile sexism, to the extent that players reported feeling present in the virtual environment and provided that opponents were depicted as sexualized females, not males or nonsexualized females. No effects on benevolent sexism were observed. These results suggest that the increasingly immersive nature of modern video games might amplify their influence on players, including effects that promote hostility and aggression towards women.