The pedagogical benefits of enacting positive psychology practices through a student–faculty partnership approach to academic development

Academic development that supports the enactment of positive psychology practices through student–faculty pedagogical partnership can increase faculty confidence and capacity in their first year in a new institution. When student partners practice affirmation and encouragement of strengths-based growth, processes of faculty acclimation and self-authoring can be accelerated. This article presents a student–faculty pedagogical partnership program and positive psychology practices that focus on faculty strengths and capacities as the foundation for reinforcing and revising existing pedagogical strategies and for sustaining energy for continued development. It combines collaborative autoethnographic and comparative case study approaches to investigate the pedagogical benefits of these practices.     

Alternative conceptions in animal classification: A cross-age study

Employing a cross-age design, this study examined students' alternative conceptions in animal classification at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. Based on a previous study that made use of clinical interviews and a classification task, subjects (N = 468) were administered a multiple-choice/free-response instrument that probed understanding of the concept animal, the vertebrate/invertebrate distinction, and the principal vertebrate classes. Results suggest that students subscribe to a highly restricted view of animals; applying the label almost exclusively to vertebrates, especially to common mammals. When asked to distinguish between vertebrate and invertebrate animals and to classify several species into vertebrate groups, a wide range of alternative conceptions emerged. Cross-age comparisons indicate that many of these alternative views remain intact throughout the school years, while others yield more readily to formal instruction and/or nonschool experiences. Considered within the context of a neoconstructivist view of learning, several suggestions are offered for teaching concepts in animal classification.     

Tablet computers in Philippine public schools: school-level factors that influence technology management and use

Many developing countries are investing in large-scale initiatives to deploy information and communications technology in schools. However, merely equipping schools with hardware and software does not guarantee that the technology is used effectively to improve learning outcomes. This study aims to identify factors that influence the use of technology in schools in a developing-country context. It investigates this through a multiple-case study of the Australian AID tablet computer programme in the Philippines, in which 1000 tablets were given to nine public schools for student use. Focusing specifically on the impact at a whole-school level, the study revealed factors affecting outcomes that were specific to a developing-country context, as well as confirming the relevance of more general factors identified in the literature. The study also brings to light tablet-specific benefits and issues in this context. These results have implications for the effective school-level implementation of technology programmes in developing countries. Recommendations that proceed from these are presented for policy-makers and school administrators looking to use these devices in schools.     

Neoliberalism,imperialism and conservatism: tangled logics of educational inequality in the global South

ABSTRACT

Accounts of neoliberalism in education frequently evoke a universal trend, with insufficient attention to context, as well as routinely presenting the ‘pre-neoliberal’ as the ideal. This paper argues that studies of neoliberalism, concentrated in the global North, frequently ignore the distinctive forms and histories of neoliberalism in the global South, as well as its connections to other logics of power, which are illustrated using examples of schooling in Brazil. The differing weight of neoliberal politics and policies across geopolitical boundaries suggests caution in casting neoliberalism as a unique institutional setting for contemporary educational inequalities or attributing all educational conservatism to neoliberalism. A conceptual contribution is provided by proposing a multi-scalar approach to educational inequalities, in which educational sites, events and practices are considered in terms of nexus.     

Predicting parental involvement in children's schooling within an economically disadvantaged African American sample

Predictors of parental school involvement were examined within a sample of 159 economically disadvantaged, African American parents living in an urban setting. School involvement was defined in terms of parent activity within the school. Parent demographics, attitudes about education, and community engagement behaviors as well as parent perceptions of school receptivity to parental involvement were evaluated as predictors of school involvement. Predictors of school involvement were examined separately for parents of elementary school students and for parents of middle and high school students. Results indicated that school receptivity was the strongest predictor of parental school involvement within both groups of parents. In addition, parental educational aspirations for the child and community engagement behaviors were significant predictors for both groups of parents. Parent level of employment was a significant predictor of school involvement only for parents of middle/high school students. Implications for school psychologists based on the findings are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 101–111, 2005.     

A comparison of sentence-learning errors in children of different achievement levels

Theoretical analyses of the multiple-choice test format suggest that a test constructor should give serious consideration to the form in which correct and incorrect alternatives are presented. In this experiment, third and fourth graders were tested for previously exposed information by multiple-choice items in which: (a) correct alternatives were stated in either verbatim or synonym form; and (b) incorrect alternatives consisted of plausible responses that were either familiar or new. Comparisons of errors and error patterns were made between high and low achieving students who had been given one of two different information-processing strategies. Based on a dual test function argument, it was concluded that synonym correct alternatives combined with plausible new responses are the most desirable of the four multiple-choice variations studied here. In particular, such items were sensitive to achievement level and strategy differences without systematically increasing students' likelihood of retaining misinformation.     

Peer perceptions of students receiving pull-out services in elementary school: A multi-age study

This study examined the peer nominations of 213 children in Kindergarten (90), 3rd grade (58), and 5th grade (65) to examine their perceptions of peers who received pull-out services for unique needs. Using Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli’s[1982. “Dimensions and Types of Social Status: A Cross-age Perspective.” Developmental Psychology 18 (4): 557–570] protocol for assessing sociometric status in children, the results revealed that peer perceptions of most liked (ML) and least liked (LL) in the classroom were associated with pull-out status, with those students who did not receive pull-out services receiving more nominations as ML than their peers who did leave the classroom for pull-out services. Social impact scores for children who received pull-out services were not significantly different from those of children who did not receive pull-out services, but significant differences were revealed for social preference scores. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.     

Childcare Food Handling Employees’ Perceived Barriers and Motivators to Follow Food Safety Practices

Each year millions of children are enrolled in center-based childcare. Childcare employees are tasked with handling over half the children’s weekly meals. Proper food handling practices are crucial in mitigating this high-risk population’s risk of foodborne illness. The purpose of this study was to identify childcare food handling employees’ (n?=?278) perceived barriers and motivators to follow recommended food safety practices. Six important barriers and 14 key motivators to following recommended food safety practices were identified. Important barriers pertained to time restraints, workloads, and lack of understanding of the importance of following proper food safety practices. Key motivators were focused on children’s safety, available supplies, communication, and food safety training/information. Employee and facility characteristics were shown to influence perceived importance of barriers and motivators to following food safety practices. Childcare directors should review scheduling and job duties of employees as the majority of identified barriers focused on “work pace” and “time restraints.” Directors should also attempt to increase food safety communication through practical situational training, written food safety policies, and use of food safety signage to increase understanding of the importance of proper food safety practices. Ensuring proper supplies are available is necessary.     

Differential supervision and cognitive structure effects on empathy and counseling effectiveness

The present study investigated the effects of didactic and experiential supervision procedures on the judged counseling effectiveness of high and low cognitive complexity counselor trainees. Subjects in the two supervision groups (N=16) were trained in attending, questioning, and reflection of feeling over three sessions. Training consisted of exposure to videotaped counseling models, discussion of the model's behavior with the supervisor, videotaped role playing of therapy, and discussion of the therapy with the supervisor. Training was exactly the same for both groups except for supervision. A control group (N=8) did not receive any training. All subjects, including controls, were pre- and post-tested for counseling effectiveness as measured by judged tape ratings on the 25-item Counselor Effectiveness Scale and four scales designed to assess affective, exploratory, listening, and honest labeling responses.High complex subjects responsed more favorably to the didactic supervision significantly outperforming both the high complex controls and the low complex didactic subjects on four of the five dependent measures, whereas high and low complex subjects did not respond differentially to the experiential supervision. The results were discussed in terms of fitting the complexity of the students to the supervision approach in selecting students for counseling programs.This paper was presented at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Thessaloniki, Greece, April 1980, and was based partly on the senior author's doctoral disser tation (University of Maine, 1978).