Collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations in Senegal: lessons learned

This study identifies lessons learned from a collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organisations in Senegal established in the context of an SRHR programme for young people. We assessed how helpline operators are equipped to address sexual health and rights issues with young people, what the relevant skills of operators are, and to what extent referral to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service providers took place. A documentary review, a vignette study and interviews with six key informants and all seven operators took place. The collaboration led to promising initiatives, such as the provision of SRH training, the exchange of staff, referral to SRH service providers. However, the counselling advice provided by operators was not always in line with the rights-based approach and responses were influenced by underlying norms concerning young people’s sexuality. Additionally, concerns about confidentiality were noted. The collaboration was an innovative attempt to respond to young people’s limited access to SRHR information and services but there is a need for more in-depth training of helpline operator’s skills and the development of a standardised rights-based counselling manual.     

The Relationships Among Perfectionism,Acculturation, and Stress in Asian International Students

This study examined relationships among perfectionism, acculturation, and stress in 76 Asian international students. Results showed that perfectionism and acculturation predicted stress, together accounting for 50% of the variance in stress. Furthermore, acculturation explained students' experience of stress above and beyond perfectionism, and 1 specific acculturation variable examined, perceived prejudice, revealed the strongest relationship with stress. Implications for providing counseling services to international students and for future research are described.     

Brands and Branding in Media Management—Toward a Research Agenda

This article provides a systematic overview and conceptual analysis of existing research on brands and branding in the literature on media management. The aim is to advance knowledge in the field by mapping out the different ways in which brands are understood and conceptualized in the literature. In doing so, the article identifies overlooked research areas and works toward a research agenda for future scholarly research on the topic. Overall, it is argued that the further development of the area calls for a more systematic theoretical analysis of the nature of media brands and the specific features and complexities of the media field as a strategic business environment where brands are built and managed. The development of the research area would seem to be crucial not only for scholarly reasons, but also because strong brands seem to be gaining strategic value and importance in today’s changing and highly competitive media markets.     

Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teaching: ‘Punish[ing] Those Who Fail To Do Their Gender Right’

Higher Education - A significant body of work problematises the assumption that student evaluations of teaching (SET) actually measure teaching quality. This is concerning, given that SET are...     

‘Role stretch’: assessing the blurring of teaching and non‐teaching in the classroom assistant role in Scotland

With the increasing number of teaching and classroom assistants across the UK there is now much debate about what their role should be. In particular concerns have arisen about the extent to which they overstep the boundary from supporting teaching and learning into teaching pupils. This study assesses this issue within Scotland. It draws on a national survey of 2000 head teachers, teachers and classroom assistants and interviews with directors of education in nearly half of all Scottish local authorities. Findings from the research suggest a small number of classroom assistants in Scotland are overstepping the boundary into teaching. The paper concludes with an explanation as to why this is happening taking into account aspects such as local authority policy, school size and the individual characteristics of the classroom assistants.     

Modi der Besonderung als Distinktionspraxen im Elementarbereich

As a new phenomenon in German ECEC, commercial high-cost childcare centers are subject of controversial debates. The expansion of this type of early care provision raises concerns about the possible reinforcement of social inequalities in early childhood. However, mechanisms of distinction within these institutions cannot be matched to such criteria as type of organization or features of the facilities. In this paper we argue that the interactions between professionals and parents have to be focused as crucial sites of the production of distinction. Using data from an ongoing qualitative research project we elaborate on three modes of interactive production of particularization. Based on these findings, we show that a reconstruction of the unique organizational cultures is indispensable to address questions of new vertical differentiations within the field of ECEC institutions.     

Impact of the Friendly Schools whole-school intervention on transition to secondary school and adolescent bullying behaviour

Peer bullying increases in times of school transition, influenced by changing peer and friendship groups, new schooling environments and greater stress. Covert forms of bullying, including cyberbullying, become more common in secondary school and cause considerable distress and long-term harm. The period of transition to secondary school is therefore a critical window for intervening to manage and prevent bullying. A three-year cluster randomised control trial was conducted to develop, implement and evaluate the Friendly Schools Project intervention which aimed to reduce bullying and aggression among more than 3,000 students who had recently transitioned to secondary school. Intervention schools were provided with individualised training and resources to support students’ transition and reduce bullying using a multi-level comprehensive intervention addressing classroom curriculum, school policies and procedures, the social and physical environment, pastoral care approaches and school-home-community links. Although the observed effect sizes were small, the intervention had a consistently significant positive effect across a range of outcomes, including bullying perpetration, victimisation, depression, anxiety, stress, feelings of loneliness and perceptions of school safety at the end of the students’ first year in secondary school. However, none of these differences were sustained into the students’ second year of secondary school. These findings demonstrate the immediate value of whole-school interventions to reduce bullying behaviour and associated harms among students who have recently transitioned to secondary school, as well as the need to provide strategies that continue to support students as they progress through school, to sustain these effects.     

Time well spent? Temporal dimensions of study abroad and implications for student experiences and outcomes under the UK Turing Scheme

This paper reflects on the importance of ‘time spent’ in understanding the international student experience. Short-term mobility programmes (involving stays of between 1 week and 2 months) attracting less privileged students, such as the relatively new Turing Scheme in the United Kingdom, have been hailed as a potential ‘solution’ to the fact that, traditionally, wealthier individuals have been far more likely to engage in study abroad. However, we do not yet know how short-term and longer duration programmes compare in terms of the value they confer to students (in relation to their experiences and outcomes). How likely is it that short-term mobility at undergraduate level is as valuable, according to different measures, as mobility lasting 6 months to several years (as with degree mobility)? This paper reviews some of the evidence to date on shorter duration mobility, addressing how value in international study is constructed and conferred and how this relates to ‘time spent’. The paper concludes by arguing that the picture is mixed: although short-term mobility will be beneficial to students, those engaging in longer term exchanges (usually more privileged students) are likely to derive greater benefits.     

Advancing autism technology

The purpose of this review is to broadly identify technological advances in supports and evaluation for individuals on the autism spectrum. Literature review with commentary on the evolving technologies supporting and/or evaluating social-emotional, behavioral, academic, and cognitive domains. There has been an increasing synthesis of technology within the education domain. A growing body of research has investigated the potentiality and efficacy of technological interventions, specifically in the area of support for individuals on the autism spectrum. This growth must also factor in sustainability and feasibility to be practical within the school setting. Continued research is also necessary to ensure the equity of technology supporting individuals on the autism spectrum.