The Role of the Centre in the Professional Development of Teachers

The study builds on earlier work which considered changes in the use of staff other than teachers (associate staff) in maintained primary and secondary schools. The focus of the study is on the introduction of staffing innovations (how they originated, how they were implemented, perceived advantages and difficulties, estimated cost effectiveness) in a new kind of educational institution – the City Technology College. The authors seek to illuminate theories of implementing change in a contemporary educational setting. The article reports on the first year's work and indicates some emergent issues.     

The impact of support services on students’ test anxiety and/or their ability to submit assignments: a focus on vision impairment and intellectual disability

This study investigated the influence of the support services on the test anxiety of students and/or their ability to submit assignments in each of the two disability groups, those with vision impairment and those with intellectual disability, who were placed in specialist and mainstream educational settings in South Australia. Interviews were conducted with 14 students with vision impairment and 9 students with intellectual disability, as well as a total of 10 parents and 8 teachers. The findings unfolded that the support services were found to influence positively the test anxiety experienced by students with vision impairment and/or their ability to submit assignments, but appeared to help students with intellectual disability to a much smaller extent. These findings have implications for mainstream teachers and school support staff working with students with vision impairment and those with intellectual disability, to determine what type and kind of support works for these students and helps them to alleviate their test anxieties.     

Narrative elaboration and participation: two dimensions of maternal elicitation style

This study investigated the narrative scaffolding styles of Spanish-speaking and English-speaking mothers as they engaged their preschool-aged children in family reminiscing and book sharing interactions. Specifically, the study examined the dimensions of narrative elaboration and participation in mothers' scaffolding styles across the 2 narrative tasks. Cluster analyses identified 2 styles of maternal scaffolding for each context, differing in the degree to which mothers elaborated, the manner in which they did so, and the extent to which they encouraged child participation. Findings highlight the importance of both narrative elaboration and narrative participation as defining dimensions of maternal scaffolding styles. Results are discussed in relation to variations in socialization practices and the role these practices might play in children's development.     

Survivors of Political Violence: Conceptualizations,Empirical Findings,and Ecological Interventions

There is a vast body of literature on survivors of political violence that has emerged over the past several decades. Most studies focus on the psychological effects of political violence on survivors, as understood within the Western framework of mental health. Studies that conceptualize and examine models that account for the complexity of the ecology of political violence are scarce. This paper synthesizes current conceptual and empirical findings about survivors of political violence. Interventions stemming from an ecological framework are also reviewed.     

Differences in the Fears of Elementary School Children in North and South America: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

This study compared the fears of North American and South American children in Grades 2–5. Fears were assessed with English and Spanish versions of the American Fear Survey Schedule (FSSC-AM; Burnham 2005). Specific fears and several most common fears differed across the two countries. Overall, the South American children and the girls from both countries had significantly higher fear intensity scores than North American children and the boys. Fear intensity scores also differed significantly across racial backgrounds. Implications for counsellors and directions for future research are considered.     

Radical change through radical means: learning power

The history of US schooling is a remarkable tale of expanding educational opportunities in the midst of educational inequality. Despite cultural commitments to equality and justice, the US educational system continues to provide clear and consistent advantages for white and wealthier Americans and disadvantages for low-income, students of color. This paper explores why efforts to equalize education have fared so poorly and how US schools and society might become more equitable and just. Our conclusions are straightforward: Equity reforms rarely take hold because they rely on conventional, technical approaches to policymaking and educational change. Instead, equitable, high-quality schooling for all students will likely fare better with social movement activism that addresses the societal norms and politics which cement the status quo. At the heart of such activism is a process we call “learning power.” (The ideas presented here are presented more fully in Jeannie Oakes and John Rogers, Learning Power: Organizing for Education and Justice (New York: Teachers College Press, 2006).) An earlier version of this paper was presented as the 3rd Annual Distinguished Lecture on Educational Change for the Special Interest Group on Educational Change at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association Meeting, San Francisco, California.

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