An evaluation of trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children in Zambia

To monitor and evaluate the feasibility of implementing Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) to address trauma and stress-related symptoms in orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zambia as part of ongoing programming within a non-governmental organization (NGO). As part of ongoing programming, voluntary care-workers administered locally validated assessments to identify children who met criteria for moderate to severe trauma symptomatology. Local lay counselors implemented TF-CBT with identified families, while participating in ongoing supervision. Fifty-eight children and adolescents aged 5–18 completed the TF-CBT treatment, with pre- and post-assessments. The mean number of traumas reported by the treatment completers (N = 58) was 4.11. Post assessments showed significant reductions in severity of trauma symptoms (p < 0.0001), and severity of shame symptoms (p < 0.0001). Our results suggest that TF-CBT is a feasible treatment option in Zambia for OVC. A decrease in symptoms suggests that a controlled trial is warranted. Implementation factors monitored suggest that it is feasible to integrate and evaluate evidence-based mental health assessments and intervention into programmatic services run by an NGO in low/middle resource countries. Results also support the effectiveness of implementation strategies such as task shifting, and the Apprenticeship Model of training and supervision.     

Why the Range in Grades? An Attempt to Explain the Variance in Students' Public Speaking Grades

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of student motivation, unwillingness to communicate, first-generation college status, and biological sex on students' public speaking grades. A standard multiple regression analysis tested the hypothesis. Participants were enrolled in public speaking courses at two midwestern universities. The only independent variable with a significant main effect was biological sex. While this finding was consistent with earlier research, biological sex differences outweighed other understudied variables. These results require further investigation.     

The motivations of career change students in teacher education

In this article, results are presented from a large‐scale online survey about the motivations of career change students, and their beliefs about the attributes that they bring to the teaching profession. The findings revealed that career changers' motivations were largely intrinsic, although pragmatic decisions were also important, with perceived family‐friendliness of a teaching career a common response. These findings generally support findings of previous research into motivations to teach, as found in the literature. The data examined in this paper also revealed that career change entrants believed that the most important attributes they bring to teaching are life experiences, generic workplace skills and experience, and personal qualities, rather than specific content knowledge. These findings provide support for the continued targeting of career change people into the profession, particularly in the current policy context in which some stakeholders express concerns about a perceived lack of quality of teaching in Australian schools.     

Theory of Mind, Emotion Understanding, Language, and Family Background: Individual Differences and Interrelations

Individual differences in young children's social cognition were examined in 128 urban preschoolers from a wide range of backgrounds. comprehensive assessments were made of children's false-belief understanding, emotion understanding, language abilities, and family background information was collected via parent interview. Individual differences in children's understanding of false-belief and emotion were associated with differences in language ability and with certain aspects of family background, in particular, parental occupational class and mothers' education. The number of siblings that children had did not relate to their social cognition. Individual differences in false-belief and emotion understanding were correlated, but these domains did not contribute to each other independently of age, language ability, and family background. In fact, variance in family background only contributed uniquely to false-belief understanding. The results suggest that family background has a significant impact on the development of theory of mind. The findings also suggest that understanding of false-belief and understanding of emotion may be distinct aspects of social cognition in young children.     

Improving Groupworking Skills in Undergraduates Through Employer Involvement

Frequently undergraduate project work involves students working in groups. Such groupworking is often problematic owing to poor groupworking skills on the part of the students involved, yet ‘teamwork’ is one of those generic skills highly prized by employers. This study describes a pilot project to involve employers in the development of groupworking skills in undergraduate students, with the aims of increasing student awareness of group dynamics and processes and of promoting more effective groupworking. Students worked in small groups over a period of six to eight weeks on a problem associated with the module being studied. Employers observed students working in their groups and provided feedback to the students on their groupworking skills. The reactions (extremely positive) of students, staff and employers are presented. The procedures and methods used in the pilot are described and evaluated.