“The Problem isn’t Yourself Overcoming,it’s Other People Overcoming You:” A Decolonizing Mental Health DSE Curricular Cripstemology Reading of Daniel and Luna’s Intersectional Dis/ability Experiences

This study brings together 2 case studies to interrogate the intersectional experiences of historically marginalized youth at the intersections of power and identity from a decolonizing mental health disability studies in education (DSE) cripstemology approach. Specifically, we analyzed how US schools create normalized meanings of mental health. Daniel was a 1st-generation Mexican American to the United States, bilingual in both Spanish and English, and was labeled with a learning disability and a speech and language impairment. Daniel was born in Pinole, a southwestern major urban city and was in the 8th grade. Luna, a 16-year-old 10th-grader who lived at home with his mother and his stepfather and identifies as an Arab American, was on an individual education program for his disabilities including mild cerebral palsy, apraxia, and dysarthria. Luna identified as a pansexual and transgender individual and experiences depression and suicide ideation. There were similarities and differences between Daniel and Luna’s experiences related to intersectional disability oppressions that were interpersonal and institutional, their identity processes around school contexts tied to their ethnicities, language use, sexuality, and their experiences with colonial mental health hegemony. Our framework created new knowledge for theory, research, and praxis within US schools.     

English as a foreign language spelling: comparisons between good and poor spellers

This study examined English as a foreign language (EFL) spelling development amongst 233 fifth‐grade, eighth‐grade and 10th‐grade Hebrew first‐language speakers to examine effects of English orthographic exposure on spelling. Good and poor speller differences were examined regarding the acquisition of novel phonemes (/æ/, /Λ/ and //) and orthographic conventions (/ð/, /θ/, // and silent ‘e’). Hebrew measures included standardised spelling and orthographic and phonological tasks. Experimental English measures included real‐word and pseudoword spellings, orthographic tasks and standardised spellings. Results showed significant differences in spelling accuracy between good and poor spellers at all grades. Spelling accuracy for most conventions did not improve after the eighth grade. Spellings of consonantal clusters, initial h and /ð/ differed between good and poor spellers in the fifth grade only. Hebrew spelling was one of the strongest predictors of EFL real‐word and pseudoword spellings in both fifth and eighth grades. Implications for teaching practice are discussed.     

Preservice teachers' coping styles and their responses to bullying

The literature suggests that teacher responses to bullying are a function of the type of aggression (overt vs. relational), the gender of the children involved, and characteristics of the teacher. We extended the literature by examining teachers' dispositional coping styles as a predictor of their responses to bullying. Preservice teachers (N = 97) completed a measure of coping styles and then responded to eight vignettes showing overt or relational aggression occurring among boys or girls. Overt aggression was viewed as a bigger problem than relational aggression, and teacher interventions were deemed more necessary for overt than relational aggression. Preservice teachers who typically use more active coping, less denial coping, and less self‐blame responded more actively to bullying, especially in response to relational aggression among boys. These findings point to the need to consider teacher coping styles when working with them to intervene effectively in responding to bullying. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

“I Just Want to Be Myself”: Adolescents With Disabilities Who Identify as a Sexual or Gender Minority

Abstract

Adolescents with disabilities who identify as a sexual or gender minority are at high risk for negative school experiences and poor outcomes, including peer rejection, bullying, and dropping out. Using an intersectionality framework, this study examined how multiple marginalized identities influence sense of self and school experience for this population. Findings reveal a complex picture of lived experiences and support the need for important changes in school practices.     

Two Important Last-Minute Additions...

Communication Abstracts: An International Information Service (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, quarterly beginning in March l978—$36.00 per year for individuals in the U.S. with institutional and overseas rates)

Frank J. Kahn, ed. Documents of American Broadcasting (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 197C—$15.95)