Cultivating a sense of belonging in part-time students

This study investigated the sense of belonging of part-time students through interviews with 53 novice or experienced students enrolled in part-time programmes in Hong Kong. It was found that students were more easily able to affiliate with their class groups or teaching staff than with their department or university. Seven methods are suggested for promoting a sense of belonging. Class cohesiveness can be developed through learning activities and maintaining classes as a cohort. Relationships with teaching staff can be developed through encouraging interaction, providing good quality teaching and making a positive initial impression. There was also evidence that a sense of belonging was more likely to develop if enrolment was through departments and part-time students had access to resources and facilities. The data showed that promoting a sense of belonging contributed to better quality learning outcomes and increased the chances of students completing programmes.     

Trajectories of Physical Discipline: Early Childhood Antecedents and Developmental Outcomes

This study examined childhood antecedents and developmental outcomes associated with trajectories of mild and harsh parental physical discipline. Interview, questionnaire, and observational data were available from 499 children followed from ages 5 to 16 and from 258 children in an independent sample followed from ages 5 to 15. Analyses indicated distinct physical discipline trajectory groups that varied in frequency of physical discipline and rate of change. In both samples, family ecological disadvantage differentiated the trajectory groups; in the first sample, early child externalizing also differentiated the groups. Controlling for early childhood externalizing, the minimal/ceasing trajectory groups were associated with the lowest levels of subsequent adolescent antisocial behavior in both samples and with parent–adolescent positive relationship quality in the second sample.     

Students’ everyday knowledge and experiences as resources in educational dialogues

In this article, I analyze teachers’ use of students’ everyday knowledge and experiences as resources for learning in educational dialogues. By analyzing video data of teachers’ attempts to contextualize instruction in naturalistic settings in a lower secondary school, I examine how teachers use such resources to support and guide student learning. By employing a situated approach to learning, I provide a turn-by-turn analysis of how teachers use students’ everyday knowledge as resources to socially construct knowledge when working with academic subject matter. The concepts of intercontextuality and positioning function as analytical tools that enable an analysis of the relationships between the use of everyday experiences and the social organization of participation during teachers’ instructional work. The findings show that attempts at contextualizing instruction were identified in many of the lessons. The findings also document that teachers face both challenges and opportunities when contextualizing instruction. A turn-by-turn analysis shows that the function of everyday experiences in educational dialogues depends on how such resources are mobilized, how they are brought into the conversations, as well as the roles assigned to students in the dialogues. In the article, issues contributing to the productive use of everyday resources in educational dialogues are displayed and discussed.