Solving problems through circles

Several problem-solving interventions that utilise a “circle” approach have been applied within the field of educational psychology, for example, Circle Time, Circle of Friends, Sharing Circles, Circle of Adults and Solution Circles. This research explored two interventions, Solution Circles and Circle of Adults, and used thematic analysis of questionnaire data to investigate the views of school staff that had taken part in these interventions. 62 participants were involved in a Solution Circle and 31 participants were involved in a Circle of Adults. Findings highlighted key features of these circle interventions which corresponded to those identified from relevant literature. Participants who had taken part in a Solution Circle described the applicability of solutions to other aspects of their work and a greater amount of strategies and solutions generated as a result of the group process. Participants who had been involved in a Circle of Adults session described having a greater understanding of a problem situation and empathy towards the focus pupil and the role of the educational psychologists in facilitating the process. Recommendations were made for educational psychology practice and for further research in this area.     

Competitive comparison and PISA bragging rights: sub-national uses of the OECD's PISA in Canada and the USA

Participation in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has continuously expanded: from 43 systems in 2000 to 65 systems in the 2012 cycle, with 71 signed up for PISA 2015. There also has been a growth in sub-national participation, expanding PISA's reach beyond the nation-state. This paper explores sub-national PISA participation in Canada and the USA, asking how PISA is being used within sub-national education policy spaces. We draw on analysis of documents and data from interviews with officials at sub-national, national, and international levels. Findings illustrate some of the diverse motivations and uses of PISA, providing insights into the effects of PISA at the sub-national scale. As such, we argue that competitive comparison in education has deepened through the enhanced granularity of international large-scale assessment data to new scales beyond the nation-state.     

Critical Thinking Versus Vocationalism: A Matter of Class?

Popular demands for greater access to higher education may have diluted the “college isn't for everyone” claim, but some members of the privileged class are making a more subtle argument: A classical liberal arts curriculum should be reserved for the elite with low and middle income students receiving vocational training. In this article, we examine the historical and contemporary manifestations of differentiated educational experiences based on class and highlight how this bifurcated phenomenon continues to surface within post-secondary's newest venue—online education. Drawing upon the theoretical tenets of knowledge production and class formation, the methodology section of this article constructs a multilayered sequence model to analyze how the college admission process reinforces this binary in stark, yet unassuming, ways. We present the resulting social justice implications in terms of students’ participation in a classist educational system as well as the antidemocratic repercussions for public institutions. Lastly, we call for recommendations designed to bolster public education's commitment to critically educate all students and to restore its bedrock democratic mission.     

Visions about future: a new scale assessing optimism,pessimism, and hope in adolescents

This article reports the development and psychometric properties of visions about future (VAF), an instrument assessing hope, optimism, and pessimism. Three different studies involving Italian adolescents were conducted. With the first study 22 items were developed and the factor structure was verified. The second study, involving a second sample of adolescents, confirmed the instrument’s multidimensional structure and evaluated the convergent validity of VAF with self-report measures of hope, optimism, and pessimism. Moreover, it showed that VAF correlated with life satisfaction and career adaptability. The third study involved a third sample of adolescents and verified the measurement invariance across gender.     

Children’s Daily Routines During Kindergarten Transition

Routines are an important feature of family life and functioning in families with young children. Common daily routines such as dinnertime, bedtime, and waking activities are powerful organizers of family behavior and may be instrumental to children and families during times of transition, such as elementary school entry. Daily routines were examined in 132 families with children entering kindergarten. Although the majority of families reported regular daily routines for their children, parents anticipated that their child’s daily routines would substantially shift upon kindergarten entry, including changes in children’s sleep habits. Significant changes in child and family routines have been implicated in adjustment difficulties during kindergarten transition. Results of this investigation are discussed in terms of aligning family daily routines with kindergarten expectations. Furthermore, educational professionals in early childhood education and elementary school can partner with families to promote seamless kindergarten transitions for all children.     

Children's and Adolescents’ Evaluations of Intergroup Exclusion in Interracial and Interwealth Peer Contexts

Children and adolescents (N = 153, ages 8–14 years, M_age = 11.46 years) predicted and evaluated peer exclusion in interwealth (high-wealth and low-wealth) and interracial (African American and European American) contexts. With age, participants increasingly expected high-wealth groups to be more exclusive than low-wealth groups, regardless of their depicted race. Furthermore, children evaluated interwealth exclusion less negatively than interracial exclusion, and children who identified as higher in wealth evaluated interwealth exclusion less negatively than did children who identified as lower in wealth. Children cited explicit negative stereotypes about high-wealth groups in their justifications, while rarely citing stereotypes about low-wealth groups or racial groups. Results revealed that both race and wealth are important factors that children consider when evaluating peer exclusion.