Regulation,Politics and Media

Paul P. Ashley's Say it Safely: Legal Limits in Publishing, Radio, and Television (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976—$9.50)

David E. Price, The Commerce Committees: A Study of the House and Senate Commerce Committees ($16.50, 358 pp.)

Peter N. Schuck, The Judiciary Committees: A Study of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees ($16.50, 446 pp.)

Harry R. Olsson, Jr.'s Legal and Business Problems of Television and Radio (Practicing Law Institute, 810 Seventh Ave., New York 10019—$20.00, paper)

Robert Agranoff's The Management of Election Campaigns (Boston: Holbrook Press, 1976—price not given)     

Parental history of positive development and child behavior in next generation offspring: A two-cohort prospective intergenerational study

This study examined whether positive development (PD) in adolescence and young adulthood predicts offspring behavior in two Australasian intergenerational cohorts. The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study assessed PD at age 19–28 (years 2002–2010) and behavior in 1165 infants (12–18 months; 608 girls) of 694 Australian-born parents (age 29–35; 2012–2019; 399 mothers). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Parenting Study assessed PD at age 15–18 (years 1987–1991) and behavior in 695 preschoolers (3–5 years; 349 girls) and their New Zealand born parents (age 21–46; 1994–2018; 363 mothers; 89% European ethnicity). In both cohorts, PD before parenthood predicted more positive offspring behavior (β_range = .11–.16) and fewer behavior problems (β_range = −.09 to −.11). Promoting strengths may secure a healthy start to life.     

Sometimes It's Good to be Short: The Serotonin Transporter Gene,Positive Parenting,and Adolescent Depression

In threatening environments, the short (S) allele of 5-HTTLPR is proposed to augment risk for depression. However, it is unknown whether 5-HTTLPR variation increases risk for depression in environments of deprivation, lacking positive or nurturant features. Two independent longitudinal studies (n = 681 and 176, respectively) examined whether 5-HTTLPR moderated associations between low levels of positive parenting at 11–13 years and subsequent depression at 17–19 years. In both studies only LL homozygous adolescents were at greater risk for depression with decreasing levels of positive parenting. Thus, while the S allele has previously been identified as a susceptible genotype, these findings suggest that the L allele may also confer sensitivity to depression in the face of specific environmental challenges.     

Investigating the cultural dimension in foreign language education – from transmission of facts to dialogical uptake

The article discusses aspects of an action research study, with the aim of exploring how the cultural dimension within the education of English as a foreign language could evolve from a transmission of target-culture facts into an exploration of generic and value-related aspects such as awareness of diversity and respect for difference. The article focuses on social-constructivist and socio-cultural approaches such as dialogical and experiential learning. In the discussion, particular emphasis will be given to the possibilities of developing language education into praxis through the tools of uptake on challenging topics that emerge in the classroom, and reflective work conducted by both students and the teacher. Here, praxis entails the neo-Aristotelian view of education as a moral and meaningful activity, where the educator is acting in response to particularities of a given situation for the good of her students and humankind.     

Self-perceived action competence for sustainability: the theoretical grounding and empirical validation of a novel research instrument

Abstract

This study contributes to an operationalization of the concept of action competence for sustainability through the theoretical development and empirical validation of a new 12-item Likert-scale questionnaire: the Self-Perceived Action Competence for Sustainability Questionnaire, SPACS-Q. Other scales in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) typically measure concepts such as pro-environmental and sustainability attitudes and behaviors, and therefore do not fully cover the concept of action competence for sustainability. An action differs from a ‘mere’ behavior in that it is voluntary and targeted at bringing about change, which is the overarching goal of ESE. We define action competence as a latent capacity among individuals to act sustainably. We introduce a novel scale measuring this seminal concept. Totally, 614 Swedish adolescents aged 12-19 participated in this study. The scale includes three latent subconstructs: i) knowledge of action possibilities, ii) confidence in one’s own influence, and iii) the willingness to act. Confirmatory factor analyses, reliability measures and investigation of convergent validity reveal a questionnaire instrument with excellent psychometric quality. We put forward that the SPACS-Q is a novel and theory-driven, empirically reliable and valid, instrument, and encourage fellow researchers to use the SPACS-Q when investigating people’s action competence for sustainability in various contexts.     

The art of teaching children the arts: music,dance and poetry with children aged 2–8 years old

In this article, the theoretical framework of developmental pedagogy is presented as a tool in studying and developing children’s knowing within the arts. The domains of art focused on are music, poetry and dance/aesthetic movement. Through empirical examples from a large‐scale research project, we illustrate the tools of developmental pedagogy and show how this perspective contributes to our understanding of children’s learning of music, dance and poetry. More specifically, we will analyse: (a) the important role of the teacher in children’s learning within the arts; (b) the importance of conversing when learning the arts; (c) what constitutes the knowledge, what we refer to as ‘learning objects’, to be appropriated within the three domains of art focused on; and (d) how to conceive of progression in children’s knowing within the arts.