Developmental Precursors of Relational Aggression From Late Childhood Through Adolescence

Relational aggression—a psychological form of aggression—has numerous negative consequences for physical and emotional health. However, little is known about the risk factors that lead youth to engage in relational aggression. Using multimethod data from a longitudinal research of 674 Mexican-origin youth, this study examined the influence of parents, siblings, and peers on the development of relational aggression. Increases in relational aggression from age 10 to 16 were associated with: (a) low levels of parental monitoring and (b) increased association with deviant peers and siblings. These results held across gender and nativity status. The findings suggest that multiple socialization agents contribute to the development of relational aggression. We discuss the practical implications for reducing relational aggression during adolescence.     

School Governing Bodies: the lay‐professional relationship

This article is an abridged and edited version of the chapter entitled ‘Discussion ‐‐ the Lay‐Professional Relationship’ from a thesis submitted by Lynne Field for the degree of Master of Philosophy in 1991. The research, based at Bristol Polytechnic, centred on the study of the governing body of a secondary school from October 1988 to February 1990 and sought to establish how far the aims of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 and the Education Act 1988 were being achieved in terms of governing body activity. One of the most significant aspects of the research to emerge was the relationship between lay and professional interests.     

Academic Self‐Perceptions,Effort, and Strategy Use in Students with Learning Disabilities: Changes Over Time

This study investigated changes in teachers' and students' perceptions of students' effort, strategy use, and academic difficulties when strategy instruction was infused into the classroom curriculum. The sample consisted of 201 students with learning disabilities, 210 average achievers, and 57 teachers from Grades 4–9 in two urban and suburban communities. After six months of classroom‐based strategy instruction, students with learning disabilities reported more consistent use of strategies with their schoolwork and perceived themselves as struggling less in reading, writing, and spelling. Teachers perceived the students with learning disabilities as more strategic and as applying more effort to their schoolwork. Teachers also perceived their students as showing significant improvements in spelling, regardless of whether they had learning disabilities. These findings extended the results of previous investigations and indicated the small, positive impact of classroom‐based strategy instruction. Further investigations are critical to evaluate the generalizability of these findings.     

The effect of exploratory talk on the development of sentence structure in able writers

This one‐term practitioner research study, conducted with 33 Year 5 children, considers the impact of teaching exploratory talk skills on the learning of the class, with particular consideration of the development of the ability of gifted and talented children to manipulate and control sentence structure to create effect. Beginning with metatalk activities, the class defined new talk rules, putting them into practice in an action‐research project. The study then went on to consider the detailed application of these skills in a focus group of six gifted children. In order to meet with the requirements of a wider study, the impact of this focus group on the learning of the whole class was observed. While many children, both those in the focus group and the wider class, appeared to embrace exploratory talk as a route to independence of the class teacher, some children were more reluctant to engage. The article concludes with an evaluation of the impact of exploratory talk.     

Exploring ethical issues associated with using online surveys in educational research

Online surveys are increasingly used in educational research, yet little attention has focused on ethical issues associated with their use in educational settings. Here, we draw on the broader literature to discuss 5 key ethical issues in the context of educational survey research: dual teacher/researcher roles; informed consent; use of incentives; privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality; and data quality. We illustrate methods of addressing these issues with our experiences conducing online surveys in educational contexts. Moving beyond the procedural ethics approach commonly adopted in quantitative educational research, we recommend adopting a situated/process ethics approach to identify and respond to ethical issues that may arise during the conduct, analysis, and reporting of online survey research. The benefits of online surveying in comparison to traditional survey methods are highlighted, including the potential for online surveys to provide ethically defensible methods of conducting research that would not be feasible in offline education research settings.     

A Study of Bullying in Further Education

Until recently, bullying has tended to be associated with primary and secondary school, but, increasingly, it is being recognized as a phenomenon that exists at all stages and in all aspects of life. This paper is concerned with a level and type of institution with which the idea of bullying might not have been associated. It describes how a recent study into bullying within the 16- to 18-year-old population in a college of further education instigated change within its infrastructure. By promoting an awareness of bullying, it resulted in the implementation of an active Harassment/Anti-bullying Policy.     

Intellectual self-mutilation

[The] business man is generous to a fault, but one thing he does demand of all teachers and lecturers and journalists: if we're going to pay them our good money, they‘ve got to help us by selling efficiency and whooping it up for rational prosperity? And when it comes to these blab-mouth, fault-finding, pessimistic, cynical University teachers, let me tell you that during this golden coming year it's just as much our duty to bring influence to have these cusses fired as it is to sell all the real estate and gather in all the good shekels we can. Sinclair Lewis. Babbitt.