‘Reading’ pictures: what do they reveal? Young children's reading of visual texts

What does the ‘reading’ of pictures reveal compared with the reading of print? The researcher examines aspects of visual literacy through the responses of young children to two picture storybooks. The findings emphasise how images can evoke different levels of response. The study confirms that we need to reconsider the nature of reading and reading education in an environment where words and print are no longer the dominant medium. Examples of responses are shown from children who are native speakers of English, as well as from children for whom English is a second language.     

Psychosocial factors impacting STEM career selection

Attention on P-20 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has increased tremendously in recent years. Many efforts are underway to promote STEM major and career selection across the nation; specifically, in engineering and computer science. The authors' purpose was to examine an underlying profile combinations of latent traits that influence student STEM career selection while designing serious educational games (SEGs). The authors combine a number of quantitative analysis methods in an effort to develop a rich understanding of how a profile combination of traits interact with one another to effect selection of STEM careers and majors. Study participants were 585 students enrolled in a full-time traditional high school. The addition of SEG design experiences into the student profile increases the probability of STEM career selection by 5.1 times.     

Parents’ beliefs about young children’s play and nature experiences in Danish and US contexts

Two studies were conducted in the US and Denmark to examine parents’ beliefs about the importance of play and nature experiences for early childhood development. Thirty parents in the US and 19 parents in Denmark completed semi-structured interviews with quantitative and qualitative elements. Although families in both contexts highly valued outdoor and nature experiences, parents in the Danish context provided a stronger rationale for taking children outdoors regardless of environmental conditions and affording them opportunities to explore freely and take risks. Parents in the US focused mainly on individual developmental benefits of play, whereas parents in Denmark also acknowledged the importance of spending time in nature for society and the environment. The findings provide evidence that sociocultural values and expectations influence parental beliefs and practices regarding outdoor and nature play, and have implications for young children’s play opportunities within and across cultural contexts.     

Similarities and differences in views of ageing and learning in Hong Kong and Australia

This article is an overview and summary of the findings from a General Research Fund project funded (2012–2014) by the Research Grants Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong to investigate cross cultural understanding of ageing and learning by seniors in Hong Kong and Australia. Results have been published separately in Boulton-Lewis, & Buys (2015), Boulton-Lewis, Aird, & Buys (2016), Boulton-Lewis, Tam, Buys, & Chui (2016), Tam (2016), Tam & Chui (2016) and Tam, Aird, Boulton-Lewis & Buys (2016). These articles have dealt separately and variously with either a qualitative or quantitative analysis of learning choices in Australia, structural barriers to learning in Australia, a comparison of views of and ageing and learning in both cultures, Chinese views of later life learning, the meaning of ageing and learning to Chinese elders and an analysis and comparison of results in both places. The focus of this article is a summative discussion based mainly on the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the main themes of ageing and learning. It intends to provide an overview of the findings in some of the publications above. Other details can be found in the publications listed.     

Student-teachers’ perspectives on the purposes and characteristics of faith-based schools: an Australian view

At a time when the faith-based identity of schools is facing serious challenges, the researchers undertook a longitudinal study of the relevant opinions, beliefs and values of student-teachers at a Catholic university campus in Australia. The focus of the current paper is on the responses of first-year students to a survey regarding their choice of secondary school, the purposes of schooling and the characteristics of Catholic schools. Relevant context are addressed including global education trends, the values and characteristics of Catholic education and relevant aspects of Australian schooling and youth culture. Regardless of religious affiliation, self-reported religiosity or type of school attended, providing a ‘safe and caring school environment’ emerged as the most important purpose of schooling and as a key reason for choice of school, while faith-based purposes and reasons received particularly low ratings. ‘Caring community’ was regarded as by far the most important characteristic of the Catholic school, followed by engagement in social justice programmes. The findings are briefly compared with parallel findings for teachers in Queensland Catholic schools.     

The relationship between phonological awareness and the development of orthographic representations

A training study was conducted to investigatethe relationship between phoneme segmentationability and the development of orthographicrepresentations. Five-year-old children withvarying degrees of phoneme segmentationability were taught to read ten new words byrepeated presentation of the words onflashcards. It was found that those childrenwho were most well equipped to perform phonemesegmentation tasks acquired this new readingvocabulary significantly faster than those whowere less phonemically aware. A series ofpost-tests was implemented to discover thenature of the internal orthographicrepresentations which the children had createdfor the words learned. The results of thesepost-tests demonstrated that the children whowere most phonemically aware had alsointernalised the most detailed orthographicrepresentations, despite needing fewerlearning trials. Salient letters fororthographic storage were predictable from thechildren's phoneme segmentation abilities. This paper provides strong support for thethesis that phonemic awareness is related toorthographic storage as well as alphabeticreading techniques.     

Continuity and change in inhibited and uninhibited children

After screening 368 toddlers and selecting 77 into extremely inhibited, extremely uninhibited, and intermediate groups, 63 children (82%) were followed up at 4 and 7 years. Minority subgroups of both the inhibited and uninhibited children showed continuity on outcomes consisting of questionnaire measures of shyness, inhibitory control, and impulsivity, as well as multiepisode observational measures of behavioral inhibition and exuberance. Change from both inhibited and uninhibited status from the toddler age was more common than remaining extremely inhibited or uninhibited, but that change was largely constrained to the middle of the distribution.     

New Zealand Māori-medium teacher education: an examination of students’ academic confidence and preparedness

Little research has been concerned with gauging Māori–medium teacher education students’ academic confidence in bilingual settings making the development of appropriate curricula and broad policy a difficult task. Drawing on a convenience sample of 84 primary teacher education students on a three-year B.Ed Māori-medium program, this study uses self-reported measures to assess students’ academic confidence and preparedness in English and Māori. Results suggest that the students are less academically confident in Māori than in English, and that this discrepancy is most pronounced in academic speaking and reading. Consequently, it is proposed that curriculum developers place emphasis on the development of both Māori academic speaking and reading throughout the course of Māori-medium teacher education programs. Finally, it is argued that standardised assessments that track both confidence and preparedness, and the productive and receptive abilities of Māori-medium teacher education students throughout university would bolster the regeneration of Māori-medium education in New Zealand.     

Counseling in Nigeria and the United States of America: Contrasts and Similarities

This paper compares the profession of counseling in Nigeria and the United States of America (USA). Many differences exist in the practice of counseling in these two countries, including a greater emphasis on specialization, credentialing and licensing in the USA. Issues such as lack of insurance coverage and general economic disadvantage affect the utilization of counseling services in Nigeria. Although both countries are dealing with similar societal concerns, training standards remain localized. The authors recommend that given the global nature of counseling's reach and potential impact across the world, efforts should be made to implement international credentialing standards.