A cross-cultural study of possible iatrogenic effects of gifted education programs: tenth graders’ perceptions of academically high performing classmates

Previous empirical studies have yielded inconclusive results about peer perceptions of academically high performing students. The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ perceptions of the intellectual ability, positive social qualities, and popularity of a hypothetical new high performing classmate. Participants were 1060 Vietnamese, South Korean, British, Australian, Peruvian, and Spanish boys and girls in 10th grade. The results revealed that the perceptions of academically high performing classmates differed by country group. Positive perceptions of intellectual ability and social qualities were commonly found in all countries except the two Asian countries (Vietnam and South Korea), where the students reported more neutral views of high performers. In conclusion, it is argued that there is no evidence for possible iatrogenic effects of gifted education programs aiming at high achievements     

Why do tertiary education graduates regret their study program? A comparison between Spain and the Netherlands

In this paper we investigate the determinants of regret of study program for tertiary education graduates in Spain and the Netherlands. These two countries differ in their educational system in terms of the tracking structure in their secondary education and the strength of their education-labor market linkages in tertiary education. Therefore, by comparing Spain and the Netherlands, we aim at learning about the consequences that the two educational systems might have on the regret of study program in tertiary education. Basing on the psychological literature on regret, we derive some expectations on the determinants of regret of study program. Results reveal that both, education track and education-labor mismatch of tertiary education, are important determinants of the likelihood of program regret. Results allow us to derive some policy recommendations on the tertiary education system.     

Developing Professional Early Childhood Educators in England and Hungary: Where Has All the Love Gone?

European education agendas have emphasized the importance of early childhood education in providing the foundations for lifelong learning. Central to the success of early childhood education is the quality of provision, with the workforce being key. While qualifications levels are frequently cited as important for the quality of provision here we ask questions of the attitudinal competences required to work in early childhood in two countries: England and Hungary. This paper presents a mixed-method study that considers the attitudinal competences perceived as needed by early childhood students and how these are acquired. We focus on the role of love in early childhood education and the contrasting perceptions and experiences in England and Hungary. In Hungary love is spoken about freely, but in England managerialist and entrepreneurial discourses are creating tensions with more emotional dispositions of being caring, supportive, and empathic that early childhood practitioners uphold. In Hungary, early childhood educators are given relative autonomy in their professional roles and love is a key characteristic. We consider historical, philosophical, and political developments in the two countries to shed light on how English and Hungarian perspectives have diverged, while exploring opportunities that comparing perspectives offers for the further professional development of early childhood educators.     

Antioxidant diet supplementation enhances aerobic performance in amateur sportsmen

The effects of antioxidant diet supplements on blood lactate concentration and on the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds and their adaptations to training were analysed. Fifteen amateur male athletes were randomly assigned to either a placebo group or an antioxidant-supplemented group (90 days supplementation with 500 mg x day(-1) of vitamin E and 30 mg x day(-1) of beta-carotene, and the last 15 days also with 1 g x day(-1) of vitamin C). Before and after the antioxidant supplements, the sportsmen performed a maximal exercise test on a cycle ergometer and maximal and submaximal physiological parameters were assessed together with blood lactate concentration. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), maximal blood lactate concentration, and the maximal workload attained rose significantly in both groups after the 3 months of training. At the end of the study, maximal blood lactate concentration was lower in the group that took supplements than in the placebo group. The percentage of VO(2max) attained at the anaerobic threshold rose significantly in both groups after 3 months of training, although the final value in the supplemented group was higher than that in the placebo group. Antioxidant diet supplements induced lower increases in blood lactate concentration after a maximal exercise test and could improve the efficiency in which aerobic energy is obtained.     

Spanish Secondary School Students' Notions on the Causes and Consequences of Climate Change

This paper is part of an extensive study of secondary school students' preconceived ideas about climate change. Here, we undertake a survey in the province of Valencia (Spain) to ascertain secondary school students' notions of the causes and consequences of climate change. Results show, among other things, that students clearly relate the misuse of motor vehicles and factory emissions to the problem. However, the obvious correlation with household energy use is not observed. The usual confusion with other environmental problems, such as the hole in the ozone layer, as described in previous studies, is also detected. Students know almost no greenhouse gases other than CO₂, while the socio‐economic consequences of climate change are the least perceived.     

Experimenting with Visual Storytelling in Students' Portfolios: Narratives of Visual Pedagogy for Pre‐Service Teacher Education

This article interprets the repercussions of visual storytelling for art education and arts‐based narrative research and, particularly, it approaches visual storytelling as a critical tool for pre‐service teacher education. After reinterpreting storytelling from the perspective of visual critical pedagogy, I will narratively reconstruct the use of visual storytelling in three learning stories taking the form of students' portfolios. As a visual narrative researcher, I will examine the tactics for writing and reading that these students have developed in creating visual stories: the first narrative analyses the role of art during the reconstruction of the learning process by incorporating autobiography and reflexivity (Tanit's portfolio); the second narrative reflects on deconstruction and intertextuality in a multimedia portfolio, which mainly interrelates opera and cinema (Eulàlia's portfolio); and the third narrative introduces virtual storytelling and connects self‐awareness/meta‐awareness with multi‐literacy in narrative learning (Sonia's portfolios). This article also views improvisations, attempts, drafts and interactions in the process of writing and reading portfolios as part of visual experimentation to fabricate learning stories, in order to analyse the opportunities that visual storytelling offers for visual narrative pedagogy.     

Adolescent Perception of Potential High-Performing Classmates: A Cross-National Exploration

This study explores how secondary school students perceive high-performing potential classmates. A total of 1,794 seventh- and 10th-grade students from five countries completed a questionnaire measuring their expectations of hypothetical male and female high-performing classmates in three categories: intellectual ability, positive social qualities, and popularity. Across the five countries represented in this study, analyses of variance indicated that students did not report negative attitudes toward the three potential characteristics of a hypothetical gifted peer. Vietnamese students in particular reported more positive observations about the hypothetical classmate than their Australian, Peruvian, South Korean, and Spanish counterparts. Differing cross-national attitudes toward high-performing peers and the implications therein are discussed.