Fingerprinting the mind

Until recently the identification of the authorship of written works has—like that of paintings—been largely subjective, but the application of the computer to analysis of literary structure has opened up important new possibilities. It has shown that simple frequency patterns are of much less diagnostic value than groupings of words and their position in sentences. Stylometry, as this new investigative method is called, has the merit of knowing no language barriers—it is equally applicable, for example, to classical Greek, English, and Swedish.     

A case study of an implementation of the ‘new literacy’ paradigm

Within this article, the authors discuss a research project which entailed using teacher journals as a source of program development, assessment and change. Over the course of one year, teachers from the West Deptford school system voluntarily participated in a professional development program entitled the PENN Literacy Network. This training program was led by a member of the West Deptford school district, and its aim was to promote new ways of integrating reading, writing and talking into language arts classrooms and across the curriculum. During the course of this training year, teachers were asked to keep journals detailing their experiences and understanding of the critical experiences which they were presented with, and these journals were responded to by the facilitator of the course and were read by researchers associated with the PENN Literacy Network in order to answer questions and identify emergent themes. This paper addresses some findings, analysis and interpretation of the qualitative evaluation research project which grew out of a university/school district collaboration. It describes the Pennsylvania Framework and the critical learning experiences associated with this Framework and details, using journal citations, teachers’ reactions to the changes taking place within their classrooms and their teaching philosophies as they adapt such critical experiences to their own daily practice. The changes which occur in the program due to teacher feedback and concerns are discussed. Throughout this case study, the authors seek to answer the following questions:‘In what ways have teachers who participated in the professional development program utilized the concepts and practices of the new literacy effort in their classrooms?’ and ‘How do these teachers feel about these changes?’ They believe that using such questions to analyze the journals helps to provide validation data supporting the assumption that the PENN Literacy Network does facilitate change and this data helps the facilitator of the course, the organizers of the Network and the university researchers to integrate teacher voices into the program itself. In addition, teachers are able to use the journals to experiment and learn while sharing their thoughts and feelings with their colleagues as a form of teacher research.     

Caring for our infants: parents’ antenatal childcare intentions and nine-month reality

Infants are increasingly cared for by adults other than their parents. Here we describe non-parental infant care within a diverse cohort; and investigate the relationship between parents’ antenatal intentions and actual infant care. 6822 New Zealand women were recruited during pregnancy and asked about their intentions for childcare. Non-parental care was assessed when infants were nine months old: 1717 (25%) of the 6853 cohort children were receiving more than 8 h per week of regular non-parental care. In comparison with infants of European mothers, infants of Asian or Pacific mothers were more likely to be cared for by extended family; and infants of Māori mothers were more likely to receive centre-based care. Infants from families with lower household incomes, living in more deprived areas were more likely to be cared for by family. When their infants were nine months old, mothers from low- to medium-income households were less likely to be using the type of non-parental care they had intended antenatally, and the same was true when their children were aged 2 years.     

‘You can’t see for lookin’’: how southern womanism informs perspectives of work and curriculum theory

ABSTRACT

Southern womanism is the theory that evokes a self-reflexive process to challenge scholars, teachers, and activists to reconceptualise the agency of ‘workers.’ Southern womanism claims that theoretical knowledge resides within the histories of southern Black women workers which developed as they transitioned from enslavement to domestic work to birthing a generation of African ascendant scholars and artists. Within their work is the theoretical possibility of exploring these women as agential subjects whose intellectual history is found in the intersections of region, regional identity, race, gender, sexuality, nature, art, food, and spirituality.     

The value of using a prenatal education planning model: application to an aboriginal community

A conceptual model for planning adolescent prenatal programs was developed that anticipated future trends, was easily modifiable, and fostered community self-direction (Loos & Morton, 1996). However, the model's reliability with diverse groups in atypical settings required testing. Validation of its reliability focused on adolescent Aboriginal women living in an isolated northern community. Use of the model helped identify modifications in program design, implementation, and evaluation to meet the ethno-cultural, socioeconomic, and age-related needs differences of this population, suggesting that this model is an effective tool for program development.     

For the World in Which They Will Be Living

To examine the antecedents of perceptions of grading fairness, approximately 600 college students were surveyed about the prevalence and desirability of 1) teaching practices that assisted students to prepare for examinations, and 2) common test scoring manipulations used to transform poor scores into acceptable ones (e.g., curving low scores upward). Students also described the fairness of the grading they had experienced. Regression analysis revealed that grading fairness was predicted best by exposure to the teaching practices rather than the scoring practices. Results are discussed in terms of the possible effects of these teaching and grading practices on grade inflation.