Searching for health: the topography of the first page

Members of the lay public are turning increasingly to the internet to answer health-related questions. Some authors suggest that the widespread availability of online health information has dislodged medical knowledge from its traditional institutional base and enabled a growing role for alternative or previously unrecognized health perspectives and ‘lay health expertise’. Others have argued, however, that the organization of information retrieved from influential search engines, particularly Google, has merely intensified mainstream perspectives because of the growing consolidation of the internet with traditional, commercial media sources. In this paper we describe an analysis of ‘first page’ results retrieved through Google searches about several common health concerns, each of which has been the subject of controversy as a result of uncertain aetiology, diagnoses, outcomes and/or contested approaches to treatment. Our findings suggest that the online search tactics used by most lay health information seekers produce sources of information that, for the most part, reflect mainstream biomedical discourses, often linked to commercial interests, rather than a plurality of voices that offer a variety of perspectives and resources. We discuss the implications for health-interested internet searchers who fail to look beyond the ‘first page’.     

The Relationship of Supervisory Experience, Counseling Experience, and Training in Supervision to Supervisory Identity Development

The relationship between supervisory identity development and supervisory experience, counseling experience, and training in supervision was examined for Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) members. Analyses indicated that supervisory experience and training were related to supervisory identity development, whilst counseling experience was not. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the importance of supervisor credentials.     

Integrating self-regulation in whole-class reciprocal teaching: A moderator–mediator analysis of incremental effects on fifth graders’ reading comprehension

In this classroom intervention study, reciprocal teaching (RT) of reading strategies was combined with explicit instruction in self-regulated learning (SRL) to promote the reading comprehension of fifth-grade students (N = 306). Twelve intact classes were randomly assigned either to an RT + SRL condition or to an RT condition without explicit instruction in self-regulation. Three additional classes served as a no-treatment comparison group. Strategies instruction was delivered by trained assistants in conventional German language lessons. Students practiced the application of these strategies in small groups. Both at posttest and at maintenance (8 weeks after the intervention), students in the two intervention conditions (RT and RT + SRL) outperformed comparison students in measures of reading comprehension, strategy-related task performance, and self-efficacy for reading. Relative to RT students, students in the RT + SRL condition were better able to maintain training-induced performance gains over the follow-up interval. A moderated mediation analysis revealed that this difference in the sustainability of the two treatments was (a) mediated by the successful mastery of the learned strategies and (b) most evident among students with poor reading fluency skills.     

Using video-stimulated recall to investigate teacher awareness of explicit and implicit gendered thoughts on classroom interactions

Teachers believe they don’t interact any differently with boys than with girls. However, an examination of the evidence base on gendered student–teacher interactions shows – at times contradicting – unequal interaction patterns for boys and girls. In this study, the videotaped lessons of 13 secondary school teachers in three schools are analysed by both the teachers themselves and the researchers. Video-stimulated recall is used to bring to the surface the thoughts, images and emotions that evoke teachers’ (re)actions in the classroom. Content analysis and thematic analysis of teachers’ recall reveal three things: (1) when recalling specific situations, gender imbalances in the thoughts and images that accompany teachers’ (re)actions come to the surface; (2) "video-stimulated recall" interviewing is a promising method to raise teacher awareness of these gendered thoughts and images; and (3) with a view to practitioners’ professional learning process, it is important for researchers to allow practitioners to co-investigate their practice.     

The well‐being of teachers in Flanders: the importance of a supportive school culture

Research on the well‐being of teachers was conducted at the request of the Department of Education in Flanders, Belgium. The goals were: (1) to construct an instrument for the Education Inspectorate; and (2) to conduct a survey in order to identify school‐related conditions relevant for teachers’ professional well‐being. Based on literature and panel discussions with teachers and principals, a questionnaire was constructed, tested and subdivided in subscales following a factor analysis. The questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of elementary (covering both nursery and primary schools, children aged 3–12) and secondary school teachers. A multilevel analysis reveals how differences in scores can be explained at school level.     

Promoting resiliency in adolescent girls through adventure programming

This study examined whether participation in an adventure program increased the resiliency of adolescent girls. Eighty-seven girls who participated in Dirt Divas, a non-profit, adventure program, completed the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents^® before and after their experience. Means-comparison tests for within-subjects designs were conducted and revealed that participants reported significantly higher levels of resilience after completing the Dirt Divas program, compared with their pre-program reports. Mixed-model repeated-measures analyses of variance showed that the changes in the girls’ resiliency were not affected by their socioeconomic status. Lastly, the long-term impact results (one month post participation) indicate that observed increases in resilience persist over time.     

The Influence of Additional Educational Support on Poverty-Stricken Adolescents’ Resilience and Academic Performance

Abstract

Resilience can be viewed as successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances (e.g. poverty). This article reports on an investigation of which the primary aim was to establish how additional educational support enhances adolescents’ resilience and academic performance. A quantitative approach was followed using two schools. One was a poverty-stricken school where additional educational support was officially offered, while the other school offered normal required tuition and was located in a middle class suburb. In total, 117 Grade 9 and 10 learners participated in the research. The results indicated that resilience related positively to academic performance and to other factors which are associated with academic performance such as teacher-learner relationships, parental involvement and study methods. Additional educational support to poverty-stricken learners resulted in higher resilience and academic achievement. Amongst the variables used in the investigation, additional educational support explained the largest proportion of the variance in academic achievement, followed by resilience and cognitive development.