‘Where do babies come from?’ Barriers to early sexuality communication between parents and young children

‘Where do babies come from?’ ‘Why do boys have willies?’ ‘What does gay mean?’ Probably all parents have faced such ‘innocent’ questions from young children, and many have found them challenging to answer. Access to sexuality education at an early age is frequently considered controversial; however, there are strong indications that early and open communication can impact positively in terms of sexual safety and outcomes. Using focus group discussions with parents of 3–7 year olds in the UK, this study explores some of the challenges parents report in dealing with early sexual socialisation as well as the reasons they cite for restricting young children's sexual awareness and access to knowledge. Thematic analysis reveals a number of barriers to communication: the need to protect childhood ‘innocence’, suitable timing and age appropriateness of explanations, personal discomfort, and fear of criticism and judgement.     

School improvement in the context of the special school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Abstract

This article examines the issues which are particular to the KEYWORDS development and improvement of schools for children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Key issues such as team formation and teamwork, cooperation, problem solving capabilities and the school’s capacity to take ownership of the change process are analysed against the background of a case study of one EBD school. The process of change in this school is tracked through the evolution of the ownership of change and the dynamics involved in that process.     

The nanny in the schoolhouse: the role of femme-Caribbean identity in attaining success in urban science classrooms

A growing body of teacher identity-based research has begun to embrace that the development of self-understanding about being a teacher is critical to learning how to teach. Construction of a professional teacher identity requires much more beyond mere content, skills and a foundational pedagogy. It also includes an intersection of the personal and professional self, which gives way to the emergence of multiple identities in the classroom. An educator’s gender, nationality, language and interests among other tenets all permeate the classroom field and coexist alongside the professional role identity. This paper aims to use narrative as a way to discuss how science educators can mediate holding several identities in the classroom in order to create an environment characterized by successful teaching and learning. Drawing from an array of sociocultural theoretical perspectives, complementary constructs of identity by Jonathan Turner (Face to face: toward a sociological theory of interpersonal behavior. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2002) and Amartya Sen (Identity and violence: the illusion of destiny. W. W. Norton, New York, 2006), George Lakoff’s (Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980) work on metonymy, and David Bloome’s (2005) theorization of the power of caring relationships, I explore the ways in which my Black female Caribbean identity has transformed the science classroom field and created positive resonance for some of my privileged White students who have Caribbean caretakers at home. To begin, I unpack how Afro-Caribbean immigration to urban centers in the United States continues to produce childcare occupational opportunities in places like New York City. Being a first generation Trinidadian immigrant, my many identities have structured my science teaching praxis and consequently transformed the way my students learn science. A significant part of this paper is a reflexive account of experiences (primarily dialogue) with science students situated both within and outside the science classroom. Conversations with students who were raised through the hired help of Caribbean nannies have revealed that there is a strong resemblance to the way they perceive their caretakers as they do me—their instructor. These conversations serve as a backdrop to illuminate the dynamic nature of identity construction and its relationship to the development of ongoing dialogue. The hope is that this autoethnographic work illustrates the salience of student lifeworlds in affording opportunities for success in the science classroom. Additionally, this research seeks to illustrate how understanding the unconscious ‘backgrounding’ and ‘foregrounding’ of certain identities in the classroom can improve one’s praxis in the urban science classroom and possibly increase student success in science. It is also hoped that this story reiterates the importance of using stories for purposes of scholarship, for moving towards better understandings of the social situations we are concerned to investigate as researchers and for better communication of those understandings.     

Using the EPPM to Create and Evaluate the Effectiveness of Brochures to Increase the Use of Hearing Protection in Farmers and Landscape Workers

The extended parallel process model was employed to increase intentions to use on-the-job hearing protection among agricultural workers. Brochures were designed to increase perceptions of the threat of hearing loss and the efficacy of hearing protection to avert hearing loss. Brochures were presented to one half of the sample in each population (farmers and landscapers), and a questionnaire was administered assessing perceptions of threat, efficacy, and intentions. The other half of each sample completed the questionnaire, and then received brochures. Results indicated that farmers were initially high in threat and efficacy perceptions, but brochure exposure resulted in higher intentions to use hearing protection. Landscapers perceived higher threat, efficacy, and intentions after being presented with the brochure. Results are discussed in terms of future research and practical application.     

Becoming an Andragogical Librarian: Using Library Instruction as a Tool to Combat Library Anxiety and Empower Adult Learners

Andragogy refers to theory specific to teaching adults, as opposed to pedagogy, which refers to the teaching methodologies used to instruct children. Popularized by adult educator Malcolm Knowles, andragogy relies on 5 basic tenants: adult learners are self-directed, they possess life experience that informs their learning, they possess a desire to actively participate in the learning process, their learning needs to be relevant to their lives, and they are highly motivated to learn. A review of the literature in library science (specifically library instruction) and adult education aims to arm librarians with a working knowledge of andragogy. This is an especially important undertaking as adult learners are becoming a much larger student demographic at colleges and universities around the world, and the specific needs, characteristics, and anxieties of adult learners are often overlooked. Instruction librarians’ most valuable tool for working with adult learners is bibliographic instruction. Effectively designed sessions can alleviate the library anxiety of adult learners and empower them to become better students.     

Parent–child conversations about letters and pictures

Learning about letters, and how they differ from pictures, is one important aspect of a young child??s print awareness. To test the hypothesis that parent speech provides children with information about these differences, we studied parent?Cchild conversations in CHILDES (MacWhinney, 2000). We found that parents talk to their young children about letters, differentiating them from pictures, by 1?C2?years of age and that some of these conversational patterns change across the preschool years in ways that emphasize important features of letters, such as their shape. We also found that children talk about letters and pictures in distinct ways, suggesting an implicit understanding of some of the differences between letters and pictures at an early age. Some differences in parent?Cchild conversations about letters were found as a function of socioeconomic status: Lower SES families appeared to focus more on alphabetic order than higher SES families. The general letter knowledge expressed in these conversations suggests that everyday interactions are an important component of the home literacy environment and that they differ, in some respects, as a function of child age and family background.     

Any reward will do: Effects of a reverse-reward contingency on size preference with pet dogs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis lupus familiaris</Emphasis>)

The reverse-reward contingency (RRC) task involves presenting subjects with a choice between one plate containing a large amount of food and a second plate containing a small amount of food. Subjects are then required to select the smaller of the two options in order to receive the larger-magnitude reward. The RRC task is a commonly used paradigm for assessing complex cognition, such as inhibitory control, in subjects. To date, the RRC task has not been tested with pet dogs as subjects, and it may provide insights to their ability to perceive quantities of differing magnitudes. Nine dogs were tested in an RRC task involving three conditions. In Condition 1, plates of food were presented, and the dogs were allowed to consume their choice. In Condition 2, plates with different-sized symbols resembling the quantities of food in Condition 1 were presented, and dogs received food quantities of the same size as their choice (e.g., a larger-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). In Condition 3, the same plates were presented, but dogs received a reverse-sized quantity of food, relative to their choice (e.g., a smaller-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). A novel addition here to the traditional RRC task was the inclusion of a third, empty (control) plate that was present throughout all conditions, and no programmed consequences were provided when that plate was selected. Our results were consistent with the previous RRC literature: All dogs developed and maintained a preference for the larger stimulus option across conditions. The use of symbolic representations did not ameliorate performance on the RRC task. Applied implications are discussed.     

“Moving” the Pyramids of Giza: Measuring the Effects of Ethics Education in a Visual Communication Curriculum

As mass communication scholars and educators, we should be greatly concerned about how we teach ethics to our students. This research posits improving the quality of mass communication education with the intention of producing top-notch journalists who are dedicated to raising the credibility of the profession. Specifically, the research assesses the effects of integrating ethical content within a visual communication course, focusing on two critical and timely issues in visual journalism: the acceptability of graphic photographs and image manipulation. Findings showed significant differences in how participants viewed selected ethical issues in visual journalism from time 1 to time 2.