TRAVEL THROUGH THE STEREOSCOPE

At first glance, photographic stereoviews of geographic and architectural sites produced around the turn of the twentieth century may appear static. After all, they are composed of still photographic indexical references to specific sites. Yet the three-dimensionality of the image creates an enhanced illusion of real space, pointing to aspirations of simulated travel, and in fact, stereoviews do feature movement within the frame of the image. Stereoviews compel the spectator to continuously change their point of view within the frame. Between the frames, movement from one stereoview to the next becomes another way of experiencing travel and creating a narrative. Certain producers of stereoviews packaged their photographs to represent specific tours of geographic regions, tours that embodied Grand Tour ideals of the physical world as a site of knowledge and amusement. Moreover, through both the composition of the photographs and the accompanying tour book, these collections create a normative view of history, progress and a stratified society.     

Books and Good Stuff: A Strategy for Building School to Home Literacy Connections

Engaging young children in literacy activities at home is one way for families to augment and enrich the home literacy setting and to participate in their child’s education at an early age (St. Pierre et al. in Dev Psychol 41(6): 953–970, 2005). Burgess et al. (Read Res Quart 4(4): 408–426, 2002) suggested that the resources families have at their disposal, the quality of literacy role models provided by parents, and the types of literacy and language activities in which parents and children engage, are all related to young children’s developing literacy and language abilities. Other studies demonstrated that even modest literacy-promoting interventions can significantly enhance a young child’s early literacy environment by increasing the frequency of parent–child book-sharing activities (Weitzman et al. in Pediatrics 113(5):1248–1253, 2004). Dever (J Early Educ Fam Rev 8(4):17–28, 2001) and Dever and Burtis (Early Child Dev Care 172(4):359–370, 2002) emphasize the use of family literacy bags for early childhood development. Developing and sharing take-home literacy bags is an exciting literacy-promoting activity that may be shared with children and families to provide support for emergent literacy. This article explores the development of the BAGS (Books and Good Stuff) take-home literacy kits and provides suggestions for content, construction, implementation, and evaluation. Sixteen current books are reviewed and recommended by theme.     

RESEARCH SECTION: Out of sight,out of mind? Transition for young people with learning difficulties in out‐of‐area residential special schools and colleges

Young people with learning difficulties who go to residential special schools and colleges are highly vulnerable, often living a long way from home. Transition towards adulthood – from school to college, or college and beyond – requires careful planning and support for both young people and their families. Despite national policy and guidance in this area, this article suggests that young people with learning difficulties in out-of-area placements are being failed in terms of transition education and face huge uncertainty and very limited choices. David Abbott and Pauline Heslop, both Senior Research Fellows at the Norah Fry Research Centre based at the University of Bristol, set out, in partnership with the Home Farm Trust, to examine transitions for young people with learning difficulties who attend out-of-county residential special schools and colleges. Drawing on empirical research with 15 young people, their families, and the professionals that support them, they outline in this article the main barriers to effective transition planning. They suggest that a lot more focus on planning and commitment to good outcomes is required to ensure that this group of young people have similar life chances to their non-disabled peers.     

Multiple worlds/mismatched meanings: Barriers to minority women engineers

Despite receiving over 55% of U.S. bachelor's degrees in 1996, women earned <19% of engineering degrees. Polynesian and Filipino women compose an almost vanishing percentage of these graduates. Interviews with four minority women who were close to or had recently completed degrees in civil or mechanical engineering reveal issues of class, race, and gender that affect school success in general and science success in particular. They specifically describe how stereotyping can lead to social stratification and unequal academic and occupational expectations. Narratives are interpreted through Butler's sex/gender theories, Bhaba's postcolonial theories of mimicry, Bourdieu's concepts of social capital and habitus, Bakhtin's theory of speech genres, and Stanton‐Salazar's concept of social networks. The results suggest that Grade K–12 educators, especially in elementary grades, need to challenge practices that segregate students into groups that reflect socioeconomic and ethnic status. In addition to content knowledge, teachers need the kind of multicultural preparation that will help them work effectively with diverse students and their families. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 621–636, 1999     

Leaving certificate accounting: Measuring students’ perceptions with the course experience questionnaire

Abstract

This study uses the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) to explore tertiary students’ perceptions of their recently completed Leaving Certificate higher‐level Accounting course. Overall it finds that students hold positive views of the course, consider the workload and assessment were appropriate, and perceive the goals and standards of the course to be clear. Generally, they were happy with the teaching of the course but a significant minority felt their teachers did not provide enough feedback or make the course interesting. While the students believe the course developed some generic skills, disappointingly, they do not feel confident in tackling unfamiliar problems. They also think that the course did not improve their written communication skills or ability to work as a team member. Recommendations about the volume of course material and assessment practices are made to help address these issues.     

Using Current Literature Selections to Nurture the Development of Kindness in Young Children

Learning to display kindness and compassion for others is a critical and ongoing developmental process and an important part of young children’s evolving social competence (Han and Kemple in Early Child Educ J 34(3):241–246, 2006; Moore in Early Child Educ Today 19(3):36–44, 2004). The capacity to care emanates from physical and psychological caregiving by nurturing others, develops into self-nurturing, and gradually supports the ability to nurture others (McNamee and Mercurio in Early Child Res Pract, , Spring 2007). Literature that highlights and supports secure attachment and positive interaction between young children and their significant adults and highlights kindness serves to build foundations of trust whereby prosocial behaviors such as sharing, helping, comforting, and caring are acknowledged and valued. A rationale, selection criteria, and teaching strategies for using picture books to encourage kindness are presented. Fourteen children’s books are reviewed and recommended.