The role of statements of institutional purpose

This paper assesses the utility and role of institutional purpose statements. If they are as effective as one is led to believe, what intrinsic facts or elements make them so? Is there value in having a purpose statement, or is the value attributed to the exercise of creating and discussing it? If there is such a value, what forms and circumstances create the value? What forms do mission statements usually take? Do different forms have different attributes? In addressing these questions, two methods are employed. One is conventional in that literature documenting the theory and research of others has been carefully reviewed, but from the particular perspectives of form and effectiveness. The other is to examine a series of actual statements of institutional purpose, with particular regard to form, content, and context of planning. To elucidate the context of planning, a series of master plans and mission statements for systems of higher education are also examined. In total, 32 institutional statements and 12 system plans or statements are examined. (The plans that are examined are listed in Appendixes A and B.) The paper observes that mission statements are effective in some situations, but not in all. In some situations they may be disadvantageous. Although planning theorists suggest that mission statements follow an approximately common form, the study of actual statements indicates several different types.     

Living in history and Changing the World: An Investigation Into the Culture of All Stars Project,Inc.

This article focuses on the experiences of individuals organizing at All Stars Project Inc. in New York City. Interview and observation were employed to understand individuals' involvement and commitment to the organization. Results show that the perceived successes of the organization can be attributed to strong leadership, fostering community, commitment to action and social change, and valuing empathy.     

Economic Hardship and the Development of Five- and Six-Year-Olds: Neighborhood and Regional Perspectives

The present study examines the association between neighborhood characteristics and the development of 5- and 6-year-olds. We also explore how region might moderate the effects of neighborhoods on children, thus considering both larger (regional) and smaller (community) contexts of families. We find that structural aspects of the neighborhood at the census tract level are associated with child development in the early school-age period. For the sample as a whole, neighborhood factors play a role in both cognitive and socioemotional outcomes, even when family factors are controlled. Yet only modest support for neighborhood influences on child development is evident in our main effects models. It appears that neighborhood influences on child development are underestimated or masked unless the associations are examined separately by two areas of the United States: the Midwest and Northeast versus the South and West. Significant associations between neighborhood variables and children's development are seen in the Northeastern and Midwestern regions, but less so in the Southern and Western regions of the United States. Greater economic and social resources as measured by average neighborhood SES (income, education, occupation) and greater ethnic congruity as measured by more neighbors of the same racial heritage as the child are related to higher cognitive functioning, but only in the Northeast and Midwest. Furthermore, children in these regions show more competent behavioral functioning when the relative presence of adults to children in the neighborhood is higher. In these regions, African-American but not white children show higher levels of behavior problems when community male joblessness rates are higher. We speculate about processes that might underlie these neighborhood and regional effects and point to directions for further research.     

Developing epistemologically empowered teachers: examining the role of philosophy of chemistry in teacher education

History and philosophy of science have been widely promoted in science teacher education for several decades. However the application of themes from philosophy of science in science teacher education has been rather broad and not particular relative to the domain-specific features of the science in question. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the new field of philosophy of chemistry can contribute to science teacher education. Since the beginning of the 1990s, philosophy of chemistry has emerged as a relatively new branch of philosophy of science examining the distinctive nature of chemical knowledge. Some implications of this domain in chemical education have been investigated although the research territory in this area remains underdeveloped. The paper is intended to contribute to this area of research by focusing on a particular theme, the microscopic/macroscopic relationship (or the so-called ‘supervenience’ problem) in the context of models and modelling. Literature review of students’ and teachers’ understanding of models and modelling in chemistry highlights the importance of incorporating the epistemological aspects of related chemical concepts. The implications for teacher education are discussed.     

Childhood emotional abuse and neglect as predictors of psychological and physical symptoms in women presenting to a primary care practice

OBJECTIVE: There were two aims to this study: first to examine whether emotional abuse and neglect are significant predictors of psychological and somatic symptoms, and lifetime trauma exposure in women presenting to a primary care practice, and second to examine the strength of these relationships after controlling for the effects of other types of childhood abuse and trauma. METHOD: Two-hundred and five women completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 1994), Trauma History Questionnaire (Green, 1996), the Symptom Checklist-revised (Derogatis, 1997), and the Revised Civilian Mississippi Scale for posttraumatic stress disorder (Norris & Perilla, 1996) when presenting to their primary care physician for a visit. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine unique contributions of emotional abuse and neglect variables on symptom measures while controlling for childhood sexual and physical abuse and lifetime trauma exposure. RESULTS: A history of emotional abuse and neglect was associated with increased anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and physical symptoms, as well as lifetime trauma exposure. Physical and sexual abuse and lifetime trauma were also significant predictors of physical and psychological symptoms. Hierarchical multiple regressions demonstrated that emotional abuse and neglect predicted symptomatology in these women even when controlling for other types of abuse and lifetime trauma exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Long-standing behavioral consequences may arise as a result of childhood emotional abuse and neglect, specifically, poorer emotional and physical functioning, and vulnerability to further trauma exposure.     

The innovation of Ontario full-day kindergarten educator teams: have they reproduced the split systems of care and education?

This study investigated the implementation of a full-day kindergarten programme in Ontario, Canada. Key to the implementation of this programme has been a new kind of educator team consisting of a certified teacher and a registered early childhood educator and a complementary partnership in which each team member contributes equally. Our research examined team members’ perceptions and practices related to their roles and responsibilities. Findings suggest that the care work for which early childhood educators are disproportionally responsible is accorded less value and status than the work of educating children. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the care/education split, the social reproduction of care work and social inequities.     

C2STEM: a System for Synergistic Learning of Physics and Computational Thinking

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Synergistic learning combining computational thinking (CT) and STEM has proven to be an effective method for advancing learning and understanding in a...     

Friends,peers and higher education

Theorists of friendship in contemporary society have suggested that our relationships with peers are characterised by their emphasis on openness, disclosure and emotional communication. Moreover, Beck and Beck‐Gernsheim argue that friendship, as a deliberately sought, trusting partnership between two people, can play an important role in countering some of the negative consequences of a market‐driven society, ‘acting as a shared lifeline to take the weight of each other’s confusions and weaknesses’. However, drawing on a series of in‐depth interviews with students from nine different higher education institutions, this paper will argue that such theorists overlook significant complexity in the ways in which young adults choose to ‘order’ their friendships. Indeed, it will suggest that highly individualised and ruthlessly competitive approaches to academic study can be maintained alongside more socially cooperative relationships with friends and peers, played out in non‐academic arenas. The paper will discuss the implications of this for both sociological theorising about friendship, and policy and practice within the higher education sector.     

Look At That! Video Chat and Joint Visual Attention Development Among Babies and Toddlers

Although many relatives use video chat to keep in touch with toddlers, key features of adult–toddler interaction like joint visual attention (JVA) may be compromised in this context. In this study, 25 families with a child between 6 and 24 months were observed using video chat at home with geographically separated grandparents. We define two types of screen‐mediated JVA (across‐ and within‐screen) and report age‐related increases in the babies’ across‐screen JVA initiations, and that family JVA usage was positively related to babies’ overall attention during video calls. Babies today are immersed in a digital world where formative relationships are often mediated by a screen. Implications for both infant social development and developmental research are discussed.