‘I found out the hard way’: micro-political workings in professional football

This paper examines the micro-political experiences of Adam (a pseudonym), a newly appointed fitness coach at a Football Association Premier League club, in his search for acceptance by senior colleagues. Data were collected through a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, before being subject to a process of inductive analysis. Goffman's writings on impression management and stigma, Kelchtermans's micro-political perspective and Garfinkel's notion of status degradation are primarily utilised to make the sense of Adam's perceptions and actions. The findings point to the value of developing coaches’ micro-political understandings, and of including their formal facilitation within given professional preparation programmes. Doing so, it is argued, would better equip coaches for the problematic realities of their practice.     

Learner perceptions of the introduction of computer-assisted learning in mathematics at a peri-urban school in South Africa

This study responded to a national call to improve the outcomes in mathematics in the Grade 12 matriculation examination in South Africa by reporting learners’ perceptions of the introduction of computer-assisted learning in their mathematics classrooms. Three Grade 12 mathematics classes in a peri-urban school in South Africa were visited over a period of 4 months to observe the inclusion of a computer centre as part of the teaching of mathematics. Learner perceptions were obtained from (1) individual and group interviews and (2) an actual and preferred version of a learning environment instrument called the Computer-Assisted Learning Environment Questionnaire, which was developed for the South African context. Learners indicated that they considered application of computers as a positive step as it (1) increased their involvement in the mathematics classroom, (2) gave them more exercises in problem solving in mathematics, and (3) provided them with the opportunity to assess their own learning. However, a strong recommendation from this response is for more computers to be made available in order to allow learners to work individually and thereby be able to spend more time using the computers.     

The mediating role of mindfulness on stress and counseling self-efficacy

The authors explored how mindfulness influenced the relationship between perceived stress and counseling self-efficacy (CSE) among 187 counseling students. Results suggest mindfulness mediated the relationship, diminishing the negative impact of stress on CSE. Implications address how counselor educators can promote mindfulness as an avenue to enhance counselor development by increasing CSE and reducing stress in counseling students.     

Twenty years behind bars: reading aloud in Prison Reading Groups

ABSTRACT

This article describes some of the methodology, practice and effect of reading groups run by Prison Reading Groups (PRG), which currently operates in 60 prisons across the UK, and is supported by the charity Give A Book. Groups choose what they want to read together and how they will read it. Reading aloud can aid literacy as well as being a force for collaboration and pleasure. Poetry can thrive in this environment, despite initial wariness, and Shakespeare has found some new and enthusiastic readers.     

Speaking versus typing: a case-study of the effects of using voice-recognition software on academic correspondence

This paper contributes to the discussion about the effects of new technology on writing by assessing whether or not an experienced writer's style of writing changes when a new technology is introduced. 14 typed word-processed letters from ES to JH were compared with 14 dictated word-processed letters from ES after he had changed to using a voice-recognition system (Dragon Naturally Speaking). The results showed that, although there were large differences between the methods and experience of writing with the two technologies, there were no significant differences between the average letter lengths, numbers of paragraphs written and number of sentences used in each group of letters. Nor were there any significant differences in terms of readability, or typographical and grammatical errors. However, the dictated letters did have significantly shorter sentences, significantly fewer particularly long sentences (ie, those containing more than 50 words), and used the first-person pronoun more frequently. The overall results thus indicate that using the voice-recognition software had only marginal effects upon the written products, despite the fact that it had a strong effect on ES's experience of the writing process.     

Government leadership to protect children from foster care "drift"

In the United States public concern about foster care drift is widespread. "Drift" means lengthy placement away from the natural family, without a clear goal to return the child or find some other permanent home. Concern is focused on the negative effect of lengthy foster care on the psychological health of the child, and also on the increasing cost of such placement. Recently, the federal government, in response to extensive testimony about these issues, passed landmark legislation designed to reduce foster care drift, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Funding Act of 1980. Thus the government has now become a leader in child welfare planning. The law requires a reporting and tracking system so that no child already in placement becomes "lost in the system." In addition, all proposed foster placements are now hedged with requirements that there be clear purposes and goals to be achieved by such placements. In effect placements must be defended, tracked, and reviewed periodically. The new requirements pose a rebuke to the professions serving children which have failed to stem the increase in foster care, and to control and place a time limit on such interventions in the family. Federal leadership has created a political climate in child welfare planning. The regulations issued to implement the law in the Carter presidency differ from those of the current administration. The current policy of the government of the United States is to provide protection of the family from excessive foster care placements by child welfare agencies. This is support for greater autonomy for the family, a more conservative approach.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)