Butterfly Power in the Art of Mentoring Deaf and Hard of Hearing College Students

This article describes the ways in which critical events in the lives of college students may contribute to their career development and personal well being. These critical events are referred to as 'butterflies', adopting as a metaphor that concept from chaos theory which states that relatively small events can have large effects. The study analyzes these events and their effects from the perspective of the students' mentors. Results of the study are related to other concepts from chaos theory including bifurcation points, autopoiesis and emergence. The study explores both the different kinds of critical events students experience as well as how mentoring may help students to deal with them. The role of the mentor as interpreter of events, as change agent and as intervener are identified. The article argues that mentors need to be aware of the potential power of critical events in the career development of college students.     

Start talking and stop misbehaving

Abstract

School exclusions remain at a high level in the UK. Exclusions are the result of the interaction of complex factors, and schools are not equipped to tackle disaffection and disruptive behaviour on their own. The article describes the evaluation of a multidisciplinary home and school support project in a city borough. The project provides early intervention for primary school children at risk of developing serious emotional and behavioural problems and of subsequent exclusion. To this end the project works with children, parents/carers and schools in a holistic manner. The project also aims to improve home-school relationships, increase teacher understanding and integrate professional practice. Both mainstream and special settings have found the project to be of value.     

Ethical review and reflexivity in research of children's sexuality

Research in the area of children's sexuality is largely based on observational and retrospective studies. Childhood studies literature increasingly calls upon the inclusion of children's voices, yet with sensitive topics ethical positions often close research possibilities in the territories of children's worlds. Children are perceived as a vulnerable group, especially when the investigation focuses on their sexual development and activity – and it is perceived that this research area is too sensitive and potentially harmful to children. Within the context of beginning a qualitative study on children's sexuality in New Zealand (including interviews with children), this paper reviews a number of studies of childhood research. These studies provide a glimpse at how research focusing on children has been conducted, and explores ethical issues arising in such research. The significance of researcher reflexivity is acknowledged for ethical research practice. The paper concludes that in research on children's sexuality a process of ethical review is limited, and that researcher competence in sensitive investigations is required. Among other difficulties for this researcher (with a professional background in child and family therapy) is the vulnerability of being a man choosing to research children.     

The impact of collaborative video analysis by practitioners and researchers upon pedagogical thinking and practice: a follow‐up study

The ‘T‐MEDIA’ project analysed and documented how teachers exploit the use of projection technologies – data projectors and interactive whiteboards (IWBs) – to support learning in secondary‐school subject lessons. The research involved collaboration between university researchers and four pairs of UK teachers (of English, mathematics, science and history) in an intensive process of systematically analysing video recordings of classroom activity and other data in depth. Our goals were to assist teachers in articulating the pedagogical rationale underlying their practice, and uniquely, to engage them in theory building about strategic technology use. This paper reports on a follow‐up study carried out one year after the collaborative analyses in order to assess the subsequent impacts of the process of critical reflection. The eight teachers were questioned using a semi‐structured interview technique that allowed us to elicit structured and personalised accounts of impact on pedagogical thinking and practice and the supporting or constraining factors. The findings suggest that for at least some, the sociocultural theory introduced and reformulated during the analyses provided a powerful analytical lens upon emerging practices, including those not incorporating technology. All of the participants reported lasting effects upon their own thinking and, except where external constraints operated, on teaching practices. The approaches developed during T‐MEDIA had additionally been disseminated to and adapted by other subject colleagues. The study illustrates how collaborative analysis of lesson videos can be used to engage teachers in deep reflection, critique and debate. This approach supports the development of an analytical scrutiny of classroom teaching and offers a significant professional development opportunity. In particular, under conditions of sensitive support, teachers will readily accommodate theoretical constructs into specific areas of professional thinking and practice.     

Criminal justice doctoral programs in the United States and Canada: Findings from a national survey

Characteristics of 13 doctoral programs in criminal justice and criminology are examined. Features described include the age and size of the programs, representation of women and minorities among faculty and graduate students, admissions requirements and admissions activity, financial support available to graduate students, and characteristics of the curricula. Criminal justice doctoral programs vary widely on each of these characteristics.     

Stereotype threat in manual labor settings for African American and Caucasian participants

Stereotype threat has primarily been studied with regard to test performance in academic settings, testing aptitude, ability, and intelligence, and it has been found to cause both behavioral and cognitive decrements. Although there is research on stereotype threat in the workplace, this too is usually conducted in upper‐level or more academically based job tasks. This article concentrates on how stereotype threat affects those in manual labor workplace settings. This research, however, sought to test subjects on a behavioral task in a workplace setting to see if the results mirror those in academia. Stereotype threat in academic settings has been shown to cause both behavioral and cognitive decrements. It was theorized that stereotype threat would cause performance decrements for the African American participants. Participants were undergraduate students—60 Caucasian and 60 African American. All performed two manual labor tasks, sorting and assembling nuts and bolts, and a math test, half while under stereotype threat and half without stereotype threat manipulation. Results yielded significant differences between the two conditions for African Americans on both the academic and nonacademic/manual labor tasks.     

Qualitative review synthesis: the relationship between inattention and academic achievement

Background: A body of literature has emerged that links inattentive symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to poor academic achievement. Major variation across studies renders conclusions about this relationship complex.

Purpose: This review will provide a qualitative synthesis of these studies that (1) use community samples and (2) examine inattention as a separate dimension from hyperactivity/impulsivity. The aim of this review is to ascertain whether the relationship documented between inattention and academic outcomes in ADHD also holds for the dimensional trait of inattention as manifest in non-clinical community samples of children and adolescents, taking into consideration both academic achievement and academic performance across age.

Design and methods: A comprehensive search was carried out using two databases. The PRISMA guidelines were used to report the search steps. The QUIPS tool was used to rate the quality of studies, followed by a best evidence synthesis to summarise these results.

Results: Out of 1748 citations found, 27 articles met the specific inclusion criteria. Results point to a strong effect according to the best evidence synthesis: 7 studies that have low risk of bias found that teacher-rated inattention is significantly predicative of poor academic achievement in community samples of children.

Conclusions: This review provides support for a consistent, negative relationship between classroom inattention as reported by teachers and both standardised academic test achievement and classroom performance outcomes for children in preschool (moderate evidence), elementary school and longitudinally from elementary to high school. The average relationship was stronger when classroom performance was measured, as compared to standardised achievement. However, the quantitative strength of relationship has not been confirmed with a meta-analysis due to heterogeneity and too few high-quality studies identified. Variance across the studies in terms of the strength of association suggests that other unexamined factors (e.g. cognitive function or motivation) may be contributing to this relationship. Implications for educators and clinicians who work within the school setting are discussed.