Family,child and location factors and parents’ reasons for multiple concurrent childcare arrangements in the years before school in Australia

Research suggests that multiple non-parental care arrangements may have adverse effects on young children, yet little is known about their prevalence, factors associated with their use, or parents’ reasons for making these care arrangements. This longitudinal study reports on 677 children and their families recruited from government-regulated child care centers and family child care services in urban and rural New South Wales, Australia. Multiple concurrent care arrangements were relatively common, with one third of children attending at least two child care arrangements per week. Multiple child care was found to be more likely for children who were older, with better health, or with employed mothers, and who were living in rural rather than urban areas. Results suggest that parents’ reasons for using multiple care arrangements were based largely based on preferences that were made in the best interests of the child and on convenience. The deliberate choice by parents to use multiple child care arrangements to benefit their child challenges the assumption in previous literature that mixed care is not the parents’ first choice.     

Research‐capacity building,professional learning and the social practices of educational research

There have been numerous attempts in the past few years within education research—and social science research more generally—to alter the character of research practice(s). In particular, there has been a systematic effort to address perceived shortcomings in research practice through a series of ‘research‐capacity building’ initiatives, aimed at the restructuring of professional learning. In this article the authors explore empirically the ways in which different modes of professional learning are implicated in the social practices of education research. These considerations lead to the conclusion that the currently dominant approaches to research‐capacity building are based on an underestimation of the difficulties in influencing the professional learning of educational researchers significantly and, thereby, changing the practices of educational research. More realistic expectations of these forms of research‐capacity building, in turn, suggest the need to develop alternative approaches that acknowledge the exigencies of the current social organisation of educational research more fully.     

Evaluation of a Teaching Kit for Family and Consumer Science Classrooms: Motivating Students To Use a Food Thermometer with Small Cuts Of Meat

ABSTRACT: The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture recommends use of food thermometers to safely cook small cuts of meat, yet most consumers do not use them. Consumers lack knowledge about how and why to use food thermometers with small cuts of meat. Opportunities exist for family and consumer science classes to provide education about thermometers to adolescents, who may disseminate this information to parents. The most successful nutrition programs are based on behavior-change theories compared with standard interventions. A teaching kit for high school students was developed, based on the Health Belief and Transtheoretical Models, covering the "how's" and "why's" of using food thermometers. After participating in the lessons, students' knowledge about the reasons for using a thermometer and their self-confidence in using thermometers increased. In addition, students were more ready to use a thermometer with small cuts of meat after completing the intervention.     

Factors discriminating among profiles of resilience and psychopathology in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV)

ObjectiveTo evaluate the social and emotional adjustment of 219 children in families with varying levels of intimate partner violence (IPV) using a model of risk and protection. To explore factors that differentiate children with poor adjustment from those with resilience.MethodologyMothers who experienced IPV in the past year and their children ages 6–12 were interviewed. Standardized measures assessed family violence, parenting, family functioning, maternal mental health, and children's adjustment and beliefs.ResultsUsing cluster analysis, all cases with valid data on the Child Behavior Checklist, Child Depression Inventory, General Self-Worth and Social Self-Competence measures were described by four profiles of children's adjustment: Severe Adjustment Problems (24%); children who were Struggling (45%); those with Depression Only (11%); and Resilient (20%) with high competence and low adjustment problems. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed children in the Severe Problems cluster witnessed more family violence and had mothers higher in depression and trauma symptoms than other children. Resilient and Struggling children had mothers with better parenting, more family strengths and no past violent partner. Parents of children with Severe Problems were lacking these attributes. The Depressed profile children witnessed less violence but had greater fears and worries about mother's safety.ConclusionFactors related to the child, to the mother and to the family distinguish different profiles of adjustment for children exposed to IPV who are living in the community. Resilient children have less violence exposure, fewer fears and worries, and mothers with better mental health and parenting skills, suggesting avenues for intervention with this population.Practice implicationsFindings suggest that child adjustment is largely influenced by parent functioning. Thus, services should be targeted at both the child and the parent. Clinical interventions shaped to the unique needs of the child might also be tested with this population.     

Prospective teachers’ reasoning and response to a student’s non-traditional strategy when dividing fractions

Recognizing meaning in students’ mathematical ideas is challenging, especially when such ideas are different from standard mathematics. This study examined, through a teaching-scenario task, the reasoning and responses of prospective elementary and secondary teachers to a student’s non-traditional strategy for dividing fractions. Six categories of reasoning were constructed, making a distinction between deep and surface layers. The connections between the participants’ reasoning, their teaching response, and their beliefs about mathematics teaching were investigated. We found that there were not only differences but also similarities between the prospective elementary and secondary teachers’ reasoning and responses. We also found that those who unpacked the mathematical underpinning of the student’s non-traditional strategy tended to use what we call “teacher-focused” responses, whereas those doing less analysis work tended to construct “student-focused” responses. These results and their implications are discussed in relation to the influential factors the participants themselves identified to explain their approach to the given teaching-scenario task.

The relative efficiency of charter schools: A cost frontier approach

Charters represent an expansion of public school choice, offering free, publicly funded educational alternatives to traditional public schools. One relatively unexplored research question concerning charter schools asks whether charter schools are more efficient suppliers of educational services than are traditional public schools. The potential relative efficiency advantage of charters vis-a-vis traditional publics is one of the mechanisms that supports the hypotheses that charters could improve performance for their students while using the same or fewer resources, and that the systemic effect of charters could lead to improved outcomes for traditional public students without requiring an increase in education sector resources.     

Comparative education and the ‘new’ sociologies

The authors examine the impact of the new sociologies on comparative education by reviewing five comparative readers published during the past twenty years. While the new sociologies have had considerable impact within sociology and the sociology of education, minimal impact is found within comparative education. The authors further show that while critical new sociologies such as Marxism, neo-Marxism, and Critical theory have had some penetration into comparative education, use of the interpretative sociologies such as symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology, and semiotics has generally been absent. The authors conclude by suggesting that a synthesis of the critical and interpretative modes would prove fruitful for further work in comparative education.The five texts are: Halsey, Floud and Anderson (eds.),Education, Economy and Society (1961); Eckstein and Noah (eds.),Scientific Investigations in Comparative Education (1969); Beck,Perspectives on World Education (1970); Karabel and Halsey (eds.),Power and Ideology in Education (1977); and Altbach and Kelly (eds.),Education and Colonialism (1978).

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Zusammenfassung Anhand fünf im Laufe der letzten zwanzig Jahre erschienener Schriften untersuchen die Verfasser die Auswirkung der neuen Soziologieen auf die vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft. Während diese neuen Soziologieen die Soziologie als solche und die Bildungs-Soziologie stark beeinflußten, war ihre Wirkung auf die vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft äusserst gering. Ferner wird festgestellt, daß die kritischen neuen Soziologieen, wie Marxismus, Neo-Marxismus und Kritische Theorie, zwar etwas in die vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft eingedrungen sind, die interpretativen, wie symbolischer Interaktionismus, Ethnomethodologie und Semiotik, dagegen im allgemeinen kaum Eingang gefunden haben. Nach Ansicht der Autoren würde sich eine Synthese der kritischen und interpretativen Modelle als fruchtbar für weitere Forschung auf dem Gebiet der vergleichenden Erziehungswissenschaft erweisen.Die fünf untersuchten Texte sind: Halsey, Floud and Anderson (eds.),Education, Economy and Society (1961); Eckstein and Noah (eds.),Scientific Investigations in Comparative Education (1969); Beck,Perspectives on World Education (1970); Karabel and Halsey (eds.),Power and Ideology in Education (1977); und Altbach and Kelly (eds.),Education and Colonialism (1978).

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Résumé Les auteurs examinent l'impact des nouvelles sociologies sur l'éducation comparée en procédant à l'analyse de cinq livres de lecture comparée publiés au cours de ces vingt dernières années. Tandis que les nouvelles sociologies ont eu une portée considérable sur la sociologie et sur la sociologie de l'éducation, la répercussion de l'éducation comparée a été moindre. Les auteurs montrent ensuite que si les nouvelles sociologies critiques telles que le Marxisme, le neo-Marxisme et la théorie Critique ont pénétré, jusqu'à un certain point, dans l'éducation comparée, il n'en a pas été de même pour les sociologies interprétatives, telles que l'interaction symbolique, l'ethnométhodologie et la sémiotique qui n'ont généralement pas été utilisées. Les auteurs concluent en suggérant qu'une synthèse des méthodes critiques et interprétatives serait utile pour un travail ultérieur sur l'éducation comparée.Les cinq textes étudiés sont: Halsey, Floud and Anderson (eds.),Education, Economy and Society (1961); Eckstein and Noah (eds.),Scientific Investigations in Comparative Education (1969); Beck,Perspectives on World Education (1970); Karabel and Halsey (eds.),Power and Ideology in Education (1977); et Altbach and Kelly (eds.),Education and Colonialism (1978).

     

Student estrangement in higher education: identity formation and the struggle against stigma

Abstract

While investigation on family estrangement is growing within academic circles, research regarding the interconnection between experiences of estrangement and higher education (HE) is still limited. Sociological understandings of these issues are even scarcer, with policy interventions and practical guidance forming early interventions in HE. Set within the context of Scotland, this paper explores the experiences of HE students who are estranged from their family, and interrogates the ways students develop a sense of identity in the context of their academic lives. The paper applies Goffman’s work on stigma and identity management in relation to Bourdieu’s concept of capitals to cast a critical eye on the identity formation of estranged students. In doing so, we challenge normative assumptions of what it means to be a university student in contemporary society and urge institutions and policy makers to rethink the complexity of students’ academic lives in more inclusive ways.