Social Understanding in Young Israeli-Jewish,Israeli-Palestinian,Palestinian, and Jordanian Children: Moral Judgments and Stereotypes

Research Findings: An empirical investigation was conducted to test young Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli-Palestinian, and Israeli-Jewish children's (N = 433; M = 5.7 years of age) cultural stereotypes and their evaluations of peer intergroup exclusion based upon a number of different factors, including being from a different country and speaking a different language. Children in this study lived in a geographical region that has a history of cultural and religious tension, violence, and extreme intergroup conflict. Our findings reveal that the negative consequences of living with intergroup tension are related to the use of stereotypes. At the same time, the results for moral judgments and evaluations about excluding peers provide positive results about the young children's inclusive views regarding peer interactions. Practice: These findings indicate that practitioners working with young children should focus on inclusion in peer contexts. Curricula, media, and social intervention programs must begin in early childhood before children begin to use stereotypes in peer situations, particularly when children from other cultural and ethnic backgrounds play together.     

An evaluation of an outdoor education programme for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Abstract

A case study examined the value of outdoor education for two groups of pupils from Year 9 and 10 with severe behavioural difficulties placed in an independent residential school. The methods included systematic observations of their behaviour and recording of their academic performance over the duration of the programme; participant observation field notes kept by the researcher; and interviewing of all participating pupils and staff to elicit their perceptions of the utility of the programme. The analysis suggested that the programme was successful in promoting positive behaviour and academic gains for most pupils, and that by the end both pupils and staff held a positive perception of outdoor education. Although outdoor education may not form a solution to dealing with 'problematic' behaviour, it represents a powerful, albeit underused, tool for reducing disaffection, promoting inclusive practice and decreasing the risk of permanent exclusion for this vulnerable group of pupils.     

EFFECT OF THE PRESENCE OF EXTERNAL REPRESENTATIONS ON ACCURACY AND REACTION TIME IN SOLVING MATHEMATICAL DOUBLE-CHOICE PROBLEMS BY STUDENTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INSTRUCTION

This study explores the effects of the presence of external representations of a mathematical object (ERs) on problem solving performance associated with short double-choice problems. The problems were borrowed from secondary school algebra and geometry, and the ERs were either formulas, graphs of functions, or drawings of geometric figures. Performance was evaluated according to the reaction time (RT) required for solving the problem and the accuracy of the answer. Thirty high school students studying at high and regular levels of instruction in mathematics (HL and RL) were asked to solve half of the problems with ERs and half of the problems without ERs. Each task was solved by half of the students with ERs and by half of the students without ERs. We found main effects of the representation mode with particular effect on the RT and the main effects of the level of mathematical instruction and mathematical subject with particular influence on the accuracy of students’ responses. We explain our findings using the cognitive load theory and hypothesize that these findings are associated with the different cognitive processes related to geometry and algebra.     

No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Broadcast Network Television Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign

This study examined substantive political coverage of the first presidential debate and the political conventions in 2004 on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the broadcast television networks' nightly newscasts. The study found the networks' coverage to be more hype than substance and coverage on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to be more humor than substance. The amount of substantive information in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the broadcast network newscasts was the same, regardless of whether the unit of analysis was news stories about the presidential election campaign or the entire half-hour program.     

General Media and Journalism

William E. Francois, Introduction to Mass Communications and Mass Media (Columbus, Ohio: Grid Publishing Co., 1977—$9.95, paper)

John M. Phelan's Mediaworld: Programming the Public (New York: Seabury Press, 1977—$8.95)

Harvey L. Zuckman and Martin J. Gaynes' Mass Communications Law in a Nutshell (St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., 1977—price not given but under $10.00, paper)

Communication Abstracts (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, quarterly beginning Spring 1978/$30.00 for individuals; $54.00 for institutions, and these are introductory rates)

Margaret Harmon, ed. Working with Words: Careers for Writers (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977—$7.95)

Walter Fox's Writing the News: Print Journalism in the Electronic Age (New York: Hastings House, 1977—$8.95/4.50)

Lee Finkle's Forum for Protest: The Black Press During World War II (Ruthorford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975—$12.50)

Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin's The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450-1800 (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press [London: NLB], 1976—$27.00)

George Seldes' Even the Gods Can't Change History: The Facts Speak for Themselves (Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle Stuart Inc., 1976—$10.00)

Denis McQuail's Review of Sociological Writing on the Press (London: IIMSO, 1976—£16 or about $2.00, paper, including postage)     

Factors associated with the effective inclusion of primary-aged pupils with Down's syndrome

It is increasingly common for pupils with Down's syndrome to be offered places in mainstream primary schools. However, there is still much to learn about the impact of these placements upon children and classrooms. Recently the Nuffield Foundation funded a two-year research project exploring the inclusion of primary-aged pupils with Down's syndrome. The research focused on the inclusion of 18 pupils with Down's syndrome who attended mainstream primary schools in six local education authorities (LEAs) in the north-west of England. The research team investigated the ways in which schools manage the inclusion of pupils with Down's syndrome and the factors that contribute to the success of mainstream placements. In this article, Sam Fox, Peter Farrell and Pauline Davis from the University of Manchester discuss some of the findings from the study. These concern the support in place for the child and the attitudes of staff, other pupils and the parents of peers towards the inclusion of the child with Down's syndrome. Evidence from the 18 case studies suggests that there is no single way to guarantee effective inclusion. The extent to which a child is effectively included in a mainstream class is likely to be influenced by a number of key factors, including the way in which the teaching assistant (TA) works with the class teacher. Inclusion is more likely to be successful when the class teacher takes a central role in the management of support and the organisation of a child's daily educational experiences.     

WHAT COUNTS AS TEACHING?

AID — the acronym stands for Assessment for Instructional Development — is a behaviourally referenced class questionnaire developed by the author from a data base drawn from 12 institutions of HE (Polytechnics and Universities). It is intended to help the user locate

• objectives in their own progress towards which his students report they lack confidence

• teaching behaviours that seem to bear on these objectives

• changes of teaching strategy that may therefore help the students

AID is focussed on the individual class and subject discipline — it is not suitable for ‘accountability’ uses.

The paper describes the rationale for choosing a behaviourally referenced system (focussed on what teachers and students do or feel, and how often) rather than a ‘satisfaction scale’ (focussed on ‘do my students like me?'), and the way AID was developed from earlier, mainly North American behaviourally referenced systems, such as IDEA. Crucial changes in research methodology are explained and justified. The characteristics and capabilities of the developed system are then outlined, and how to use it is explained. Finally, illustrations are given of three typical uses of the system — a comparison of three elements in a part‐time course for use by the course team in a course review, and two analyses of particular teaching programmes for individual lecturers.     

Professional Models of School Absence Associated with Home Responsibilities

It has been estimated that 10% of all school absence is due to children undertaking duties associated with their homes. Despite this, the phenomenon remains under‐researched. In this study, qualitative interviews with three groups of professionals concerned with absence due to home responsibilities (teachers, education welfare officers and educational therapists) are reported. The discourses of these professionals were analysed in terms of their perspectives on prevalence, models and solutions to absence due to home responsibilities. Teachers saw a solution in educating parents concerning the value of schooling. Education welfare officers saw a need to address the wider problems faced by some families. The therapists identified underlying psychodynamic issues which need to be resolved. It is hypothesised that this disagreement has led to a failure to create a ‘master discourse’ on this phenomenon and how it might be resolved, and consequently it has not been constructed as a ‘social problem’.