Teachers’ resilience and well-being: a role for educational psychology

The retention and resilience of teachers are subject to many influences. Children’s behaviour is often cited as a major source of stress for teachers and a challenge to their resilience. We suggest that an understanding of teachers’ attributions and efficacy beliefs may provide the foundations for work to support teachers. We outline findings from research that has examined teachers’ attributions for the causes of children’s misbehaviour, teachers’ beliefs in their efficacy as classroom managers of children’s behaviour as well as how, in principle, such beliefs may be supported and enhanced. We also relate these findings to those associated with educational and developmental outcomes for children. We conclude with some illustrative evidence of ways (involving consultation and other interventions) that applied psychologists have contributed to the professional well-being and resilience of teachers.     

Individual differences in decision-making and confidence: capturing decision tendencies in a fictitious medical test

Decision-making is a complex process that is largely studied from an experimental perspective or in specific organizational contexts. As such, no generalizable framework exists with which to study decision-making from an individual differences perspective for predictive/selection purposes. By generalising a context-specific decision model proposed by Koriat and Goldsmith (1996), the focus of this research was to therefore test a novel framework for studying individual differences in decision-making tendencies. Utilising this framework within a fictitious Medical Decision-Making Test (MDMT) yielded five novel variables that provided unique insight into individuals’ decision tendencies: Optimal, Realistic, Incompetent, Hesitant and Congruent. Metacognitive confidence and its calibration (bias and CAQ) were used as predictor variables to validate this framework. One hundred ninety-three undergraduate students completed the MDMT and three cognitive ability tests with confidence ratings, a personality questionnaire, and the Need for Closure questionnaire. All decision tendency variables demonstrated excellent internal consistency and were predicted by the metacognitive variables incrementally to the remaining variables as hypothesized. Additionally, the metacognitive indices were found to generalize across the decision-making and cognitive tests. The results imply that this novel framework and MDMT reliably capture individuals’ decision behaviour that shares a meaningful relationship with their general confidence and calibration.     

String tension effects on tennis ball rebound speed and accuracy during playing conditions

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether variations in rebound speed and accuracy of a tennis ball could be detected during game-simulated conditions when using three rackets strung with three string tensions. Tennis balls were projected from a ball machine towards participants who attempted to stroke the ball cross-court into the opposing singles court. The rebound speed of each impact was measured using a radar gun located behind the baseline of the court. An observer also recorded the number of balls landing in, long, wide and in the net. It was found that rebound speeds for males (110.1+/-10.2 km.h-1; mean+/-s) were slightly higher than those of females (103.6+/-8.6 km.h-1; P<0.05) and that low string tensions (180 N) produced greater rebound speeds (108.1+/-9.9 km.h-1) than high string tensions (280 N, 105.3+/-9.6 km.h-1; P<0.05). This finding is in line with laboratory results and theoretical predictions of other researchers. With respect to accuracy, the type of error made was significantly influenced by the string tension (P<0.05). This was particularly evident when considering whether the ball travelled long or landed in the net. High string tension was more likely to result in a net error, whereas low string tension was more likely to result in the ball travelling long. It was concluded that both gender and the string tension influence the speed and accuracy of the tennis ball.     

The evolution of innovation capability in multinational enterprise subsidiaries: Dual network embeddedness and the divergence of subsidiary specialisation in Taiwan

This paper examines how innovation-related capabilities for production, design and marketing develop at the subsidiary level within multinational enterprises (MNEs). We focus on how subsidiary autonomy and changing opportunities to access external (host country) sources of capability contribute to the accumulation of specialist capabilities in five Taiwan-based MNE subsidiaries in the semiconductor industry. Longitudinal analysis shows how the accumulation process is subject to discontinuities, as functional divisions are (re)opened and closed during the lifetime of the subsidiary. A composite set of innovation output measures also shows significant variations in within-function levels of capability across our sample. We conclude that subsidiary specialisation and unique subsidiary-specific advantages have evolved in a way that is strongly influenced by the above factors.     

Age-related incidence curve of hospitalized Shaken Baby Syndrome cases: convergent evidence for crying as a trigger to shaking

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an age-specific incidence of hospitalized cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) that has similar properties to the previously reported "normal crying curve," as a form of indirect evidence that crying is an important stimulus for SBS. DESIGN AND SETTING: The study analyzed cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome by age at hospitalization from hospital discharge data for California hospitals from October 1996 through December 2000. PATIENTS: All cases of children less than 18 months (78 weeks) of age for whom the diagnostic code for Shaken Baby Syndrome (995.55) in the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification was assigned. RESULTS: There were 273 hospitalizations for SBS. Like the "normal crying curve," the curve of age-specific incidence starts at 2-3 weeks, has a clear peak, and declines to baseline by about 36 weeks of age. In contrast to the normal crying curve that peaks at 5-6 weeks, the peak of SBS hospitalizations occurs at 10-13 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The age-specific incidence curve of hospitalized SBS cases has a similar starting point and shape to the previously reported normal crying curve but the peak occurs about 4-6 weeks later. Of the likely predisposing causes, this pattern is only consistent with the properties of early crying. There are numerous explanations for the lag in the peaks between crying and SBS hospitalizations, including the possibility of repeat shakings prior to hospitalization. The importance of crying as a stimulus to SBS may provide an opportunity for preventive intervention.     

EDITORIAL

Novice nurses encounter numerous factors that impact on their learning in the complex healthcare workplace. Registered nurses often work one‐on‐one with novices as preceptors to facilitate the development of novices’ clinical skills and socialisation into the profession. This paper explores the concept of preceptorship from novice nurses’ and preceptors’ perspective, drawing upon data from a project between a large healthcare organisation and a university in Melbourne, Australia. The study, framed in ethnomethodology, included fieldwork observation, interviews and student surveys; this paper focuses on data collected over a series of individual interviews with nursing students (n = 28) and preceptors (n = 25). Thematic analysis yielded six key themes: workplace socialisation, empathy, individuality, willingness to engage, changing support and a realisation [by novices about the preceptor role]. Findings highlight the complexity of workplace learning that is influenced by the idiosyncrasies of the individuals involved and the social milieu in which the learning takes place.     

The Teacher,the Schools Council and the Task of Management

Performance indicators are currently a vogue concept. In this paper some national and international perspectives on the term are described and an analysis made of recent Government publications on the topic. Two current attempts to use performance indicators in TVEI are discussed and a methodology for linking performance indicators to school development is described. The paper concludes that, in order to contribute to quality in education, performance indicators need to be linked to school development plans and to focus on student outcomes and the internal conditions of schools.