Early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and beliefs about children’s moral learning

There is strong political and social interest in values education both internationally and across Australia. Investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society; however, little is known about early years teachers’ beliefs about moral values teaching and learning. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between Australian early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Three hundred and seventy-nine teachers completed a survey about their personal epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Results indicated that teachers with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs viewed children as capable of taking responsibility for their own moral learning. Conversely, teachers who held more naïve or simplistic personal epistemic beliefs agreed that children need to learn morals through learning the rules for behaviour. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for moral pedagogy in the classroom and teacher professional development. It is suggested that in conjunction with explicitly reflecting on epistemic beliefs, professional development may need to assist teachers to ascertain how their beliefs might relate to their moral pedagogies in order to make any adjustments.     

How principals promote and understand teacher development under curriculum reform in China

On-going curriculum reform in China demands that teachers and principals shift their norms of practice to facilitate student learning. Principals are expected to take a more hands-on approach and work more collaboratively with teachers towards curriculum change. This paper presents case studies of how principals in three different schools in Shanghai shaped teacher development activities which built teacher understanding and capacity to meet the requirements of the curriculum reform. The analysis provides insights into how principals proactively promoted teacher development and identifies some of possible gaps in their strategies. Implications are drawn about the relationships between curriculum reform, school leadership and teacher development.     

Instability of Iron Sulfides on Recently Excavated Artifacts

Summary

The composition and nature of the different sulfides which can occur on underground iron are reviewed with reference to the literature, together with the various corrosion reactions. The type of pyrites on fossils and minerals is also included. The experimental work involved goethites and magnetites reacting with damp hydrogen sulfide gas to give mackinawite, pyrite and/or greigite. These can react exothermically and may be pyrophoric. Methods to increase stability and reduce the danger of pyrophoric oxidation are discussed.     

Publishing in Discipline-Specific Non-Library Journals for Promoting Information Literacy

Academic librarians tend to publish in traditional “library” journals rather than journals directed at other academic disciplines, thereby missing the opportunity to inform and educate a key audience. This article alerts librarians to publishing opportunities in discipline-specific academic journals in the Arts & Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences, both as a means of promoting information literacy (IL) and effecting outreach to faculty. Selection criteria are defined and discussed. The results of the study are presented by discipline in table format with data on each journal including publisher, affiliation, publication frequency, review time, acceptance rate, and ranking indicators.     

Creating an Evidence-Based Culture Within the Schools of Public Health and Medicine

Information technology is having a huge influence on health care. With ease of access and an abundance of information, today's health care personnel are expected to practice and develop policies or programs based upon evidence in order to avoid inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Our library has the responsibility to serve the needs of students, faculty, and practitioners of medicine and public health and strives to create an information literate workforce. In this article, the authors reflect on the library's instruction program and evaluate and plan for the future order to determine if the library's instruction program is properly developing an evidence-based medical and public health workforce.     

Audiences for crime media 1946–91: A historical approach to reception studies

The present paper argues that audience reception studies have tended to be ahistorical, neglecting consideration of the ways in which audiences’ orientation to media may have changed over the decades. The paper explores the potential of combining oral history methods with reception studies, and addresses some of the difficulties which arise. An apparently simple way to introduce a historical perspective is attempted by including audience age as a central part of an empirical research design. By analysing a series of focus group discussions in which people respond to crime media from different points over the postwar period, the concept of age is unpacked in terms of generation and life course factors, and these are shown to influence reception of crime media from both the present and the past. Generation and life course, together with gender, also affect people's positioning in society in relation to real‐world crime, and this too affects the reception of crime media. The paper concludes by suggesting three ways in which audiences may have changed over the postwar period in terms of their interpretive frames for making sense of crime media, namely the frames of personal relevance, realism and moral relativism.     

Attitudes and parental factors as intervening variables in the television violence‐aggression relation

This study examines the relationship of cognitive and parental factors affecting adolescents viewing of television violence. Participants in the study were 422 adolescents and 298 of their parents who were surveyed for their viewing behaviors, perceptions of violent portrayals, and aggressive behavioral tendencies. Regression analysis indicated that attitude was the strongest predictor of aggression. The more adolescents reported liking television violence, the more aggressive were their intentions. Results suggested that while exposure to violence and parental factors both play a part in mediating subsequent aggression, viewing violence is less important than liking violence.     

Parental Mediation of Children's Internet Use

This article examines parental regulation of children and teenagers' online activities. A national survey of 1511 children and 906 parents found that 12–17-year-olds encounter a range of online risks. Parents implement a range of strategies, favoring active co-use and interaction rules over technical restrictions using filters or monitoring software, but these were not necessarily effective in reducing risk. Parental restriction of online peer-to-peer interactions was associated with reduced risk but other mediation strategies, including the widely practiced active co-use, were not. These findings challenge researchers to identify effective strategies without impeding teenagers' freedom to interact with their peers online.     

A capital or capabilities education narrative in a world of staggering inequalities?

In a world of tremendous inequalities, this paper explores two contrasting normative models for education policy, and the relationship of each to policy, practices and outcomes that can improve lives by reducing injustice and building societies which value capabilities for all. The first model is that of human capital which currently dominates contemporary education policy globally, harnessing education policy to economic growth imperatives so that development through education is the means to the end of increased resources and income. The second model draws on the work of Amartya Sen to present a human capabilities model of education policy in which human lives are the end of development and the education focus is on promoting capabilities and functionings to choose a good life. An argument is advanced for capabilities as the superior approach. The paper closes by noting the problematic of social change and struggle demanded by a transformative view of education and how or if the capability approach is adequate to the task.