Book reviews

Webster, J. G., & Lichty, L. W. (1991). Ratings analysis: Theory and practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 290 pages.

Turow, J. (1992). Media systems in society: Understanding industries, strategies, and power. New York: Longman. 265 pages.

Blanchard, R. O., & Christ, W. G. (1993). Media education and the liberal arts: A blueprint for the new professionalism. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 187 pages.     

Buttercups and daisies: building a community of practice amongst teachers in a Brazilian university

This article examines the promotion and adoption of action research as an instrument of institutional change by academic staff in a Brazilian rural university. The results of the research are presented showing the mobilisation of a group of volunteers, the implementation of their action research projects and the sustainability of the process. Particular attention is drawn to the significance of an insider change agent/facilitator as the initiator of the action research process and how his role became superfluous as the networks evolved into true communities of practice. On reflection the original composite daisy model of Melrose and Reid has been discarded in favour of a simpler buttercup‐type flower model of analysis to describe the process.     

Personal Development and the Self in Work Experience

Abstract

This article explores the experience of a group of young people who experienced difficulty attending school. Young people's reasons for not attending school and the support provided for them by their teachers are examined. Finally, an analysis based on a shift in identity from school refuser to effective learner is offered as an explanation for the students' success in coping with school. The authors draw on Paul Klee's metaphor of art as a development that can go forwards, backward, up and down as similar to the processes of working with such young people. They argue that to expect linear progress is both unrealistic and sets unfair expectations on students and their teachers.     

Maintaining a Social‐Emotional Intervention and Its Benefits for Institutionalized Children

This article reports the maintenance of one of the largest interventions conducted in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) orphanages for children birth to 4 years using regular caregiving staff. One orphanage received training plus structural changes, another training only, and a third business as usual. The intervention produced substantial differences between these institutions on the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory and on the Battelle Developmental Inventory scores for children. These institutional differences in HOME scores (N = 298) and Battelle scores for children (N = 357) departing the institutions for families in St. Petersburg and the United States were maintained for at least 6 years after the intervention project. This result may be associated with certain features of the intervention and activities conducted during the follow‐up interval.     

The Constructivist Roots of Moral Education

The success of doctoral student mentoring is largely dependent upon faculty members, but structural and institutional obstacles compound deficiencies in the performance of all participants. University leaders must emphasize the value of mentorship in stimulating positive learning conditions and stress the importance of recognizing faculty members engaged in teaching beyond the classroom. Without organizational attention to a quality mentoring program and rewards for mentoring efforts, some faculty members perform as trainers, illusionists, tricksters, and escapists, potentially turning academia into a doctoral circus. If the quality of doctoral mentoring in today's academia is to improve, systemic change is crucial.     

Is ‘Closing the Gap’ Enough? Ngarrindjeri ontologies,reconciliation and caring for country

This article is concerned with Ngarrindjeri nation building in the ‘contact zone’ with the Australian settler state by decentring the colonizer within a range of bureaucratic regimes. Ngarrindjeri engagement with natural resource and cultural heritage management will be used to illustrate the relationship between globalization, community governance, education, sustaining ‘culture’, Indigenous well-being, and reconciliation and its links to the Australian government Closing the Gap initiatives. This article connects Ngarrindjeri lived experience to the theorization of processes for self-recovery and social transformation that open possibilities for broad-based local and global coalitions, which include political solidarity in the interests of just Indigenous ‘reinhabitation’ and decolonization.     

EFFECTS OF AGING ON SELECTED ACOUSTIC VOICE PARAMETERS: PRELIMINARY NORMATIVE DATA AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The study reported in this article attempted to obtain normative acoustic data of voice for elderly male and female speakers and to explore the educational implications of the effects of aging on those selected acoustic parameters. Voice samples from 21 male and 23 female elderly speakers aged 70 to 80 years were obtained on measures of 15 selected Multi-Dimensional Voice Program acoustic parameters. These data then were compared with the published norms for young and middle-aged adults. The results showed that, compared with young and middle-aged adults, elderly speakers had significantly different (usually poorer) vocal output on all of the selected acoustic parameters of voice. These findings illustrate the importance of establishing acoustic norms and thresholds for elderly men and women and stress the necessity of using discretion in making dragnostic measurements of elderly speakers' acoustic parameters of voice. This article also highlights the educational implications of such aging voice changes.     

Catholic Schools in Scotland: A rejoinder to Conroy

In a recent article in this journal James Conroy presents a spirited defence of the state funding of Catholic schools in Scotland. In so doing he repeatedly but mistakenly presents me as someone who has called for the ending of such funding. He also imputes to all opponents of Catholic schools a basic hostility to Catholicism. In this response, I clarify my position, question the accuracy of Conroy's account of Scottish responses to Catholic schools, identify a crucial difference between sociology and public polemic and then consider the propriety of the state funding of faith schools.     

GERONTOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A CASE FOR COLLABORATION

Too little consideration has been given to the potential dangers underlying program development for older adults. These dangers are exemplified by the inability of program designers to share their expertise. A close examination of current educational efforts serving the older adult reveals that past inadequacies and present growth trends demand more realistic approaches. More people are going to reach the age of 65; shifts in population demand shifts in priorities.

This paper attempts to focus on emerging problems associated with program development. Territoriality becomes a central issue in determining who should develop and implement programs for and about older people. The audiences to which this paper is addressed are educators and gerontologists. The prime question raised is: “Can collaborative efforts between gerontologists and educators improve current program quality?"