Perhaps the Decision of Some Students not to Engage in Learning Mathematics in School is Deliberate

A perceived lack of engagement of many students in middle years mathematics classes provides a challenge for educators. In this article we report a project that investigated students' perceptions of the extent to which their own efforts influence their achievement at mathematics and their life opportunities. We conducted 2 hour interviews with over 50 students, as well as collecting other data. The results suggest that a student's orientation to learning mathematics is not predicted by their achievement. Even students who were confident, successful and persistent exhibited short-term goals. It seems that classroom culture may be an important determinant of under-participation in schooling.     

Service Learning in Preschool: An Intergenerational Project Involving Five–Year-Olds, Fifth Graders, and Senior Citizens

Service Learning is a powerful form of experiential pedagogy that is gaining popularity in classrooms from preprimary settings through graduate school. It involves students in activities that explicitly and intentionally integrate community involvement with appropriate academic objectives. This article describes an intergenerational service learning project that brought together preschoolers, golden-agers, and at-risk elementary-aged students. Lunch Time Book Buddies—Pass It On included both direct service and indirect service and made valuable contributions to young children's developing literacy, social-emotional, physical, and cognitive abilities.     

High School‐Aged Youths' Attitudes Toward their Peers with Disabilities: the role of school and student interpersonal Factors

Negative peer attitudes are generally recognised as being a major barrier to full social inclusion at school for children and youth with disabilities. The present study examined the attitudes of 1,872 grade nine high school students in Ontario, Canada toward their peers with disabilities. A bioecological perspective and a structural equation modeling approach were adopted to investigate how various aspects of school culture and student interpersonal factors influenced attitudes. The majority of students (61%) held attitudes toward peers with disabilities that ranged from slightly above neutral to very positive. However, a substantial number (21%) held slightly below neutral to very negative attitudes. Positive student relationships at the school level and a school goal task structure that promoted learning and understanding for all students, rather than social comparison and competition among students, were two aspects of school culture that had both direct associations with positive attitudes and indirect associations through student interpersonal factors. Teacher and student relationships at the school level was an aspect of school culture that had an indirect association with positive attitudes via interpersonal support from teachers. Results support the development of ecologically based programs aimed at promoting aspects of school culture that contribute to positive attitudes of students toward their peers with disabilities.     

An educational way ahead for South Africa?

The vast (and increasing) majority of the South African population are non-white, and suffer many disadvantages. Solutions for these must be sought by political, economic, and social transformations which the present regime will not allow. However, internal economic pressures (especially the shortage of skilled and intermediate personnel necessary for the modernisation and enlargement of present enterprises) show the need for a much larger and better educated non-white work-force. In certain sectors of industry in some parts of the country, non-white South Africans are extending their education and moving into apprenticeship or other training opportunities, especially where white intermediate specialists are moving out.Less opposition is sometimes shown to the advancement of non-white personnel than previously, partly because industries and commerce welcome them, and partly because whites who in earlier times would have resented non-white competition are aspiring to other educational and social futures. However, the possibilities of acquiring intermediate education and training remain very difficult for non-whites (especially the black population) because of discrimination, very unequal provision and erratic distribution, and the poor supply of black teachers.Much provision for the South African non-white population will probably have to be of a supplementary character. To that extent, the South African need for hasty reorientation both in technological and in general education becomeseducationally comparable to the need felt in well-schooled industrial countries for post-compulsory readjustments between schooling and industry, and for second-chance opportunities. Prospects for implementation in South Africa are considered against the long tradition of segregation and the division of administrative responsibilities in the educational system. South African problems are also considered for their wider relevance for the use of post-compulsory education in circumstances of rapid change, especially where educational provision has to be re-engaged for different social and economic needs.

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Zusammenfassung Die überwältigende (und noch ständig wachsende) Mehrheit der südafrikanischen Bevölkerung ist farbig und leidet unter vielen Nachteilen. Für diese müssen Lösungen gesucht werden durch politische, wirtschaftliche und soziale Umwandlungen, die das gegenwärtige Regime nicht zulässt. Interne wirtschaftliche Erfordernisse (insbesondere der Bedarf an Facharbeitern und mittlerem Personal für die Modernisierung und Ausdehnung bestehender Unternehmen) zeigen die Notwendigkeit einer viel umfangreicheren und besser ausgebildeten farbigen Arbeiterschaft auf. In gewissen Industriesektoren in einigen Teilen des Landes verlängern Farbige ihre Ausbildung, indem sie Lehrlings- oder andere Ausbildungsmöglichkeiten wahrnehmen, vor allem auf den Gebieten, von denen weisse mittlere Fachleute abwandern.Dem Fortschritt farbigen Personals wird vielfach weniger Widerstand entgegengesetzt, als bisher der Fall war, teils weil Industrie und Handel mittlere Arbeitskräfte brauchen, teils weil die Weissen, die sich früher gegen eine farbige Konkurrenz gewandt hätten, jetzt einen anderen Bildungs- und Sozialstandard anstreben. Immerhin bleiben die Möglichkeiten für Farbige (besonders die Schwarzen) infolge von Diskriminierung, sehr ungleichem Ausbildungsangebot und ungleichmässiger Verteilung sowie dem Mangel an schwarzen Lehrern stark beschränkt.Ein grosser Teil des Ausbildungsangebots für die farbige Bevölkerung Süd-Afrikas wird wahrscheinlich ergänzender Natur sein müssen. Insofern ist die Notwendigkeit für schnelle Umorientierung sowohl der technischen als auch der allgemeinen Bildung in Süd-Afrika vergleichbar mit der Bildungssituation in Industrieländern, die gut mit Schulen ausgestattet sind, in denen sich aber für die Zeit nach dem Schulpflichtalter ein Bedarf nach Neuausrichtung des Verhältnisses zwischen Schule und Industrie sowie nach zweiten Chancen spürbar bemerkbar macht. Die Aussichten für die Durchführung entsprechender Änderungen in Süd-Afrika werden gegen die lange Tradition von Segregation und administrativer Verantwortungsteilung im Bildungswesen abgewogen. Ferner werden die Probleme Süd-Afrikas auf ihre weitgehendere Relevanz für Nach-Schul-Ausbildung unter Verhältnissen schnellen Wandels hin untersucht, vor allem dort, wo das Bildungsangebot für verschiedene soziale und wirtschaftliche Notwendigkeiten in Anspruch genommen werden muss.

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Résumé La grande majorité (croissante) de la population sud-africaine est constituée de non-blancs et souffre de nombreux désavantages. Les solutions doivent être recherchées par des transformations sociales, économiques et politiques que le régime actuel ne permet pas. Toutefois, les pressions économiques intérieures (plus particulièrement la pénurie de personnel qualifié et intermédiaire pour la modernisation et l'agrandissement des entreprises actuelles) montre la nécessité d'une force de travail non-blanche plus importante et mieux éduquée. Dans certains secteurs de l'industrie, et dans certaines parties du pays, les sud-africains non-blancs sont en train de développer leur éducation et entrent en apprentissage, ou profitent d'autres opportunités de formation, là surtout où les spécialistes intermédiaires blancs s'en vont.La promotion du personnel non-blanc suscite parfois une opposition moindre que par le passé, en partie du fait que les industries et le commerce leur font bon accueil, mais aussi parce que les blancs qui, auparavant, auraient pris ombrage de la compétition des non-blancs, aspirent maintenant à un avenir social et éducatif différent. Toutefois les possibilités d'acquérir une éducation et une formation intermédiaires pour restent minimes les non-blancs (surtout pour la population noire) à cause de la discrimination, des prestations éducationnelles très inégales, de la distribution irrégulière, et du nombre restreint d'enseignants noirs.La plus grande partie des prestations éducationnelles concernant la population sud-africaine non-blanche devra probablement revêtir un caractère complémentaire. A ce point, le besoin ressenti par l'Afrique du Sud d'une réorientation urgente, tant dans le domaine technologique que dans celui de l'éducation générale, est comparable, sur le plan de l'éducation, au besoin que les pays industriels bien scolarisés, ressentent d'une adaptation post-obligatoire entre l'établissement scolaire et l'industrie, et d'opportunités d'une seconde chance. Les perspectives d'une mise en oeuvre de ces réformes en Afrique du Sud sont traitées, en tenant compte de la longue tradition de ségrégation, et de la division des responsabilités administratives dans le système de l'éducation. Les problèmes sud-africains méritent aussi d'être examinés parce que bien appropriés à d'autre situations où des changements rapides font sentir la nécessité de recourir à l'enseignement post-obligatoire, spécialement là où les prestations éducationnelles doivent être ré-engagées pour répondre à des besoins sociaux et économiques différents.

     

Child rearing and children's prosocial initiations toward victims of distress.

Maternal rearing behavior was examined in relation to children's reparation for transgressions and altruism as bystanders to distress in others. The children were 1 1/2-2 1/2 years old. Mothers were trained in techniques of observing. They recorded their child's reactions and their own behaviors in everyday encounters with expressions of distress in others (sorrow, discomfort, pain). Distress was also simulated by mothers and investigators. Mothers' empathic caregiving was rated during home visits. Mothers' affectively delivered explanations regarding the distresses their children had caused to others were associated with children's reparations for transgressions. Such explanations were also associated with children's altruism when they were bystanders to another's distress. Empathic caregiving by mothers was positively associated with children's reparation and altruism. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of altruism, conscience, and child rearing.     

Participation in Online Problem‐based Learning: Insights from postgraduate teachers studying through open and distance education

This article reports on work undertaken within Phase 2 of a pilot study concerned with the design, development, and evaluation of online resources. Drawing on recent developments in the application of technology within open and distance education, these resources were structured around the principles of problem‐based learning (PBL) for use with postgraduate teachers. The article explores the responses of one cohort of students studying on a programme for teachers of children with visual impairment, to learning through the use of these resources. In line with recent literature in this area, the findings demonstrate that with the appropriate design and use of technology, PBL, traditionally viewed as a campus‐based approach, can be adapted for use with students in higher education studying through open and distance education. The findings highlight a number of potential barriers to learning and participation that can serve to reduce effective participation in the online PBL activities. Future planned research by the authors will explore the extent to which each of these barriers can be reduced through appropriate planning and design, and provisional recommendations are included to assist in this process.     

A comparison of the pencil‐and‐paper and computer‐administered Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent

Within the context of a counterbalanced design, 102 students from either a high school or a large Southeastern university were administered two versions of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent (MMPI–A): a computer‐administered version (CA) and a paper‐and‐pencil version (PAP). Time between testing sessions was approximately one week. Differences in individual scale means between the CA and PAP were calculated using paired t tests, with the Bonferroni correction procedure; no mean differences were statistically significant ( p > .05). To determine if the scale distributions were similar Hartley's homogeneity of variance tests were conducted; there were no differences in the shapes of the scale distributions ( p > .05). Pearson product‐moment coefficients were calculated to determine if the relative rankings were similar across administration formats; coefficients for every scale were positive and statistically significant ( p < .01). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 605–613, 2005.     

‘Decolonialism’ and the Counselling Profession: The Aotearoa/New Zealand Experience

This paper makes a case for the coining and exploration of a term ‘decolonialism’. Although there is likely to be greater familiarity with the use of the term ‘decolonization’ for the work indigenous people might undertake on themselves to transcend the shackles of colonization, this paper suggests that colonizers also need to work at ridding themselves of vestigial mechanisms of control. The paper suggests the term ‘decolonialism’ to represent this challenge. However, the issues go deeper than the examination of a counsellor’s personal beliefs, awareness and worldview, but also extend to the systems that underscore and guide the counselling profession. Whilst such issues are of relevance to various contexts around the world, this paper focuses on a case study of the reformation of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors—Te Roopu Kaiwhiriwhiri O Aotearoa as an example of the counselling profession striving to decolonialize its structure and its practices.     

Substance abuse and behavioral correlates of sexual assault among South African adolescents

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is twofold: first, to examine the prevalence of being the victim of actual and attempted rape among a large representative sample of Cape Town high school students; and second, to identify the correlates of sexual assault for both boys and girls, including alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, behavioral problems, and suicidality. METHOD: Data for this study were derived from the 1997 South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (SACENDU) school survey. A stratified sampling procedure was used to select students in Grades 8 and 11 at non-private high schools in Cape Town. A total of 2,946 students completed a survey consisting of socio-demographic questions and items about substance abuse, sexual activity, and other adolescent health risk behaviors. A subsample of 939 was randomly selected to complete items about sexual violence. RESULTS: The results revealed that 8.4% of respondents were victims of attempted rape, while 5.8% were victims of actual rape. Ordinal logistic regression showed that girls were 3.9 times more likely than boys to have been victims of sexual abuse. Family structure was also significantly related to rape as persons who lived with a single parent (OR = 1.74, CI = 1.00-3.04) and those who resided with one biological parent and one step parent (OR = 2.59, CI = 1.34-5.01) were more likely to have been have been victims of sexual abuse than those living with both biological parents. Alcohol use (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.10-3.62), anti-social behavior (stolen property, caused physical damage to property, bullied others, or been in physical fights) (OR = 1.44, CI = 1.12-1.86), suicidal dialogue (OR = 2.48, CI = 1.19-5.19), and suicidal attempts (OR = 3.2, CI = 1.65-6.30) were also significant predictors of sexual abuse victimization. Racially classified social groups (RCSG), age, drug use, and cigarette smoking were not significant predictors of sexual abuse victimization, while socioeconomic status was found to be marginally significant. CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the importance of multiple factors including alcohol use, anti-social behavior, suicidal thoughts and actions, and family structure with respect to sexual assault of adolescents in South Africa. Establishing and strengthening intervention programs, school based child protective protocols, professional education of teachers and school personnel, community prevention programs, and initiatives could help prevent adolescent sexual violence and reduce the sequelae associated with this problem.     

Co-Researching the Concept of 'Noticing and Adjusting' in Monitoring Literacy Learning

The present article describes the rationale, development and initial evaluation of a framework for enquiry that enabled a team of educational psychologists from four local education authorities to co-research the concept of 'noticing and adjusting' in relation to children's literacy progress. The work is based on reflective practice where psychologists and teachers considered the usefulness of the framework in developing interactive assessment and teaching approaches in the classroom. The collaborative work helped us to focus on teacher practice and innovative thinking rather than child, teacher or resource/environmental deficits.