Staging peace: Televised ceremonies of reconciliation

The visit of Egypt's President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem was the model for Dayan and Katz's conceptualization of the genre of media events, as live programs which have the power to transform history. Fifteen years later, a series of televised reconciliation ceremonies, which marked the stages of the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors (the Palestinians and the Jordanians), are used to re‐examine the model. We demonstrate (1) how the effectiveness of these ceremonies depends on the type of contract among the three participants—leaders, broadcasters and public—each of whom displays different kinds of reservations, and (2) how the aura of the ceremonies draws on the prior status of the participants (Hussein), but also confers status (Arafat).     

Home visits: A child-centered approach to an old concept

Making home visits is not a new technique for helping children by improving family-school relationships. It is certainly not new that cooperation between parents and teachers is essential in the education of the very young: the whole adult population is friendly, and the nursery holds them by strong ties through the love both places have in common for their children (McMillan, 1919). Beller (1969), for example, found that the teacher's respect for the family was associated with a child's readiness to gain from educational experiences in the classroom. As one of the means of involving parents in the educational process of the child, teachers have visited in homes.Tamar Meyer is Clinical Supervisor, Early Childhood Research Center, State University of New York at Buffalo.     

Behavioral patterns of students under an individualized learning strategy

The study examines the behavioral patterns of high, average and low achievers in classrooms implementing an individualized instructional strategy. The study makes use of an observational instrument modelled on Medely's Personal Record of school Experiences (PROSE). Seventy-two boys and girls chosen from 12 first, second and third grade classrooms were included in the sample; 1/3 were ranked by the teacher as high achievers, 1/3 as average and 1/3 as low achievers. The findings revealed that students spent about 2/3 of their time on independent work; and the time spent interacting with teacher was about equal to the time spent interacting with classmate.The results also showed that interaction patterns between teacher and individual students are related to the student achievement level. In addition, distinctly different work patterns of independent activity were discerned in high and low achievers indicating higher involvement in on-task activities among high students compared with low achievers. Similiar patterns of interaction between students were found for high, average and low achievers demonstrating either on-task or off-task interaction of a verbal nature among students of the same sex. Implications for teachers, teachers trainers and instructional developers are discussed.     

Morphological processing during visual word recognition in Hebrew as a first and a second language

The present study examined whether sublexical morphological processing takes place during visual word-recognition in Hebrew, and whether morphological decomposition of written words depends on lexical activation of the complete word. Furthermore, it examined whether morphological processing is similar when reading Hebrew as a first language (L1) or as a second language (L2), and whether L1’s morphological background, Semitic or Indo-European, modulates morphological processing in L2 Hebrew (a Semitic language), among proficient readers. To reveal the sublexical processing of the Hebrew morphemes, the Root (R) and the Pattern (P), a lexical-decision task was conducted, in which all critical stimuli were non-word letter-strings manipulated to include or exclude real Hebrew morphemes. Different combinations of real (+) and pseudo (?) morphemes yielded four types of non-words (+R+P; +R?P; ?R+P, ?R?P). Three groups of proficient Hebrew readers were tested: L1 Hebrew, L1 English-L2 Hebrew, and L1 Arabic-L2 Hebrew. Results demonstrated significant differences in latency and accuracy of responses to the four morphological conditions, indicating that sublexical morphological processing occurs during visual word-recognition of morphologically structured letter-strings in Hebrew. Importantly, the activation of real Hebrew morphemes occurred in non-word stimuli, indicating that morphological processing in Hebrew is separable from lexical activation. Moreover, the same pattern of results was observed in all three L1 groups, indicating that proficient L2 readers exhibit morphological processing strategies that are tuned to the L2 morphology, regardless of their L1 background.     

Roles of academic department chairpersons at the university level

The study presents an attempt at investigating the role perceptions of academic chairpersons of departments at the University level, the fulfillment of these roles, and the desirability to fulfill them.A group of 90 chairpersons in six universities responded to a questionnaire that was especially developed for the present study. Factor analysis yielded five main factors: 1) Curriculum and Instruction, 2) Initiation, 3) Staff Development, 4) Democratic Leadership Style and 5) Departmental Status. Significant differences were found between the actual fulfillment and the extent of the desire to fulfill all the roles. Several background variables and role factors were found to explain the variance in chairpersons' satisfaction with role fulfillment. Findings shed some light on a relatively neglected subject - the role perceptions and satisfaction of department chairpersons. The information gained on this subject is expected to initiate attempts at making the role more satisfying in the direction desired by chairpersons.     

What Paves the Way to Conventional Language? The Predictive Value of Babble,Pointing, and Socioeconomic Status

A child's first words mark the emergence of a uniquely human ability. Theories of the developmental steps that pave the way for word production have proposed that either vocal or gestural precursors are key. These accounts were tested by assessing the developmental synchrony in the onset of babbling, pointing, and word production for 46 infants observed monthly between the ages of 9 and 18 months. Babbling and pointing did not develop in tight synchrony and babble onset alone predicted first words. Pointing and maternal education emerged as predictors of lexical knowledge only in relation to a measure taken at 18 months. This suggests a far more important role for early phonological development in the creation of the lexicon than previously thought.     

教你洗脸

Beauty consultants might recommend a facial treatment trifecta(三连胜式)-cleanse,tone andmoisturize-but dermatologists(皮肤学者)saythat comfortable-for-you cleansing is key, and moisturizing may help some skin types.First and Foremost: The Cleanser Itself Use a gentle, water-soluble cleanser to avoid     

Still waters run deep

This study aims to compare girls' performance with that of their boy peers, in a special program called a “research class.” Eighteen eleventh-grade students who excelled in math and science volunteered for a special research class in biology. The program consisted of three supplemental hours of biology per week at school, plus one full day per week at a research institute. At the institute the students were required to conduct individual research projects under the guidance of a scientist as well as the supervision of their biology teacher. The data about the participating students was collected through qualitative methods. Nonparticipant observations were conducted, primarily in the classroom and less frequently at the research institute, over a long period of time. These observations yielded information regarding each gender's quality of work. Following these observations, all of the participating adults and students were interviewed, and questionnaires were completed by the students. The main findings of the study indicated that the boys were significantly more active in classroom discussions than were the girls. This observation was reconfirmed by an analysis of verbal interventions in classroom discussions. However, in both the teacher's evaluation and the students' self-evaluation of their achievements, the girls' ratings were at least as high as the boys, with an average of 9 on a scale of 10. Moreover, the scientists indicated in their evaluations that the girls exhibited ability, intellectual curiosity, and a sense of responsibility, and were definately as able as were the boys. In other words, the vociferous monopoly of the boys during classroom discussion turns out to be relatively insignificant when examining the more covert qualities of the participating male and female students.     

Contribution to the Collective by Religious‐Zionist Adolescent Girls

The act of contribution to the collective raises a major dilemma in contemporary religious Zionism in regard to girls and women: how to maintain their traditional restriction to the domestic sphere while allowing participation in national tasks that demand their presence in the male‐dominated public sphere. From in‐depth interviews conducted with 37 seventeen‐year‐old religious girls studying in a unisex residential boarding high school, we uncover the manner in which these girls, as they proceed to young adulthood, experience the act of contribution in three social arenas: the Bnei Akiva youth movement, national service and the domestic sphere. Our analysis reveals a gradual recruitment to contribution during the passage from girlhood to womanhood, paralleled by the gradual intensification of feminine’ qualities. This process facilitates the girls’ participation in the public sphere without challenging the traditional gender dichotomy. It also constitutes a central practice by means of which religious‐Zionist society recruits the girls to the Israeli collective yet keeps them within its own socio‐cultural boundaries.