Children's Narrative Representations of Mothers: Their Development and Associations with Child and Mother Adaptation

We investigated associations between children's representations of mothers in their play narratives and measures of children's and mother socioemotional adaptation, and explored the development of these representations between the ages of 4 and 5 years. Fifty-one children were interviewed using the MacArthur Story-Stem Battery to obtain their narrative representations of mothers. Positive, Negative, and Disciplinary representation composites were generated. Children who had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations had fewer behavior problems and their mothers reported less psychological distress. In addition, 5-year-olds had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations did 4-year-olds, and there was moderate stability in individual differences in children's representations of mothers across the 2 ages. The results add an important dimension to research on parent-child relationships—that of children's perspectives on these relationships.     

Manifestations of Quality Learning in Computer-Mediated University Courses

A prototype computer-mediated communication system was assessed for its capability to stimulate intellectual activity through mandating peer comments in graduate and undergraduate computer science classes. Measured against Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, about half the total comments in two classes exhibited no evidence of classifiable intellectual activity. Of the remaining half, a positive correlation was found between number of characters and level of cognition exhibited by a comment, though exceptions were found at every level. A significant but weak relationship was also shown between cognitive level of comments and level of classes. The results suggest modifications to the computer-mediated communication system so that students more effectively engage in peer–peer assessment.     

Career and Commitment in the Context of Comprehensive School Reform

The present article takes up a paradox: that teachers' involvement in ambitious innovation or large-scale reform may supply rich opportunities for professional growth while also introducing the seeds of longer-term career disappointment. Case study investigations of reforming high schools in the US from 1991 to 2001 illuminate the relationship of teachers' participation in secondary school reform to their teaching commitment and career trajectories. Two of the three successive studies produced a dominant pattern of initial enthusiasm followed by growing disappointment. We draw on the combined data to examine teachers' propensity to remain engaged with innovation or reform, and the ways in which sustained involvement strengthens or weakens teachers' career commitment and satisfaction.     

Constructions of teacher leadership in three periods of policy and reform activism

It is primarily within the last two decades that ‘teacher leadership’ has emerged as a prominent element of reform strategy and policy rhetoric. Three bodies of data spanning 14 years show how the meanings of teacher leadership vary, paralleling shifts in policy goals and strategies. Over time, designated teacher leadership roles have become heavily weighted toward institutional agendas over which teachers have little direct control and over which teachers themselves are divided. Much formally defined teacher leadership accomplishes a division of labour without entailing much initiative on matters of purpose and practice. Yet in each of the reform periods—from progressive and relatively decentralised to conservative and strongly centralised—some instances of teacher leadership constitute genuine initiative in teaching, learning and schooling. Such cases present existence proofs that illuminate both possibilities and dilemmas. From them we have begun to learn how teacher leaders might mobilise resources for teacher learning and educational reform.     

Internationalization of Canadian Agriculture: Policy and Governing Paradigms

Abstract

Purpose: To identify various organizational climatic factors responsible for role performances of veterinary officers in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Design/methodology/approach: Study was conducted in 11 selected districts. Data were collected from 220 respondents through a pretested interview schedule and subjected to correlation and multiple regression to draw valid inferences. Organizational climate was measured by using the index specially prepared for the study.

Findings: Around 76% of the respondents perceived that the organizational climate prevailing in the department of animal husbandry was favorable. Leadership, teamwork and trust had significant contribution towards perception of organizational climate. The respondents were least satisfied with motivation, decision-making and goal setting components of the organizational climate. The model with seven variables out of 16 independent variables was a good fit with R square of 85.59%. Work motivation, persistence disposition, participativeness, job satisfaction, physical facilities availability and timeliness of availability of facilities were found to have significant positive influence while job stress had significant negative influence on perceived organizational climate.

Practical implications: This investigation has an organizational and social significance for development of livestock organizations not only in India, but also to other SAARC countries as well.

Originality/value: No empirical evidence on inter-relation between organizational climate and job performance of veterinarians is available at present in Andhra Pradesh.     

The Many Turnings of Agricultural Extension in Australia

Abstract

Purpose: This article outlines the development of extension as a discipline in Australia, its organization, and the ideological changes that have occurred from the second half of the nineteenth century through to the present.

Design/Methodology/Approach: It considers the evolution of extension across the different states of Australia from a national perspective and describes how the research development and extension (RD&E) complex has rotated through cycles of crises, highs, awakenings in thought and practice, and periods where achievements and institutions unravel.

Findings: Discussed is the tension between public and private sector extension, as well as the successes and failures of various paradigms. It considers the impacts of different agricultural policy on Australian agricultural RD&E across the decades. In particular it deals with the current ‘unravelling’ of the agricultural RD&E system in Australia, and tries to anticipate future demands on agricultural extension and how these services might be delivered into the future.

Practical Implications: The article challenges the reader to consider the discipline of extension as a subset of the greater society in which it exists. It provides an insight into how the agricultural research, development and extension capacity of a nation can be observed to ebb and flow over generations in accord with the rhythm of society.

Originality/Value: The article presents a perspective that has not been fully captured or understood until now.     

Books on Print Media

Charles M. Schultz, Charlie Brown and Charlie Schultz: In Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Peanuts (World, $6.95)

Harold S. Wilson's McClure's Magazine and the Muckrakers (Princeton University Press, $10.00)

Warren C. Price and Calder M. Pickett's An Annotated Journalishm Bibliography: 1958-1968 (University of Minnesota Press, $12. 75 )     

Victor C. Strasburger and Barbara Jan Wilson. Children,Adolescents, & the Media. Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage, 2002, 560 pp., ISBN 9780761921257 (paperback)

Recent research shows parents manifest parental third-person perceptions on behalf of their children; that is, they believe their children are less affected by media sex and violence than other children. This study (N = 171) found parental third-person perceptions for materialism effects of television and parental first-person perceptions for advanced educational effects of public television. Perceptions of materialism effects on one's own and other children predicted parental mediation, whereas perceptions of education effects predicted support for regulations requiring more educational television.     

Food and Beverage Advertising on U.S. Television: A Comparison of Child-Targeted Versus General Audience Commercials

Major advertisers and children's television networks have announced marketing policies designed to combat childhood obesity. A content analysis of food advertising was conducted on programming from broadcast and cable networks most likely to be viewed by children. Unlike previous content analyses, the results show that nutrition appeals are among the most frequently used. However, as in past research, unhealthy foods are most frequently advertised. Further, child-targeted commercials employ production techniques and persuasive appeals that children have found difficult to evaluate critically. The potential impacts of this advertising landscape are discussed on both the individual and social level.