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Telling It Like It Is: Developing Social Stories™ for Children in Mainstream Primary Schools

In this article, the author reports on a practical strategy originally developed for use with pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). Based on a small-scale research project, the article focuses on the use of Social Stories to promote pro-social behaviour with a group of non-ASC pupils. The topic was chosen for systematic enquiry by the author, herself the parent of a child with autism, following requests from colleagues to develop the strategy for use with other pupils with behavioural difficulties. The tensions arising from the extension of use of the strategy, devised for a particular group with specific needs, are highlighted, in particular recognising the need to maintain the integrity of the original work. The report concludes that Social Stories involve a complex strategy that relies upon sound relationships between teacher and pupil and suggests that, instead of determining success by behavioural outcome, Social Stories might be judged in terms of self-esteem and perceptions of self of the pupil during the key process leading to the writing of the story. The strategy may be effective in helping all parties to recognise challenging situations, particularly with pupils who have difficulties in taking the perspective of others. The author also makes practical suggestions for consideration by teachers who are concerned with the pastoral care and well-being of pupils.
The words 'Social Story' and uncapitalised variants are the trademarks originated and owned by Carol Gray. References to 'stories' hereafter indicate 'Social Stories^™' as the full citation .     

The Challenges of Science Inquiry Teaching for Pre-Service Teachers in Elementary Classrooms: Difficulties on and under the Scene

In the context of the emphasis on inquiry teaching in science education, this study looks into how pre-service elementary teachers understand and practise science inquiry teaching during field experience. By examining inquiry lesson preparation, practice, and reflections of pre-service elementary teachers, we attempt to understand the difficulties they encounter and what could result from those difficulties in their practice. A total of 16 seniors (fourth-year students) in an elementary teacher education program participated in this study. In our findings, we highlight three difficulties ‘on the lesson’ that are related to teaching practices that were missing in the classrooms: (1) developing children’s own ideas and curiosity, (2) guiding children in designing valid experiments for their hypotheses, (3) scaffolding children’s data interpretation and discussion and another three difficulties ‘under the lesson’ that are related to problems with the pre-service teachers’ conceptualization of the task: (4) tension between guided and open inquiry, (5) incomplete understanding of hypothesis, and (6) lack of confidence in science content knowledge. Based on these findings, we discuss how these difficulties are complexly related in the pre-service teachers’ understandings and action. Several suggestions for science teacher education for inquiry teaching, especially hypothesis-based inquiry teaching, are then explored.     

Grounded blends and mathematical gesture spaces: developing mathematical understandings via gestures

This paper examines how a person’s gesture space can become endowed with mathematical meaning associated with mathematical spaces and how the resulting mathematical gesture space can be used to communicate and interpret mathematical features of gestures. We use the theory of grounded blends to analyse a case study of two teachers who used gestures to construct a graphical anti-derivative while working on a professional development task in a calculus modelling activity. Results indicate that mathematical gesture spaces can encourage mathematical experimentation, lighten the cognitive load for students and can be limited by a person’s physical constraints.     

Becoming an academic: the role of doctoral capital in the field of education

This paper draws on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus to examine the learning and enculturation of alumni of a Canadian PhD programme in the discipline of Education. We introduce the concept of doctoral capital to help explain how and why some PhD graduates go on to secure faculty positions and others do not. Our research suggests that certain existing and acquired academic practices, attributes, dispositions and behaviours collectively form a type of doctoral capital that alumni can then use in the academic marketplace.     

Theory development and convergence of human resource fields: Implications for human performance technology

This study examines major theory developments in human resource (HR) fields and discusses implications for human performance technology (HPT). Differentiated HR fields are converging to improve organizational performance through knowledge‐based innovations. Ruona and Gibson (2004) made a similar observation and analyzed the historical evolution and convergence of three HR‐related fields: human resource management (HRM), human resource development (HRD), and organization development (OD). A field left out in their analysis is HPT. Many learning professionals recognize HPT as a more comprehensive approach to improving organizational performance issues (Molenda & Pershing, 2008; Pershing, 2006). However, little research has been done to advance the theory development of HPT and discuss its relationships within HR fields. This study adds a new perspective to that of Ruona and Gibson's historical analysis of HR fields by examining convergence issues from a theory development perspective.     

Age Differences in Online Social Networking: Extending Socioemotional Selectivity Theory to Social Network Sites

This article extends socioemotional selectivity theory to online social networking by examining age differences in the size and composition of Facebook networks across a wide age range of Facebook users (18 to 93 years old) in a nationally representative sample. Findings suggest increasing selectivity of Facebook social partners with age. Compared to younger adults, friend networks of older adults are smaller but contain a greater proportion of individuals who are considered to be actual friends. Moreover, a higher proportion of actual to total Facebook friends is associated with lower levels of social isolation and loneliness across the life span.