Developing a program for sexually abused adolescents: The research-service partnership

This paper outlines the process of developing and implementing a new community service program for sexually abused adolescents and highlights the advantages of a functional research-service agency partnership in shortening the planning phase and sharpening the focus on such key factors as program components, site selection, and evaluation approaches.Data have been presented at the mid-point of the demonstration program's operation that show the program to be achieving its purposes in terms of impacting the rate of reporting and confirmation of child sexual abuse in the community.Other data indicate that the program is, in fact, being utilized as intended primarily by adolescents and that the incidence of reported and confirmed adolescent sexual abuse in particular is rising as a result.Impressions concerning the overwash effects of the program upon the community—and surrounding communities—have also been presented.The ultimate value of a continuing research-service agency partnership will perhaps be best determined by the quality of the final report on the program to be prepared in March, 1979. We expect chat the research emphasis upon accuracy in the data and the service interest upon interpreting their practical import will yield an honest assessment of the program's impact and its usefulness to other communities in meeting the needs of adolescent victims of sexual abuse.     

Institutional habitus in context: implementation,development and impacts in two compulsory secondary schools in Barcelona

This article aims to revisit the relationship between school-level variables and students’ educational opportunities through the lens of institutional habitus. This approach is particularly well suited to explore the notion of school culture because it brings to the forefront the impact of social context, avoiding some of the limitations typically associated with the long-dominant perspective of school effectiveness research. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, the article explores how institutional habitus unfolds in two urban public secondary schools in the city of Barcelona. Breaking the notion down into three main components (educational status, organizational practices and expressive order), the analysis identifies two main types of institutional habitus – one based on action and inclusion, and another based on reaction and expulsion. Ultimately, these results give insight into the complex interplay of these three components, as well as on their combined impact on students’ educational opportunities.     

Corporate learning: A knowledge management perspective

This paper provides a point of view on the relationship between learning and knowledge management in corporate training. This relationship forms the framework for the development of an effective learning management system (LMS). It comprises four sections: (1) a theoretical analysis of the relationship between training and knowledge management. In today's corporate environment, characterized by rapid change and restructuring, organizations need to become “learning organizations”; (2) some examples are provided of how training issues are intertwined with other processes, such as sales, communication, research and development (R&D), external network management; (3) corporate universities are the means for achieving those goals. They are efficient as long as they become strategy-supportive organizations. Such a structure is in need of the appropriate technology tool, an LMS; (4) it is possible to underline which functionalities are needed in order to have an efficient LMS. These are the kinds of considerations that led ID Technology in developing LiveLearning. Thus, an LMS for corporate training should take into account the relationship between knowledge management and training. An LMS should allow the integration of training with company processes and should assist in meeting corporate university goals. The same considerations also guide decision makers when choosing an LMS.     

Body Donation,Teaching, and Research in Dissection Rooms in Spain in Times of Covid-19

The state of alarm due to Covid-19 pandemic in Spain stopped all educational and most university research activities. The Spanish Anatomical Society (SAE) Consensus Expert Group on Body Donations piloted a study based on a questionnaire to know the status of body donations and dissection activities during the lockdown, as well as the future implications of Covid-19 pandemic for body donation programs and anatomy teaching. The questionnaire results show that Spanish Universities refused body donations and stopped all dissection research and teaching. The Covid-19 expected influence on anatomy teaching was referred to the increase in teaching workforce and resources required to apply the new safety measures to future practical activities, as well as to prepare and adapt teaching material for online-only programs. The application of reinforced safety measures was expected to be perceived by the respondent's students as a gain in teaching quality, while the transformation of the anatomy courses in online-only programs will be perceived as a quality decrease. The respondent's concerns about future institutional implications of the pandemic were related to increased costs of the adaptation of the facilities and the reinforced preventive measures, as well as the eventual decrease in donations. The complete lockdown applied to dissection rooms was not justified by scientific evidence and represented a break of the confidence deposed in the institutions by the donors. A consensus is required for the adoption of a renewed, comprehensive protocol for present and future body donations including the evidence Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to create.     

Inhibitory control in toddlerhood – the role of parental co-regulation and self-efficacy beliefs

Inhibitory control is considered a core component of self-regulation. Tremendous advances in early childhood have been attributed to brain maturation processes as well as environmental influences, such as parental co-regulation. Parental self-efficacy represents a key correlate of parenting behaviors and is associated with child outcomes. However, research on the interplay of parental co-regulation, parental self-efficacy and child’s inhibitory control in early childhood is scarce. In this study we explore to what extent parents’ positive (PCR) and negative co-regulation (NCR) and domain-specific (DSSE) and domain-general (DGSE) self-efficacy beliefs assessed at pre-test (T1) predict toddlers’ inhibitory control six weeks later (T2). Furthermore, we examine whether NCR mediates the link between DSSE and parent-reported inhibitory control. Results are based on data from 90 parent-child dyads (children’s age: 24–35 months). Parents’ PCR, NCR, DSSE and DGSE are assessed via questionnaire. Children’s inhibitory control is measured via the Inhibition Scale of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF-IN) and a Snack Delay task. Multiple regression analyses reveal that parents’ NCR and DSSE, but not PCR and DGSE, significantly predict BRIEF-IN at T2 (controlling for covariates). The indirect effect from parents’ DSSE on BRIEF-IN via NCR is not confirmed by the data. No associations are observed regarding children’s performance in the Snack Delay task. The present study adds new and important evidence that parents’ DSSE and NCR independently predict (parent-reported) inhibitory control in toddlerhood. Parenting interventions should thus not only address parenting practices but target parental self-efficacy beliefs as an important factor, too.     

Teachers’ Perspectives on the Human-Nature Relationship: Implications for Environmental Education

This study based on a theoretical framework of three main environmental perspectives in the human-nature relationship (anthropocentrism, biocentrism and ecocentrism), aimed to identify their incidence in teachers involved with environmental projects when confronted with diverse environmental issues. 60 teachers drawn from four school cycles in Portugal (crèche; 1st cycle, 6–9 years old; 2nd cycle, 10–11 years old; 3rd cycle and Secondary school, 12–17 years old) were interviewed and divided into two groups: generalist teachers (crèche and 1st cycle) and specialists in different subjects (2nd and 3rd cycles and secondary). The results showed a higher occurrence of biocentric perceptions in all teachers (more significantly in those from the 1st group). Comparatively, the teachers from the 2nd group showed more ecocentric perceptions. These differences can be explained by the models of teacher education (initial and inservice) and by the influence of the specific characteristics of the cycles in question. In contrast, the teachers' environmental projects were mostly centred on sustainable use of resources, which inevitably favours anthropocentric arguments. The results allow us to conclude that different environmental approaches are possible, especially if teachers are aware of the importance of dealing with more controversial environmental issues.     

Authority in the classroom: adolescent autonomy, autonomy support, and teachers’ legitimacy

Younger generations are increasingly questioning the legitimacy of teachers. However, evidence concerning classroom authority and the many factors that shape it tend to disregard the complexity and dynamics of the relationship between the teacher and the student. This paper aims to contribute to further unfold and understand this topic. Specifically, teachers’ legitimacy is examined from the scope of the Relational Model of Authority and the principle of autonomy, from the standpoint of the individual (i.e. adolescent’s autonomy level) and the individual’s perception of the social context (i.e. perceived autonomy support). Participants were 323 adolescents attending two secondary schools in urban areas of Portugal, from 9th to 12th grades. The results indicate that teachers’ legitimacy, as recognised by students, varies according to their perceived autonomy support. In addition, more autonomous adolescents, when in contexts that they perceive as lower in autonomy support, recognise lower levels of legitimacy to their teachers, compared with individuals with lower autonomy levels. Results are discussed from the standpoint of the Relational Model of Authority, the Self-Determination Theory and the Theory of Psychological Reactance.     

Expanding knowledge: from the classroom into cyberspace

This paper is part of a larger project in the area of research. The main purpose of this mediated discourse was to implement, observe and analyse experiences of teachers in a training project developed for two different settings in the classroom. The first was between international classrooms through cyberspace and the second was a cyberspace forum. We carried out these experiences with beginning teachers in training during semester‐long courses on ‘audiovisual communication techniques’. The data analysed in these two projects indicated that the integration of ICT (information and communication technologies) had a great impact on student teachers’ abilities to improve their pedagogical, individual, social and technological skills in order to build effective teaching tools and materials through the use of ICT. The positive outcomes of the project were: (1) teachers conceived the information in a multimodal format through the integration of linear and nonlinear formats of information in their pedagogical training; (2) teachers underwent significant learning because they were put in the position of hypermedia product builders; (3) teachers acquired information/tools not only to search but also to build and analyse digital discourses; (4) teachers conducted research emphasizing various points of view.

Elargir le Savoir: de la classe au cyberspace

Cet article faisait partie d’un projet plus vaste dans le domaine de la recherche sur la finalité du Discours Médiatique. Il s’agissait de mettre en place, d’observer et d’analyser les expériences de professeurs dans le cadre d’un projet de formation mis au point pour deux configurations de classes différentes. Dans la première il s’agissait de relier des classes internationales à travers le cyberespace et la seconde était un forum dans le cyberespace. Nous avons mené ces expériences avec des professeurs débutants en formation, dans le cadre de cours semestriels portant sur «Les Techniques de Communication Audiovisuelle». Les données analysées dans ces deux projets ont montré que l’intégration des TIC (Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication) influençait fortement les capacités des futurs professeurs à améliorer leurs compétences pédagogiques, individuelles, sociales et technologiques pour construire des outils et des matériaux d’enseignement efficaces avec l’aide des TIC. Les résultats positifs de ce projet ont été les suivants: (1) Les enseignants ont conçu l’information en forme multimodale et ce, en intégrant des formats d’information linéaires et non‐linéaires dans leur formation pédagogique; (2) Les enseignants ont acquis des connaissances significatives parcequ’ils/elles ont été placés dans la position de constructeurs de produits hypermedia ; (3) Les enseignants ont maîtrisé des outils d’information non seulement pour rechercher mais aussi pour construire et analyser les discours numériques ; (4) Les enseignants ont conduit leur recherche en mettant l’accent sur différents points de vue.

Wissensausbreitung: Vom Klassenzimmer in den Cyberspace

Dieses Papier war Teil eines größeren Forschungsprojekts. Der Hauptzweck dieses Diskurses war,Erfahrungen von Lehrern eines Übungsprojekts zu implementieren, beobachten und zu analysieren, das für zwei unterschiedliche Gegebenheiten im Klassenraum entwickelt worden war. Der erste war zwischen internationalen Klassen durch das Cyberspace und das zweite war ein Cyberspace‐Forum. Durchgeführt wurden diese mit Lehreranfängern im Rahmen eines ein‐semestrigen Kurses “Audiovisuel Communication Techniques”. Die Analyse der in diesen beiden Projekten gewonnenen Daten zeigten, dass die Integration von ICT einen großen Einfluss auf die Fähigkeiten der Studentenlehrer hat, ihre pädagogischen, individuellen, sozialen und technischen Kenntnisse weiterzuentwickeln, um effektive Lehrwerkzeuge und –materialien durch den Einsatz von ICT zu entwickeln. Die positiven Ergebnisse des Projekts waren: (1) Lehrer ersannen sich die Information in einem multimodalen Format durch das Integrieren von linearen und nicht‐linearen Formaten der Information in ihrer pädagogischen Ausbildung; (2) Lehrer unterzogen sich signifikanten Lernsituationen, weil sie in die Position von Hypermedia‐Produkt Bauunternehmern gestellt wurden; (3) Lehrer erwarben Information/Werkzeuge, nicht nur um digitale Diskurse zu suchen und zu analysieren, sondern auch um digitale Diskurse zu bauen und zu analysieren; (4) Lehrer führten Forschung durch, die verschiedene Ansätze umfasste.