Some call it guts …

In many universities students are widely used as peer resources and paraprofessional aids. This essay contends that their training is frequently minimal and that training programs presently available tend to be narrowly focused and overlapping. A multidimensional, experientially based training model operating from within a speech communication framework is developed. Speech communication instruction provides the conceptual foundation for this mode of paraprofessional training.     

The Columbine Tragedy: Adolescent Identity and Future Recommendations

Contemporary secondary education is marked by the standardization of both content and testing. The effect of this characterization on history, the humanities, and social studies results in a break from the spirit of these disciplines. Regarding history, the specific implications include objectification of causation and "the truth" about the past, which in turn, narrows the range of questioning and investigation by students and restricts the pedagogy of teachers. In the article, the author investigates some parameters of World War I and the contextual understanding of the causes of this event via standardization. In the broader sense, the author strives to contribute to the dialogue on the purpose of history in modern high schools and its relationship to its meaning in higher education.     

INTERVIEWS

Four groups of student teachers taught short lessons to small classes of children. According to the micro‐teaching format developed at Stanford University they then retaught a similar lesson approximately one hour later to a comparable but different group of children. In the intervening one‐hour period they received various kinds of feedback about the first lesson they had given. Analysis of the second lessons showed that the students who had both seen videotapes of their first lesson and been given information about their interaction with the class were likely to lecture less, elicit more spontaneous talk by the children and be rated higher by them.     

"PRIME TIME": THE INTEGRATION OF THE CONTENT OF A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER COLUMN ON AGING INTO THE GERONTOLOGY CURRICULUM

This paper provides suggestions for the curricular introduction of materials from a weekly newspaper column on aging (or similar local or nationally syndicated newspaper column - for our purposes, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY) for a period of one year (October 5, 1997 to September 27, 1998). The study provides a content analysis of the column and presents numerous specific suggestions for the inclusion of its content into the curriculum, especially columns with course-related themes (e.g., medical problems, elder abuse, nutrition, and so forth) to show the relationship between theory and practice. In one exemplary activity, students wrote their own aging columns to develop their research and writing skills.     

Physical Self-Concept,Possible Selves,and Well-Being Among Older Adults in Taiwan

Possible selves is an important self-related construct for older adults' health behaviors and well-being. This study examines the relationships among older adults' current physical self-concept, possible selves, and physical activity participation, and it examines the mediating effect of possible selves on the relationships between physical self-concept and well-being. One hundred and sixty-three community-dwelling older adults (M _age = 70.91, SD = 6.39) in Taiwan completed the survey packet assessing physical self concept, possible selves, health-related qualities of life, and life satisfaction. Bivariate correlation analyses showed that older adults' possible selves were positively related to physical self-concept and moderate physical activity participation. In addition, the link between older adults' physical self-concept and psychological well-being was mediated partially by possible selves. The results show the significance of using the construct of possible selves to examine and promote older adults' physical activity/exercise behaviors and psychological well-being.     

Home Literacy Environment and the beginning of reading and spelling

Reading and writing are necessary prerequisites for a successful school career. Therefore it is important to identify precursor variables which predict these abilities early in order to identify children possibly at risk of developing reading or spelling difficulties. Relevant precursors include letter knowledge, phonological awareness (PA), vocabulary, and cognitive abilities. Moreover, also social aspects such as the socioeconomic status of the family (SES), the migration background and the “Home Literacy Environment” (HLE) are of importance. So far, only a few studies are available which analyse the early development of different possible explanatory factors simultaneously in the years before and after school enrolment. In particular, the relative impact of HLE on early and later linguistic competencies in a German context remains unclear. Thus, in our longitudinal study, covering the period from kindergarten to Grade 1, we focused on the role HLE plays in the development of language competencies of 921 German children, compared to the impact of several other important variables.