Pirates and poachers: Fan fiction and the conventions of reading and writing

This article explores what teachers and students can learn about contemporary story‐telling from a study of fan fiction – that is, stories created by readers and viewers out of the canonical material of previously published fictions. Drawing on the example of Pirates of the Caribbean, it investigates ways in which fan fiction writers develop codes and conventions to govern themselves. For example, online litmus tests establish when a writer is self‐indulgently writing ‘Mary Sue’ characters into a story; the self‐styled Protectors of the Plot Continuum patrol the fictional limits of an imagined world to make sure that canonical information is not violated by fan fiction writers. This article makes use of such examples to investigate how quality control in fan fiction is codified, and to explore what teachers can learn from such enterprises about contemporary writing, reading and viewing. It compares these possibilities with issues of online literacy outlined by Henry Jenkins under three headings: the participation gap, the transparency problem, and the ethics challenge.     

Examining Predictors of Counselor‐in‐Training Intentional Nondisclosure

This study explored factors that best predict intentional nondisclosure by counselors‐in‐training (CITs) during onsite supervision, including social judgment about one’s supervisor, the supervisory working alliance (SWA), and supervisee attachment styles. Stepwise regression in a sample of 146 CITs revealed that the SWA and supervisee attachment avoidance predicted 60% of the variance in intentional nondisclosure.     

Predicting university preference and attendance: Applied marketing in higher education administration

A multi-attribute attitude model, based on the efforts of Rosenberg and Fishbein, was used to determine whether a multicriteria scale can be used to predict student preferences for and attendance at universities. Data were gathered from 241 freshmen attending five state universities in Ohio. Responsents were asked to weight the importance of 18 selection criteria and evaluate seven universities using those criteria. These data were processed through the model, and the results were compared to the respondents' preference ordering of the universities. The results indicate a high level of predictability, particularly for highly ranked universities. Implications for the marketing of higher educational institutions are discussed.     

Vision and Leadership in Educational Administration: Sir George White of Norwich (1840–1912)

This article considers the usefulness of current models of leadership in change situations for an analysis of a historical case study of educational leadership. It uses the life of Sir George White (1842–1912) and his leadership in the field of education in Norwich and at the national level in the UK to examine the nature of effective leadership in a context of social change. The leadership traits of cultivating relationships, leading with a clear moral purpose, creating coherence through the communication of a strong vision, sharing knowledge and understanding the possibilities offered by change in a specific context, are used to frame the analysis of George White’s leadership style.     

Short-Term Study-Abroad Experience in Ireland: An Exercise in Cross-Cultural Counseling

International exchanges or study-abroad experiences can have lifelong impacts on students from various disciplines. This article describes the integration of a short-term study-abroad program to Ireland into two socio-cultural courses. The experience also offers course credit for major requirements in two programs. Through this two-week travel experience students are brought into intensive contact with educators, scholars, and community activists in Ireland and Northern Ireland and weigh differences and similarities in the social issues and services among the three countries. While the course is aimed at students in the counseling field, it also appeals to students majoring in criminal justice, sociology, women's studies, international studies, and political science.     

Rituals of Returning: A Dialogic Interpretation

Rituals are about time and participation, and usually we study them in other people. In this article, we examine a study of ourselves in which time returns rather than progresses and in which participation is dialogic. The article represents a departure from realist ethnography and is rendered as a conversation.     

Education and development

International Review of Education -