Making up the deficit: a South African non‐formal education project for industrial personnel

As South Africa moves towards a democratic, non‐racial constitution it faces a problem of massive social rehabilitation after the social devastation caused by the policy of apartheid. Apart from the children still within a seriously inadequate education system, millions of adults earlier received inferior, and in most instances destructive, education and are poorly equipped to participate effectively within a new political and economic dispensation. In addition black and white South Africans are expected to bond to form a new, non‐racial nation yet for generations their lives have been rigidly segregated under apartheid laws and hence they hardly know each other. Non‐formal adult education initiatives which address these needs are thus a priority in South Africa. This paper describes a collaborative attempt between a university‐based agency and several industrial concerns to address the issue of personnel development through non‐formal educational means. Using the model of guided ‘apprenticeships’ in cognitive and social development and an action‐research methodology, the project targeted three focal areas for development: strategic thinking skills, team values and an internal locus of control. Over the period of a year, monthly events were structured into the project to facilitate participants’ development along these lines. Results indicate that significant development occurred amongst the majority of participants in the areas of self‐confidence, communication and relationship skills, and in the broadening of their general knowledge bases. The relationship of these results to the targeted areas of development is discussed and an attempt is made to explain the results through reference to the methodology and structure of the project.     

Bullying in Schools: Addressing Desires, Not Only Behaviours

Currently the main approach in responding to bullying in schools is to focus on undesired behaviours and to apply sanctions. This approach is often ineffective as well as failing to address the needs of children as persons as distinct from the behaviour they produce. A proposed alternative approach is to inquire into the motivation of children who bully and to identify the desires that bullying behaviour seeks to satisfy. This paper provides a critique of the conception of bullying as located in the desire to hurt others, as proposed by Tattum and Tattum (1992). It examines a range of desires, as inferred from the reasons schoolchildren give for bullying others, that may, under some circumstances, lead them to engage in bullying. Finally, it considers how a primary focus on children’s desires rather than on their behaviour, may result in more effective and humane methods of dealing with the problem of bullying in schools.     

Teacher beliefs about the cognitive diagnostic information of classroom‐ versus large‐scale tests: implications for assessment literacy

Classroom teachers are in the front line of introducing students to formal learning, including assessments, which can be assumed to continue for students should they extend their schooling past the expected mandatory 12 years. The purpose of the present investigation was to survey secondary teachers’ beliefs of classroom and large‐scale tests for (a) providing information about students’ learning processes, (b) influencing meaningful student learning, and (c) eliciting learning or test‐taking strategies for successful test performance. Secondary teachers were surveyed because a majority of large‐scale tests are developed for secondary students (e.g., PISA, TIMSS). Results suggested that in comparison to large‐scale tests teachers believe classroom tests provide more information about student learning processes, are more likely to influence meaningful student learning, and are more likely to require learning over test‐taking strategies. The implications of these results for assessment literacy are explored.     

Habitual rowing exercise is associated with high physical fitness without affecting arterial stiffness in older men

The present study elucidated the effects of habitual rowing exercise on arterial stiffness and plasma levels of the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 and the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO) in older men. Eleven rowers (68.0 ± 1.6 years) and 11 sedentary control older men (64.9 ± 1.1 years) were studied. Peak oxygen uptake (36.0 ± 1.7 vs. 27.7 ±1.9 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1)), leg press power (1346 ± 99 vs. 1077 ± 68 W), and HDL-cholesterol (75 ± 5 vs. 58 ±3 mg · ml(-1)) were higher and triglyceride (78 ± 9 vs. 120 ± 14 mg · ml(-1)) was lower in rowers than in control participants (all P < 0.05). Arterial stiffness indices (carotid β-stiffness and cardio-ankle vascular index) and plasma endothelin-1 and NOx (nitrite + nitrate) levels did not differ between the two groups. These results suggest that habitual rowing exercise in older men is associated with high muscle power and aerobic capacity, and favourable blood lipid profile without affecting arterial stiffness or plasma levels of endotheline-1 and NO.     

The 2000 Cohort of New Assistant Professors of Counselor Education: Reflecting at the Culmination of Six Years

This article features the final phase of a 6‐year inquiry focused on counselor educators who assumed their first full‐time faculty position in the fall 2000 academic term. Through in‐depth interviews and questionnaires, the participants described their experiences addressing (a) work environment, (b) sources of satisfaction and pleasure, (c) the interplay between professional and personal domains, and (d) change and transformation. References to tenure and promotion became frequent and prominent across all themes. Recommendations for counselor‐educators‐in‐training, candidates, new counselor educators, and veteran counselor educators are provided.