Childhood social anxiety and social support-seeking: distinctive links with perceived support from teachers

Social support-seeking is recognised as an important strategy used by children to cope with negative emotions. However, there are important gaps in our knowledge about children’s perceptions of different sources of social support, and the associations that these perceptions have with individual differences in socio-emotional functioning. The present study focused on elucidating the links between social support-seeking and social anxiety in children, with particular attention to support from teachers. One hundred and eight 11- to 12-year-olds completed measures of social anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as a questionnaire measuring social support-seeking processes for coping with a generic friendship problem. Preliminary analyses showed that teachers were less likely to be approached for social support than parents and peers, and were viewed as least available and least effective. However, social anxiety—independently of depressive symptoms and gender—was positively associated with a greater self-reported likelihood of approaching teachers for support. Moreover, this effect was partially mediated by the perceived effectiveness of emotion-focused support from teachers. These results point to theoretical and practical implications regarding the salience of social support in school for children with higher levels of social anxiety.     

Education and Social Change: A Proactive or Reactive Role?

This paper reviews the ways in which contributors to the International Review of Education have discussed the role of education in social change. It asserts that education is seen as a major vector in society, but that it is largely allocated a conservative role, since its main function is in the socialisation of the young and the maintenance of the social order. During times of rapid social change, such as the second half of the 20th century, the role of education in the service of the nation is emphasised. When things are going well, especially economically, more experimentation with education is supported, and more idealistic goals are pursued, such as equity of educational opportunity. It is in the ideological and moral spheres, however, that education is most clearly expected to play a leading role. The author traces the relationship between education and social change as reflected in the journal since the 1930s.     

Changing Internal Governance: A Discussion of Leadership Roles and Management Structures in UK Universities

A series of reviews over the past six years – from Dearing ( NCIHE, 1997 ) to Lambert ( Lambert, 2003 ) – have addressed the question of whether the structure and process of ‘governance’ in higher education is fit for modern times. This is a proper question to ask as operating environments change and pressures on institutional resources increase. Indeed, it is not coincidental that both the recent government‐sponsored reports and those of the previous decade ( Jarratt, 1985 ; NAB, 1987 ) were associated with significant financial changes in the sector. There are further parallels in that both the reports of the 1980s and those of the later period heralded legislative changes that produced – or will produce – new patterns of higher education provision in the UK ( Education Reform Act, 1988 ; Further and Higher Education Act, 1992 ; Higher Education Act, 2004 ). The messages from the reports and White Papers ( DES, 1987 ; DES, 1991 ; DfES, 2003 ) published in this twenty‐year period have remained broadly similar, even though the wider environment has altered significantly. ‘Increase efficiency, find new sources of income and improve performance across an ever‐widening range of activities and services’ have been the watchwords of successive governments. Given the consistency of the message, it is useful to analyse the changes that universities have been making to meet these requirements and to consider what further changes may be needed in the light of new external challenges. The first part of the paper offers a historical perspective before addressing the evolution of leadership roles and management structures from the late 1980s. The second part considers some of the current drivers of internal and external change before discussing the kind of changes in internal governance that are emerging and that should be considered for the future. I conclude by arguing for a shift in focus from structure and roles to people and processes in the task of leading change in universities.     

Contextual influences on the interaction between conflicting memories in the rat

Contextual events redundant to the learning, in sequence, of passive and active avoidance were of one type for the former task and of another for the latter. During later testing, these contextual events were found to determine which of these acquired, conflicting dispositions would be manifested in behavior. Mutual interference in retention otherwise seen under similar circumstances seemed subordinate to the influence of the three types of contextual stimuli tested—drug (pentobarbital), compound (the experimental room in which conditioning took place), and a relatively unitary stimulus (a constantly sounding buzzer). The discussion considered the defining characteristics of a “contextual stimulus” and the mechanisms through which contextual events control the manifestation of learned behaviors and alleviation of interference in retention.     

Leadership, Quality and Institutional Effectiveness

Institutions of higher education have been slower than commercial enterprises to realise the links between leadership and quality. However, changes in the internal and external environment of universities and colleges are bringing these connections to the fore. This paper presents an overview of current thinking on quality and leadership in the context of institutional effectiveness. The authors explore different interpretations of leadership and quality, and examine their potential contribution to managing change and to the achievement of a culture of quality enhancement in higher education.     

International Activity or Internationalisation Strategy? Insights from an Institutional Pilot Study in the UK

Tertiary Education and Management - Set in a context of increasing competition and changing dimensions of internationalisation, the paper offers an analysis of one institution’s approach to...     

Reconsidering regionalisation in global higher education: student mobility spaces of the European Higher Education Area

This paper examines international student mobility between member states of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), a group of 47 countries that committed to reforming their higher education systems to improve the comparability and compatibility of degrees. While increased student mobility is a key goal in its official documents, little research has empirically investigated student mobility patterns in respect to the EHEA. The analysis employs multivariate techniques to identify trends in student mobility between 1999 and 2009, using a spatial approach to visualise the relationships between member states as constituted through student mobility flows. Results show that within the analysis timeframe student flows in the EHEA became more even in their distribution, but that in terms of the relationships between states, the EHEA became more centralised and segmented, meaning that key actors mediated exchanges between peripheral states and the region was more easily divided into self-contained clusters. These trends indicate a need to critically reconsider the nature of the EHEA and its role in the globalisation of higher education.     

The use of touch devices for enhancing academic achievement: A meta‐analysis

Touch devices such as tablets and smartphones are widely adopted in educational settings and have many desirable features. However, research supporting the use of touch devices to improve academic achievement is emergent and has not been evaluated through a meta‐analysis. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 65 group and single case design research studies, published 2010–2018, to evaluate the effects of touch device implementation on academic achievement. The overall mean effect sizes were moderate for group design and single case design studies. Participant, intervention, and study attributes were also evaluated to describe the research and how these attributes may moderate the results. Overall, results suggest that touch devices may be an effective tool for enhancing academic achievement. The need to conduct additional, rigorous research on the use of touch devices as well as implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

How African American Mothers from Urban,Low-Income Backgrounds Support Their Children’s Kindergarten Transition: Qualitative Findings

The transition to kindergarten is a critical milestone in children’s lives, with implications for academic and future life success. The demographic family/parental variables of residence, social class, and race have been associated with children’s adjustment to kindergarten. In particular, children growing up in families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds are at heighted risk for negative academic, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes as they transition to kindergarten. Relatively little inductive research exists on the kindergarten transition of this population and how families from urban, low-income African backgrounds positively support their children’s kindergarten adjustment. However, researchers using qualitative methods are increasingly examining the first-hand experiences of families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds to better understand family beliefs and practices that promote children’s successful kindergarten transition. Contributing to this gap in the literature, we utilized qualitative interviews informed by resilience theory to explore how 20 mothers from urban, low-income African American backgrounds facilitated their Head Start preschoolers’ transition to kindergarten. We found that, despite possessing parental/family risk factors associated with ineffective kindergarten transitions, mothers monitored and assessed their children’s academic and socio-emotional school readiness abilities, promoting readiness competencies while addressing readiness weaknesses. One of the ways that mothers supported children’s transition readiness was through one-on-one conversations with preschoolers. Our findings provide recommendations for effective home–school collaborations that support children’s successful kindergarten transition. Collaborating with engaged and motivated parents, Head Start can assist families and children prior to kindergarten and continue to serve as a link between families and children and elementary schools.