The impact of inservice teacher education on mathematics teachers' subject-matter confidence, and competency

Two inservice courses designed to strengthen teachers' subject-matter competencies while introducing them to mathematics curricula for Grades 7 and 8 were investigated. In a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were given a confidence measure and knowledge test. After the inservice training, teachers manifested greater self-confidence in knowledge of curricular material, a corresponding increase in mathematics skills, and high levels of confidence in ability to teach the curriculum. Results suggest that when knowledge tests are not feasible, measurement of confidence in solving problems may be sufficient to evaluate the cognitive impact of an inservice program.     

Survivors in a male preserve: A study of British women academics' experiences and perceptions of discrimination in a UK university

Women academics in British universities make up a very small minority and are concentrated in the lower grades. All the statistical evidence points to the fact that a reason for this situation is that discrimination exists in the academic profession. Howerver, very little empirical information exists on the nature of this discrimination and how it operates. The study reported here seeks to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon by exploring the processes involved, through the perceptions and experience of women academics themselves. A total of 43 women from a British university were interviewed at length, and problem areas were highlighted by their evidence.There is the problem of being in very small minorities functioning in a male environment. They suffer from isolation and exclusion from their male colleagues, and challenges to their authority from male students. They have fewer support systems, with few role models or mentors, and little access to communication networks. They report problems with work relationships, and experience hostility from male colleagues and students. The majority had experienced discrimination within the university. Finally, the effects of these factors on their perception of themselves as academics are explored. The majority become convinced that the concept of a women academic is problematic. This leads them to put pressure on themselves to perform better than male colleagues, and to avoid being identified with other women. They become honorary men and as such are in no position to support other women.Being different is a very hard row to hoe. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. (Two traditional Japanese sayings.New Internationalist, May 1992, p. 231).     

Disciplining Students: the construction of student subjectivities

While we usually think of higher education as a process through which every able individual's potential may be realised more fully, it can also be seen as one of arbitrarily disciplining the student to particular ends. One of these ends is the production of the ‘good’, or docile and useful, student subject. A Foucauldian analysis of the university as a disciplinary block, an institution saturated with relations of power, points to the ways in which students are disciplined by both the technologies of domination, which originate in the institution, and those of the self. The latter are the many practices that students adopt, producing themselves as the good student, at times to the detriment of their other interests. However, because power relations are only present between those who are ‘acting subjects’, possibilities for resistance and struggle against the normalising tendencies of the university to find other, more satisfying, forms of student subjectivity are ever present     

Community outreach library services in the UK: a case study of Wirral Hospital NHS Trust (WHNT)

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The study evaluates the Community Outreach Library Service at Wirral Hospital National Health Service Trust (WHNT). It considers the information seeking behaviour and information needs of primary care staff, and service effectiveness in meeting those needs. METHODS: A literature review established the current context and areas of best practice. The investigative case study used postal questionnaires to 250 primary care staff and an interview with the Community Outreach Librarian. FINDINGS: Themes emerged from the literature regarding information seeking behaviour, information needs, and meeting user needs through effective service delivery. Outreach services have value in terms of improving information skills and providing services at point of need. Time is a major constraint for both users and service providers. CONCLUSIONS: Investment is needed from appropriate funding sources to support the provision and marketing of outreach library services. Librarians benefit from sharing best practice. The continued evaluation of outreach library services is recommended.     

Care practice #3: continuous labor support

This updated edition of Care Practice Paper #3 presents the evidence for the benefits of continuous support in labor. The role of the doula is explained. Women are encouraged to plan for continuous support during labor and to consider including a woman experienced with childbirth among their labor support team.     

Cultural variation in children's social organization

This article examines how 31 triads of 6- to 10-year-old children from 3 cultural backgrounds organized their interactions while folding Origami figures. Triads of children whose families had immigrated to the United States from indigenous heritage regions of México (and whose mothers averaged only 7 grades of schooling) coordinated more often as an ensemble, whereas triads of European heritage U.S. children whose mothers had extensive schooling more often engaged dyadically or individually. When the European heritage children did engage as an ensemble, this often involved chatting rather than nonverbal conversation regarding folding, which was more common among the Mexican heritage children. Mexican heritage U.S. triads whose mothers had extensive schooling showed an intermediate pattern or resembled the European heritage children.     

Do infants need social cognition to act socially? An alternative look at infant pointing

Tomasello, Carpenter, and Liszkowski (2007) present a comprehensive review of the infant pointing literature. They conclude that infant pointing demonstrates communicative intent from its onset, at about 1 year of age. In this commentary, it is noted that for infants to understand communicative intent, they must have a concept of self and others as intentional agents. Evidence is reviewed to argue that this is not possible until 18-24 months of age. A leaner explanation of how infants might initially succeed in pointing tasks without understanding communicative intent is considered.     

The Earlier the Better? Pausing for Thought …

Is earlier intervention always superior? Using two complementary forms of meta-analysis, Gardner and colleagues find no support for the “earlier is better” hypothesis in outcomes of parenting programs for child behavior problems across the 2–11 year age range. This commentary explores possible methodological and substantive reasons for the pattern of their findings. We need additional careful analyses of this kind, assessing age variations in intervention effects across broader age ranges, and in other developmental domains, for strong tests of the “earlier is better” hypothesis. At this stage, however, Gardner et al.'s findings give us some pause for thought.