Applying Emotional Intelligence: Exploring the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies curriculum

This paper describes a collaborative action research project in one primary school that arose from a mutual interest in applying the concept of “Emotional Intelligence”. It involves an exploratory qualitative study of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum. This is an approach aimed at promoting emotional competence in children and young people. The PATHS curriculum was chosen because of its clear conceptualisation of emotion, its emphasis upon cognitive and developmental aspects and its research history. One class of 9 and 10 year olds took part in the project. Target children were selected from within this group for closer monitoring. The outcomes suggest that PATHS was rated very positively by class teachers, pupils and other staff involved in the project. Positive emotional, social and behavioural changes at a class and individual level were attributed to the effects of PATHS. Finally, the importance of developing a positive school ethos was highlighted as promoting these effects.     

COUNSELLING FOR TOLERANCE

With the duties and responsibilities of the counsellor in mind and the pressures upon him or her, this article begins by considering the fine line between active tolerance, based on firm personal values, and passive tolerance, viewed by the author as more a form of valueless moral neutrality. Not only must the counsellors of today face clients with diverse cultural backgrounds as well as situations which challenge their own standards, they must also deal with the widely held belief that problems which appear not to be suitable for legal intervention should be solved by counselling. Understanding that the western notion of tolerance first developed in regard to ideas rather than actions, it becomes possible for counsellors to be compassionate while adhering to a conviction that some ideas are better than others and that certain actions must be avoided altogether. Generally speaking, there are two approaches to counselling: therapeutic or psychological, on one hand, and philosophical, on the other. The latter is best directed at the problems of ordinary people who need help with a problem such as personal loss, an overwhelming feeling of guilt because of an action one regrets, the fact that one will soon die ‐ as in the case of persons diagnosed for AIDS. Finally, the tolerant counsellor living in a diverse society can become a vehicle for imparting tolerance and understanding to others.     

The Project on Innovative Teaching Methods — An Overview

Over the past several years, the education system in Singapore has undergone very significant and far-reaching changes, especially in terms of the programmes and resources available to teachers and pupils. New textbooks and teaching materials have been introduced into the schools by the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore (CDIS). Within the Institute of Education (IE), teacher education programmes for pre-service trainees and in-service teachers have also undergone review and change to meet new needs and expectations.     

21世纪高等教育:开放与远程学习面临的挑战——在“2008世界开放与远程教育论坛”上的主题报告

我们生活在一个非同寻常的时代。这个世界以前从来没有像现在这么繁荣,从来没有这么多的人像现在这样健康长寿的活着,我们从来没有见到过如此令人眼花缭乱的技术,也从来没有达到像现在这样的平均教育水平。但是,就绝对数字而言,这个世界从来没有这么多的人像现在这样生活在如此贫困的状态之中,从来没有这么多的人像现在这样死于原本可以预防的疾病,这个地球从来没有像现在那样面临威胁,也从来没有像现在这样有这么多的人需要教育。     

Profiles of Parenting for Low-Income Families and Links to Children’s Preschool Outcomes

Parenting is a multidimensional construct that includes practices, attitudes, and emotional capacity. The aims of the study were to examine variation within parenting through a person-centered approach and the extent to which child and family characteristics were associated with profiles of parenting as well as the link between parenting profiles and children’s preacademic skills, language, and behavior outcomes in preschool. This study used data from low-income, ethnically diverse, preschool-aged children (n = 740) and their parents (n = 713) who were participants in a network of high-quality early care and education programs across the United States. Latent profile analyses uncovered four parenting profiles: (1) low enrichment, conflict-oriented, and distressed parent; (2) average enrichment, conflict-oriented, and distressed parent; (3) low to average enrichment, emotionally close, and low distressed parent; and (4) high enrichment, emotionally close, and low distressed parent. Child (age, minority status) and parent (family structure, home language, maternal age, level of education, school/training status, and depressive symptomatology) characteristics were predictive of being in a particular parenting group. Further, parenting profiles were predictive of children’s preschool outcomes. Implications for intervention and programming are discussed.     

Implementation and modification of an anatomy‐based integrated curriculum

Morehouse School of Medicine elected to restructure its first‐year medical curriculum by transitioning from a discipline‐based to an integrated program. The anatomy course, with regional dissection at its core, served as the backbone for this integration by weaving the content from prior traditional courses into the curriculum around the anatomy topics. There were four primary goals for this restructuring process. Goal 1: develop new integrated courses. Course boundaries were established at locations where logical breaks in anatomy content occurred. Four new courses were created, each containing integrated subject content. Goal 2: establish a curriculum management team. The team consisted of course directors, subject specialists, and a curriculum director. This team worked together to efficiently manage the new curriculum. Goal 3: launch contemporary examination and question banking methods. An electronic system, in which images could be included, was implemented for examinations and quizzes, and for storing and refining questions. Goal 4: ensure equitable distribution of standardized examinations and course grading systems among all courses. Assessments included quizzes, in‐course examinations, and National Board of Medical Examiners^® (NBME^®) Subject Examinations. A standard plan assigned the contribution of each to the final course grade. Significant improvement was seen on subject examinations. Once the obstacles and challenges of integration were overcome, a robust and efficient education program was developed. The curriculum is expected to continue evolving and improving, while retaining full regional dissection as a core element. Anat Sci Educ 10: 262–275. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

The Implications of Culture and Identity: A Professor's Engagement with a Reform Collaborative

In this study, part of a larger United States project investigating K16 teachers and science reform, we seek to understand how a science professor's participation in a large-scale reform effort affects her conceptions of teaching, teachers, and reform. The topic in this study concerned how the professor's teaching identity was modified and created by the reform effort as she mediated her participation. A multiple-method approach utilizing (a) semi-structured interviews/correspondences with four students and the professor, (b) classroom observations, and (c) field notes, comprised the data collection. Results indicated that, although the professor was inclined to try out new teaching strategies in her classroom, the project failed to create pedagogical dissonance thus leading to her lack of desire to accommodate a more inquiry-based pedagogy.     

Perceiving the Affordance of Contact in Fourand Five-Month-Old Infants

The focus of this study was on the ability of infants to perceive whether an object is positioned at a distance that would make contact possible. As a toy was presented, sometimes within and sometimes beyond reach, the initiation of reaching and leaning forward was scored. Infants were divided into leaning and nonleaning groups. Both leaning and nonleaning 5-month-olds changed their behavior dramatically when the object was placed beyond, as opposed to within, reach. The nonleaners showed a decline in reaching when this boundary for contact was crossed. The "leaners" did not; rather, they began to lean forward. These results suggest that 5-month-olds use information for the affordance of contact. 4-month-olds provided less evidence that arm length regulates reaching. 5-month-old infants acted as if they not only had some sensitivity to the absolute distance of an object but also to the effect that leaning forward has on their ability to make contact with a distant object.