A sociocultural approach to learning orientation in an early childhood setting

This paper considers ways in which a model of motivational processes that describes children as internalizing learning or performance goals can incorporate situated and sociocultural features without losing its explanatory power. It analyzes the relationship between dispositional and situational factors within a pattern of interwoven socioculturally derived social identities or intents. Data come from an interpretive case study of 4-year-olds working on everyday technology in a kindergarten. The analysis of five main activities suggests that learning orientations - learning and performance goals- were being attached to social identity. Four processes illustrate the complex and shifting system of socially situated learning orientation: appropriation and display; shifts from one intent to another; niche fitting and forming; and mergers and invasions.     

Development and initial validation of the institutional child abuse processes and coping inventory among a sample of Irish adult survivors of institutional abuse

ObjectiveTo develop a psychometric instrument to evaluate psychological processes associated with institutional abuse and coping strategies used to deal with such abuse.MethodsAs part of a comprehensive assessment protocol, an inventory containing theoretically derived multi-item rational scales which assessed institutional abuse-related psychological processes and coping strategies were administered to 247 Irish adult survivors of institutional child abuse. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to derive 6-factor scales, the reliability and validity of which were assessed.ResultsFactor scales to assess the following constructs were developed (1) traumatization, (2) re-enactment, (3) spiritual disengagement, (4) positive coping, (5) coping by complying, and (6) avoidant coping. There were varying degrees of support for the validity of the scales with most support for the traumatization and re-enactment scales.ConclusionsThe Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory (ICAPCI), particularly its traumatization and re-enactment scales, may be used in future research on adult survivors of institutional child abuse because they are currently the only scales that have been developed with this population to provide reliable and valid assessments of these constructs.Practice implicationsThe ICAPCI may be used, cautiously, to assess adult survivors of institutional child abuse.     

Learning in virtual worlds: Using communities of practice to explain how people learn from play

Although there is interest in the educational potential of online multiplayer games and virtual worlds, there is still little evidence to explain specifically what and how people learn from these environments. This paper addresses this issue by exploring the experiences of couples that play World of Warcraft together. Learning outcomes were identified (involving the management of ludic, social and material resources) along with learning processes, which followed Wenger's model of participation in Communities of Practice. Comparing this with existing literature suggests that productive comparisons can be drawn with the experiences of distance education students and the social pressures that affect their participation.     

The playing performance of county cricket pitches

The surface on to which a bowler projects a ball in the game of cricket is made up of hard packed soil with sparse grass cover. This natural turf pitch is of fundamental importance to the play of the game and the quality of the surface is a prime concern of players, officials, commentators and spectators alike. A programme of research has been undertaken to identify the factors that lead to the construction of high quality cricket pitches. This work employed the technology of highspeed video analysis to monitor the performance of first class cricket pitches during county matches. A system for measuring the impact of a cricket ball on a pitch was developed, and over 3000 ball impacts analysed. This analysis enabled pitches to be characterized in terms of pace, bounce and consistency. Soil properties for the monitored pitches were identified and correlations were drawn between pitch performance and soil composition.