Psychosocial Adjustment among Children Experiencing Persistent and Intermittent Family Economic Hardship

Much research on family economic hardship and its effects on children has been cross-sectional in nature, has focused primarily on white children, and has assessed the impact of episodic rather than chronic economic difficulties. In contrast, the present research was designed to study outcomes associated with persistent economic hardship among a heterogeneous group of children over time. Results showed that, for both black and white children, a broad range of difficulties was associated with enduring economic hardship. Children who experienced persistent family economic hardship were more likely than those who did not to have difficulties in peer relations, show conduct problems at school, and report low self-esteem. Children who experienced intermittent family economic hardship fell between the other 2 groups. Connections between persistent economic hardship and psychosocial adjustment were more pronounced for boys than for girls. Consistent with suggestions by a number of investigators, the impact of economic hardship on children in the present sample was mediated in part by its association with parental behavior.     

Verbal Intelligence: a key to basic skills?

Intra‐individual variability of cognitive measures, such as verbal and spatial ability tests, has frequently been reported to typify learning disabled children. To test the generality of such findings, longitudinal data from a large representative and non‐clinical sample of Swedish children (n = 812) were analysed. At age 10, the children were tested with a Swedish intelligence scale. At age 13, basic academic skills were measured by standardised achievement tests. Typical cognitive profile types, based on the verbal and spatial intelligence subtests, were identified through cluster analyses (CLUSTAN) of the girl and boy samples separately. The satisfactory solution arrived at was a five‐cluster representation for the girls (n = 497) and an eight‐cluster representation for the boys (n = 497). For both sexes, verbally as well as spatially oriented profiles emerged. However, the verbal orientation was more pronounced for girls, whereas the boys displayed greater variability and stronger spatial orientation. General intelligence at age 10 was a strong predictor for basic skills at age 13 (r > 0.70). Verbally strong children tended to achieve better than predicted by their overall level of intelligence, whereas spatially oriented children showed a less favourable development in basic academic skills. The results are discussed in relation to neuropsychologically‐based models of reading disability and theories of language and development.     

How education policy is made meaningful – a narrative exploration of how teachers show autonomy in the development of teaching and learning

This study addresses how the autonomy of teachers in higher education, in relation to education policy and reform, can be understood. By taking a narrative-in-action approach, we studied health profession teachers’ activities and reasoning within their ongoing practice during one year. The findings show how the teachers created their own policies and in what way these policies became meaningful. As teachers in this study continuously made changes, the joint creation of policies contributed to their sense of togetherness and the re-building of a community of practice. In parallel, they increased the evidence-based standards related to their discipline and experienced a shift in perspective concerning teaching and learning. The importance of their jointly made policies can be explained by how they learned a student-learning view together, and built on their own ideas of what educational matters needed to be developed. At the same time, their activities and reasoning mirror ‘a debated but yet prevailing view’ on the discourse of quality and a number of ideals thereof such as transparency and standardisation, effective teaching and increased academisation.     

A qualitative study of communication,cultural identity,and open defecation

Open defecation persists as a global health problem despite efforts to build and implement better toilets. Based on nine focus group meetings held across two communities in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, this study shows that open defecation is a symbolic practice contributing to social and cultural identity formation. Major themes were derived regarding the positives and negatives of open defecation and latrine use. Open defecation was considered as a means for social communication, particularly for girls and women, and not necessarily as a healthier practice. Issues of politics and class relations emerged, with lower caste people expressing the lack of or poor quality toilets. Yet the persistence of historical and cultural identity played a part in people’s preference to go out to the field to defecate, especially for women to sustain their social connectedness and men to sustain their masculine identity. These cultural and communication aspects of open defecation should be considered in ongoing sanitation movements.     

Learning styles of the open university students of Sri Lanka

Conclusions This study presented an analysis of learning styles of a sample of Sri Lankan Open University students using the LSI. Results indicate that the program of study is more likely to influence learning style than gender. It could also be assumed that the older students who were employed specifically in the PGDE program were influenced by the type of employment they were engaged in, as well as by the type of program they were enrolled in. Although the use of the LSI with this population was not incongruent, one of the questions that remains to be answered in order to better understand learning styles is related to the appropriateness of the LSI for this cultural context. It is hoped that the completion of the larger study described earlier will yield more useful information in this regard. The authors wish to thank Dr. Buddhi Weerasinghe, Director of the Educational Technology Division, OUSL, for supporting this study, and Mr. S. Somaratne of the Department of Botany, OUSL, for statistical analysis.     

新的一天

Is it morning already?I rub my eyes and get up to ready myself for just another day.It's just another day….I look out my window to see the sun beaming down,caressing(爱抚)the Earth with its golden rays.Above,white clouds float in the brilliant blue sky.I hear a cardinalsinging to his mate as he perches upon my back fence.And a bed of crocus open their purpleheads to the heavens in joyful thankfulness.     

Part of the assignment: student–teachers’ planning instruction within/across activity systems

ABSTRACT

Looking closely at lesson plans as mediating tools, this study examines preservice teacher learning. By using activity theory in our analysis of lesson plans and other data collected in a student-teaching course, we uncovered tensions within/across the contexts of university teacher education program and secondary school field placements. This study serves to further understandings of how new teachers learn to appropriate the genres of teaching and to explore contradictions between a university preparation program and secondary school contexts. Findings provide an account of the student–teachers’ lesson planning and an explanation of how disruptions in those plans provided insight into points of tension. By viewing these tensions as contradictions within/across activity systems, we identify them as opportunities to better understand teacher learning and ways we might support new teachers in navigating tensions in their classrooms and schools.     

Using the Wider Pedagogical Role model to establish learning support assistants' views about facilitators and barriers to effective practice

This article reports on small‐scale research exploring the views of learning support assistants (LSAs) about facilitators and barriers to effective practice. A focus group was conveyed involving all the LSAs working in one mainstream primary school in the north‐west of England and thematic analysis was used to interrogate the resultant dataset. The Wider Pedagogical Role (WPR) model (Webster et al., 2011) was used as a deductive framework to conceptualise these findings under the headings of practice, deployment, conditions of employment, preparedness and characteristics. Findings revealed that LSAs could readily identify current facilitators and barriers under each of the five components, highlighting the usefulness of the WPR model. Possibilities for future research, including the refinement and further development of the WPR, are briefly discussed.     

IMPACT OF A RESTORATIVE CARE PROGRAM IN THE NURSING HOME

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a progressive mobility restorative program on nursing home residents' ability to perform selected activities of daily living (ADLs) and the amount of staff assistance needed to help residents complete these ADLs. A one group repeated measures design study was conducted in a 255-bed university affiliated geriatrics center. A certified nursing assistant (CNA) specially trained in restorative mobility techniques worked with residents individually for at least 15 minutes per day, five days per week to achieve their individualized mobility goals. Items on ADL Self-Performance and ADL Support Provided from the Minimum Data Set (MDS) were collected at baseline, three months, and six months. Thirty-eight of 42 residents (90%) were included in the analyses and 31 residents (82%) completed at least 25 days of restorative activities. Some residents improved their ADL self-performance at three and six months (15% and 33%, respectively) and decreased in the amount of ADL support provided at three and six months (26% and 31%, respectively). Total ADL self-performance and support provided did not change significantly over the six-month period. Most residents maintained their baseline ADL self-performance and level of ADL support provided over the six-month study. A progressive mobility restorative program implemented by a certified nursing assistant specially trained in restorative techniques resulted in most residents maintaining their baseline ADL self-performance abilities and the level of assistance provided by staff. Studies are needed to determine if these types of programs can actually improve functional abilities and decrease the level of staff assistance needed to complete ADLs or if they are effective in maintaining or delaying functional loss and staff burden.