The Politics and Practicalities of Curriculum Change 1991-2000: Issues Arising from a Study of School Geography in England

A case study of the changing geography curriculum illuminates the continuing struggles over subject knowledge at national level, and highlights more general issues about ideology and the politics of curriculum change 1991-2000. The investigation focuses on the processes and impacts of two National Curriculum Reviews and the changing policy trends and structures becoming apparent under New Labour. Three phrases of curriculum policy-making are tentatively recognised, raising questions for further research.     

Young Children''s Understanding of Fact Beliefs versus Value Beliefs

Recent research on the development of children's knowledge about the mind has shown that young 3-year-olds have difficulty inferring that another person holds a false belief about a matter of verifiable fact, even when provided with considerable help. 4 studies tested the hypothesis that they would have less difficulty inferring that another person holds an odd, nonnormative belief about a matter of taste or value--one which, like the false fact belief, they themselves do not hold. On fact-belief tasks, an experimenter acted as if, or even explicitly stated that, she believed that the contents of a container were other than what the children knew to be the case. On value-belief tasks, she behaved as if she believed that a stimulus had a good or bad taste, smell, or appearance, whereas they thought it had the opposite. The results of all 4 studies confirmed the hypothesis.     

What is Open Access Button? An interview with Joe McArthur

Articles published behind a paywall in commercial journals are often inaccessible to potential readers who are not affiliated with a subscribing institution. Open Access Button is an application that assists readers in finding Open Access versions of such articles. This service works in a completely legal fashion. This interview is with one of the co-founders of the service, Joe McArthur. Open Access Button is supported by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.     

Academic Writing and Publishing: A NASIG Preconference Workshop

ABSTRACT

The goal of this preconference was to guide aspiring academic librarians in understanding how to navigate scholarly publication requirements and be successful academic writers. The presenters provided tips for beginners as well as for those already engaged in a research agenda. One of the presenters is a published book and journal author and the other is the editor-in-chief of a major peer-reviewed library journal.     

Problem solving in the rat: Stay vs. shift solutions on the three-table task

Two experiments were conducted to determine the conditions under which a shift problem vs. a stay problem would be easier for animals tested on Maier’s three-table task. When animals were given a prior exploratory experience and a partial feeding during the feeding experience, the stay problem was easier. With a prior exploratory experience and a complete feeding experience, the shift solution was easier. In the absence of prior exploration, rats cannot solve either the stay or shift problem, regardless of the amount of feeding during the feeding experience.     

Systemic theory in counselling people with HIV disease

Since HIV disease became a pressing medical and social problem over a decade ago, there have been significant advances in the care and treatment of those who have been infected with the virus. Psychological counselling is a cornerstone of some programmes designed to provide support and care. The emphasis has been on preventing the spread of HIV infection, obtaining informed consent for an HIV test and psychological support in counselling. This paper addresses the provision of psychological support for people with HIV disease in the context of a systemic theoretical framework.     

Islamic parents’ attitudes and beliefs towards school-based sexual and reproductive health education programmes in Oman

School-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programmes play an important role in reducing young people’s sexual risk behaviour and promoting health and well-being. There is limited evidence regarding the attitudes and beliefs of parents towards the implementation of school-based CSE programmes in Islamic cultural settings, including Oman, which this mixed-method study set out to explore. A convenience sample of 250 parents, with equal numbers of mothers and fathers of children aged 12–14 years (grades 7–9) at two urban public pre-secondary schools in Saham, completed a paper-based self-administered questionnaire in Arabic. We found most parents (72.8%) supported school-based CSE programmes that conformed to Islamic requirements of pre-marital sexual abstinence, but there was some opposition. Almost all parents supported comprehensive age-appropriate CSE being taught to students aged 10–15 years, including topics perceived as controversial in Omani culture, except for birth control and safer sex. Most parents considered themselves, school teachers and school nurses to be important sources of CSE. The study findings which suggest strong parental support for CSE programmes can facilitate education policy, CSE curriculum decision-makers and school healthcare-providers in Oman, other Middle Eastern countries, and countries with Muslim immigrant populations.     

The Development of Children's Knowledge about Inner Speech

Two studies demonstrated that preschool children have little knowledge and awareness of inner speech. Study 1 showed that, in contrast to 6-to7-year-olds and adults, 4-year-olds usually did not infer that a person silently engaged in such intrinsically verbal mental activities as reading, counting, or recalling items from a shopping list was saying things to herself. They also tended to deny that covert speech is a possible human activity. Study 2 demonstrated that 4-and 5 year-olds are much poorer than adults at detecting their own inner speech. Children seem to acquire this sort of knowledge and awareness during the early school years, perhaps through experiencing their own inner speech while reading, writing, adding, and subtracting.