‘The perfect pupil’: changing aims and changing measures of success in school RE

In England and Wales, religious education (RE) in non-faith schools has gradually changed from Christian education to the study of many religions and philosophies. However, the core values of RE have continued to be related to concerns about social cohesion and the building of shared values. The article briefly discusses changes in RE since 1944 and then considers attitudes to RE among a group of year 11 pupils (age 15–16) in one large multicultural comprehensive school, collected through questionnaires and group discussions. The subject name had been changed from RE to Religious Studies (RS) in 2004. The focus here is on pupils’ ideas of ‘the perfect RS pupil’; used as a means to access their understandings of the subject’s aims and their teachers’ expectations. The most popular responses were that the ideal pupil would be knowledgeable about religions and be tolerant and empathetic. This is in accord with the current social and political agenda for RE but lays it open to criticism that tolerance becomes an end in itself encouraging indifference to religions rather than a critical, evaluative perspective.     

Is childhood cruelty to animals a marker for physical maltreatment in a prospective cohort study of children?

Childhood cruelty to animals is thought to indicate that a child may have been maltreated. This study examined: (a) prevalence of cruelty to animals among 5- to 12-year-old children; (b) the association between cruelty to animals, child physical maltreatment, and adult domestic violence; and (c) whether cruelty to animals is a marker of maltreatment taking into account age, persistence of cruelty, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Data were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, an epidemiological representative cohort of 2,232 children living in the United Kingdom. Mothers reported on cruelty to animals when children were 5, 7, 10, and 12 years, on child maltreatment up to age 12, and adult domestic violence. Nine percent of children were cruel to animals during the study and 2.6% persistently (≥2 time-points). Children cruel to animals were more likely to have been maltreated than other children (OR = 3.32) although the majority (56.4%) had not been maltreated. Animal cruelty was not associated with domestic violence when maltreatment was controlled for. In disadvantaged families, 6 in 10 children cruel to animals had been maltreated. In other families, the likelihood of maltreatment increased with age (from 3 in 10 5-year-olds to 4.5 in 10 12-year-olds) and persistence (4.5 in 10 of those persistently cruel). Although childhood cruelty to animals is associated with maltreatment, not every child showing cruelty had been maltreated. The usefulness of cruelty to animals as a marker for maltreatment increases with the child's age, persistence of behavior, and poorer social background.     

Finopower: Governing Intersections Between Gambling and Finance

Regulatory distinctions between “problem” and “recreational” gambling have contributed to the neglect of important discursive and cultural practices at the intersection of finance and gambling. This intersection is now sufficiently formative of everyday life and popular culture to warrant closer scrutiny within cultural studies research. Through a range of examples, I elaborate the concept of “finopower” as a specific kind of governmentality through which individuals negotiate the mutual imbrications of gambling and finance. The final part of the article draws on theories of “post-disciplinary” societies to explore social and political implications of cultural distinctions between skill and chance-based games.     

The impact of curriculum change on health sciences first year students’ approaches to learning

This study aimed to use a learning inventory (the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, ASSIST) to measure the impact of a curriculum change on students’ approaches to learning in two large courses in a health sciences first year programme. The two new Human Body Systems (HUBS) courses were designed to encourage students to take a deep approach to learning. ASSIST was completed by 599 students enrolled in a biology class in 2006 that was part of the old curriculum, and by 705 students at the beginning and end of the new HUBS courses in 2007. Changes in students’ approaches to learning over time were examined. The ASSIST scores for both HUBS courses reflected the dominance of a surface approach, followed by a strategic and then a deep approach. However, by the end of the year, students were taking a deep and strategic approach to their studies to a greater extent, and a surface approach to a lesser extent. Moreover, students enrolled in the new course adopted a deep approach to their studies to a significantly greater degree than those studying the old curriculum. Despite the predominance of a surface approach, the results suggest that it is possible to bring about small but significant positive changes in students’ learning behaviour in a very large class through curriculum change. The proportion of students preferring a surface approach, and results showing that high performance on the final exam was significantly correlated with a surface approach, probably reflected contextual factors, including assessment, and is the focus of ongoing curriculum development.     

Coloured overlays and their benefit for reading

Children in mainstream schools compared text on white paper with identical text covered in turn by each of ten differently‐coloured plastic overlays. More than 50% reported improved perception with one or more colours, and were given the best colour to use. About half used the overlays for more than three months and their reading speed increased when the overlays were used. In Study I children were examined twice using different methods and examiners. 47% chose the same colour on both occasions, and showed the greatest improvement in reading fluency, reliable at retest. In Study II children were issued with a random colour, and the greatest improvements in reading speed occurred when the random colour was the same as that previously chosen. Phonological reading strategies were not related to visual symptoms, or the benefit from overlays. Across individuals, reading speed varied by a factor of more than three, for good and poor readers. Study III provided estimates of the prevalence of improvements based on a sample of 426 children from 12 schools: 5% of children read more than 25% faster with a coloured overlay.     

Cultural Competence: Toward a More Robust Conceptualisation

ABSTRACT

This article revisits LIS literature about cultural competence. It is not the prominent topic it was but is still considered important for addressing diversity, and is still criticized for obscuring racism and power structures in librarianship and society. Articles published in the last four years suggest, however, that library and information studies educators are teaching to engage with these issues. The cultural competence conceptual framework, specifically the environmental domain, can be recast to incorporate engagement with race and power. This more robust framework would enable culturally competent professionals to do more than accommodate difference.     

Scottish toolkit for knowledge management

BACKGROUND: Using specific examples, this paper describes the tools, methods and resources used to develop Managed Knowledge Networks (MKNs) within the NHS Scotland e-Library (http://www.elib.scot.nhs.uk). MKNs help to complete the knowledge management cycle by providing a place to share the learning and discuss the evidence for practice through combining the use of the published material (explicit knowledge) with the experience and knowledge held by individuals, communities and organizations (tacit knowledge). OBJECTIVES: First of all, this paper outlines the e-Library infrastructure, which provides an inter-operable framework to manage the published knowledge using a metadata management system; and a knowledge-sharing tool to support the development of MKNs. It then covers the various stages involved in developing an MKN: gathering and analysing information needs in a variety of ways; presenting and organizing the resources and services for the users as identified in the needs analysis; managing the tacit, personal and local knowledge. CONCLUSION: The toolkit described enables the Knowledge Services Group to take the needs of users, transcribe these into Specialist e-Libraries to provide access to the published information and to support this with accessing and sharing the knowledge of colleagues via MKNs.