Pre-service teachers’ growth as practitioners of developmentally appropriate practice: a Vygotskian analysis of constraints and affordances in the English context

This paper reports on an ongoing research programme designed to investigate the opportunities for, and barriers to, pre-service teachers’ growth as practitioners of developmentally appropriate practice for children aged 5–11. The analysis is framed by a Vygotskian cultural–historical perspective and points to personal, cultural and structural factors as potential constraints immanent in the various configurations produced by the pre-service teacher–environment interface. The paper concludes by confirming Vygotsky’s contention that development possibilities lie immanent in the contradictions produced by these specific configurations of constraints and affordances. Potential implications for teacher education programmes are also discussed, including the possibilities for facilitating the growth of critical teacher-researcher identities in what is currently a contested education landscape.     

Emotional and behavioural development in Glasgow primary schools

Studies examining the well-being of British children find that about 5–10% are at risk of developing problems. This study aimed to examine the emotional and behavioural development of six to eight year olds in an area of socio-economic deprivation in Glasgow (Scotland) and compare this with UK norms. Furthermore, it aimed to look at overlap between the problems children had. It was a population-based survey involving parents and teachers of 1658 children. The study found that the overall emotional and behavioural development in this deprived population was surprisingly similar to UK norms. There was however a small group of children with overlapping problems. There is an emphasis within Glasgow on supporting young people's social, emotional and behavioural needs, particularly with regard to nurture and attachment. Implications of Glasgow initiatives are discussed, and their potential role in helping children from deprived backgrounds maintain levels of emotional and behavioural development in line with UK norms and, in particular, this group with overlapping problems is explored.     

Toward a Toolkit Approach to Describing Classroom Quality

Research conducted in preschool classrooms has long relied on measures of classroom quality that were developed in the 1980s based on theory and data available at that time. They examine classroom quality broadly, provide limited detail about supports for pre-academic instruction, and only weakly predict variation in children's acquisition of skills and knowledge critical for school readiness. This article draws on data from observational studies that employ more fine-grained instruments while arguing that the field needs a “toolkit” that includes measures that describe classrooms broadly, that focus on different content areas, and still others that examine fine-grained details of teacher-child interaction. Different combinations of measures could be used for accountability and research. The heterogeneity of tools could allow for cross referencing results from varied tools and progressive improvement in our identify features of classrooms that predict children's development.     

No Parent Left Behind: Strengthening Ties Between Educators and African American Parents/Guardians

This study used regression analyses to identify variables predicting the six most frequently cited problems that concerned 129 African-American parents and guardians of children who were primarily enrolled in urban schools. The findings indicate that in order to increase African-American parents' and guardians' satisfaction with the public school system, the racial climate in schools must be improved; unfair disciplinary practices must be eradicated; and curricula and instructional practices must be reformed specifically in areas that result in the strengthening of African-American students' math and reading-comprehension skills.     

Game Building with Complex-Valued Functions

Abstract

In this paper, we describe how we integrated complex analysis into the second semester of a geometry course designed for preservice secondary mathematics teachers. As part of this inquiry-based course, the preservice teachers incorporated their geometric understanding of the arithmetic of complex numbers and complex-valued functions to create a game using Geometer’s Sketchpad. We detail a game created by a pair of preservice teachers that exemplifies their creativity and knowledge of complex-valued functions. Given inquiry-based courses have inherent challenges we also present projects that were not as exemplary.     

Teaching Systems Thinking in the Context of the Water Cycle

Research in Science Education - Complex systems affect every part of our lives from the ecosystems that we inhabit and share with other living organisms to the systems that supply our water (i.e.,...     

Wage differentials between college graduates with and without learning disabilities

Wage differential studies examining legally protected groups typically focus on gender or racial differences. Legislation also fully protects individuals with learning disabilities (LD). This article is the first to decompose wage differentials between adults with and without LD. An original data set of college graduates with documented LD was constructed, and these individuals were compared to a control group from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Our results show that much of the observed lower wages for individuals with LD is due to differences in productivity characteristics. However, there is an unexplained portion of the wage gap that could possibly be considered wage discrimination against individuals with LD. This possibility seems smaller due to the fact that the subsample of the employers who knew of the employee's learning disabilities did not appear to pay significantly lower wages to these individuals. Alternative hypotheses are discussed, as are sample-specific issues.     

The Curious Case of the Deaf and Contested Landscapes of Bilingual Education

In this article, the authors examine deaf education as a “curious case” to prompt thinking about issues of language inequities. The authors argue that tying the fortunes of deaf students to those of other language minority students provides opportunities for new insights into policies and practices of deaf education as well the education of other language minorities in American schools. The authors provide a case example of successful deaf bilingual education that challenges the equation of deaf communicative difference with academic failure. They conclude with a discussion of American bilingual education history and how a consideration of the “curious case” of deaf education opens up possibilities for expanding understandings of more general issues of language difference in education.     

A comparison of types of attorney representation for children in California juvenile court dependency cases

OBJECTIVE: The present study concerns types of attorney representation for maltreated children involved in juvenile court actions in the state of California. The aims of the research were to document the different types of representation used in dependency cases in 2000 (e.g., public defender, District Attorney, private firms) and to evaluate these types of representation with respect to children's experiences in foster care. METHODS: Every county in California was surveyed about the predominant type of legal representation used in their dependency court system. In addition, data on children's experiences in foster care were obtained from the Child Welfare System/Child Management System (CWS/CMS). RESULTS: Findings indicate that, in the majority of counties in California, children were represented by the public defender's office or by a panel of court-appointed attorneys. Approximately equal numbers of counties employed county-affiliated (i.e., District Attorney, public defender, county counsel) and independent (i.e., private firm, panel of court-appointed attorneys) types of representation (47% and 52%, respectively). Further analyses suggested that children in counties employing independent types of representation tended to experience fewer foster-care placements than did children in counties employing county-affiliated types of representation. This relation remained significant when potentially confounding variables were statistically controlled. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that some types of representation, specifically, private firms and court-appointed attorneys, were associated with one better outcome for children.     

Are older adults satisfied with their sexuality? Outcomes from a cross-cultural study

ABSTRACT

The present study intends to analyze older adult perspectives on what determines sexual satisfaction in old age. Four hundred and twenty-one non-institutionalized older parti- 10 cipants from three different nationalities aged 65 to 97 years were interviewed. All narratives were submitted to content analysis. This study’s outcome originated five themes: positive communication (k =.94, p <.01); supportive partner (k =.82, p <.01); feeling attractive (k = 81, p <.01); good sexual activity (k =.97, p <.01); and eroticism (k =.98, p <.01). 15 This study highlighted different determinants of sexual satisfaction in old age and emphasized the importance of positive communication and a supportive partner for older adults.