Thinking through moments of sexual refusal in Looking for Alibrandi and The Rage in Placid Lake

This paper explores two scenarios in which young women refuse the sexual advances of young men in the films Looking for Alibrandi and The Rage in Placid Lake. The paper highlights the heteronormative nature of education around refusing sex, which reinstates gendered stereotypes of masculine as active and feminine as passive. Acknowledging sex education literature over the past ten years which has highlighted that ambiguity, confusion and uncertainty are often absent in the teaching of sex education, the paper examines key moments in films and the feelings they convey, suggesting that such instances offer significant potential for building young people’s affective sexual literacies. By exploring and critiquing the justifications for sex given by the young men, and by considering the Catholic Josie in Looking for Alibrandi alongside the secular Gemma in The Rage in Placid Lake, the multiplicity of reasons for young women’s decisions to abstain from sex are highlighted. Noting the absence of ethical engagements in such moments, it is suggested that thinking through them may be beneficial in enabling conversations regarding negotiation in sexual encounters.     

Children writing funny stories: some reflections on the impact of collaborative talk

This article describes work undertaken with a class of Scottish Primary Six children (aged 10) that encouraged them to write humorous stories. It reflects on the impact of different teaching approaches, in particular exploring how teacher‐led input combined with opportunities for peer talk might serve to influence children's writing. The aims were first, to investigate whether, through ‘mini lessons’, children's story schemas could be expanded to include ideas about incongruity, and second, to discover how independent talking in pairs might encourage children to take up and reformulate ideas given in the initial teacher‐led input. During the sessions following the ‘mini lessons’, many opportunities for paired talk were offered. These were found to lead to a reinterpretation of ideas of incongruity, and to affect the selection and devising of voices for characters. The children's talk often gave evidence of a marked ability to describe humour and act it out orally, but analysis of the written stories reveals difficulties in writing down comic events. This has implications for the role of the teacher in finding ways to intervene sensitively to introduce new strategies.     

Using activity theory to understand prospective teachers' attitudes to and construction of special educational needs and/or disabilities

Appropriate professional development, including that initial teacher training, is regarded as a cornerstone of the development of inclusive education. This research is concerned with prospective teachers' conceptualisations of terms such as ‘disability’ and ‘special education’. Activity theory is proposed as a lens through which to consider the complexities involved. In the context of the English systems, this research, using data collected through word association and analysed using activity theory, explored the trainees' conceptualisations. The findings highlight both heterogeneity and homogeneity within a cohort of students, changes over time and implications for those involved in teacher education.     

Acting up or acting out? Unlocking children's talk in literature circles

It is generally accepted that talk enriches children's interpretations of texts in literature circle discussions. However, the nature of that talk and exactly how it facilitates interpretation of texts has not been much analysed. This article describes some work undertaken with a class of Scottish children, aged 9–10, to introduce them to the idea of literature circles. The literature circle discussions were then recorded and analysed. The purpose of the project was to record the kinds of exchanges, chains of comment and range of discourses and voices that children used when talking among themselves, and to reflect on their function and value. It was found that a lot of the talk was exploratory though not always in the sense proposed by Mercer. In his terms much was ‘cumulative’. Some talk veered towards anecdotal chat. The children also frequently put on voices not their own, mimicking characters in the story they were reading, and other people they knew. These forms of talk are not always encouraged in the classroom, their effectiveness for learning being in doubt. This article argues that cumulative talk, the telling of anecdotes and the performing of different characters' voices all have a useful function in discussions of books: they can encourage engagement, be helpful in bringing texts to life and advance children's thinking about literature.     

Measuring change in professionalism attitudes during the gross anatomy course

By design or default, anatomy educators are often responsible for introducing students to medical professionalism. Although much has been said about the role of anatomical education, there are no published reports suggesting how to measure change. This study investigated what professionalism attitudes, if any, change during a gross anatomy course. Additionally, the influence of four dichotomous variables related to student identity and preparation for medical school were analyzed for their effect on professionalism attitudes. A cross‐sectional time‐one (T1; beginning of the course), time‐two (T2; end of the course) study using the Penn State College of Medicine Survey of Professionalism was conducted. A multivariate analysis of variance identified the main effects and interaction effects of categorical variables. A Mann Whitney U test verified significant differences. This study found a reprioritization of professionalism attitudes in favor of altruism (P = 0.04 with a Cohen's d = 0.26) at T2. Female students (P = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.38) and students from a science background (P = 0.04, Cohen's d = 0.36) changed the most in favor of altruism. Interestingly, though several factors correlated with dissimilarities in professionalism values at T1, gender was the only factor to show a significant difference in professionalism attitudes at T2. This cohort of students reported a statistically significant increase in altruism and no significant decreases in other professionalism attitudes concurrent with the gross anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ 3:12–16, 2010. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists     

Meeting health,mental health,and housing needs of older adults: A case review of the congregational social work education initiative

This article presents results from an innovative social work field education program, which prepares BSW and MSW students to work in interdisciplinary teams with congregational nurses as they serve persons age 55+ or older. The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative is a field education project based on an applied interdisciplinary model, whereby social work students at the graduate and undergraduate level partner with congregational nurses to serve at-risk members of congregations and religious affiliated organizations (RAOs). Students and nurses provide free health, mental health, and wellness services to address individual, family, group, and community health, mental health, and housing issues. Funded by community health foundations, it trains BSW and MSW students for professional practice in congregational and community religious affiliated settings through interdisciplinary and collaborative methods. Information on the development of the model and case illustrations are provided so other social work educational programs and congregational nurse programs might duplicate its success.     

Environmental satisfiers in academe

Utilizing a nationwide sample of university professors in the United States, this study explored job satisfaction levels of academicians and the differences between perceived satisfaction of faculty in professional schools and that of faculty in other disciplines. The results were based upon responses from 336 faculty representing 24 universities selected on a stratified basis which included large, small, public and private universities. Teaching dimensions and research requirements were the most satisfying elements of the academic work environment; support and compensation aspects were the most dissatisfying. Faculty from professional schools reported higher levels of satisfaction for almost all of the 22 separate environmental dimensions, and these faculty also reported higher salaries and less stringent requirements for tenure and promotion. The demographic variables which explained the greatest amount of variance in work satisfaction scores were tenure, teaching load, sex, institution (public-private), and age. Salary and academic rank, which a priori are considered to be significant in an academician's satisfaction with work, appeared to have a lesser impact.