America’s Democracy Colleges: The Civic Engagement of Community College Students

This study explored the civic engagement of current two- and four-year students to explore whether differences exist between the groups and what may explain the differences. Using binary logistic regression and Ordinary Least Squares regression it was found that community-based engagement was lower for two- than four-year students, though community-based engagement increased as two-year students spent more time on campus, measured by enrolling full-time, living on campus, and working on campus. For political protests, two-year students were similar to four-year students, but when they spent more time on campus they were more likely to participate in political protests. For discussing politics, time spent on campus did not explain the differences between two- and four-year students. These findings indicate that while community college students arrive at college predisposed to lower rates of engagement than four-year students, these differences may be reduced by spending more time in educational settings by enrolling full-time, living on campus, and working on campus. Therefore, attending a community college does help students become productive members of society. Community college administrators and practitioners can use these findings to develop policies and practices that encourage students to develop the skills, abilities, and motivation necessary to be civically engaged.     

Cultural Images of Children, Parents and Professionals: Italian Interpretations of Home-School Relationships

This article explicates selected findings from a recently completed collaborative investigation of home-school relations in five Italian cities: Reggio Emilia, Milano, Trento, Parma, and San Miniato. The purpose of the investigation was to understand the transactional relationships among national social policy, cultural values, and local practice relative to infant care and preprimary education. The article focuses on both the continuity and sub-cultural variations associated with two national guidelines-gestione sociale [participatory social management] and l'inserimento [the initial entry of young children into out-of-home care]. These cultural concepts served as the basis for an examination of home-school relationships as interpreted at the policy, programmatic, and interpersonal level. Common themes relative to gestione sociale and l'inserimento were identified across the five cities; local and regional differences were also apparent in the translation of policy into practices. The study revealed diverse sociopolitical and theoretical interpretations of effective home-school relationships, leading to structural variations in how each guideline is operationalized and valued. Collaborative analyses led to a deeper understanding of the Italian cultural value of relationships as central to definitions of program quality, the emotional well- being of adults as well as children, and the situatedness of early childhood education within community and national contexts.     

Text in a Texture of Television: children's homework experience

A survey answered by 842 respondents representing British children aged from 7 to 15 measured their amounts of television viewing, listening to music, serious reading and outdoor games playing, and their attitudes to leisure activities, such as television viewing. Children said whether they did school homework and if so, with or without the television switched on, and if so, whether they regarded it as a help or not. About a quarter of those aged 10 and over said they did work along with television, accepting its presence, and another one in six did so, actually welcoming it. Attitude measures showed clearly different stereotypes of the heavy viewer, reader and music listener. This children's sample had a broadly positive image of a heavy television viewer of their own age. A process of rationalisation is detectable in which those who reported heavy viewing themselves, were more likely to do homework with the television on, to say it helped them and that it was linked with good achievement at school. Reported behaviour and stereotypes were somewhat similar among those who were heavy music users, but noticeably different among those who claimed to read a lot.