Knowledge sharing and team trustworthiness: it's all about social ties!

This paper empirically examines knowledge sharing within innovation teams and explores the relationship between knowledge sharing and trust. This relationship has generally been identified in the literature as an important aspect of knowledge management. However, its pertinence to knowledge transfer within and between teams is less obvious. The case study based on four information technology R&D teams in Taiwan suggests that trust between a knowledge holder and a receiver may not exist. In fact, it can be connected by a mediator, although the use of social relationship in which trust is rooted in both host and visitor's trust of the mediator. Thus, trust may be substituted by the social relationship in certain specific contexts.     

Teachers’ Understanding of Interactive Approaches in Special Education

This paper considers the adoption of interactive approaches in the history of special education and addresses teachers’ use and conceptualisation of interactive approaches. Teachers in special schools and units in the United Kingdom were asked whether they used interactive approaches and, if so, what this meant in their context. Interactive approaches were reported to be used by two-thirds of the sample and what this meant to the 58 respondents, from different areas of special education, varied considerably. Their responses are compared with the central elements of interactive approaches in the literature. Areas of consensus are discussed and a relative lack of emphasis on process amongst the teachers is identified.     

Cue-induced transfer of CS preexposure effects across contexts

These experiments confirmed previous reports that latent inhibition effects can be abolished if rats receive CS preexposures and CS-US pairings in different contexts. However, latent inhibition effects were restored if animals were given a cuing treatment in the conditioning context prior to the conditioning trials. This restoration of latent inhibition occurred only when the cuing treatment could have served to remind the animals of CS-alone presentations in the specific context used for conditioning. These findings are discussed in relation to various accounts of latent inhibition effects.     

Inclusion in play: a case study of a child with autism in an inclusive nursery

This paper discusses the play interaction of a young child with autism and the strategies adopted by her teachers to facilitate her inclusion in and through play. The data are from an ethnographic case study in an inclusive nursery in the South of England spanning 6 months. The aim was to understand and describe the play of a child with autism in a naturalistic context. Methods included field and video observations and semi‐structured interviews conducted with the parents and teachers. Analysis of the data highlighted the teachers' strategies underpinned by a strong play ethos, a collaborative approach and a supportive curriculum framework. We argue that the case provides helpful data on what teachers can do to enable children with autism to be successfully included through play.     

Intergroup attitudes of European American children attending ethnically homogeneous schools

Intergroup attitudes were assessed in European American 1st-grade (M=6.99 years, SD=0.32) and 4th-grade (M=10.01 years, SD=0.36) children (N=138) attending ethnically homogeneous schools to test hypotheses about racial biases and interracial friendships. An Ambiguous Situations Task and an Intergroup Contact Assessment were administered to all participants. Unlike previous findings with European American children attending heterogeneous schools, children rated minority perpetrators more negatively than majority perpetrators, and friendship as less likely when a minority than a majority perpetrator was portrayed. These findings suggest that intergroup contact contributes to racial bias in children's interpretations of peer dyadic encounters and to judgments about interracial friendships.     

Family history,self‐perceptions,attitudes and cognitive abilities are associated with early adolescent reading skills

This study evaluated a model of reading skills among early adolescents (N=174). Measures of family history, achievement, cognitive processes and self‐perceptions of abilities were obtained. Significant relationships were found between family history and children's single‐word reading skills, spelling, reading comprehension, orthographic processing and children's perceived reading competence. While children with poor reading skills were five times more likely to come from a family with a history of reading difficulties, this measure did not account for additional variance in reading performance after other variables were included. Phonological, orthographic, rapid sequencing and children's perceived reading competence made significant independent contributions towards reading and spelling outcomes. Reading comprehension was explained by orthographic processing, nonverbal ability, children's attitudes towards reading and word identification. Thus, knowledge of family history and children's attitudes and perceptions towards reading provides important additional information when evaluating reading skills among a normative sample of early adolescents.     

Reflecting on the Use of Writing to Promote Mathematical Learning: An Examination of Preservice Mathematics Teachers' Perspectives

We examine preservice mathematics teachers' conceptions of writing as a tool for learning mathematics before and after participation in and reflection on writing tasks. We describe the use of two targeted activities incorporated into a secondary methods course: writing to learn mathematics (WTLM) and reflection on that writing. Prior to participation in these activities, the preservice teachers expressed reluctance toward the use of writing in mathematics and uncertainty as to how writing could be useful in mathematics, while accepting that some possible benefits might exist for students' procedural learning. Following participation in these activities, the preservice teachers expressed a willingness to accept writing as a useful tool for supporting an expanded view of teaching and learning mathematics. Specifically, the preservice teachers considered writing as a way to build connections between mathematics and other subjects, a means to assess student understanding of mathematics, and a beneficial support for student conceptual learning.     

Parents' experiences of support: co-constructing their stories

The aim of this paper is to present a way of supporting parents that can lead to positive outcomes for families. The findings and processes from a study in England of six parents' experiences of support services for their young children with special needs are discussed in making the case that co-constructing the stories of parent and researcher experiences can become a valuable conduit for improving support. An ethnographic case study approach with narrative analysis was used, and this paper shows how the parents' narratives, interwoven with the reflections of the researcher/early years professional, suggest engaged listening as a way forward for professionals and parents (as well as researchers) to understand each other. Stories that each party is fearful of telling or hearing illustrate the balance of fragility and resilience in their assumptions and relationships.