World enough and time: The work of Mollie Hunter

The work of Mollie Hunter is published and read throughout the world. She won the Carnegie Medal in 1974 forThe Stronghold, and she was the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecturer in 1975, travelling in the United States for six weeks giving a series of addresses that have been collected inTalent Is Not Enough (Harper & Row, 1976).Peter Hollindale is Senior Lecturer in English and Education at the University of York, and author ofChoosing Books for Children (Elek). He has lectured widely in children's literature at colleges of education and in-service courses for teachers. He contributed an article on John Masefield toCle 23.     

Economic stress, parenting, and child adjustment in Mexican American and European American families

To assess the impact of economic hardship on 111 European American and 167 Mexican American families and their 5th-grade (M age=11.4 years) children, a family stress model was evaluated. Structural equation analyses revealed that economic hardship was linked to indexes of economic pressure that were related to depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers of both ethnicities. Depressive symptoms were linked to marital problems and hostile parenting. Paternal hostile parenting was related to child adjustment problems for European Americans, whereas marital problems were linked to child adjustment problems for Mexican Americans. Maternal acculturation was associated with both higher marital problems and lower hostile parenting. The utility of the model for describing the effects of economic hardship in Mexican Americans is noted.     

Predicting Two Components of Career Maturity in School Based Adolescents

Three hundred and sixty-seven secondary school students across five year levels (8–12) were assessed for levels of career maturity (attitude and knowledge), work commitment, work value, career decidedness (indecision and certainty), career decision-making self-efficacy and self-esteem, and indicated their age, gender, socioeconomic status, school achievement and work experience. Using two multiple regression analyses, the predictor variables were able to account for 52% of the variance of career maturity attitude, and account for 41% of the variance of career maturity knowledge. Self-efficacy, age, career decidedness (certainty) and work commitment were the main predictors of career maturity attitude. Age, gender, career decidedness (certainty), work commitment and career decidedness (indecision) were the main predictors of career maturity knowledge. Results demonstrated the importance of examining two aspects of career maturity (attitude and knowledge), and were discussed in the context of Super's (1957, 1990) theory of career development.     

Leading with intent: cultivating community conversation to create shared understanding

School improvement is a central focus for school leaders. Whilst measures such as high-stakes testing and other government accountability agendas have at times marred the discourse of school improvement, how schools develop their capacity to ultimately improve the core business of student learning remains important. As an extensive area of scholarship, much has been written to support leaders in improving learning and teaching in their school. Indeed, studies demonstrate the value of establishing schoolwide goals and expectations and the importance of using evidence to improve teaching practice. This article presents qualitative data from 4 independent schools in the state of New South Wales (NSW) Australia which suggest that whilst the concept of school improvement is not new, the capacity of schools to embrace some key concepts found in this area of study is limited. The article proposes that through cultivating conversations within their communities, schools can foster shared understanding and enhance their capacity for improvement.     

Adolescent smoking from a functional perspective: The Berlin-Bremen Study

Longitudinal data from the «Berlin-Bremen Study on Health Behavior» are used to investigate smoking transitions between different stages of smoking. 1357 seventh and eighth graders were asked about their smoking behavior, their expectations with regard to smoking, smoking in their environment, and their self-image in Fall, 1983. 86% and 81% participated again one and two years later, respectively. Analyses of carbon monoxide and serum thiocyanate levels revealed adequate validity for self-reported smoking behavior. Rates of smoking were dramatically different for different educational strata. Direct and indirect functions of smoking are distinguished. The «indirect» function refers to smoking as a means of obtaining access to peer groups, thus increasing one’s psychological well-being. Direct functions refer to social and affective effects of smoking such as looking older or calming down. In line with expectations, indirect functions were found to be more important for younger adolescents and for smoking onset. In contrast, direct functions were better predictors of the smoking behavior of older adolescents and of the transition to regular smoking.     

Vocational Interests and Career Efficacy Expectations in Relation to Occupational Sex-Typing Beliefs for Eighth Grade Students

Following the recommendations of Lent, Brown and Hackett's Social Cognitive Career Theory (2000), we measured eighth grade boys' and girls' perception of the proportion of men and women employed in occupations and their level of interest and self-efficacy for those occupations. Results indicated that eighth grade boys and girls expressed stronger career interest in and higher self-efficacy for those occupations that they rated as employing more of their own gender. The study highlights how career practitioners can work with adolescents to widen their perceived range of occupational choices.     

Science related attitudes amongst Victorian catholic primary school teachers

Conclusion This study is preliminary in nature, and the instrument will require some modification to reduce its length and to further increase the reliability of the attitude scale. None-the-less, in addition to replicating some important aspects of previous studies, and introducing a measurement of primary school teachers' science related attitudes, it does provide valuable data prior to the introduction of the new course guides. When used in conjunction with the findings of a similar survey which is to be conducted in 1983, these data will help to assess the impact of the introductory phase of the course in Victorian Schools.     

The role of conceptual conflict in conceptual change and the design of science instruction

Conceptual conflict has long been recognized as a factor that could facilitate student learning. Due, however, to the lack of a convincing explanation of why it occurs, and how it can be resolved, it has seldom been used in instructional design. Its potential use in instruction is particularly relevant in the light of the recent, well-documented finding that students' existing conceptions frequently constitute a barrier to effective learning. This article examines conceptual conflict in the light of an epistemological model of learning as conceptual change. This analysis shows that the conceptual change model provides an explanation of conceptual conflict which is sufficiently detailed to allow it to be used in the design of instruction. The results of two studies, the first of which addressed the concepts of mass, volume, and density, and the second, the concept of speed, show that instruction, designed in this way, is effective in changing students' existing conceptions.