The use of think-aloud protocols to compare inferencing abilities in average and below-average readers

In this study, we examined whether think-aloud procedures would uncover differences in the kinds of inferences generated by average and below-average readers. Participants were 40 third-grade children who were divided into groups of average and below-average readers. All participants completed measures of nonverbal IQ, reading, language, and working memory, and a story comprehension task that consisted of two conditions: listen through and think aloud. The major findings in this study were that (a) average readers generated significantly more explanatory inferences than below-average readers, and (b) comprehension performance as measured by story recall was significantly better for both groups in the think-aloud condition than in the listen-through condition. The discussion addresses the implications of these findings.     

Teenage Girls and Economic Recession in Australia: some cultural and educational implications

This paper examines the impact of economic recession and high unemployment on teenage girls’ subcultures in Australia. It is argued that the tensions between domestic roles and economic roles, which are experienced by young women, have been exacerbated by recent changes in the economic context. A number of general cultural responses to this context are then discussed, followed by a more specific focus on the issue of teenage ‘welfare mothers’.

It is argued that both economic and cultural factors shape young working‐class women's life experience and reinforce dependency, through marriage or welfare. Education and youth policies have failed to benefit these young women, who are still disadvantaged in the labour market. Currently there is evidence that they are more likely than ever to be leading lonely, isolated and dependent lives, and without policies which specifically meet the needs of young working‐class women there is unlikely to be much change in the future.     

Teamwork and Entrepreneurial Behavior among K-12 Teachers in the United States

Abstract

This study attempted to identify the predictors of entrepreneurial behavior by assessing a series of variables that included teamwork skills and demographic variables, and to explore teachers’ experiences with teamwork. A sample of 367?K-12 public school teachers completed the survey. The findings indicated that teamwork predicts entrepreneurial behavior. Most participants received teamwork training through their school districts. Barriers to teamwork included time constraints, individual differences, and inability to collaborate.     

An alternative conception of mentor–novice relationships: Learning to teach in reform-minded ways as a context

Teacher educators have suggested that mentoring has the potential to help novices learn to teach in reform-minded ways. This suggestion implies a change in the nature of mentor–novice relationships as conceptualized in the existing literature and an understanding of the complexities of mentoring relationships. Based on critical constructivist and social cultural perspectives of learning as well as research on learning to teach, we conceptualize 16 types of mentor–novice relationships and identify challenges and complexities associated with moving novices toward reform-minded teaching. Drawing on exemplary mentoring cases, we illustrate some of our conceptualized mentor–novice relationships and their consequences on learning to teach in reform-minded ways. Finally, we suggest that helping mentors and novices develop a shared vision for teaching and relevant beliefs about learning to teach is a central challenge for using mentoring to support reform-minded teaching.     

Higher education experiences of elite student-para-athletes in the UK

This article presents the narrative accounts of six elite student-para-athletes attending higher education full time in the UK. Whilst literature concerning the student-athlete population in the UK is growing, there is no research at present that brings to the fore the voices of student-athletes who represent their country in Paralympic sports. In addition, research concerning the experiences of higher education students with disabilities in the UK is heavily concerned with the experience of learning as opposed to the more nuanced experiences of ‘being’ a university student. Accounts concerning the lived experience of higher education were gathered via semi-structured interviews and analysed through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis producing an intricate, intimate and personal theme for each participant. Analysed and presented as individual case studies, the research demonstrates the uniqueness of experience despite the existence of common and shared life environments. The accounts explore three life-worlds – university, elite sport and disability – and expose the difference in meaning-making by each participant to the identities of ‘athlete’, ‘student’ and ‘disabled’, specifically within the context of higher education. The accounts are presented as three themes that illuminate the contrast in experience: (1) university as a normative and positive experience; (2) university as a disappointing and hindering experience; and (3) university as an experience of personal salvation and purpose. Findings are mapped to the social-relational model of disability to better understand the relationship between individual perception, impairment and environment.     

Teachers’ union activism for gender equity: Social movements and policy processes

This article documents the contribution of teacher union activists in their campaigns to put gender issues on government policy agendas in the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. The collective accounts document the way the activists forged new relationships and alliances, based on common goals and shared feminist values, and worked strategically with femocrats in state bureaucracies. But the effectiveness of the activists depended also on a particular set of political and cultural factors which were present in Australia at the time. Such contextual factors were also significant in the later marginalisation of gender equity issues in education in the 1990s. At a theoretical level, the study illustrates the ways in which social movements challenge dominant discourses to bring about social change, and in particular how they ‘work’ in relation to policy development. It is argued, drawing on Melucci (1989) and Yeatman (1994), that social movement theory can be useful in explaining the waxing and waning of both gender equity activism and gender equity policy development. Within social movement theory, policies need to be viewed as negotiated settlements which are constantly redefined as contexts change, new forms of domination emerge, and new social networks form and coalesce to become new social movements.     

Joseph Priestley's soda water

This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Priestley. The occasion has been celebrated with many commemorative meetings and publications, swelling an already substantial and comprehensive literature devoted to his life and work. In this article marking the occasion the author has chosen to describe an interesting facet of Priestley's work which is not generally familiar.     

Enhancing Peer Interactions Within the Context of Play

This paper provides a review of concepts and practices in the enhancement of peer relationships amongst young children in the context of play experiences, with particular emphasis upon the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities. We examine definitions and typical development patterns of social competence and a range of factors which influence it, including family issues. A set of best practice guidelines are then discussed in terms of the extant research literature, along with potential areas for future research in this field.