Accessible service delivery of child welfare services and differential response models

This article presents the results of a study of the impacts of accessible neighborhood and school service delivery formats for front-line child protection services within a flexible response model of child welfare in southwest Ontario, Canada. More specifically, this article looks at the contributions that these accessible service delivery models made to: (a) clients willingness to ask for help, (b) establishing constructive helping relationships, (c) accessing services and supports, (d) bridging the gap between mandated and supportive services, and (e) community engagement. The article also shows how the existing child protection service template constrained the accomplishments possible through these service delivery innovations. Accessible and central service delivery sites differed in notable ways in each of these areas.     

FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Difficulties in initiating and sustaining peer friendships: perspectives on students diagnosed with AD/HD

In this article, Myra Taylor, research fellow, and Professor Stephen Houghton of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Related Disorders at the University of Western Australia, report theory generated from interviews with teachers, students and mothers residing in Perth, Western Australia, on how children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) initiate and sustain peer relationships. An initial review of the three sample groups’ respective perspectives reveals that children with AD/HD exhibit three distinct socialisation patterns: a socially integrated pattern (that is, having three or more ongoing friendship pairings with peers); a marginal integrated pattern (that is, having two or less ongoing friendship pairings with peers); and a socially isolated pattern (that is, having no, or infrequent, friendship pairings with peers). Both teacher and maternal perspectives are similar in so far as both perceive children with attention deficit disorders to have marginal to non‐existent friendships. Students with AD/HD perceive themselves, however, as having strongly to marginally formed friendships with their peers. Myra Taylor and Stephen Houghton explore suggestions that differences between adult and child perspectives relate to diagnostic status, age and developmental maturity. They identify opportunities for further research arising out of their work and indicate that a wider evidence base will be needed before robust recommendations for practice can be made.     

浅谈学校的人际关系

目前学校人际关系中存在着种种问题，比如教师与领导之间的信任危机，教师与教师之间的不良竞争现象，教师用不当方式维护师道尊严，教师不同等看待社会地位不同的家长等等。逐一分析问题产生的原因，可找到有针对性的解决方法。     

Past Peer Victimization and Current Adult Attachment in College Students

The authors examined the potential long‐term effects of peer victimization experiences during childhood on attachment quality in current adult relationships in a sample of 386 university students attending 2 northeastern universities. Findings included (a) no significant gender differences regarding verbal or relational peer victimization; (b) significant correlations between all forms of previous victimization; and (c) previous verbal and relational victimization predicting less stable adult attachments, with verbal victimization being more significant.     

The impact of Confucianism on organizational communication

Confucianism has been identified as the major cultural factor that explains the economic success of the Asian Five Dragons. This paper explores the impact of Confucianism on the organizational communication in these nations, based on the four key principles of Confucian teachings: the hierarchical relationship, the family system, Jen, and the emphasis on education. This study further discusses the influence of these four principles of Confucianism on management behaviors and communication in the organization. Implications of Confucianism influence on organizational communication are also explained.     

论贫困大学生和谐人际关系的形成——儒家交往伦理的视角

对于大学生而言,和谐的人际关系既是其生存发展的必要条件,也是其自我完善的内在要求。在影响贫困大学生人际交往的诸多原因中,经济条件的贫困性是根本原因,通过社会交往氛围、家庭成长环境、学校交往环境、自身性格心理等影响因素体现出来。借鉴儒家交往伦理,可以促进贫困大学生和谐人际关系的形成和巩固。学校和贫困大学生应提高对人际关系重要性的认知;从思想上消解经济因素对贫困大学生进行人际交往的消极影响;建立大学生互助团队,培养贫困大学生人际交往的自信心和交往技能;提升道德素养,以自身的道德人格魅力拓展交往范围。     

Scenarios of quality assurance of stakeholder relationships in Finnish higher education institutions

Although the role and significance of the external stakeholders of higher education institutions has grown in recent years, quality assurance of stakeholder relationships remains a new phenomenon in the management practices of higher education institutions and in higher education research. Based on interviews and expert panel data, this article analyses the internal and external stakeholders’ perceptions of scenarios of the quality assurance of stakeholder relationships in Finnish higher education institutions. It especially focuses on exploring how institutions can balance internal and external stakeholders’ perspectives with regard to quality assurance. The results show that an essential challenge for Finnish higher education institutions is to develop flexible quality assurance practices capable of balancing the academic goals of the institutions and the needs of the external stakeholders. This also requires seeking balance between the centralised coordination and the differentiated practices of disciplines and academic units inside institutions.     

Reconceptualizing Motivational Climate in Physical Education and Sport Coaching: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

The purpose of this article is to re-conceptualize the phenomenon of motivational climate in Physical Education and sport coaching as a concept that is not purely psychological in nature, but also highly dependent upon pedagogical and sociological theories. In doing so, an interdisciplinary perspective is promoted where the three aforementioned disciplines combine and intersect in order to enrich teachers’ and coaches’ understanding of motivational climate. The ultimate aim is to assist practitioners in fostering an effective and stimulating learning environment. The pre-existing TARGET acronym (task, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation and time) is used to structure the paper. These TARGET structures are further developed with links to relevant pedagogical and sociological theory to enrich them. Further, a strong emphasis is placed on ‘relationships,’ which have not previously been featured in the TARGET literature. It is anticipated that inter-disciplinary research on motivational climate will emerge from the ideas presented.     

The communication patterns of Chinese students with their lecturers in an Australian university

Chinese students are now the largest group of international students in the Australian higher education sector. The patterns of Chinese communication and education affect the ways that Chinese students engage with their lecturers and manage their learning relationships. A case study of these patterns provides a small window through which to observe the progress of higher education internationalisation in Australia. In this study, the experiences of seven Chinese students in a multicultural educational context are explored, with a focus on their communication practices and relationships with their lecturers in Australia. This paper contributes to understandings of how student–teacher communication practices affect learning experiences for Chinese students in Australian or other international universities.