Preschool + school + communication = What for educator relationships?

Communication between educators in preschool and school settings has been promoted consistently in research literature and policy as a practice to enhance children’s transition to school. Underlying the practice are the assumptions that communication between educators is (a) a way of building on children’s learning and responding to their diverse needs and interests as they start school and (b) a means of developing positive relationships between educators. Whilst it is an advocated practice, there has been little research about the consequences of preschool–school communication or exploration of the ways in which the practice might support positive transition experiences. This paper specifically addresses what happens for educators as a result of preschool–school interactions. The communication experiences of preschool and school educators reported in an online questionnaire provide important insights into the impact of intersetting communications, particularly on educator relationships. Most outcomes for relationships between educators in preschool and school settings were reported to be positive. However, the results contest the notion that preschool–school communication automatically results in the development of positive relationships; relationships which support collaboration between educators as children start school.     

Structures and biogenetic analysis of lipofuscin bis-retinoids

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is still an incurable blinding eye disease because of complex pathogenic mechanisms and unusual diseased regions.With the use of chemical biology tools,great progress has been achieved in improving the understanding of AMD pathogenesis.The severity of AMD is,at least in part,linked to the non-degradable lipofuscin bis-retinoids in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE).This material is thought to result from the lifelong accumulation of lysosomal residual bodies containing the end products derived from the daily phagocytosis of rod outer segments by RPE cells.Here,we present previously recognized bis-retinoids with focus on structures and biosynthetic pathways.In addition to a brief discussion on the mutual conversion relationships of bis-retinoids,future perspectives and the medical relevance of such studies on these lipofuscin constituents are also highlighted.     

Social orders and interactions among children in age-mixed classes in primary schools – new perspectives from a synthesis of ethnographic data

The article synthesises data from two ethnographic projects, which both explore interactions of children in age-mixed groups in primary schools. It illuminates critical perspectives on social orders and children's interactions in age-mixed classes by showing how pupils in age-mixed groups become involved in power relations and how the teacher's authority and institutional rules are intricately interwoven into the social orders of the peer culture. The article highlights children's complicity with the teacher and her expectations and accordingly questions the notion of an increase of children's autonomy in age-mixed groups.     

An Academic Library Director's Alphabet

This article offers librarians practical insight into a broad range of job-related conditions that affect the academic library director. It discusses the director's professional relationships with employees, colleagues, superiors, and patrons, and it also addresses the director's responsibilities for the quality of library service.     

The e-government research domain: A triple helix network analysis of collaboration at the regional,country, and institutional levels

This study introduces a hybrid approach (i.e., a social network analysis technique and triple helix indicators) to study certain aspects of the e-government (EG) domain that would otherwise remain hidden when using conventional analytic tools. Particularly, we provide network analysis of the EG research domain by focusing on the network collaboration between regions, nations and institutions. We collected and analyzed 1091 scholarly papers which were classified as being about “e-government” by the Web of Science database. The results indicate that hybrid method can be used to understand certain network-level structures and patterns in the EG domain which are beyond the scope of the predominantly-used systematic literature review (SLR) method. Particularly, the hybrid method is useful in understanding collaboration patterns between countries, institutions and regions in the EG domain, identifying key players by studying their network properties (i.e., degree centralities); and in understanding the pattern of relations among universities, industries, and government. The implications of these results in terms of research and practice, and study limitations are discussed.     

Anecdotal episodes in the social context

This article examines poor, moderate and good anecdotal episodes in the social context. The research results suggest 1) the quality of anecdotal episodes is discriminated on the basis of energy and clarity concepts rather than the traditional delivery and content perspective, and 2) the energy and clarity of anecdotal episodes are related to observer's perceived social attraction and projected potential to achieve social and professional success. Tnese results suggest that anecdotal episodes merit further consideration in relational development research from the communication perspective.     

BOOK REVIEW

No abstract available for this article.     

A Process for Developing Regional Business School—Business Community Relationships

ABSTRACT

The relationship between a business school and the local business community can be a mutually beneficial relationship. For the regional business school, building relationships with business executives can be a timely and difficult challenge, which can be compounded by the presence and influence of larger private and state schools. The School of Business Administration at Oakland University (Rochester, MI), faced with these challenges, devised a simple straight-forward process that overcame these challenges and successfully involved 35 local business executives in a mutually beneficial relationship with the School in a very short time. This article describes the process, which can be used by any school or college.     

Inclusion and mainstream education: an equal cooperation system

By being holistic, inclusion implies the involvement of a wide variety of professionals coming from very diverse professional and institutional backgrounds. It will only find its unity in a common focus on the individual project and in the coherence of all participants' contributions, interactions and interrelationships. Because such coherent functioning is far from being spontaneous, the proposed analysis aims to identify some features contributing to the coherence of mainstream schooling situations and to the quality of the guidance of the assistant. It reveals that this coherence lies in the ability to define clearly what is expected by a mainstream education process, so that the different actors can combine an integrative perspective based on schools' needs and a participative approach based on children's needs. Secondly, it appears that guidance is likely to be appropriate to the child's needs if it is based in the coinvolvement of interindividual and organizational contractual relationships. Finally, the analysis reveals that the coherence of a mainstream education process presupposes strategies through which equal cooperation systems, taking into account inter-individual dynamics as well as organisational logics, can be created.