Pre‐service primary education teachers’ changing attitudes towards teaching: a longitudinal study

This study investigated the longitudinal changes in the attitudes of pre‐service primary education teachers towards the teaching profession as they progressed through training. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in pre‐service teachers’ attitudes towards the profession between their freshman and senior years. Moreover, the findings obtained through interview data have shown that both positive and negative changes occur in pre‐service teachers’ attitudes towards teaching throughout their education, and these changes are observed to be related to teaching practice, cooperating teachers, teacher education institutions and teacher educators.     

国内旅游目的地居民旅游感知实证研究——以御道口森林草原风景区为例

本文根据旅游目的地生命周期理论,构建了国内旅游目的地居民感知模型,并以御道口森林草原风景区为例,通过问卷调查,采用描述性统计分析、一致性检验,Pearson相关分析和主成份分析等统计方法对数据进行分析,从经济、社会、环境三个方面揭示了目的地居民对旅游影响正、负两方面的感知和态度。研究结论表明,国内旅游目的地居民对经济影响的感知态度更易倾向于正面感知,而对于社会文化和旅游环境的负面环境影响的感知则强于其正面环境影响感知,具体表现为：①发展旅游业能促进经济发展,提高个人收入,但也会加剧居民收入两极分化;②发展旅游业有利于提高当地知名度及弘扬传统文化,但大量游客的涌入干扰了本地人的正常生活,减少了本地居民使用公共设施的机会;③旅游发展改善了城镇环境卫生状况,但草原退化加剧与发展旅游业有关。基于此,本文从关注多方利益主体的角度提出了促进国内旅游目的地发展的相关对策建议。     

Patterns of intergroup attitudes in South Africa after 1994

In the heterogeneous South African society, race has become not only the major organizing principle, but also the primary unit of social analysis. The concept “intergroup relations” has consequently predominantly been associated with racial relations and “intergroup attitudes” with “interracial attitudes”. Interest in South African race relations has furthermore been enhanced by the tumultuous struggle against apartheid. A substantive body of research acquired during apartheid indeed points to interracial tension. The advent of a new political dispensation in 1994 has been accompanied with expectations that increased intergroup contact, in particular, would result in improved interracial relations. The current study investigates intergroup attitudes after 1994. Three countrywide surveys were conducted in 1998, 2001 and 2009 using representative samples of all major racial groups. The results indicate that overall attitudes were more positive among more affluent and urbanized communities. However, there are indications of prevailing negative relations, in particular between Blacks and Afrikaans-speaking Whites. While the attitudes of Afrikaans-speaking Whites seem to have become more positive, that has not been the case to the same extent for Blacks. Blacks also appear to be less positive towards English-speaking Whites than during apartheid. Overall, the results point to more positive intergroup attitudes in some instances, but also to potential emerging points of tension.     

大众传媒视域中后现代主义对大学生婚恋观的影响及引导路径

大众传媒的发展与普及为后现代主义的传播提供了便捷的传播载体。大众传媒承载着丰富的信息,并具有瞬间扩大的效果,其对后现代主义的大肆推崇,对大学生的婚恋观造成了一定的负面影响。因此,有必要探索大众传媒视域中后现代主义对大学生婚恋观的影响,分析后现代主义对大学生婚恋观影响的特征,帮助大学生树立正确的婚恋观。     

Major Survey Findings of Listening to MothersSM III: New Mothers Speak Out: Report of National Surveys of Women’s Childbearing Experiences ? Conducted October–December 2012 and January–April 2013

To understand the experiences and views of childbearing women in the United States and trends over time, Childbirth Connection carried out the third national Listening to Mothers survey among 2,400 women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals to a single baby from mid-2011 to mid-2012 and could participate in English. A follow-up survey directed to the same participants explored postpartum experiences, in depth and well into the second year after birth; views about maternity care; and some additional pregnancy and birth items. Harris Interactive conducted the surveys using a validated methodology that includes data weighting to ensure that results closely reflect the target population. The follow-up survey was reported in Listening to Mothers III: New Mothers Speak Out.     

Exploring the Relations between In-service Training,Prior Contacts and Teachers’ Attitudes towards Persons with Intellectual Disability

This study investigates the relations between teachers’ attitudes towards persons with intellectual disability (ID), in-service training on ID, and prior contacts with persons with ID. A sample of Canadian elementary school teachers (N?=?118) completed the Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability Questionnaire, which measures cognitive, affective and behavioural components of attitudes towards persons with ID. Correlational and multivariate regression analyses were performed. Frequent contacts with persons with ID and experience of including a child with ID increased the likelihood of reporting prior positive contacts with persons with ID. In turn, this was associated with less discomfort towards persons with ID and more willingness towards interactions. In-service training on ID was related to better knowledge of rights and capabilities of persons with ID. Experience of including a child with ID in general education classrooms increased the likelihood to report feeling competent in teaching children with ID, which predicted more willingness to include children with ID.     

Responding to teacher shortages: relationships among mobility experiences,attitudes, and intentions of Dutch teachers

From all over the world there have been calls from governmental institutions to address a shortage of high quality teachers. As changing jobs generates new experiences, job mobility could be a way for teachers to adhere to the government’s call to develop themselves into the teaching force needed. The research question of this study was: How do the experience with mobility and the attitude towards mobility of Dutch secondary school teachers shape their intentions to be mobile? A secondary analysis was conducted on data collected among 1261 respondents. Attitudes towards mobility were found to be linked to past experience with mobility and there is a strong relationship between the attitude towards mobility and the intention to be mobile. The control variables age, experience in teaching, and type of employment seem to have an effect as well. Implications for the teacher shortage issue are discussed.     

Integrated language and content instruction in Qatar Independent schools: teachers’ perspectives

The aim of this study is to explore teachers’ attitudes towards the shift to English as a medium of instruction in Qatari Independent schools. It focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of this approach for teachers and students, and the challenges they face in the process of its implementation. Data for the study were collected by means of a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. Findings point to teachers’ beliefs that while the approach has benefited them and their students, it is a challenging process. The challenges teachers face are organizational in nature relating to ineffective planning for the introduction of the change, lack of teacher preparedness for its implementation, and parents’ resistance to this change. These results have implications for teacher training in the Qatari context and for planning of the introduction of change in English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language contexts.     

Connecting to nature at the zoo: implications for responding to climate change

Societal response to climate change has been inadequate. A perception that the issue is both physically and temporally remote may reduce concern; concern may also be affected by the political polarization surrounding the issue in the USA. A feeling of connection to nature or to animals may increase personal relevance, and a supportive social context may counteract political tensions. Zoos may provide opportunities for both sense of connection and social support. We surveyed over 7000 zoo and aquarium visitors to examine the ways in which a feeling of personal connection among zoo visitors may encourage concern about climate change. Results show that feeling connected to animals at the zoo is significantly associated with cognitive and emotional responses to climate change, as well as with other social groupings and social responses. Overall, the zoo seems to present a supportive social context for considering the topic.