Teaching manuals and the blackboard: accessing historical classroom practices

The blackboard, a useful teaching tool in nineteenth-century England, was transformed into a teaching necessity in the decades follwing 1870, when the Education Acts made school free and mandatory for all children. The resulting huge population of schoolchildren inspired the development of teaching techniques appropriate for large-group learning. Many of these techniques relied on the blackboard as a reusable demonstration space visible to the entire class at once, unlike a book or slate. To share these new practices among teachers, particularly the novice teachers recruited to serve the increased school population, dozens of teaching manuals were published around the turn of the twentieth century. These manuals’ instructions for how to teach reading, writing, arithmetic and nature study to elementary school students offer historians a rare glimpse into teachers’ and students’ school experiences by suggesting how the blackboard shaped classroom practices in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century England.     

Equilibrium bed-concentration of nonuniform sediment

Knowledge of the equilibrium bed-concentration is vital to mathematical modeling of the river-bed deformation associated with suspended load but previous investigations only dealt with the reference concentration of uniform sediment because of difficulties in observation of the bed-concentration. This work is a first attempt to develop a theoretical formula for the equilibrium bed-concentration of any fraction of nonuniform sediment defined at the bed-surface. The formula is based on a stochastic-mechanistic model for the exchange of nonuniform sediment near the bed, and described as a function of incipient motion probability, non-ceasing probability, pickup probability, and the ratio of the average single-step continuous motion time to static time. Comparison of bed-concentration calculated from the proposed formula with the measured data showed satisfactory agreement, indicating the present formula can be used for solving the differential equation goverming the motion of suspended load. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 59779010 and 50079025)     

Infant Mastery Motivation: The Issue of Discriminant Validity

The purpose of this review is to examine the concept of mastery motivation in infancy from the standpoint of possible intraindividual confounds, ways in which factors other than motivation may influence individual differences in mastery motivation scores. The review begins with a brief overview of theoretical background on mastery motivation, underscoring its presumed relevance for other important constructs in development. Current operational definitions of mastery motivation are then described. The remainder of the review is devoted to consideration of alternative explanations that can account, in part, for individual differences in mastery motivation. These include infant cognitive developmental status, social orientation and attachment security, genetic/temperamental factors, and sex differences. The review concludes with specific recommendations for further inquiry on the topic of infant mastery motivation, emphasizing careful attention to the role extraneous factors play in shaping performance.     

Helping adolescents with shyness: Applying the Japanese Morita therapy in shyness counselling

Summary Adolescence, being a period of rapid change and development, is often associated with experiences of turmoil and anxiety. Shyness is common as the adolescent attempts to explore boundaries, gain self-knowledge, and form an identity. An approach successful in treating this type of nervous pre-occupation is Morita therapy. This article describes how Morita therapy, in the form of Morita counselling, was applied in treating 12 shy adolescents seen in 3 groups. Four brief counselling sessions were conducted. The aim of treatment was not to rid the adolescent of shyness but to have them experience accomplishment and be productive despite anxiety symptoms. The main concepts presented were: action can be taken despite experiencing anxiety, emotions cannot willfully be controlled but behaviour can be chosen, and shyness is a reflection of greater sensitivity to life and can serve in a positive way. Positive treatment effects were observed on reported cognitive and behavioural measures and verified by behavioural counts documented. In conclusion, the adolescents appeared to have gained a more positive outlook on their shyness and an awareness of personal control through choice of action. By providing a concrete mechanism for approaching the shyness difficulty, Morita counselling, even in a brief number of sessions, has the potential for making an impact on this age group helping to spare them the anguish of social withdrawal and isolation.