Disciplinary exclusion: wicked problems in wicked settings

This paper uses Rittel and Webber’s categorisation of wicked problems in order to interrupt discourses around school behaviour. Each of the 10 characteristics suggested by Rittel and Webber are examined using the English education system as a vehicle by which to consider and interrogate their complexity. This endeavour is crucial as although the characteristics of wicked problems naturally overlap, the cannot, and should not, be conflated if we wish to understand how different facets of a wicked problem shed light, and create shadows, that impact on all members of a school community. That school communities can be wicked settings adds nuance to the complexity of the problems that we face when educating students whose behaviours challenge the norms of their educational environment.     

Public Attitudes toward Polls: Evidence from the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election

This study investigates the perceived impact of election polls,focusing on the hotly contested 2000 U.S. presidential election.Survey data from 558 individuals gathered during the final daysof the election campaign are analyzed to examine beliefs thatthe polls greatly affect other voters, general views of pollsas good or bad for the country, beliefs about whether pollstersinfluence their results to come out a certain way, and supportfor banning election-night projections. Results indicate thatmost respondents felt the polls had no influence on themselveswhile still affecting others. Respondents exhibiting these ‘third-person-effect’perceptions were significantly more likely than others to believethat election polls are a bad thing for the country. Negativeperceptions of polls and beliefs that pollsters try to influenceresults were also related to general distrust of the news media.Negative views of polls in turn were associated with increasedsupport for prohibiting election-night projections. In general,the results illustrate the dependency of negative views aboutpolling on fears of untoward effects on voters, in particularthe fear that polls and election projections might lend supportto candidates opposed by the respondent.     

Perceived Message Effectiveness Predicts Information-Seeking Behavior

This study examined whether perceived message effectiveness (PE) predicted information-seeking behavior in the topical domain of colon cancer. Participants (N = 277) viewed one of three video messages (news, testimonial, and animation) that advocated screening for colon cancer. Information-seeking behavior was operationalized as reading time for a subsequent message about colon cancer. The proposed mediation model successfully reproduced the pattern of data, thereby providing evidence that PE predicts behavior via intention.     

Longitudinal patterns of emerging literacy in beginning deaf and hearing readers

The emerging reading and spelling abilities of 24 deaf and 23 hearing beginning readers were followed over 2 years. The deaf children varied in their language backgrounds and preferred mode of communication. All children were given a range of literacy, cognitive and language-based tasks every 12 months. Deaf and hearing children made similar progress in literacy in the beginning stages of reading development and then their trajectories began to diverge. The longitudinal correlates of beginning reading in the deaf children were earlier vocabulary, letter-sound knowledge, and speechreading. Earlier phonological awareness was not a longitudinal correlate of reading ability once earlier reading levels were controlled. Only letter name knowledge was longitudinally related to spelling ability. Speechreading was also a strong longitudinal correlate of reading and spelling in the hearing children. The findings suggested that deaf and hearing children utilize slightly different reading strategies over the first 2 years of schooling.     

The role of further government intervention in Australian international education

Trade in Australian education services has expanded rapidly over recent years. The sector is the third largest exporter of Australian services. In 2001–2002, exports of education were about $A 4.2 billion. Government assistance to the sector includes export market development, regulation of education standards, and funding education activities; university research and development, for example. This paper examines the case for further government intervention in the export of education, and the appropriate forms of assistance if further government intervention is justified. The paper predominately focuses on assisting higher education exports because this activity dominates education exports.