Sinéad Harmey and Emily Rodgers
To identify features of teacher support associated with children who made accelerated progress in writing in an early literacy intervention.
Abstract
Purpose
To identify features of teacher support associated with children who made accelerated progress in writing in an early literacy intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were used to describe the paths, rates, variability, and potential sources of change in the writing development of 24 first grade students who participated in an early literacy intervention for 20 weeks. To describe the breadth and variability of change in children’s writing within a co-constructed setting, two groups who made high and low progress were identified.
Findings
We focus on one child, Paul, who made high progress (became more independent in the writing of linguistically complex messages) and the features of teacher support that this child received compared to those who made lower progress. We compare him to another child, Emma, who made low progress. Teacher support associated with high progress included a conversational style and flexibility to adapt to the child’s message intent as the student composed, supporting students to write linguistically more complex and legible messages, and supporting students to orchestrate a broad range of problem-solving behaviors while writing.
Practical implications
We describe how teachers can support children to gradually take control of the composition process, how they can recognize complexity in early written messages and we provide suggestions as to how teachers can systematically assess, observe, and support children’s self-regulation of the writing process.
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How did gays in the military go from being characterized as dangerous perverts threatening to the state, to victims being persecuted by the state, to potential heroes fighting on…
Abstract
How did gays in the military go from being characterized as dangerous perverts threatening to the state, to victims being persecuted by the state, to potential heroes fighting on behalf of the state? What implications does this shift have for understanding the means by which the liberal state uses law to include the previously excluded? Offering a critical account of the inclusion of gays in the military, I argue that while the lifting of the ban can be seen as an important step in a classic civil rights narrative in which the liberal state gradually accommodates the excluded, pop culture allows us also to see state and minority group interest convergence as well as divergence, revealing the costs of inclusion.
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Interviews Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart, which is a UK media literacy programme founded in 2002 and focusing on advertising; it is aimed at schoolchildren aged six to 11…
Abstract
Interviews Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart, which is a UK media literacy programme founded in 2002 and focusing on advertising; it is aimed at schoolchildren aged six to 11, is funded by the media industry and supported by Ofcom, the UK government and the European Commission. Introduces the Responsible Advertising and Children group, which Jackson also chairs and which represents European advertisers, agencies and media; it believes that media literacy for children is more effective than outright advertising bans. Outlines the Media Smart programme, which consists of three modules with materials and a DVD, and includes an introduction to advertising, commercial advertisements aimed at children, and non‐commercial advertising; perhaps the most interesting section is on controversies. Notes Jackson’s intention that Media Smart stay focused on advertising, rather than widening its scope in the way that Concerned Children’s Advertisers has done in Canada.
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Discusses the publication of mediocre quality children's literature. Presents the qualities inherent in classical children's literature. Examines the role and possible motives of…
Abstract
Discusses the publication of mediocre quality children's literature. Presents the qualities inherent in classical children's literature. Examines the role and possible motives of the publishing industry for marketing “dumbed down” literature. Evaluates two popular titles. Suggests ways of playing a more active role in promoting high quality children's literature.
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Elson Szeto and Annie Yan Ni Cheng
Empirical research on leadership for social justice is in progress in many parts of the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore principals’ school-leadership journeys in…
Abstract
Purpose
Empirical research on leadership for social justice is in progress in many parts of the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore principals’ school-leadership journeys in response to social-justice issues caused by specific contextual changes at times of uncertainty. It seeks to answer the following key questions: What social-justice issues do principals identify as arising from their schools’ transformation due to contextual changes? How do principals practise leadership for social justice in response to these contextual changes at different levels?
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on qualitative data from a cross-case study of two principals’ school-leadership journeys. The authors pay particular attention to the understanding of leadership for social justice grounded in principals’ efforts to foster equality in learning development for a diverse student population.
Findings
Timely adverse conditions may be required to foster leadership for social justice in schools. The principals reacted to contextual changes at several levels, planning and implementing innovative and flexible interventions to ensure equality in students’ learning development. These findings contribute to international accounts of educational leadership.
Research limitations/implications
This study of leadership for social justice in schools is contextually specific. Therefore, more empirical comparisons of school leadership are required in future studies, as principals’ practices vary between education settings.
Originality/value
This paper offers insights into the evolution of leadership for social justice in schools in response to contextual changes. Principals’ leadership strategies can be reoriented and their actions reshaped to overcome threats to social justice in schools. Accordingly, although leadership for social justice in school communities is culturally and pedagogically inclusive, it is also socially distinctive.
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Long recognized as the darling of public television, Julia Child, the star of The French Chef, Julia and Company, and Dining with Julia (among other popular programs), is also an…
Abstract
Long recognized as the darling of public television, Julia Child, the star of The French Chef, Julia and Company, and Dining with Julia (among other popular programs), is also an author of rare elegance. Collectively, her works constitute a compendium of information on two major areas of culinary interest in the United States: French and American cooking. Julia, as she is affectionately known to her legions of fans, burst on the American publishing horizon in 1961 with the publication by Alfred A. Knopf of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I. Along with her coauthors, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, Julia became an instant nationally recognized author. What distinguishes Mastering the Art of French Cooking from its antecedents is its thoroughness in scholarship and coverage, underscored by a refreshing, subtle wit. Volume II follows the same format—with the same incomparable results. Julia and her coauthors thoughtfully listed not only ingredients, but all necessary utensils and other batterie de cuisine. Both volumes are illustrated in detailed pen and ink drawings rendered by Paul Child, Julia's husband.
Michael J. Dotson and Eva M. Hyatt
The purpose of this paper is to first provide an overview of children's spending power, media exposure, and identification with brand names in the usa along with an updated…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to first provide an overview of children's spending power, media exposure, and identification with brand names in the usa along with an updated overview of the major findings in the consumer socialization literature, and to then provide an empirical explanation of how the consumer socialization process works with today's children.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a survey administered to 663 children, a factor analysis was performed on items designed to measure young people's attitudes toward, and interaction with, the various consumer socialization agents and marketplace factors, including shopping and media usage behavior.
Findings
Five major consumer socialization influence factors emerged: irrational social influence, importance of television, familial influence, shopping importance, and brand importance; and were used as dependent variables in subsequent analyses looking at the effects of a number of independent variables. Results indicate that the relative impacts of the various consumer socialization influence factors do vary according to the child's gender, age, amount of spending money available, amount of television viewing, and how he/she spends time after school.
Originality/value
These results are important to practitioners because they show that the traditional consumer socialization models may apply differently to children with different demographics and lifestyle characteristics.
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Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.
Annemarieke Hoekstra, Fred Korthagen, Mieke Brekelmans, Douwe Beijaard and Jeroen Imants
The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail how teachers' perceptions of workplace conditions for learning are related to their informal workplace learning activities and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail how teachers' perceptions of workplace conditions for learning are related to their informal workplace learning activities and learning outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
From a sample of 32 teachers, a purposeful sampling technique of maximal variation was used to select two cases described in this paper. In a mixed methods design quantitative data are used to position the two teachers in relation to their peers. Qualitative data are used to describe the two cases in depth.
Findings
The findings show how the diverging ways in which the two teachers perceive and actively shape their workplace conditions help to explain differences in the teachers' learning activities and learning outcomes.
Originality/value
Scholars have argued that informal workplace learning is embedded in interdependent practices that arise from the interaction between social practices and individual agency. The case studies provide insight into how workplace conditions for learning are shaped in this interaction and how perceptions of these conditions enable or constrain teachers' informal workplace learning.