Streamlining for democracy: Intercultural predispositions of the Croatian secondary school population

This work interprets the results of empirical research conducted into the intercultural predispositions of secondary school students in Croatia. Data were collected in 1993 and in 1998, using specially constructed questionnaires in which, for a variety of democratic values, a Likert-type battery of questions, were given to respondents. In 1993 the stratified research sample consisted only of secondary school students, while in 1998 the research sample also included students, parents and teachers. An analysis of the results shows that: (1) students had, generally speaking, affirmative attitudes both in 1993 and 1998 and that the hierarchy of support for these values remained the same; and (2) all three groups examined in 1998 shared a common hierarchy of values. However, they differed in the degree to which they accepted democratic values; teachers ranked the highest, students the lowest. The fact that students' attitudes were much closer to their parents' than to their teachers' leads to the conclusion that schools are not the major factor in the "political" socialization of young people in Croatia. This indicates a need for the introduction of new curriculum in all secondary schools. This curriculum should include educational content that emphasizes democratic values and intercultural relations, and methods that stress students' participation through action, reciprocity, dialogue, and solidarity, led by well-trained teachers.     

School students' views on school councils and daily life at school

This article reports a survey conducted in schools in Great Britain and Northern Ireland during 1997–8 with 2,272 students aged seven to 17 years. The 24‐page booklet questionnaire included six groups of questions about school councils. The question of whether pupils who have a council see it as effective was cross‐tabulated with a range of other questions, in order to examine associations between students' views about their school councils with their views on other aspects of school. About half the students reported that they had a school council. Of these, the ones who thought their council was effective generally had positive views about their school's social and academic activities, whereas the ones who said their council was ineffective generally had more negative attitudes. Some schools find that creating an effective school council can considerably improve standards of behaviour, but this process has to involve further changes in systems and relationships in the school. Simply introducing a token council can increase students' scepticism. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Our favourite melodies: musical consumption and teenage lifestyles

The present study explores the determinants and lifestyle correletes of musical preferences among a large sample of high school students in Toronto, Ontario. Our work is informed by theory and research on cultural stratification and adolescent subcultures. In terms of cultural stratification, we engage with Bourdieu's (1984) and Peterson's (1996) conceptualizations of elite taste, while subcultural theory encourages us to focus upon more dissenting tastes and to explore connections between musical tastes and peer group activity. Our findings suggest that racial and ethnic identity, school experiences and cultural capital are significant sources of variation in musical tastes that loosely correspond to existing typologies; they also confirm what has often been inferred - that musical tastes and peer group cultural practices are closely linked. Our findings are then discussed in the light of current debates about the nature and dimensions of listening audiences for music.     

Adult learning styles: Implications for practice teaching in social work

This paper focuses on the current aspiration to further the process of continuing professional development in social work. It contends that knowledge from the field of adult learning theory may be helpful in sign-posting some tangible ways forward here. The particular emphasis is on critically assessing the usefulness of identifying learning styles as indicators of preferred ways of learning. Knowledge of learning styles is explored as one way of promoting students' learning on practice placements. A small-scale qualitative research study with a group of practice teachers and their students is presented as a vehicle for exploring this new terrain in social work. The findings of this research build on key themes identified by the current literature in this area. The author's findings suggest that information about learning styles has direct practical application in the social work practice teaching arena. The data points to the potential value of using such information to guide students' learning on practice placements and has relevance to considerations of their continuing professional development. Suggestions are put forward to highlight how practice teaching and Diploma in Social Work programmes could facilitate this process. The paper stresses the over-riding need to view students as actors in a broader social context, however, and highlights how information regarding learning styles needs to be utilised in this context.     

The roles of humour and laughter in youth focus groups on school food

The article examines young people's group interaction and the roles of humor and laughter in relation to school food and school lunch situations. The analysed focus group discussion data is drawn from a broader case study (2012?2013) with 9th grade students (15–16 years old; 62 pupils; 25 boys and 37 girls; 14 groups; 4?6 pupils per group) in a Finnish secondary school. The analysis is based on existing interpretations and classifications of humor in literature, which is complemented by notions drawn from the study's data set. It is argued that an analysis of humor and laughter can provide valuable notions of how collective attitudes towards school food are constructed, enforced and distributed among students, while also providing insight regarding what kinds of issues around school lunch practices are considered important and worthwhile in the context of students' informal peer cultures. The results illustrate how humor and laughter functioned for the students as a space for (1) Constructing ‘us’ versus ‘them’; (2) Negotiating social order; and (3) Engaging in fun and safe interaction. Results are discussed in the light of how humor and laughter uphold or divide social groups, as well mediate shifts between formal conventions and students' informal worlds.     

Students' dreams for the future and perspectives on resilience-building aspects of their lives: The view from East Greenland

This study explores how perspectives from students can increase knowledge of how teachers and school authority can support students in building up resilience as a response to social challenges in the community. A locally flexible methodology using structured drawings (including classroom observation), semi-structured interviews, and semantic coding and situated analyses in a case study in East Greenland provided the following results: The students' aspirations were mostly about getting an education and a job and becoming socially successful. The students' motivation for attending school and doing educational assignments often depended on the social interaction with their teachers, and the students requested more involvement in decision-making processes at school to create more meaningful educational practices. If schools are to support the processes of building resilience and motivation for education, schools should include students' perspectives and encourage students' agency by listening to what they have to say.     

Transferring friendship: girls' and boys' friendships in the transition from primary to secondary school

This paper seeks to explore the issues and concerns that impact upon girls' and boys' friendship groups as they transfer from primary to secondary school. Using the girls' and boys' own voices, we document the extent to which their existing social relationships are disrupted as they adapt to and engage with a new school setting. Through semi‐structured interviews and questionnaires conducted in the final year of primary school and the first year of secondary school, we identify students' concerns regarding their attitudes to friendship. We consider the extent to which account is taken of this aspect of children's friendships and explore and analyse commonalities and differences in their responses. We argue that the priorities of our student groups are different to those advocated by the school. We further attempt to examine how the girls and boys in our sample negotiate their new environment.     

Bullying and ethnic diversity: investigating their relation in the school setting

This particular study investigated school bullying in relation to ethnic diversity in Cyprus. The research involved 469, 8–14 years old pupils of Cypriot origin and 83 pupils of non-Cypriot origin. Two different questionnaires, one for Cypriot and one for non-Cypriot students, were used and data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. The findings showed that ethnic diversity seems to be a factor that can precipitate school bullying and victimization in Cypriot primary and secondary schools, that non-Cypriot students feel more victimized than their Cypriot classmates and that they prefer to share their experiences relating to bullying with someone outside of the school. Additionally, the study revealed that verbal and psychological bullying were the most common kinds of bullying that Cypriot and non-Cypriot students faced, and that both groups limit their knowledge of each other to ‘songs, language, food and games’. The study also showed that the teacher’s role in facing and preventing bullying related to ethno-cultural diversity is critical. Finally, citizenship education and the use of mediation techniques are proposed as a means to foster non- Cypriot students’ social inclusion and, thus, prevent their victimization.     

Shifts of students' learning styles on a social work course

Social work education involves knowledge, skills, attitude and feelings, and its multidimensionality should be recognised. Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning which conceptualises learning as a four-mode cyclic process is proposed as a compatible model in the study of social work education. Using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, the shifts of the learning styles of 64 students on a social work course were measured. The expectations of subject teachers and practice teachers concerning students' learning styles were also measured. They are discussed in relation to one another and also compared with another set of US findings. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Student commitment and purpose in a private secondary school

Research on public education often concludes that low achievement is partly caused by a lack of student commitment to an educational goal. This study investigates the sense of academic purpose among students in a private secondary school where all graduates go to college, and explores the mechanisms of student commitment built into the social organization of the school. Results show that educational commitment among students develops from intensive face-to-face interaction in a primary community, the sense of history and tradition resulting from continuity in students' educational experiences, and the substantial power students have over their own school lives. These results add qualitative information to the debate over differences between public and private education, and suggest ways to improve public schools.     

Relationships Between Parenting Styles and the Academic Performance of Adolescents

Relationships between parenting styles, academic performance, and the mediating effects of motivation, goal orientation, and self-efficacy were examined. One hundred forty-eight high school students participated, including 58 males and 90 females. The Parenting Style/Parental Involvement Questionnaire was used to measure students' perceptions of their parents' parenting styles. The Intrinsic-Extrinsic Orientation Scale measured students' motivation. The Patterns of Adapted Learning Survey measured participants' goal orientation and academic self-efficacy. Adolescents who reported their parents as having a more authoritative parenting style were found to demonstrate more intrinsic motivation in their academic pursuits. Future implications for intervention and research are discussed.     

Child welfare clients and school satisfaction

Despite long-standing knowledge about child welfare clients' poor educational outcomes, we know less about these vulnerable young people's situation in school. This article addresses school satisfaction among upper secondary students who have been in contact with the child welfare services. These child welfare clients' school satisfaction is compared with their peers' satisfaction. The results from a survey indicated that the majority of child welfare clients were satisfied with school but that they were less satisfied with school than were their peers. The results showed that the association between school satisfaction and positive school experiences explains a large part of this difference. Among students who reported they were doing well in school, had supportive teachers and friends at school, the difference in school satisfaction between child welfare clients and others was small. Among students who did not report similar positive experiences in school, difference in school satisfaction between child welfare clients and their peers was more substantial. These results show that school can be a good place for child welfare clients, but that facilitating support from teachers, increasing opportunities for making friends at school, and working to develop the child welfare clients' academic performances are important as efforts to improve school satisfaction.     

An Evaluation of Physical Fitness Parameters for Graduate Students

Abstract

Although graduate physical therapy students are taught the principles of fitness for incorporation into their professional lives, they have difficulty finding the time to implement these principles during graduate school. The authors studied 3 successive classes of graduate physical therapy students at the beginning and ending of their respective programs. They found that the women's percentages of body fat were significantly greater over the period of the study. The men's lower extremity strength decreased at the slower speeds (60 degrees/second), and the women showed increased strength at the higher speeds (180 and 240 degrees/second, respectively). Male grip strength significantly increased over the period of the study. To decrease students' percentages of body fat and increase their strength, the authors asserted that physical therapy students should be allowed more time to participate in fitness activities during their graduate school years.     

古琴承传者李凤云

出版个人专辑、举办古琴音乐会，在中国台湾、中国香港、新加坡、俄罗斯、美国、日本、澳大利亚等地演出、讲学，传播中国传统文化——天津音乐学院教授李凤云堪称古琴文化传承者。在她的推动下，天津音乐学院首开古琴专业，成立了古琴传习室，培养了一批热爱古琴的音乐人才。”作为一个中国人，尤其是教音乐的人，要知道中国的根，传统的根在哪里。”李凤云如是说。     

Student and school factors associated with school suspension: A multilevel analysis of students in Victoria,Australia and Washington State,United States

One of the common issues schools face is how best to handle challenging student behaviors such as violent behavior, antisocial behavior, bullying, school rule violations, and interrupting other students' learning. School suspension may be used to remove students engaging in challenging behaviors from the school for a period of time. However, the act of suspending students from school may worsen rather than improve their behavior. Research shows that suspensions predict a range of student outcomes, including crime, delinquency, and drug use. It is therefore crucial to understand the factors associated with the use of school suspension, particularly in sites with different policy approaches to problem behaviors. This paper draws on data from state-representative samples of 3129 Grade 7 and 9 students in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia sampled in 2002. Multilevel modeling examined student and school level factors associated with student-reported school suspension. Results showed that both student (being male, previous student antisocial and violent behavior, rebelliousness, academic failure) and school (socioeconomic status of the school, aggregate measures of low school commitment) level factors were associated with school suspension and that the factors related to suspension were similar in the two states. The implications of the findings for effective school behavior management policy are that, rather than focusing only on the student, both student and school level factors need to be addressed to reduce the rates of school suspension.     

Soziales Lernen – Angewandte Sozialpsychologie für Lernende und Lehrende in Schule und Universität

In this paper, two interdigitated current training projects will be presented. The presentation is to show that social psychological theories can be applied profitably for school development. The content is about social learning in school. Social learning is aimed at the acquisition of social and emotional skills. These skills are positively correlated with the cognitive development of students. Social skills need to be explicitly taught and practiced, especially if they were developed insufficiently in childhood. In the project Social Learning we examine what contents may include social learning. In the project Classroom Management we explore how these contents are best taught and this teaching can be taught. Insights of Social Psychology are introduced for each resulting different extracts of reality and their uses are discussed.     

Two Teacher Educators Go to the Source: Teaching an Interdisciplinary Class in an Urban Charter High School

The authors of this article are two teacher educators who worked collaboratively to co-teach an interdisciplinary English and US history class to eleventh-grade students in an urban high school. They wanted to ensure the methods they were teaching preservice teachers were current and effective. The article discusses the foundational beliefs that influenced their teaching, the interdisciplinary curriculum they taught, some of the challenges they encountered, and a brief snapshot of the students' views of the curriculum. The authors discuss that putting their beliefs into practice outweighed the challenges they encountered—a culturally relevant, authentic, interdisciplinary curriculum can be effective in an urban classroom. The experience also assisted them in teaching their English and social studies methods classes.     

Preparing for Practice: An Evaluation of an Undergraduate Social Work ‘Preparation for Practice’ Module

The requirement for social work students to undergo assessed preparation prior to undertaking their first practice placement raises key questions about the type of knowledge and experience that is needed for those at the start of their training. This paper shows the need for social work educators to become re‐engaged in debates about the practice–theory relationship and to explore what is meant by an incremental approach to learning. A Preparation for Practice Learning module which was delivered to a cohort of Level 1 undergraduate social work students at a London university is described and evaluated. The paper highlights the key themes which emerged from the evaluation; these include the importance of work shadowing, observational learning and the centrality of critical reflection in aiding students' personal and professional learning. A discussion of its effectiveness in preparing students for their first practice learning experience follows. It concludes by recommending how students' learning in relation to the nature of social work and the skills required to undertake the role effectively might be addressed within the curriculum. Finally, a Preparation for Practice Learning model based on these findings is proposed.     

Social and emotional learning in middle school curricula: A service learning model based on positive youth development

Service learning is an instructional methodology that may benefit students' social and emotional learning (Zins, Bloodworth, Weissberg, & Walberg, 2007). Though service learning is not a new pedagogy, there are few examples of how to successfully deliver service learning in school curriculum for middle school students (Gestsdottir, Bowers, von Eye, Napolitano, & Lerner, 2010; Mueller et al., 2011). This article discusses the theoretical basis for and practical implementation of a school-based positive youth development model that utilizes service learning to build the social and emotional skills of middle school students. First, this article presents the importance of social and emotional learning during adolescence. Next, utilizing a positive youth development framework, the possible social and emotional outcomes of service learning are outlined. Lastly, a case study of the Wyman Center's Teen Outreach Program® is presented as an example that integrates service learning, built on a positive youth development framework, into middle school curricula. Challenges of this model, future research questions and implications on practice and policy are suggested.     

Rock Up: An initiative supporting students' wellbeing in their transition to secondary school

This paper reports the background and findings of the community-based pilot program ‘Rock Up’ to school. The Rock Up program was directed at a niche section of young students in Grades 5, 6, and 7 to respond to identified risk factors associated with disengagement from formal education. The Rock Up approach was to energise these students' connection to learning as they approach the difficult stage of transition from primary school to secondary school. Ultimately, Rock Up aims to assist those students in their development of wellbeing, within and outside of the school environment. The operational measures of wellbeing covered; academic, social, emotional, behavioural, and school absence. Thirteen students, who had been identified by their respective teachers, were invited to participate in individual and/or group activities that focused on their wellbeing and developing their readiness for secondary school. Written and verbal feedbacks from students, teachers, parents, and the program facilitator, were in the main very positive. Analysis of the data of the first round of the program using a three-wave questionnaire and a participatory action research approach indicated the need to proceed to a new round using more refined processes. When fully developed, Rock Up is intended to be the vanguard for collaborative practice between the education and community sectors throughout Victoria and to be an example of an efficient and effective model of transition for this age-group.