Some considerations relating to the choice of an educational program

A random sample of 1098 new freshmen was cross-classified on sex and the extent to which the college major they selected was saturated with natural science and mathematics requirements. The responses of these students on 14 cognitive and 14 goal variables relating to the choice of an educational program were separately analyzed by means of the multivariate analysis of variance. The results of these analyses indicated that students entering natural science/mathematics programs tend to be oriented more towards the concrete and visible outcomes of an education and a career, e.g., training relevant to a career, an above average income, and success and recognition, than are students not choosing this type of program. Non-science students, on the other hand, value the interpersonal and usefulness to society outcomes of their educational and vocational pursuits. The results relating to the cognitive variables were less definitive, although students entering natural science/mathematics programs were more certain of successfully completing their educational program. Contrary to one of the major hypotheses the program groups did not differ with respect to the certainty of their choice of a college major. The results of this study were developed with a decision-making framework for choice of education and career.     

The effect of an integration program on teacher and student attitudes to mentally-handicapped children

This study examines the effect of contact with autistic children on teacher and peer attitudes to mentally-handicapped children in general. Children were interviewed and teachers completed questionnaires about their attitudes toward mentally-handicapped children in five schools attended by autistic boys and five schools not attended by any mentally-handicapped children. Children who had contact with autistic boys had more positive and realistic attitudes. Teachers' attitudes were generally positive and did not vary across settings, but those with experience in teaching mentally-handicapped children were found to have more positive attitudes than those with no experience. The implications for the integration of mentally-handicapped children are briefly discussed.     

The origins and development of empathy

The idea for this special issue ofMotivation and Emotion grew out of a symposium held at the meeting of the American Association for Advancement of Science, held in New Orleans in February 1990.     

The development of an instrument to measure occupational stress in teachers: The Teacher Stress Inventory

The content validity, factorial validity, and internal consistency reliability of a scale developed to assess occupational stress in teachers were investigated. The content validity of the scale was determined from expert opinion and appraisal data collected from 92 teachers, stress researchers and practitioners. Data collected from two samples of special education teachers (n = 370; n = 371) and one sample of regular education teachers (n = 433) were then subjected to factor analyses followed by varimax and oblique rotations. Six factors resulted for each of two measures: stress strength and stress frequency. Additional analyses indicated that each subscale has moderate-to-high internal consistency reliabilities for both strength and frequency dimensions, moderate-to-high correlations between the strength and frequency measures of each subscale, and a large degree of agreement for the content validity of each subscale, for each of six subscales: Personal/Professional Stressors; Professional Distress; Discipline and Motivation; Emotional Manifestations; Biobehavioural Manifestations; and Physiological-Fatigue Manifestations.     

Toward an ecology of student development

A key assumption behind the Cube is that the work of counselors can be more effective as they strive toward the developmental and organizational ends of those dimensions, using whichever methods are appropriate. Blocher fills in some of the detail behind this assumption with his example of life in the elementary school classroom. He posits three subsystems in the classroom ecology. The first he calls “opportunity structure,” the second “support structure,” and the third “reward structure.” The implementation of an ecological approach to student development will require the preparation of a professional with quite different competencies and interests than has been the case. The last section of this issue is addressed to that concern.     

The educational theorists, the teachers, and their history of education

The following contribution expands the current discussion on the status and function of the history of education at the methodological, or epistemological, level by introducing the perspective of a history of educational knowledge. This opens up a theoretical option for educational historiography that avoids the identification of history of education with history of a discipline, or the institutionalized knowledge of education and teaching. As a consequence, some history of education topoi – as the history of a discipline – can be called into question and practiced historically rather than educationally or morally.     

The educational theorists, the teachers, and their history of education

The following contribution expands the current discussion on the status and function of the history of education at the methodological, or epistemological, level by introducing the perspective of a history of educational knowledge. This opens up a theoretical option for educational historiography that avoids the identification of history of education with history of a discipline, or the institutionalized knowledge of education and teaching. As a consequence, some history of education topoi – as the history of a discipline – can be called into question and practiced historically rather than educationally or morally.     

Early educational foundations for the development of civic responsibility: an African experience

An innovative curriculum designed to foster the development of social responsibility among pre-adolescent children was introduced at a rural Zambian primary school. The curriculum invoked Child-to-Child principles focusing on health education, advancing a synthesis of Western psychological theories and African cultural traditions. The teacher sought to democratize the educational process through cooperative learning in mixed-gender, mixed-social-class, and mixed-ability study groups. Learners engaged in community service activities and contributed to the nurturant care of younger children. Young adults interviewed seventeen years after completing the program recalled their experience and reflected on how it had promoted their personal agency, cooperative disposition, and civic responsibility in early adulthood.     

Behavioral training for teachers in special education: the Gonzaga University program

The Gonzaga University's behaviorally based Department of Special Education offers an undergraduate major in special education for the completion of a Bachelor of Education degree, as well as a Master of Education in Special Education. The basic behavioral, data‐based model, philosophy, and courses are outlined at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Outcome data gathered from the program's consumers indicated high levels of student and employer satisfaction with the program, the faculty, and the curricular content. The manner in which the program is viewed as compatible with state and national accrediting bodies is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Empowering youth to change their world: Identifying key components of a community service program to promote positive development

Prior to graduating from high school, the vast majority of youth in the United States will take part in at least one community service activity. Although it is frequently assumed that community service is inherently beneficial to those that take part, the activities and processes of youth service programs tend to be unsystematic and vary widely. In addition, empirical assessment of youth service programs is inconsistent and often lacks methodological rigor. The present paper addresses these concerns in a preliminary evaluation of both the process experience and the outcomes of a theoretically grounded school-based community service program for urban adolescents. The evaluation focuses on identifying key components of a youth community service program, assessing whether the program was experienced as it was intended, and providing preliminary data on participant outcomes. Findings indicate that the program was experienced as both empowering (i.e., guided by student initiative, preferences, and strengths) and promoting a sense of community (i.e., encouraged cooperation and collective decision making). Results also suggest that taking part in the community service program increased youths' self-reported empathy and intent to be involved in future community action, as compared to a group of matched controls. Implications and recommendations for developing and evaluating service-learning or community service programs in the schools are discussed.     

The language of empathy: an analysis of its constitution, development, and role in psychoanalytic listening

Viewed from an epistemological perspective, empathy in psychoanalytic practice is described as that aspect of a specialized attentional stance that opens channels of interaction facilitating the formation of a trusting bond and enabling one to gain access to the emotional qualities of another's experience. A literature overview traces the origins of the concept in Freud and its role in psychoanalytic listening (including its controversial, divisive evolution in our field). Empathy is then examined from a semiotic-developmental framework. Its constitutional origins, differentiated forms, and distinctive purpose in clinical discourse are discussed. A developmental line is proposed, and clear distinctions are drawn between empathy in everyday life and its specialized technical application in clinical work.     

The early development of empathy: Self-regulation and individual differences in the first year

A longitudinal study of 45 mothers and their first-born infants was conducted to identify developmentally meaningful, individual differences in children's primitive empathic responding at 12 months of age, and to determine whether differences in self-regulatory skills assessed at 4 months might underlie any differences in empathic responding observed. Personal distress responses analogous to those observed in older children and adults were identified in one-third of the sample at 12 months of age. These distress responses were associated with indices of poorer self-regulatory skills in social contexts at 4 months of age. The results are interpreted within the broader framework of the development of self-regulatory strategies in the early childhood years.This research was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council, the National Research Fellowship Scheme, and the Macquarie University Research Grant Scheme. We thank Judy Chan, Alison Malbourne, Sylvana Sturevska, and Lorraine Smith for their assistance in data collection and analysis.