Initial Primary Teacher Education Students and Spirituality

In recent years there has begun to be a resurgence of interest in educating the whole child in response to an over emphasis on basic skills teaching. In the study reported in this article, initial primary teacher education students at a regional Australian university were asked to explore and discuss their beliefs about the notion of spirituality. A survey was one of the instruments used and the responses obtained were placed into one of five categories or dimensions of spirituality. These included spirituality and self (reflection); religion; nature (environment/universe); relationships; and major life events (birth/marriage/death). Each of these categories are discussed in relation to a similar study conducted in the United Kingdom. Some implications for teacher educators and their initial primary teacher education students are discussed. These implications are able to help both groups work towards a more spiritually sensitive curriculum which seeks to recognise spiritual development as integral and central for providing a holistic education for all children.     

Integrating Collectivist Values Into Career Counseling With Asian Americans: A Test of Cultural Responsiveness

Asian American undergraduates received career counseling from European American female counselors using either a collectivist or an individualist orientation. Counselors using the collectivist approach were perceived as more cross‐culturally competent but equally credible as counselors using the individualist approach. Implications for culturally competent career counseling with Asian Americans are discussed. Los estudiantes universitario Americanos Asiáticos recibieron consejos de carrera de consejeros femeninos, Americanas, y Europeas que utilizan o a un colectivista o a una orientación de individualista. Los consejeros que utilizan el enfoque colectivista fueron percibidos como más transculturalmente competentes pero igualmente creíbles como consejeros que utilizan el enfoque individualista. Las implicaciones de carrera para aconsejar culturalmente competente con Americanos Asiáticos se discuten.     

Risk-taking orientation and injury among youth workers: examining the social influence of supervisors, coworkers, and parents

Despite youths' susceptibility to social influence, little research has examined the extent to which social factors impact youths' risk-taking orientation and injury at work. Drawing on social influence and behavioral intention theories, this study hypothesized that perceived supervisory influence, coworker risk taking, and parental risk taking serve as key exogenous variables of risk-taking orientation at work. Risk-taking orientation was further hypothesized to serve as a direct predictor and full mediator of work injury. The effect of parental risk taking was also hypothesized to be mediated through global risk taking, which in turn was posited to predict risk-taking orientation at work. Longitudinal results from 2,542 adolescents working across a wide spectrum of jobs supported hypothesized linkages, although there was some evidence of partially mediated mechanisms. Coworker risk taking was a relatively strong predictor of youths' risk-taking orientation at work.     

Utah youth suicide study: psychological autopsy

We conducted a psychological autopsy study to further understand youth suicide in Utah. While traditional psychological autopsy studies primarily focus on the administration of psychometric measures to identify any underlying diagnosis of mental illness for the suicide decedent, we focused our interviews to identify which contacts in the decedent's life recognized risk factors for suicidal behavior, symptoms of mental illness, as well as barriers to mental health treatment for the decedent. Parents and friends recognized most symptoms universally, although friends better recognized symptoms of substance abuse than any other contact. The study results suggest that parents and friends are the most appropriate individuals for gatekeeper training and, in conjunction with other innovative screening programs, may be an effective strategy in reducing adolescent suicide.     

Misconceptions about incline speed for nonlinear slopes

In 3 experiments, college students provided qualitative predictions about a marble's speed along nonlinear inclines. When predicting the outcome of a race between identical marbles along differently shaped ramps, most students predicted incorrectly that the shorter path was necessarily quicker (the shorter-quicker belief). When comparing instantaneous speed at 2 points, most students predicted incorrectly that incline speed depended on the slope at that point (the slope-speed belief). A final experiment provides evidence that the slope-speed belief reflects a deeper fallacy regarding the resistance encountered while traversing inclines and lifting objects. This fallacy also predicts the prevalent belief that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects during incline descent or free fall.