Contextual analysis of home environment factors influencing the acquisition of early reading skills in Zambian families

This study examined the effect of home environment factors in the acquisition of early reading skills (orthographic awareness and decoding competence). To assess these factors, a sample of seventy-two (72) first grade learners (females?=?55%; age range?=?7–8 years) and their maternal parents (age range 26–61 years old) from low SES in Zambia's capital city, Lusaka were recruited. Parents, in response to a home literacy questionnaire, reported on their attitudes towards reading, literacy teaching in the home, the home literacy environment, presence of reading materials for adults and children, parental education, occupation, family size and family possessions. Two measures of reading skill were administered at school. Correlations revealed that parental education, occupation and the size of the family were not significantly associated with the reading measures. Family possessions, parental reading attitudes, literacy activities, and reading materials significantly predicted orthographic awareness. In predicting decoding competence, only family possessions, parental reading attitudes and literacy activities were predictive. Regardless of the context, children experience literacy in varied forms and quantities.     

The earth is the Lord's: the biblical view of the environment

The Church needs a characteristically Christian voice in environment discourse. The Bible offers this in the form of symbols and stories. Familiar terms such as righteousness, covenant and atonement originated in the biblical teaching about creation, and the liturgy of the Temple was to maintain the creation. Angels and their music described the powers of creation and cosmic harmony, and Adam lost all this when he chose secular knowledge rather than Wisdom from the Tree of Life.     

Catechists' conceptions of their catechetical learning environments

In ‘A Typology of Catechetical Learning Environments’ (2014), De Kock presented a typology for describing different types of catechetical practices. The typology serves as a theoretical framework for empirically investigating the effects of catechetical practices in church communities. This current article investigates, on the basis of interviews with catechists, whether the types of catechetical learning environments drawn from the typology are reflected in catechists' conceptions of their catechetical practices. It concludes that the stipulated categories are only partially reflected in the conceptions of learning goals at which respondents aim, as well as in the role divisions between catechumens and the catechist. Moreover, the types of learning environments drawn from the typology are not clearly reflected in catechists' own reflections on their catechetical practices. Implications for both the professional practice of catechesis and for further research are suggested.     

Inclusion

Summary

In a growing number of schools in the United States, it now is possible to walk into elementary, middle, and secondary classrooms and observe students who could be identified as having moderate and severe cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities successfully receiving their education together with similar-aged classmates who have no identified special education needs (Falvey, 1995; Lipsky & Gartner, 1997; Schrag, 1998; Villa & Thousand, 1995). This practice of welcoming, valuing, and supporting the diverse learning needs of all students in shared general education environments is referred to as inclusive education, inclusive schooling, or inclusion. This article examines inclusive education along a number of dimensions. First, the evolution of the inclusion moment is briefly examined. After the construct of “severe disability” is considered in the context of inclusive education, various rationale for inclusion are examined along with outcome data, legislation, and legal and U.S. Department of Education decisions which forward inclusive policy. Next, eight factors most frequently associated with successful inclusive education are described and discussed. In describing the factors, examples are provided of specific assessment, planning, and communication processes that support the inclusion of students with intensive cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of inclusive education for a 21st Century democracy.     

胼胝体调节大脑两半球相互作用的机制

胼胝体是哺乳动物脑内最大的白质结构,不仅可以在大脑两半球间传递信息,也能调节半球间的相互作用,“抑制模型”和“兴奋模型”是当前解释胼胝体调节机制的主要模型.前者假设,胼胝体对半球间的信息传递起抑制作用,表现为优势半球的功能增强,非优势半球的活动抑制,因而可以提高半球加工的独立性和功能不对称性;后者则认为,胼胝体对半球间信息传递起促进作用,导致两半球同时性活动,并增强其功能连接性,因而可以降低半球的功能不对称性,有利于半球间的信息共享与功能整合.近期的研究显示,胼胝体并不是一个结构与功能的单一体,而是包含了在空间与时间上既分离又互动的多通道信息加工复合体.抑制与兴奋信息可以通过胼胝体的不同空间通道以不同的速度在半球间进行传递,并受到任务计算类型与复杂性的调节,因此,胼胝体的抑制与兴奋的协同可以调节两半球的动态相互作用.     

Cognitive styles and person–environment fit: Investigating the consequences of cognitive (mis)fit

There is currently considerable interest in the key elements of person–environment fit to understand vocational behaviour and to develop strategic human resource management practices. In the light of this interest, we wanted to investigate (1) whether people within similar functions have similar cognitive styles, and (2) what the consequences of cognitive (mis)fit are on three work attitudes, using two large-scale databases (N = 24,267 and N = 2,182). We identified a knowing-oriented cognitive climate in finance, information technology (IT), and research and development (R&D) functions; a planning-oriented cognitive climate in administrative and technical and production functions; and a creating-oriented cognitive climate in sales and marketing functions and general management. Furthermore, we found that the relationship between people's cognitive styles and work attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, job search behaviour, and intention to leave) does not depend on the cognitive climate in which they work. However, we did find that people with a higher creating style on average score higher on intention to leave and job search behaviour in comparison with people who score lower on the creating style, irrespective of the cognitive climate they are working in. The cognitive climate also partially affects job satisfaction and intention to leave after controlling for cognitive styles. In summary, cognitive styles and cognitive climate seem to have separate influences on people's work attitudes. Our findings are relevant for selection and recruitment policies of organizations and in the context of training, job design, and workforce planning.     

Assessing knowledge-intensive work environment: General versus situation-specific instruments

The aim of the present study is to examine to what extent general and situation-specific work environment instruments capture the salient work characteristics in a knowledge-intensive context. We conducted qualitative open-ended interviews with 30 employees (24 men and six women) from a Norwegian university department. The information from the interviews was content-analysed and coded on the scales of five work environment instruments; two general instruments (the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work [QPSNordic] and the Job Diagnostic Survey [JDS]) and three situation-specific instruments (Assessing the climate for creativity [KEYS], Situational Outlook Questionnaire [SOQ], and the Organizational Climate Measure [OCM]). The results showed that situation-specific work environment instruments covered significantly more statements about the work environment than the general instruments. More statements could be categorized on the organization and individual levels, compared to group and leadership levels. The situation-specific instruments covered more statements than general instruments at the organization level. These statements were mainly related to the organizational context, social and relational characteristics, and encouragement of creativity and organizational impediments to creativity. The findings support the value of situation-specific instruments for assessing the work environment in knowledge-intensive organizations.     

Work stress,work–home interference and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between work stress, work-home interference, and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in the Zimbabwean context. Data were collected from a sample of 190 employees (females=46%) who completed the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R), the Work-Home Interference Questionnaire (SWING), and the Organisational Culture Index (OCI). Data analysis consisted of correlational and standard multiple regression analyses. The results revealed significant positive correlations between the sub-scales Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, Role Ambiguity, Role Boundary, Responsibilities, and Physical Environment of the OSI-R, the sub-scales Positive Work-Home Interference and Negative Work-Home Interference of the SWING, and the sub-scales Bureaucratic, Innovative and Supportive Culture of the OCI. These findings contribute to new knowledge in terms of the work stress experienced by insurance employees who are always under continuous pressure from the industry. Furthermore, it could be used to gain insight to enhance the work-life balance of insurance employees and the effect of organisational culture as perceived by insurance employees.     

The association between maternal strategies and preschoolers' memory for location of objects

Using a Vygotskian theoretical framework and a social interaction design, we observed 30 middle-class North American mother–child dyads engaged in a location memory activity. The central aim of this investigation was to assess maternal and preschool strategy use employed during a memory for location task, and to determine which strategies are associated with preschooler accuracy of memory for location of objects. Results suggest that mothers are more apt to utilize labelling, encouragement, and guidance as opposed to location-specific assistance to their child during the task, and children are more apt to link the memory information to their real-life experiences, request help for assistance, and utilize self-regulatory speech. Implications of the research, suggestions for future research, and expansions of theoretical perspectives on the role of social interaction on preschool location memory performance, and educational implications are discussed.     

Aggression,depression, and bullying others

A questionnaire survey of a representative sample of 2083 Norwegian pupils in Grade 8 revealed a positive and significant correlation between depressive symptoms and bullying others and a strong positive correlation between both power‐related (ProPow) and affiliation‐related (ProAff) proactive aggressiveness and bullying others among both boys and girls. We investigated whether the correlation between Depressive Symptoms and Bullying Others was spurious. For boys, a multiple‐regression analysis with Bullying Others as the dependent variable revealed that both ProPow and ProAff had strong separate effects on Bullying Others, whereas the separate effect from Depressive Symptoms was not significant. Interactions between Depressive Symptoms and ProPow and ProAff on Bullying Others were not present. It was concluded that the significant correlation between Depressive Symptoms and Bullying Others was spurious for boys. For girls, ProAff, and ProPow × Depressive Symptoms had significant and rather strong separate impacts on Bullying Others. Implications for intervention and further research were discussed. Aggr. Behav. 28:198–206, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.