The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Transformational Leadership, and Effectiveness in School Principals

In the rapidly changing school environment effective principals are needed to make necessary changes while also developing a culture of shared responsibility and community (Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999). The correlation between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence was investigated in this quantitative study of school principals. Also included in the research was the investigation of the relationship between each construct and effectiveness as perceived by their teachers. The research sample was composed of 30 elementary, middle, and high school principals and five to seven teachers who worked with each principal from schools within the United States. An emotional intelligence score for the principals was obtained by administering the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Teachers who worked with each principal completed the rater form of the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X). This yielded a mean transformational score, a leader effectiveness score, and scores for other non-transformational leadership styles. Correlations were analyzed to conclude that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership, Pearson’s r(30) = .37, p \u3c .05. A positive correlational relationship between effectiveness and both emotional intelligence, Pearson’s r(30) = .38, p \u3c .05, and transformational leadership, Pearson’s r(30) = .90, p \u3c .01, was also evident. Analyzing the relationship between emotional intelligence and different non-transformational leadership styles yielded mixed results. Findings indicate a relationship exists between emotional intelligence and contingent reward leadership, Pearson’s r(30) = .38 , p \u3c .05, while no significant relationship was evident between emotional intelligence and other leadership styles. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that principals and future principals could better develop effective leadership skills by becoming more aware of their strengths and weakness in the area of emotional intelligence, along with improving their transformational leadership behaviors

A Study of Effective and Ineffective Supervisory Behavior in Special Education

Fortoul Hippolyte. Prescriptions concernant le mobilier des écoles communales. In: Bulletin administratif de l'instruction publique. Tome 5 n°51, mars 1854. pp. 66-67

Facing the Unknown: Behavioural Experiments for Intolerance of Uncertainty

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a dispositional characteristic that arises from negative beliefs about uncertainty and its implications (Koerner & Dugas, 2006). IU is an important factor in both the development and maintenance of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; APA, 2013). A cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT) for GAD that targets IU and additional factors has shown robust efficacy across five randomized controlled trials. IU is a key cognitive mechanism in this treatment, as reductions in IU precede (Dugas & Ladouceur, 2000; Goldman, Dugas, Sexton, & Gervais, 2007) and mediate reductions in GAD symptoms (Donegan et al., 2010). Despite these encouraging results, approximately 20-30% of individuals do not achieve full GAD remission by posttreatment. Non-remitted individuals continue to endorse elevated IU. Moreover, established CBT protocols for GAD are often lengthy and complex, involving multiple therapeutic techniques. Thus, GAD treatment development and evaluation must consider parsimony and efficiency in addition to efficacy. To that end, we developed a novel, focused CBT protocol that targets IU exclusively via behavioural experiments. This cognitive-behavioural technique is an experiential method of testing idiosyncratic beliefs (here, beliefs about uncertainty). Participants with a primary diagnosis of GAD (N = 7) completed 12 sessions of this CBT protocol with a licensed clinical psychologist at a local Montreal hospital. Treatment consisted of three components: (1) psychoeducation and uncertainty awareness training; (2) behavioural experiments targeting beliefs about uncertainty, and (3) relapse prevention. Our results suggest that this CBT protocol produces substantial reductions in GAD symptomatology, IU, and general psychopathology by posttreatment. These changes were generally maintained across a 6-month follow-up period, with some deterioration in safety behaviours, general anxiety, and depression. The majority of participants (6/7) demonstrated moderate to high end-state functioning from posttreatment to 6-month follow-up. Additionally, we examined rapid, non-linear changes in IU, worry, and safety behaviours between treatment sessions. Results indicated that sudden gains in IU tended to occur first and that sudden gains occurring early in treatment were associated with improved long-term treatment outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that the systematic application of behavioural experiments alone may provide substantial reductions in GAD symptoms and IU

Depressive Symptoms in the Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by anxiety, excessive and uncontrollable worry, and somatic symptoms such as muscle tension and difficulty concentrating (DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000). GAD is linked to symptoms of depression both theoretically and empirically, but there is currently no consensus as to how co-occurring depressive symptoms affect GAD treatment outcome. Dugas and colleagues have developed an efficacious cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT) based on a model of GAD that centres upon intolerance of uncertainty. This CBT program has demonstrated consistent reductions in GAD symptom severity by posttreatment (e.g., Dugas et al., 2010); however, not all individuals achieve full remission of GAD for reasons that are currently unclear. The first goal of this study was to determine the relationship between depressive symptoms and short- and long-term GAD treatment outcome. The second goal was to determine the relationship between depressive symptoms and GAD treatment engagement. The results indicated that depressive symptoms at pretreatment were largely unrelated to posttreatment severity of GAD, worry, and somatic anxiety or to treatment engagement. Posttreatment depressive symptoms were not related to the severity of overall GAD symptoms, worry, and somatic anxiety at 18-month follow-up. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed

Spring phytoplankton dynamics in a shallow, turbid coastal salt marsh system undergoing extreme salinity variation, South Texas

The contribution of phytoplankton productivity to higher trophic levels in salt marshes is not well understood. My study furthers our understanding of possible mechanisms controlling phytoplankton productivity, abundance, and community composition in salt marshes. Across three consecutive springs (2001 to 2003), I sampled the upper Nueces Delta in south Texas, a shallow, turbid, salt marsh system stressed by low freshwater inflow and wide ranging salinity (300 ppt). Water column productivity and respiration were estimated using a light-dark bottle technique, and phytoplankton biovolume and community composition were determined using inverted light microscopy. To determine their effect on the phytoplankton community, zooplankton and bacterioplankton abundance and several physical parameters were also assessed. Meaningful relationships among the numerous variables evaluated in this study were identified using principal component analysis (PCA). Despite high turbidity, phytoplankton productivity and biovolume were substantial. Resuspension appeared to play a major role in phytoplankton dynamics, as indicated by a positive relationship between ash weight and biovolume that explained up to 46% of the variation in the PCA. Negative relationships between zooplankton grazers and pennate diatoms of optimal sizes for these grazers suggested a functional grazing food chain in this system. Salinity also may have been important in phytoplankton dynamics, whereas nutrients appeared to play a minor role. Salinity increases may have been responsible for a decoupling observed between phytoplankton and grazers during late spring. Findings suggest hypotheses for future studies focused on the role of phytoplankton in salt marshes, particularly those stressed by reduced freshwater inflow and high salinities

Design and applicability of DNA arrays and DNA barcodes in biodiversity monitoring

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rapid and accurate identification of species is a critical component of large-scale biodiversity monitoring programs. DNA arrays (micro and macro) and DNA barcodes are two molecular approaches that have recently garnered much attention. Here, we compare these two platforms for identification of an important group, the mammals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our analyses, based on the two commonly used mitochondrial genes cytochrome <it>c </it>oxidase I (the standard DNA barcode for animal species) and cytochrome b (a common species-level marker), suggest that both arrays and barcodes are capable of discriminating mammalian species with high accuracy. We used three different datasets of mammalian species, comprising different sampling strategies. For DNA arrays we designed three probes for each species to address intraspecific variation. As for DNA barcoding, our analyses show that both cytochrome <it>c </it>oxidase I and cytochrome b genes, and even smaller fragments of them (mini-barcodes) can successfully discriminate species in a wide variety of specimens.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study showed that DNA arrays and DNA barcodes are valuable molecular methods for biodiversity monitoring programs. Both approaches were capable of discriminating among mammalian species in our test assemblages. However, because designing DNA arrays require advance knowledge of target sequences, the use of this approach could be limited in large scale monitoring programs where unknown haplotypes might be encountered. DNA barcodes, by contrast, are sequencing-based and therefore could provide more flexibility in large-scale studies.</p

Figurações docentes: entre desobediências, sementes e desejos de potência

The Brazilian experience of teaching strategies during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways of confronting the ultra-reactionaryism and fascist practices in schools were the theme of this article, which collects fragments of this experience and creates a memory archive, understanding that memory gives meaning to the experience. It aims to think about teaching in times of pandemic and tropical fascism and to create other figures for teachers.La experiencia brasileña de enseñanza durante el surgimiento de la pandemia de Covid-19 y las formas de enfrentar las prácticas ultrarreaccionistas y fascistas en las escuelas fue el tema de este artículo, que recopiló fragmentos de la experiencia, creando un archivo de memoria, entendiendo que la memoria da sentido a las experiencias. Piensa la docencia en tiempos de pandemia y fascismo tropical, y crea otras figuras para los docentes.A experiência brasileira de estratégias docentes durante a emergência da pandemia do Covid-19 e os modos de enfrentamento à escalada do ultrarreacionarismo e das práticas fascistas nas escolas foi a temática deste artigo que recolhe fragmentos dessa experiência, criando um arquivo de memória que se instalam no acaso e no instante, no agora, entendendo que a memória confere sentido às experiências. Pensa a docência em tempos de pandemia e fascismo tropical, e cria figuras outras para docentes

Factors that promote or inhibit the implementation of e-health systems: an explanatory systematic review

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature on the implementation of e-health to identify: (i) barriers and facilitators to e-health implementation, and (ii) outstanding gaps in research on the subject.METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PSYCINFO and the Cochrane Library were searched for reviews published between 1 January 1995 and 17 March 2009. Studies had to be systematic reviews, narrative reviews, qualitative metasyntheses or meta-ethnographies of e-health implementation. Abstracts and papers were double screened and data were extracted on country of origin; e-health domain; publication date; aims and methods; databases searched; inclusion and exclusion criteria and number of papers included. Data were analysed qualitatively using normalization process theory as an explanatory coding framework.FINDINGS: Inclusion criteria were met by 37 papers; 20 had been published between 1995 and 2007 and 17 between 2008 and 2009. Methodological quality was poor: 19 papers did not specify the inclusion and exclusion criteria and 13 did not indicate the precise number of articles screened. The use of normalization process theory as a conceptual framework revealed that relatively little attention was paid to: (i) work directed at making sense of e-health systems, specifying their purposes and benefits, establishing their value to users and planning their implementation; (ii) factors promoting or inhibiting engagement and participation; (iii) effects on roles and responsibilities; (iv) risk management, and (v) ways in which implementation processes might be reconfigured by user-produced knowledge.CONCLUSION: The published literature focused on organizational issues, neglecting the wider social framework that must be considered when introducing new technologies.<br/