Investigating literacy, cultural capital, academic achievement and socio-economic status among first year university students

The dramatic shift in undergraduate student diversity has presented pedagogical challenges for university teachers, particularly in areas of literacy. There are concerns among Social Science and Arts educators around increasing incidence of informal writing, plagiarism and disengagement with reading. This paper supports an argument that these pedagogical challenges relate, in part to the literacy cultural capital of students. To determine the relative influence on literacy cultural capital of socio-economic status (SES) and academic achievement, this paper reports the analysis from a reading engagement survey administered to first year sociology students at ACU. The findings invite debate as to whether university educators should be ‘tailoring’ curriculum content to suit the multiliteracies of a diverse student body, or rigidly upholding ‘elite’ academic literacy at the exclusion of all else

Cyberbullying, Bullying, and Victimization among Adolescents: Rates of Occurrence, Internet Use and Relationship to Parenting Styles

Cyberbullying has evolved from the increasing use of technology, specifically electronic communication and social networking. Cyberbullying is defined as a means of bullying in which peers use electronic devices to taunt, insult, threaten, harass, and/or intimidate a peer (Raskauskas & Stoltz, 2007, p. 565). This could occur through a number of different electronic formats or devices such as email, social networking sites, cell phones, etc. In this study, participants included a total of 77 students attending a Southeastern Tennessee City Middle and High School. This included 23 seventh-grade students, 31 eighth-grade students and 23 ninth grade students. Participants were administered an online questionnaire that included a Demographic Information Sheet (Appendix E), the Bullying/Cyberbullying Scale (Smith et al., 2008), and The Inventory of Parental Influence (Campbell & Verna, 2007). The prevalence of bullying, cyberbullying and victimization in this sample was high. Over half of the students (53.2%, n = 41) had taken part in bullying in their lifetime. About a third of the students (31.2%, n = 24) reported taking part in cyberbullying. Overall, 49.4% (n = 38) of the students had been bullied in their lifetime, while 28.6% were victims of cyberbullying (n = 22). Relative to males, significantly more females were both perpetrators of cyberbullying and bullying, and significantly more females were both victims of cyberbullying and bullying. I ran four discriminant function analyses to determine whether parental influences (help, support, and pressure), would predict bullying, cyberbullying and victimization by bullying and cyberbullying. All results were non-significant. These findings enhance our understanding of the rates of occurrence of bullying, cyberbullying and victimization among adolescents. Internet use among adolescents should be monitored for potential trends. Implications for future research and school-based interventions are discussed

Ruth and the theology of hope: a meaning reconstruction strategy for the bereaved.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This study posits that a narratological reading of Ruth will elicit responses to grief. This study acknowledges that loss and grief are part of life, and that those who are grieving often need to make sense of their loss in order to regain hope and meaningfully reconstruct their lives. Within this context of loss and grief, Naomi and Ruth manage to rediscover hope in God and find ways to reconstruct their lives. The study argues that even though Naomi and Ruth suffer major losses in their lives, they are able to cope, find meaning and hope, and have faith in God. This study shows that life-restoring hope is possible after loss, and that lives can be meaningfully reconstructed. Through Contextual Bible Study (CBS), congregants can begin to work through their grief in a meaningful way. Ministers ought to be agents of hope to those who are grieving. As such, minsters should be able to help those who are grieving to move forward with God, and with hope. This, with the intention of enabling the one grieving to be able to meaningfully reconstruct their life, such that they can both see and believe in potential solutions. To be the agent of hope is what ministry is inherently and ultimately about

Equality Opportunity and the Schoolhouse Gate

Public schools have generated some of the most far-reaching cases to come before the Supreme Court. They have involved nearly every major civil right and liberty found in the Bill of Rights. The cases are often reflections of larger societal ills and anxieties, from segregation and immigration to religion and civil discourse over war. In that respect, they go to the core of the nation’s values. Yet constitutional law scholars have largely ignored education law as a distinct area of study and importance. Justin Driver’s book cures that shortcoming, offering a three-dimensional view of how the Court’s education law jurisprudence has evolved over the past century. The Court, once loath to intervene in school affairs, increasingly recognized that students’ constitutional rights do not end at the schoolhouse gate. But that extension has not been without limitations, pause, or controversy. Driver vividly narrates both the Court’s internal conversations and those occurring in broader society. Most importantly, Driver helps the reader see how the Court’s decisions were not preordained, could have gone a number of different ways, and heavily influenced the history that followed. This Book Review, however, argues that no account of the Court’s education precedent is complete without a detailed examination of how the Court’s decisions have affected equal opportunity. The attempt to ensure equal educational opportunity is ultimately the tie that binds so much of the Court’s precedent. Unfortunately, the Court’s doctrine on this score has not been one of consistent expansion. In fact, too often the Court has limited students’ rights and, thus, the educational opportunities they receive. This failure is clearest in two areas: those cases implicating a constitutional right to education and school desegregation

Watch Your Language: A Review of the Use of Stigmatizing Language by Canadian Judges

Despite ongoing advances in understanding the causes and prevalence of mental health issues, stigmatizing language is still often directed at people who have mental illness. Such language is regularly used by parties, such as the media, who have great influence on public opinion and attitudes. Since the decisions from Canadian courtrooms can also have a strong impact on societal views, we asked whether judges use stigmatizing language in their decisions. To answer this question, we conducted a qualitative study by searching through modern Canadian case law using search terms that were indicative of stigmatizing language. We found that, although judges generally use respectful language, there are still many instances where judges unnecessarily choose words and terms that are stigmatizing towards people with mental illness. We conclude that, to help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, judges should be more careful with their language

ISN’T THAT SPECIAL?: THE EPA’S SPECIAL-CASE DETERMINATION FOR THE LOS ANGELES RIVER EXTENDS CLEAN WATER ACT PROTECTIONS CAST IN DOUBT BY THE ARMY CORPS AND THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT

In an effort to examine the implications EPA’s ability to extend Clean Water Act protection through the use of its special-case determination authority, this Article provides a case study of the Los Angeles River and the regulatory interplay between the Army Corps and the EPA. To begin, Part I sets forth the factual background of the LA River, describing its fickle and often volatile physical nature. It then describes the legal framework underlying the case by providing an overview of the Clean Water Act, its shared administration by the EPA and Army Corps, and the basis for the EPA’s special-case authority. Part II then discusses the Army Corps’ initial TNW determination and the EPA’s subsequent application of its special authority to overrule the Army Corps’ determination, while highlighting the agencies’ differing treatment and characterization of evidence used in making the determination. Finally, Part III discusses the potentially far-reaching consequences of the River’s navigability determination within the context of Southern California