The Effects of Within-School Consultation on General Education Teachers’ Use of Behavior-Specific Praise with Students with Emotional Disabilities

Students identified with emotional disabilities (ED) are increasingly being included in the general education academic classrooms. Most general education academic teachers have little training or exposure to the characteristics and interventions associated with students with ED. Behavior-specific praise (BSP) has been shown to be an effective intervention for decreasing problem behaviors in the classroom. Unfortunately, studies have shown that teachers generally provide low rates of praise to secondary students and less so to secondary students with ED. This study used a multiple baseline single-subject design across participants to assess whether the use of within-school consultation intervention which involved regular structured meetings and visual performance feedback influenced the use of BSP, general praise, and reprimands used with students with ED in the general education academic setting. Three general education academic middle school teachers and four observers participated in this study. All teachers were taught to increase their use of BSP through the use of a within-school consultation intervention. Through direct observation, the rates of BSP directed towards the target student with ED were recorded. Results of the study showed that the use of the within-school consultation model increased the rate of BSP towards all three target students with ED. Specific praise rates increased for each general education academic teacher when the within-school consultation intervention was implemented. In addition to BSP rates, the use of general praise increased and the use of reprimands decreased. However, maintenance of the increased rate of BSP was not stable following the termination of the intervention. Implications suggest that one-time training or professional development may not provide enough support to effectively initiate or sustain change in teacher behavior. Results also imply that teachers would rather learn from other teachers. Additionally, results implicated that the use of BSP promotes positive academic and behavioral outcomes

Attracting volunteers in highly multicultural societies: a marketing challenge

Volunteer managers face a typical marketing problem: how to identify the right consumers (in this case, volunteers), attract them, and keep them loyal. In multicultural societies this challenge is amplified because of the different groups originating from countries that can vary significantly in terms of the extent of volunteering and reasons for being involved. The consequence of this heterogeneity is limited success of generic marketing campaigns. Using the theory of planned behavior, we investigate differences between Australian residents from different cultural backgrounds in their volunteering behavior. Groups differed in attitude, social norm, and perceived behavioral control, suggesting the need for customized marketing strategies. Theoretically, results provide evidence that volunteers in multicultural societies cannot be viewed as one homogeneous mass. Practically, results offer insight into the factors influencing the behavior of each cultural group, and can inform customized campaigns to tap into the large base of volunteers from different backgrounds

Becoming invisible: The ethics and politics of imperceptibility

This speculative essay examines ‘invisible’ social identities and the processes by which they are manifested and occasionally sought. Using various literary and academic sources, and loosely informed by an unlikely combination of Stoic philosophy and post-structuralist politics, we argue that invisibility is conventionally viewed as undesirable or ‘suffered’ by individuals or groups that are disadvantaged or marginalised within society. Whilst appreciating this possibility, we argue that social invisibility can also be the result of strategies carefully conceived and consciously pursued. We suggest that forms of social invisibility can be acquired by ethically informed personal action as well as by politically informed collective action. In this context, invisibility can be seen as a strategy of escaping from institutionalised and organisational judgements and which presents a challenge to common notions of voice and identity

“Charity Begins at Home”: Informal Caring Barriers to Formal Volunteering Among Older People

Formal volunteering is an important economic and social activity. In many countries, prevalence of volunteering is decreasing overall, including among older people who constitute a major volunteering resource. This qualitative study explored reasons for non-volunteering among seniors, with a focus on those who attribute their non-volunteering to their existing helping commitments. Forty-nine Australian interviewees aged 60 + years described a range of social, psychological, and temporal factors that resulted in their prioritization of informal rather than formal volunteering activities. These factors are mapped onto a theoretical framework matrix, with social identity and social capital theories appearing to possess the most explanatory power. The findings suggest that programs designed to encourage formal volunteering among older people need to be implemented in a manner that recognizes that members of this group can hold many other responsibilities that limit their ability to participate, especially those assisting in the care of multiple generations

A Multi-Year Evaluation Of Student Perceptions Of University And Special Education Doctoral Websites

Perceptions of usability and navigability contribute substantially to initial impressions of university and program websites. A survey was administered to graduate students in special education at four intervals between 2006 and 2014 to determine their perceptions of university and special education doctoral program websites. For this article, participant impressions of the websites are presented and analyzed using responses to open-ended survey questions. Thematic analysis revealed that overall opinions of university and program websites were predominately unfavorable with little improvement noted over the span of the survey administration. Results of this analysis have the potential to inform universities and program units beyond the bounds of the immediate focus of this article as graduate and undergraduate special education websites are evaluated for usability and navigability. Specific recommendations are provided for improving university and doctoral program websites