Wildlife in your backyard- the importance of environmental education in the infant school

A number of precepts based on practical experience are suggested for env ironmental education at the pre-school level. The importance of the child's immediate environment is considered and a variety of possible activities are outlined

Homeric Kinship on the Margins of the Oikos

Homeric scholarship has a long history, dating back to the 19th century, of elucidating Homeric poetry through examining its kinship structures and how kinship is performed. Of particular note has been the focus on the father-child dynamic both per se and with respect to its widespread use as a prototype for a diverse range of relationships. Agamemnon, for example, can be profitably viewed as a kind of dysfunctional father to the Achaeans, and many of the Odyssey’s characters are implicitly judged based on the extent to which they fill the role of the gentle father (ēpios patēr) in various ways. Central to all of this scholarship, however, has been the essentially structural assumption that kinship is a binary concept. Some people are related; others are not. However, recent anthropology has exploded this idea of ‘pseudo-kinship’, concluding that ‘relatedness’ – kinship as centrally defined by the subject, and not primarily based on genetics or marriage – is a more accurate measure of how kinship actually works than more prescriptive approaches have been. In light of these conclusions, this project\u27s goal is to expand upon our understanding of how kinship is portrayed in the Homeric poems by taking claims like those of Phoenix more seriously. In a series of studies, I examine how more marginal relationships, those potentially outside of the patrilocal joint family, namely those involving bastards, slaves, and fugitives, function nonetheless as kinship relations. My model for this approach will be the oikos, with the father at its centre. Homeric kinship is portrayed as centripetal, with its various members jockeying for position relative to the patriarch. With this in mind, I focus especially on how my marginal subjects negotiate their position and how their role is portrayed with respect to the patriarch of their oikos

Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Effective Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is a key factor in the success of students, but research shows differing perceptions on the definition of parent involvement. The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional survey study was to compare and contrast the perceptions of parents and teachers about the parent involvement strategies they find most effective. This study also sought to find differences within each population based on demographic factors. Using a researcher generated survey based on Dr. Joyce Epstein\u27s Six Types of Parental Involvement (2002), elementary school parents and teachers of a rural Georgia school district were asked to use a rating scale to indicate the level of effectiveness of 28 parent involvement activities. Field testing was conducted to enhance face validity, and content validity was strengthened through the use of a wide variety of parent involvement strategies. The responses of parents (N=478) and teachers (N=104) were compared using an independent samples t-test, and statistically significant differences were found in six of the seven parent involvement dimensions studied. Within the parent population, ANOVA and post-hoc analyses were used and found statistically significant differences within the parent population in three of the five demographic areas studied. Within the teacher population, two demographic areas were studied, and only one statistically significant difference was found. This study suggested that parents and teachers have significant differences in their views of what defines effective parental involvement, and differences were apparent when some demographic factors were taken into consideration

Pep-up: A review of the Umgeni Valley Project evaulation process

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Simple and Multistate Survival Curves

Objective and Sample: This investigation assessed the comprehension of survival curves in a community sample of 88 young and middle-aged adults when several aspects of good practice for graphical communication were implemented, and it compared comprehension for alternative presentation formats. Design, Method, and Measurements: After reading worked examples of using survival curves that provided explanation and answers, participants answered questions on survival data for pairs of treatments. Study 1 compared presenting survival curves for both treatments on the same figure against presentation via 2 separate figures. Study 2 compared presenting data for 3 possible outcome states via a single “multistate” figure for each treatment against presenting each outcome on a separate figure (with both treatments on the same figure). Both studies compared alternative forms of questioning (e.g., “number alive” versus “number dead”). Numeracy levels (self-rated and objective measures) were also assessed. Results: Comprehension was generally good—exceeding 90% correct answers on half the questions—and was similar across alternative graphical formats. Lower accuracy was observed for questions requiring a calculation but was significantly lower only when the requirement for calculation was not explicit (13%–28% decrements in performance). In study 1, this effect was most acute for those with lower levels of numeracy. Subjective (self-rated) numeracy and objective (measured) numeracy were both moderate positive predictors of overall task accuracy (r ≈ 0.3). Conclusions: A high degree of accuracy in extracting information from survival curves is possible, as long as any calculations that are required are made explicit (e.g., finding differences between 2 survival rates). Therefore, practitioners need not avoid using survival curves in discussions with patients, although clear and explicit explanations are important </jats:p

Reaching a UK consensus on art therapy for people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder using the Delphi method

Some authors have suggested there is low consensus about art therapy practice for people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. This study used the Delphi survey method to seek consensus among UK art therapists. In the Round 1 online survey, 24 UK art therapists working with the client group provided statements describing their practice. These were analysed using content analysis along with statements from relevant art therapy literature and from 32 service users. The resulting list of 713 statements grouped into 13 themes were then sorted by a core group of five art therapists with extensive experience with the client group, producing 111 statements that were then rated by an augmented national UK panel of 30 art therapists in the Round 2 Delphi survey. Rating was according to perceived importance of each element of practice, and 80 items each reached 80% consensus as highly important. In Round 3, 11 items that reached high but not 80% consensus were re-rated by 26 of the panel of 30, and all but 2 reached 80% consensus. The final list of 89 statements is the first UK national consensus on art therapy practice with people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder

Light Spectrum and its Implications on Milk Production

This information was part of the August 2013 issue of Eastern DairyBusiness Magazine. The Manager, a section within the Eastern DairyBusiness Magazine, is authored and organized by the PRO-DAIRY program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University

National identity is an ineffective tool for building public support for wealth redistribution among diverse populations

Providing the resources of the welfare state to increasingly diverse populations has been a controversial issue in several European countries, notably in the UK where the government has advocated restricting EU immigrants’ access to the benefits system. Matthew Wright and Tim Reeskens analyse the effectiveness of national identity as a tool to promote social cohesion in Europe. They argue that welfare chauvinism is never tempered and can actually be exacerbated by national identity. Promoting nationalist sentiment is therefore a poor way of securing broader public support for wealth redistribution, and other methods should be sought

Jazz Ensemble I

Jazz Ensemble I presents Tim Whalen, composer, arranger and pianist, and special guest, Trey Wright, guitar.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1018/thumbnail.jp