A Biblical Philosophy of Children

As a Christian institution who holds to a high view of Scriptures, we should most certainly include a thorough examination of what the Bible has to say about the education of young children. The Bible, when correctly understood, serves as a filter for all the other philosophies and thoughts of men in regard to the care of children. Who could know what is best for children more than their Creator

Comparisons of unilateral and bilateral cochlear implantation for children: spatial listening skills and quality of life

Recently, controversy in the care of severely-profoundly deaf children has centred on whether they should be provided with bilateral cochlear implants (two implants, one in each ear) rather than a unilateral cochlear implant (one implant in one ear). Potentially, implanting both ears rather than one could improve children’s spatial listening skills, meaning the ability to localise sources of sound (by comparing the intensity and timing of sounds arriving at the two ears) and to perceive speech in noise (by attending to whichever ear gives the better signal-to-noise ratio). The overall aim of the studies reported in this thesis was to assess whether bilateral implantation for children is more effective than unilateral implantation in improving spatial listening skills and quality of life. The first study measured the relationship between spatial listening skills and age in normally-hearing children. The second study compared the spatial listening skills of unilaterally- and bilaterally-implanted children. Whilst controlling for confounds, the bilateral group performed significantly better than the unilateral group on tests of sound-source localisation. Moreover, the bilateral group, but not the unilateral group, displayed improved speech perception when the source of a masking noise was moved from the front to either side of the head. Neither group of implanted children performed as well as normally-hearing children on tests of the ability to localise sources of sound and to perceive speech in noise. The third study measured the spatial listening skills of normally-hearing adults when listening to simulations of unilateral or bilateral implants. The differences in performance between simulations were similar to the differences in performance between groups of implanted children, which provides further evidence that the children's performance was primarily influenced by the number of implants they used rather than by confounds. The fourth study found that there was no significant difference between bilaterally- and unilaterally-implanted children in parental estimates of quality of life. The fifth study presented informants, who were not the parents of hearing-impaired children, with descriptions of a hypothetical child with unilateral or bilateral implants. The informants judged that the bilaterally-implanted child had a higher quality of life than the unilaterally-implanted child. These studies indicate that bilateral implantation for children is more effective than unilateral implantation in enabling spatial listening skills, but the extent of any gain in quality of life remains uncertain

Family and Consumer Sciences in Higher Education: Common Elements in Undergraduate Curriculum

This study of undergraduate programs was undertaken to create a current portrait of Family and Consumer Sciences programs and to determine whether common ground exists among the various academic units particularly in the area of curriculum content. The thirty four schools having accreditation with SACS and AAFCS were chosen as the population to be studied. Two lists of curricular element categories were created to evaluate the programs: a 28 item list derived from historical categorizations used in professional journals and educational reporting and a 16 item list taken from the national standards for FCS in secondary programs. The subject matter categories or curricular elements were used to evaluate the course titles and course descriptions of a unit’s course catalog. Using a content analysis, curricular elements were identified as present or absent in the curriculum of the FCS units examined. Elements included in the curriculum of a majority of the FCS units were determined to constitute the common ground or knowledge base among FCS units. The answer to the research question, “Are there common curricular elements that constitute a general consensus regarding the body of knowledge for Family and Consumer Sciences higher education programs,” is a definite “yes.” Specifically, 85% or more of the programs included child development, family studies, nutrition, clothing, foods, resource management, food service management, merchandising, early childhood education, human development, and textiles. Further, 70% or more of the programs also included education, equipment and furnishings, and housing. This high level of common offerings reflects the core of the FCS body of knowledge. The significance of the study is that it contributes to the specific identity of the body of knowledge for FCS, it sets benchmarks for curriculum content in FCS undergraduate programs, and it reveals the low incidence of current curriculum offerings in the areas of FCS history, philosophy, and the integrative nature of the discipline. This study serves as a challenge to national leadership in the discipline to publish national standards for the body of knowledge that delineate clearly what constitutes a healthy undergraduate FCS program

Teacher learning and development in primary schools: a view gained through the National Education Monitoring project

Today's teachers work in exhausting times. Curriculum and assessment change has been unrelenting and even the most conscientious teachers often feel overwhelmed. At national and local levels, professional development programmes have assisted teachers to address these changes and a number of approaches have been adopted. However, while teachers have engaged in professional development programmes, the actual benefits to classroom teaching and learning have been less certain. The quantity and frantic pace of these changes have worked against the achievement of quality outcomes. This thesis makes an important contribution to existing knowledge about professional development practice because it investigates teachers' experiences of educational change and school improvement processes to show what is both helping and hindering teachers as learners. The findings suggest that currently many schools are not effective learning organisations. This research uses the example of the National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP) reports to explore teacher learning processes in action. It is argued that the impact of the NEMP reports and their assessment information is being compromised because classroom teachers are already fully committed to curriculum document developments mandated by the Ministry of Education. In fact all professional development projects are faced with the same dilemma that schools are working with multiple projects at the same time. While this continues to happen the potential benefits of the NEMP reports as assessment exemplars for effective assessment practice remain unrealised because teachers' time is drawn to so many other competing priorities. It is this reality which now makes answers to key questions about teacher learning especially important. These questions concern who makes the decisions about what it is that teachers should be learning and how this learning might be presented to them. It is a matter of concern that teachers are cast as 'victims of change' and decisions about their learning largely determined by others. Rather than helping schools to help themselves and become 'agents' of change, this practice increases teachers' dependence on others for learning. A three stage approach to data collection is used in order to suggest improvements to current practice in professional development for teachers. This begins with questionnaire surveys to establish baseline data on the impact of the NEMP reports on classroom teachers in the Canterbury region. From this information an intervention is introduced to eight teachers who share a quality learning circle experience in order to learn more about the NEMP reports. Then observations and interviews of teachers in case study schools show teacher learning in action and reveal the strengths and weaknesses of current professional development experiences within schools. It is argued that the future effectiveness of schools will depend upon their capacity to determine their own learning needs and then find ways of addressing them. Schools will therefore need to acquire a more extensive repertoire of data gathering and analysis skills if they are to know how they can make significant improvements and not just duplicate what others find suitable for other settings. It is argued that improvements to teacher learning and development must address the focus of how teachers learn and will require a major review of how schools are structured and organised for teacher learning. Different arrangements will be required to allow 'learner centred' practice and the emergence of teacher learning communities from within schools. Schools will stand a better chance of being learning organisations when steps are taken to remedy the current structural arrangements which at the moment work against quality learning for teachers

Do You See Your Family? : An Examination of Racially Mixed Characters & Families in Children's Picture Books Available in School Media Centers

This study describes a survey of public elementary schools in Wake County, North Carolina determining what picture books that include mixed-race characters or mixed-race families are available and which are most commonly collected in public school media centers. Fifty-two of the seventy-nine elementary school media centers in the Wake County Public School System responded. Thirty-four titles that included a mixed-race character or a mixed-race family, where the family was not multiracial due to adoption, are identified. Nine titles prove to be highly collected, eleven titles are somewhat collected, and fourteen titles are rarely collected. Half of the highly collected titles are award winners, whereas the mid and rarely collected category books have not won any awards. The parental racial combinations vary, but the prevalent pairing is African American/Caucasian. Titles appear to be collected more because they are award-winning than because they represent a non-Caucasian population. The majority of elementary school media specialists have never been asked to find materials that include mixed-race characters or families. Overall, few of these books exist, and fewer still are collected in school media centers

Defeating the Developer\u27s Dilemma: An Online Tool for Individual Consultations

This chapter introduces an online consultation tool that helps resolve the tension that developers often experience in consultations between offering quick fixes and providing in-depth but time-consuming conceptual understanding. The tool that the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence has developed provides instructors with concrete teaching strategies to address common teaching problems, while also educating them about the pedagogical principles informing those strategies. The tool can be used to enhance traditional face-to-face consultations or, by itself, to reach a wider faculty audience, including adjunct and off site faculty

Prospectus, January 24, 2001

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2001/1002/thumbnail.jp

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander absolute cardiovascular risk assessment and management: systematic review of evidence to inform national guidelines

Australia’s absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment algorithm1 first examines whether individuals meet criteria for clinically determined high CVD risk and, in those not meeting these criteria, applies the Framingham Risk Equation to estimate an individual’s risk of having a CVD event in the next 5 years. The same risk equation is used for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians, although there is variation in underlying risk across the two populations, with the former experiencing a greater burden of cardiovascular risk factors.This research was funded by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health