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Descriptors:
Self Efficacy; Measures (Individuals); Principals; Job Satisfaction; Foreign Countries; Work Attitudes; Personal Autonomy; Administrator Attitudes; Correlation; Questionnaires; Internet; Context Effect; School Districts; Program Evaluation

Abstract:
The purpose of the present study was to explore relations between principals' self-efficacy, perceived job autonomy, job satisfaction, and perceived contextual constraints to autonomy. Principal self-efficacy was measured by a multidimensional scale called the Norwegian Principal Self-Efficacy Scale. Job autonomy, job satisfaction, and contextual constraints to autonomy were measured by three scales developed for the purpose of this study. Perceived contextual constraints to autonomy were comprised of financial and administrative constraints, employee participation, municipal authority, and national evaluation programs. Participants in the study were 1,818 principals from the population of Norwegian principals. Data were collected by means of an electronic questionnaire. A theoretical model was tested by means of SEM analysis for latent variables using the AMOS 18 program. The model had acceptable fit to data. The results revealed a positive relation between principal self-efficacy and perceived job autonomy. Principal self-efficacy and perceived job autonomy were positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to contextual constraints. Contextual constraints to autonomy were negatively related to job satisfaction. The present study highlights important relations between principals' self-efficacy, perceived job autonomy, job satisfaction, and contextual constraints to autonomy. The results of the study are discussed together with limitations and suggestions for further research. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Second Language Learning; Reflection; Speech Skills; Student Attitudes; Personal Autonomy; Linguistic Input; Independent Study; Metalinguistics; Second Language Instruction; Peer Evaluation; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Foreign Countries; College Students

Abstract:
This pilot study explores language development among a class of L2 students who were required to transcribe and reflect upon spoken performances. The class was given tasks for self and peer-evaluation and afforded the opportunity to assume more responsibility for assessing language development of both themselves and their peers. Several studies (Lynch, 2001; Lynch, 2007; Mennim, 2003) have promoted the use of student transcription activities to help students make their output "more comprehensible, elaborate or sophisticated" (Stillwell et al., 2010: 446) and reflection and reflective learning models have been described as key psychological components of autonomy (Benson, 2011: 104; Kohonen, 1992). In examining these concepts, this study focuses on students' perceived input, or noticing of weaknesses in their speaking skills as evidenced through transcription activities. The research shows how transcription and reflective practice can help support the development of noticing, arguably a key element in the autonomous acquisition of new language and language development. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Political Attitudes; Scholarship; Environmental Education; Personal Autonomy; Sustainable Development; Citizenship; Required Courses

Abstract:
Recently scholars have wondered whether liberals can promote mandatory programs of formal environmental education, including education for the environment or sustainable development. Critics maintain that they cannot on grounds that environmental education is a threat to student autonomy or cannot be justified using liberal principles. We argue that the perceived conflict between liberalism and environmental education is exaggerated. Whatever the environmentalist ambitions of environmental education, any complete conception of it must prioritize education for skills and virtues that are consistent with students' prospective autonomy. Liberalism is also compatible with meeting the demands of intergenerational justice, which arguably will include sustainability education if not other forms of environmental education. Finally, the skills and virtues future citizens need to manage today's most pressing environmental problems are compatible both with those discussed in international statements on environmental education and with those commonly associated with liberal citizenship. Ultimately, environmental education that will better equip citizens to cope with environmental problems is quite possible for liberal politics. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Females; Educational Attainment; Counselors; Content Analysis; Psychology; Career Counseling; Mexican Americans; Case Studies; Interviews; Correlation; Self Determination; Personal Autonomy; Power Structure; Social Networks

Abstract:
Using Blustein's (2006) psychology of working and Hackman and Oldham's (1975) job characteristics theory, the authors investigated the job attribute preferences of Mexican American women with low educational attainment. They used content analysis to code and analyze the interview transcripts of 27 women. The most valued job attributes were not only those associated with survival and power but also those that incorporated aspects of social connection and self-determination, including autonomy, the opportunity to help others, the opportunity to use one's existing abilities, and the opportunity to learn. Understanding the preferences of this group of women can help career counselors and managers to be more effective in working with these women. (Contains 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Substance Abuse; At Risk Persons; Foreign Countries; Drug Abuse; Young Adults; Personal Narratives; Personal Autonomy; Alcohol Abuse; Early Adolescents; Interviews; Attitude Measures; Social Influences; Psychological Patterns

Abstract:
The provision of alcohol and other drug (AOD) programmes in Australia targeting a broad age range of young people may inadvertently obscure the particular service needs of early teenagers. In this study, we describe four main accounts of substance use identified through interviews with 20 AOD service-engaged participants in Victoria, aged from 13 to 15 years. These were: that their substance use is purposeful; that it is generally controlled; that their futures would involve competent substance use and that they did not require treatment. Each of these narratives rebuts a wider social construction of drug use as inevitably problematic and necessitating an institutional response. While participants' narratives of substance use resemble accounts made by older AOD users, they have particular implications for service delivery. We suggest that workers might both employ and seek to modify early teenagers' concerns about autonomy. First, services should work to be viewed by young people as resources for living well rather than as institutions designed to cure the sick and weak of will, and programmes should offer participants opportunities to enact desired selves without reliance on AOD. Second, we argue that valorising autonomy can be detrimental for already-marginalised early teenagers. Hence workers might over time encourage and resource young people to rethink this narrative of selfhood. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Knowledge Level; Maturity (Individuals); Adolescents; Foreign Countries; Personal Autonomy; Adolescent Attitudes; Interviews; Voting; Decision Making; Age; Public Policy

Abstract:
Recent debates concerning the age of electoral majority in the UK have focused on the levels of knowledge and maturity of young people. However, little research has explored the ways in which adolescents orient to these concerns themselves. In this article, we present analyses from a qualitative interview investigation in Northern England, and explore the ways in which our adolescent participants treated voting as a responsibility which should be exercised on the basis of a rational, autonomous and informed decision. Such arguments were frequently used to argue against a reduction in the age of electoral majority. These findings are discussed in relation to policy and educational debates in the UK. (Contains 5 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Technology; Student Motivation; Adolescents; Technology Integration; Multiple Literacies; Competence; Personal Autonomy; Computer Literacy; Technology Uses in Education

Abstract:
Research on youth use of multiliteracies and multimodal texts often imply that youth are inherently motivated by digital technologies. In this column, I consider the nature of research into motivation and multiliteracies. I suggest that the concepts of competence, autonomy, and relatedness should be integrated with a multilayered contextual conceptualization of motivation when applied to multiliteracies. Furthermore, I argue that educators and researchers should avoid the assumptions that all youth are digitally savvy and motivated by technology. Instead, I suggest that attending to an individual's need for connection, choice, and competence can lead educators to rethink their approaches to technology integration. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Behavioral Science Research; Research Design; Ethics; Federal Regulation; Change; Informed Consent; Adolescents; Children; Youth; Participation; Researchers; Personal Autonomy; Child Development; Risk; Research Administration; Health; Sexuality

Abstract:
For the first time in twenty years the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS, 2009) is considering changes to federal regulations governing research. The Common Rule provides the basis for government regulations and Institutional Review Boards (IRB). Proposed changes will have a significant impact on Institutional Review Board evaluation of research involving infants, children and adolescents. For example, such a revision can serve to rectify or exacerbate often observed IRB inconsistencies and over-estimation of probable harms when applying "minimal risk" or "exempt" criteria to research involving minors. Proposed revisions may also affect the feasibility of research on adolescent risk that requires waiver of parental or guardian permission to be successfully implemented. Further, recommendations for a new category of "informational risk" based on current and emerging advances in analysis and storage of bio-specimens and information technologies for archival research will have significant influence on ethical procedures required for collection and storage of longitudinal and cross-sectional data. Given the importance of any rule change to the conduct of science related to children, the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) convened the SRCD Task Force on Proposed Changes to the Common Rule. The purpose of this report is to alert policymakers, scientists, and participant groups to proposed changes most relevant to research involving children and to provide recommendations for ensuring the responsible conduct of child and adolescent research in the final regulatory changes. (Contains 1 footnote.) [Commentaries by Kenneth D. Pimple and Noreen Yazejian & Barbara Davis Goldman are included. Commentaries are individually referenced.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Student Motivation; Incentives; Goal Orientation; Quasiexperimental Design; Montessori Method; Personal Autonomy; Mastery Learning; Student Participation; Intelligence Quotient; Academic Achievement; Student Attitudes; Elementary School Students

Abstract:
The Montessori classroom appears to be the ideal learning environment for children throughout elementary and middle school. It is based on the philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori which describes an environment tailored to the Sensitive Periods of children, prepared with materials appropriate for the age and abilities of the children in a particular classroom (McCormick Rambusch, 2010). Children are observed as they choose their work and are assessed according to mastery (2010). This form of education supports the popular notion that intrinsic motivation is best developed in classrooms which incorporate autonomy, mastery and purpose. It also supports the view that extrinsic motivation is a thing of the past and does not belong in the elementary classroom. However, might Montessori teachers further foster intrinsic motivation within students? In some Montessori classrooms, there still exists a gap between measured levels of intelligence and actual academic achievement in students who have not benefited from the Montessori way from the beginning of their educational careers. When extrinsic motivation, such as grades, does not exist, what is the most effective method for cultivating intrinsic motivation in elementary children in the Montessori classroom? In an attempt to identify a method for further fostering intrinsic motivation among elementary age Montessori children, this study will follow a quasiexperimental design in which the intervention entails a goal-setting exercise intended to strengthen the sense of purpose and thus improve mastery within the children studied. Appended are: (1) Student Perception of Teachers' Goal Orientation; and (2) Student's Goal Setting Sheet. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Justice; Awards; Adolescent Literature; Literary Criticism; Discourse Analysis; Novels; English Curriculum; Young Adults; Disabilities; Critical Theory; Self Concept; Personal Autonomy; Power Structure; English Instruction; Literary Devices

Abstract:
This literary analysis examines constructions of normalcy and disability within contemporary young adult literature, including "Jerk," "California" (Friesen, 2008), "Marcelo in the Real World" (Stork, 2009), and "Five Flavors of Dumb" (John, 2010). As recent winners of the Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association, these novels offer complex and realistic portrayals of characters with disabilities. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, this paper explores how identity, agency, and power shape the novels' plots and themes. The growing prevalence of characters with disabilities in young adult literature offers an opportunity for students to consider how disability is constructed in society and represented in literary works. By taking a critical approach to literary analysis, teachers can emphasize social justice within the English curriculum. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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