Consciousness-raising tasks versus deductive approach : two form-focused instruction types in teaching grammar to Iranian high school EFL learners

Consciousness-raising (CR) task is a new way of teaching grammar developed in communicative contexts although little has been written on the effectiveness of CR tasks in EFL setting. The present study is an attempt to investigate the impact of CR tasks in Iranian EFL setting by comparing them with deductive, grammar lessons common in the Iranian schools. The subjects of this study were 80 EFL pre-university male students who were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control one. The control group received three ordinary teacher-fronted, deductive lessons, a common way of teaching methodology in Iran, on three grammatical structures (adverb placement, indirect object placement and the use of relative clause). The experimental group, however, was treated with three ‘consciousness-raising’ (CR) tasks dealing with the same target structures. The results showed that in the short-run, CR tasks were as effective as deductive approach in promoting the learners’ grammatical knowledge while in the long-run, the CR group maintained their gains more effectively than the deductive group. The conclusion is that CR tasks can function more effectively than deductive approach if the following conditions are met: (a) performing the consciousness-raising tasks in learners’ L1; (b) providing the learners with feedback whenever they encounter a problem in solving the tasks; (c) grouping the learners in such a way that at least one learner in each group would be more proficient than the other members to help the less proficient ones understand and discover the rules more effectively.

Informing brain health behaviour choices: the efficacy of a high-school brain awareness pilot study

Aims:
Lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise significantly impact mental wellbeing and this is particularly so during the period of adolescence. The aim of the current study was to determine whether neuroscience concepts could be introduced to the classroom in a manner that improved high school student awareness of how health behaviour choices impact brain health. 

Study Design:
This study was a quantitative study that measured 47 assertions relating to brain health and neuroscience pre and post an interactive seminar.

Place and Duration of Study:
A Victorian high school in Geelong, Australia. Participation in the seminar took approximately 100 minutes, including time to complete the questionnaires.

Methodology:
The current study trialed a ‘Brain Basics’ educational program in a Victorian high-school. The neuro-educative interactive seminar was presented to 48female year 11 students. The level of student understanding, interest and enjoyment was assessed prior to and following an interactive seminar.

Results:
Student understanding of brain health significantly improved in 31 out of 47 questionnaire items and interest and enjoyment were highly rated.

Conclusion:
This supports the notion that basic neuroscience concepts can be introduced into Victorian schools to increase brain health awareness of our youth during this criticaltime of brain development. - See more at: http://www.sciencedomain.org/abstract.php?iid=431&id=21&aid=3887#.UykK5oXAwZm

Does screening high school students for psychological distress, deliberate self-harm, or suicidal ideation cause distress--and is it acceptable? An Australian-based study

Programs designed to detect students at risk of depression and suicidality have shown success (Shaffer et al., 2004). The current study sought to examine whether or not such a program was acceptable to participants and whether or not it caused distress. Participants were boys aged 14 to 16. Participants were assessed using an on-line questionnaire; acceptability was measured via postal questionnaire. Of 272 participants, 31 (11.4%) were considered at-risk; 13 required ongoing support, 8 of whom had not previously sought help. Overall screening did not appear to cause significant undue distress, although some differences were evident between at-risk and not at-risk students. All participants found the program acceptable. When conducted carefully, early detection programs can be an effective and acceptable method of identifying at-risk adolescents.

School principals and racism: responding to Aveling

This study responds to Nado Aveling's call in ‘Anti-racism in Schools: A question of leadership?’ (Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2007, 28(1), 69–85) for further investigation into racism in Australian schools. Aveling's interview study concluded that an overwhelming number of school principals denied the presence of racism in their schools, and that there were no discernible differences in how principals in different schools constructed racism. In contrast, our research found that school principals' constructions of cultural racism are strongly influenced by their school contexts. We elucidate these differences examining the various intersections between race, class and religion deployed by principals in different sites, and argue for the utility of examining and theorising cultural racism using an intersectional approach. By bringing context into our analysis we provide a more nuanced insight into the different ways in which racism is constituted and understood by Australian school principals.

Stories from high school and prisons rattle institutional cages

AbstractThis paper is based on two research projects. One considered ‘unsettling’Aboriginal prisoner education and the other ‘troubling’ education in high school.Juxtaposed are two critical research methodologies; critical ethnography and arelational critical allied methodology. Whilst these may at first appear very similar,on closer scrutiny it becomes clearer that independently, the place of the researcherbecomes situated in a somewhat different relationship with participants. Inworking through these layers of difference, what emerges are the entwined voicesof participants who are clearly telling us what ‘bars hold them in their cages’ andwhat spaces between could be transformational.

Psychosocial moderators of associations between life events and changes in physical activity after leaving high school

To examine 1) associations between life events and changes in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in school leavers and 2) whether these associations are moderated by psychosocial factors.

Using the Internet in high school mathematics

Whilst the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model has been increasingly adopted for understanding teachers’ use of technology, there have been many calls for greater discussion about the constituent constructs, their relationship with one another and the central TPACK. This paper analyses qualitatively the TPACK demonstrated by the teacher of a Year 11class who used web-based simulated contexts and interactive web objects in a Mathematics Studies course. The findings indicate aspects of TPK relating to academiclearning time and the transformational mode of the technology were not fully realised in this case study. The implications these has for teacher professional development are discussed.

Healthy weight regulation and eating disorder prevention in high school students: a universal and targeted web-based intervention

Background: Given the rising rates of obesity in children and adolescents, developing evidence-based weight loss or weight maintenance interventions that can be widely disseminated, well implemented, and are highly scalable is a public health necessity. Such interventions should ensure that adolescents establish healthy weight regulation practices while also reducing eating disorder risk.

Objective: This study describes an online program, StayingFit, which has two tracks for universal and targeted delivery and was designed to enhance healthy living skills, encourage healthy weight regulation, and improve weight/shape concerns among high school adolescents.

Methods: Ninth grade students in two high schools in the San Francisco Bay area and in St Louis were invited to participate. Students who were overweight (body mass index [BMI] >85th percentile) were offered the weight management track of StayingFit; students who were normal weight were offered the healthy habits track. The 12-session program included a monitored discussion group and interactive self-monitoring logs. Measures completed pre- and post-intervention included self-report height and weight, used to calculate BMI percentile for age and sex and standardized BMI (zBMI), Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) nutrition data, the Weight Concerns Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.

Results: A total of 336 students provided informed consent and were included in the analyses. The racial breakdown of the sample was as follows: 46.7% (157/336) multiracial/other, 31.0% (104/336) Caucasian, 16.7% (56/336) African American, and 5.7% (19/336) did not specify; 43.5% (146/336) of students identified as Hispanic/Latino. BMI percentile and zBMI significantly decreased among students in the weight management track. BMI percentile and zBMI did not significantly change among students in the healthy habits track, demonstrating that these students maintained their weight. Weight/shape concerns significantly decreased among participants in both tracks who had elevated weight/shape concerns at baseline. Fruit and vegetable consumption increased for both tracks. Physical activity increased among participants in the weight management track, while soda consumption and television time decreased.

Conclusions: Results suggest that an Internet-based, universally delivered, targeted intervention may support healthy weight regulation, improve weight/shape concerns among participants with eating disorders risk, and increase physical activity in high school students. Tailored content and interactive features to encourage behavior change may lead to sustainable improvements in adolescent health.

Mental health first aid training for high school teachers: a cluster randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders often have their first onset during adolescence. For this reason, high school teachers are in a good position to provide initial assistance to students who are developing mental health problems. To improve the skills of teachers in this area, a Mental Health First Aid training course was modified to be suitable for high school teachers and evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. METHODS: The trial was carried out with teachers in South Australian high schools. Teachers at 7 schools received training and those at another 7 were wait-listed for future training. The effects of the training on teachers were evaluated using questionnaires pre- and post-training and at 6 months follow-up. The questionnaires assessed mental health knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence in providing help to others, help actually provided, school policy and procedures, and teacher mental health. The indirect effects on students were evaluated using questionnaires at pre-training and at follow-up which assessed any mental health help and information received from school staff, and also the mental health of the student. RESULTS: The training increased teachers' knowledge, changed beliefs about treatment to be more like those of mental health professionals, reduced some aspects of stigma, and increased confidence in providing help to students and colleagues. There was an indirect effect on students, who reported receiving more mental health information from school staff. Most of the changes found were sustained 6 months after training. However, no effects were found on teachers' individual support towards students with mental health problems or on student mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Mental Health First Aid training has positive effects on teachers' mental health knowledge, attitudes, confidence and some aspects of their behaviour. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12608000561381.

The discourse of public education: an urban campaign for a local public high school in Melbourne, Victoria

This paper explores the metonymic slippage surrounding the discourse of public education, through observations and interviews with Lawson High School active campaigners in the state of Victoria, Australia. The notion of campaigning for public education has become an ever-present issue on an international scale, and this article aims to contribute qualitative knowledge regarding the key concepts that lobbyists produce and articulate within their meetings concerning public education. Data have been obtained through direct participatory observation within a contextually specific campaigning site, lobbyists' publications and one-on-one interviews with active campaigners. Findings indicate that campaigners present distinct conceptualisations of public education as a discourse and a well-defined model of their school-of-choice.