bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The replacement of Carbrain Gully footbridge
Authors: Greenslade D.
Published: November 2005

This short paper describes the replacement of a failed timber footbridge in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, UK. The significance of the paper is its recognition of the importance of providing and maintaining sustainable walking and cycling links within an urban environment. This is demonstrated in the speed of delivery of the project and its minimisation of disruption to the users, together with the use of sustainable-source, low-maintenance materials. It emphasises the significance of sustainable development in urban regeneration, and the need to develop the existing pattern of usage of walkways and cycleways, thereby encouraging healthy alternative means of transport, and avoiding the promotion of a culture where short journeys are made by car.
Resonant vibration of shallow suspension footbridges
Authors: Huang M.-H. , Thambiratnam D. P. , Perera N. J.
Published: November 2005

A cable-supported footbridge model with pre-tensioned cables in vertical and horizontal planes is proposed to investigate the vibration characteristics of shallow suspension footbridges under walking dynamic loads in this conceptual study. In this bridge model, the tension forces in the supporting cables can be adjusted by introducing pre-tensions to the reverse-profiled cables, and therefore the natural frequencies can be altered to cover the frequency range of dynamic forces induced by pedestrians. In the numerical analysis, SAP2000 is adopted to study the vibration properties and dynamic response under walking loads. The synchronous response of the bridge structure is stimulated by resonant vibration. The crowd walking loads are modelled as uniform loads acting on the whole bridge deck and they consist of three parts: vertical dynamic force, lateral dynamic force and vertical static force. Numerical results show that for a shallow suspension footbridge the lowest frequencies correspond to lateral and torsional vibration modes which are always combined together and become two types of coupled modes: coupled lateral–torsional modes, as well as coupled torsional–lateral modes. As an example, a bridge model with fundamental frequency of 0·75 Hz in the lateral direction has been studied. It is found that the vibration in the lateral direction is quite different from that in the vertical direction and that damping has significant effect on the vertical vibration but small effect on the lateral one. Moreover, vertical static load has significant effect on the lateral vibration when the bridge structure vibrated in coupled modes.
Investigation of detached breakwaters. Part I—hydrodynamics
Authors: Ilic S. , Chadwick A. J. , Fleming C.
Published: November 2005

This paper examines the hydrodynamic processes associated with detached breakwater schemes. It is based on a physical model study of the Elmer breakwater scheme, undertaken in the UK Coastal Research Facility. The main objectives were to investigate the influences on the hydrodynamics of wave directionality and directional spread, irregular bathymetry and breakwater permeability. In contrast to previous studies, it was found that one circulation cell was dominant across the middle of the bays for both random and monochromatic waves. Refraction due to the irregular bathymetry had a significant influence on the wave-induced currents behind the breakwaters. In addition, transmission through and overtopping of the breakwaters were responsible for the observed current patterns. Long-period waves were formed in the near-shore for multidirectional waves, resulting in long period oscillations of the currents. These complex hydrodynamic processes are not included in most current numerical models used in the design of offshore breakwater schemes. The paper concludes that a new generation of models is needed to incorporate these processes, but recommends the most appropriate techniques to use in the meantime.
Environmental–Structural Interventions to Reduce HIV/STI Risk Among Female Sex Workers in the Dominican Republic
Authors: Kerrigan Deanna , Moreno Luis , Rosario Santo , Gomez Bayardo , Jerez Hector , Barrington Clare , Weiss Ellen , Sweat Michael
Published: November 2005

Objectives. We assessed the effectiveness of 2 environmental–structural interventions in reducing risks of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female sex workers in the Dominican Republic.

Methods. Two intervention models were implemented over a 1-year period: community solidarity in Santo Domingo and solidarity combined with government policy in Puerto Plata. Both were evaluated via preintervention–postintervention cross-sectional behavioral surveys, STI testing and participant observations, and serial cross-sectional STI screenings.

Results. Significant increases in condom use with new clients (75.3%–93.8%; odds ratio [OR]=4.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.55, 11.43) were documented in Santo Domingo. In Puerto Plata, significant increases in condom use with regular partners (13.0%–28.8%; OR=2.97; 95% CI=1.33, 6.66) and reductions in STI prevalence (28.8%–16.3%; OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.32, 0.78) were documented, as were significant increases in sex workers’ verbal rejections of unsafe sex (50.0%–79.4%; OR=3.86; 95% CI=1.96, 7.58) and participating sex establishments’ ability to achieve the goal of no STIs in routine monthly screenings of sex workers (OR=1.17; 95% CI=1.12, 1.22).

Conclusions. Interventions that combine community solidarity and government policy show positive initial effects on HIV and STI risk reduction among female sex workers.
Integrating Behavioral and Social Science Research Into Microbicide Clinical Trials: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Tolley Elizabeth E. , Severy Lawrence J.
Published: November 2005

It has been argued that rigid thinking about the types and progression of research needed to evaluate health promotion interventions has stymied the process by which research is translated to action. This argument is particularly salient in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention.

We examined microbicide research and identified challenges that obstruct the integration of clinical trial and behavioral and social science research, thereby reinforcing linear programs of research. We found that behavioral and social science research can both support microbicide clinical trial performance and anticipate the information most needed for a rapid and successful introduction of future microbicide products.
Urban–Rural Inequalities in Ischemic Heart Disease in Scotland, 1981–1999
Authors: Levin Kate A. , Leyland Alastair H.
Published: November 2005

Objectives. We sought to describe the pattern and magnitude of urban–rural variation in ischemic heart disease (IHD) in Scotland and to examine the associations among IHD health indicators, level of rurality, and degree of socioeconomic deprivation.

Methods. We used routine population and health data on the population aged 40–74 years between 1981 and 1999 and living in 826 small areas (average population=5600) in Scotland. Three IHD health indicators—mortality rates (deaths per 100000 population), rates of continuous hospital stays (discharges per 100000 population), and rates of mortality in the hospital or within 28 days of discharge (MH+) were analyzed with multilevel Poisson models. A 4-level rurality classification was used: urban areas, remote small towns, accessible rural areas, and remote rural areas.

Results. Rates of mortality, continuous hospital stays, and MH+ increased with area socioeconomic deprivation. After adjustment for population age, gender, and deprivation, the relative risk of IHD mortality in remote rural areas was similar to that of urban areas in 1981; the relative risk of a continuous hospital stay was significantly lower (relative risk [RR] = 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.64, 0.76) and the relative risk of MH+ was higher (RR=1.18; 95% CI=1.04, 1.35) in remote rural areas. Mortality and MH+ declined for all ruralities over time. However, MH+ remains highest in remote rural areas and remote towns.

Conclusions. Low standardized ratios of IHD continuous hospital stays and mortality in remote rural areas mask health problems among rural populations. Although absolute and relative differences between urban and rural rates of MH+ have diminished, the relative risk of MH+ remains high in remote rural areas.
Cardiovascular Disease and Associated Risk Factors in Cuba: Prospects for Prevention and Control
Authors: Cooper Richard S. , Orduñez Pedro , Iraola Ferrer Marcos D. , Munoz Jose Luis Bernal , Espinosa-Brito Alfredo
Published: November 2005

Objectives. An adequate description of the trends in cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not available for most of the developing world. Cuba provides an important exception, and we sought to use available data to offer insights into the changing patterns of CVD there.

Methods. We reviewed Cuban public health statistics, surveys, and reports of health services.

Results. CVD has been the leading cause of death since 1970. A 45% reduction in heart disease deaths was observed from 1970 to 2002; the decline in stroke was more limited. There are moderate prevalences of all major risk factors.

Conclusions. The Cuban medical care system has responded vigorously to the challenge of CVD; levels of control of hypertension are the highest in the world. Nonindustrialized countries can decisively control CVD.
The Roles of Teaching Hospitals, Insurance Status, and Race/Ethnicity in Receipt of Adjuvant Therapy for Regional-Stage Breast Cancer in Florida
Authors: Richardson Lisa C. , Tian Lili , Voti Lydia , Hartzema Abraham G. , Reis Isildinha , Fleming Lora E. , MacKinnon Jill
Published: November 2005

Objectives. We examined the roles of teaching hospitals, insurance status, and race/ ethnicity in women’s receipt of adjuvant therapy for regional-stage breast cancer.

Methods. Data were taken from the Florida Cancer Data System for cases diagnosed from July 1997 to December 2000. We evaluated the impact of health insurance status and hospital type on use of adjuvant therapy (after adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, and marital status). Interaction terms for hospital type, insurance status, and race/ethnicity were entered in each model.

Results. Teaching facilities diagnosed 12.5% of the cases; however, they cared for a disproportionate percentage (21.3%) of uninsured and Medicaid-insured women. Among women who received adjuvant chemotherapy only, those diagnosed in teaching hospitals were more likely than those diagnosed in nonteaching hospitals to receive therapy regardless of insurance status or race/ethnicity. Among women who received chemotherapy with or without hormonal therapy, Hispanics were more likely than White non-Hispanic women to receive therapy, whereas women with private insurance or Medicare were less likely than uninsured and Medicaid-insured women to receive this type of therapy.

Conclusions. Teaching facilities play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of regional-stage breast cancer among Hispanics, uninsured women, and women insured by Medicaid.
Decreasing Socioeconomic Inequalities and Increasing Health Inequalities in Spain: A Case Study
Authors: Regidor Enrique , Ronda Elena , Pascual Cruz , Martínez David , Calle María Elisa , Domínguez Vicente
Published: November 2005

Objectives. We examined the evolution of income inequalities and health inequalities in Spain from the time of the country’s entry into the European Union.

Methods. We estimated distributions of provincial income and household income, relations of provincial income with mortality and disability, and relations of household income with disability in 1984–1986 and 1999–2001.

Results. Inequalities in average provincial income and household income were lower in 2000 than in 1985. Differences in mortality and disability according to income were greater in 2000 than in 1985, in both absolute and relative terms, except for differences in mortality among individuals aged 25 to 44 years. In most cases, differences in mortality from leading causes of death and differences in major types of disabilities were also greater in 2000.

Conclusions. Our results show that redistribution of income might achieve greater social justice but probably does not lead to reduced health inequalities, despite observed improvements in material circumstances as well as in most health indicators among disadvantaged population groups.
Cost-Effectiveness of Free HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Through a Community-Based AIDS Service Organization in Northern Tanzania
Authors: Thielman Nathan M. , Chu Helen Y. , Ostermann Jan , Itemba Dafrosa K. , Mgonja Anna , Mtweve Sabina , Bartlett John A. , Shao John F. , Crump John A.
Published: November 2005

Objectives. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of fee-based and free testing strategies at an HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) program integrated into a community-based AIDS service organization in Moshi, Tanzania.

Methods. We waived the usual fee schedule during a 2-week free, advertised VCT campaign; analyzed the number of clients testing per day during prefree, free, and postfree testing periods; and estimated the cost-effectiveness of limited and sustained free testing strategies.

Results. The number of clients testing per day increased from 4.1 during the prefree testing interval to 15.0 during the free testing campaign (P<.0001) and remained significantly increased at 7.1 (P<.0001) after resumption of the standard fees. HIV seroprevalence (16.7%) and risk behaviors were unchanged over these intervals. Modeled over 1 year, the costs per infection averted with the standard fee schedule, with a 2-week free VCT campaign, and with sustained free VCT year-round were $170, $105, and $92, respectively, and the costs per disability-adjusted life year gained were $8.72, $5.40, and $4.72, respectively.

Conclusions. The provision of free VCT enhances both the number of clients testing per day and its cost-effectiveness in resource-limited settings.
Tobacco Industry Influence on Science and Scientists in Germany
Authors: Grüning Thilo , Gilmore Anna B. , McKee Martin
Published: November 2005

Using tobacco industry documents, we examined how and why the tobacco industry sought to influence science and scientists in Germany as a possible factor in explaining the German opposition to stricter tobacco regulation.

Smoking and health research programs were organized both separately by individual tobacco companies and jointly through their German trade organization. An extensive network of scientists and scientific institutions with tobacco industry links was developed. Science was distorted in 5 ways: suppression, dilution, distraction, concealment, and manipulation.

The extent of tobacco industry influence over the scientific establishment in Germany is profound. The industry introduced serious bias that probably influenced scientific and public opinion in Germany. This influence likely undermined efforts to control tobacco use.
Socioeconomic Status and Cardiovascular Disease Among Men: The Korean National Health Service Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Song Yun-Mi , Ferrer Robert L. , Cho Sung-il , Sung Joohon , Ebrahim Shah , Davey Smith George
Published: November 2005

Objectives. We examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and myocardial infarction and stroke subtypes, including the possible mediating influence of cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods. We evaluated data on 578756 Korean male public servants aged 30 to 58 years from August 1, 1990, to July 31, 2001.

Results. SES had inverse associations with mortality because of myocardial infarction and stroke subtypes, which were not changed by an adjustment for, or stratification by, cardiovascular risk factors. For nonfatal events, SES had positive, null, and inverse associations with myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke, respectively. The association between SES and nonfatal myocardial infarction depended on the presence of risk factors and was positive only among men who had cardiovascular risk factors. Case-fatality after hospital admission for cardiovascular diagnoses was significantly lower among higher SES groups, even after risk factor adjustment.

Conclusions. Inverse SES associations with cardiovascular diseases were not mediated by cardiovascular risk factors among men who were undergoing economic transition. Socioeconomically patterned access to medical care may partly explain these socioeconomic gradients.
Key Challenges to Achieving Health for All in an Inequitable Society: The Case of South Africa
Authors: Sanders David , Chopra Mickey
Published: November 2005

The health inequalities in South Africa are rapidly worsening. Since 1994, the new democratic government has initiated a number of large-scale policies and programs with explicit pro-equity objectives that have improved access to health care and other social resources. However, these policies and programs have been constrained by macroeconomic policies that dictate fiscal restraint and give priority to technical rather than developmental considerations.

We propose an approach to improving health for all that focuses on equity in the allocation of health resources. The implementation of pro-equity policies requires, in addition to technically efficacious interventions, both advocacy initiatives and communication with, and the involvement of, affected communities. The Cape Town Equity Gauge project is presented as one example of a response to the challenge of inequity.
Tobacco Control, Stigma, and Public Health: Rethinking the Relations
Authors: Bayer Ronald , Stuber Jennifer
Published: November 2005

The AIDS epidemic has borne witness to the terrible burdens imposed by stigmatization and to the way in which marginalization could subvert the goals of HIV prevention. Out of that experience, and propelled by the linkage of public health and human rights, came the commonplace assertion that stigmatization was a retrograde force.

Yet, strikingly, the antitobacco movement has fostered a social transformation that involves the stigmatization of smokers. Does this transformation represent a troubling outcome of efforts to limit tobacco use and its associated morbidity and mortality; an ineffective, counterproductive, and moralizing approach that leads to a dead end; or a signal of public health achievement? If the latter is the case, are there unacknowledged costs?
Minimum Purchasing Age for Alcohol and Traffic Crash Injuries Among 15- to 19-Year-Olds in New Zealand
Authors: Kypri Kypros , Voas Robert B. , Langley John D. , Stephenson Shaun C.R. , Begg Dorothy J. , Tippetts A. Scott , Davie Gabrielle S.
Published: November 2005

Objectives. In 1999, New Zealand lowered the minimum purchasing age for alcohol from 20 to 18 years. We tested the hypothesis that this increased traffic crash injuries among 15- to 19-year-olds.

Methods. Poisson regression was used to compute incidence rate ratios for the after to before incidence of alcohol-involved crashes and hospitalized injuries among 18- to 19-year-olds and 15- to 17-year-olds (20- to 24-year-olds were the reference).

Results. Among young men, the ratio of the alcohol-involved crash rate after the law change to the period before was 12% larger (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.00, 1.25) for 18- to 19-year-olds and 14% larger (95% CI=1.01, 1.30) for 15- to 17-year-olds, relative to 20- to 24-year-olds. Among young women, the equivalent ratios were 51% larger (95% CI=1.17, 1.94) for 18- to 19-year-olds and 24% larger (95% CI=0.96, 1.59) for 15- to 17-year-olds. A similar pattern was observed for hospitalized injuries.

Conclusions. Significantly more alcohol-involved crashes occurred among 15-to 19-year-olds than would have occurred had the purchase age not been reduced to 18 years. The effect size for 18- to 19-year-olds is remarkable given the legal exceptions to the pre-1999 law and its poor enforcement.
What Next? Toddler Netizens, Playstation Thumb, Techno-Literacies
Authors: Luke Carmen
Published: November 2005

This article considers how traditional mass media and new information technologies change our thinking about childhood, and the very experience of childhood. It asks questions such as: How does the merchandise of the marketplace, the media and new technologies construct and segment childhood? What should early childhood educators and parents consider in the selection of instructional or entertainment CDs or websites? Four major issues are raised in relation to the ‘information revolution’ and early childhood: concepts of development; media and information technology literacy; critical criteria for software selection; issues of equity and access.
Art and Young Children: Doing it Properly
Authors: McArdle Felicity
Published: November 2005

This short article discusses the ways in which teachers and artists may work with young children, particularly in the visual arts. It considers how their views of the child and art shape, and are shaped by, the various competing texts available to them.
New Views on the Young Brain: Offerings from Developmental Psychology to Early Childhood Education
Authors: Catherwood Di
Published: November 2005

This article presents a broad review of recent developments in perspectives and research on early cognition. An overview of methodologies used to explore infant memory and categorisation is provided, with a discussion of the manner in which studies using these procedures have served to overturn Piagetian viewpoints on infant cognitive competence. In addition, research into the way in which the brain grows and responds to early experience is described, with a consideration of how neural networks are established and shaped by early learning. The general conclusion is that there is now available a range of radically new approaches to understanding the growth of the human brain and mind that is potentially of immense value to early childhood educators.
Violent Boys and Precocious Girls: Regulating Childhood at the End of the Millennium
Authors: Walkerdine Valerie
Published: November 2005

This article explores the regulation of childhood at the end of the twentieth century by focusing on the figures of the proto-violent boy and the proto-sexual girl in relation to the figure of the dangerous and predatory male adult. These figures, who represent the Other to normal childhood, are explored with respect to popular culture, examining computer games on the one hand and popular song and dance on the other. It is argued that conceptions of childhood for the next century need to engage with the specificity of the sites in which subjectivities are constituted and to move away from the simple dichotomies of normality and pathology.
Marketised Positioning of Early Childhood: New Contexts for Curriculum and Professional Development in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Woodrow Christine , Brennan Marie
Published: November 2005

The field of early childhood education is experiencing similar conditions to the rest of the Australian public sector, characterised by a climate of accountability for quality outcomes, emphasis on management at the local level and strong centralisation of control over curriculum and teacher appraisal within a context of significant reduction in public sector government spending. The ideology of the market underpins many of these reform directions, with particular consequences and effects in the early childhood area. This article uses as a focal case study the newly mandated Preschool Curriculum Guidelines for the state of Queensland, Australia, and their accompanying professional development of early childhood teachers and school principals. The outcomes for the professional development have been highly controlled and pre-specified through government departmental scrutiny by a competitive tendering process among potential private providers — all of whom include publicly funded universities as they themselves compete for additional money to justify their new role as entrepreneurs in an increasingly marketised system of higher education. The study focuses on the processes of control for the professional development associated with the new curriculum, with an emphasis on exploring the rhetoric and practices of ‘partnership’ underlying the approved models. The findings of the early phases of the study indicate a limited range of positioning available for early childhood teachers, school principals, and those involved in the delivery of the professional development. The guidelines and professional development activities appear to have expanded the relationships within the care and education sector while constraining the range of positions and relative autonomy of early childhood teachers. This is a significant finding in that this is the first time there have been statewide mandated Curriculum Guidelines and statewide professional development required of early childhood teachers.
Why Reggio Emilia Doesn't Exist: A Response to Richard Johnson
Authors: Wright Stephen
Published: November 2005

In this colloquia the author responds to Richard Johnson's ‘Colonialism and Cargo Cults in Early Childhood Education: does Reggio Emilia really exist?’ ( Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 1, pp. 61–77). The colloquia paraphrases Richard Johnson's article, examining the metaphor of power and prestige and extending it in this textual interaction. The author argues that while Richard Johnson makes many valid points about ‘cargo cultism’ in early childhood education, he may have misread the literature on Reggio Emilia, and has failed to adequately deconstruct his own perceptions of Reggio Emilia programmes, and his own position as a member of a professional elite.
A Response to ‘Colonialism and Cargo Cults in Early Childhood Education: Does Reggio Emilia Really Exist?’ (Johnson, 1999)
Authors: Rofrano Frances
Published: November 2005

In this response, Rofrano argues that Johnson ( Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 1, pp. 61–77) positioned himself implicitly within academic rationalist discourse by using formal academic language, and positioned those who support Reggio as existing outside that frame. Rofrano shows that Johnson used more informal, emotional language in his description of early childhood educators who support Reggio and in so doing perpetuated one of the discourses which he set out to critique.
Teletubby Tales: Popular Culture in the Early Years Language and Literacy Curriculum
Authors: Marsh Jackie
Published: November 2005

The aim of the study reported in this article was to explore the potential that popular culture has for motivating young children to engage in literacy and oracy practices in the early years. Pre-school settings and schools regularly fail to take account of children's popular cultural interests in their development of curriculum content. Literacy practices in most nurseries and schools are located within dominant cultural discourses and in the case of many industrialised societies, this means that the curriculum usually reflects the cultural norms of white middle-class communities. In an attempt to disrupt these dominant discourses, literacy activities related to the television programme Teletubbies were introduced into two nurseries in England. Data were gathered using field notes, photographs and interviews. The article discusses how the incorporation of popular cultural texts into the curriculum provided motivation and excitement for many children, some of whom were not usually willing members of the ‘literacy club’.
A Child's Say in Parent—Teacher Talk at the Pre-School: Doing Conversation Analytic Research in Early Childhood Settings
Authors: Leiminer Michele J. , Baker Carolyn D.
Published: November 2005

In this article the authors analyse how one child actively participates in a particular occasion of home—pre-school communication conducted in a pre-school setting. A conversation analytic perspective is adopted to analyse the three-way parent—teacher—child conversation. This instance shows how a child becomes a speaker in the talk rather than being only a topic of talk between adults. The analysis provides an understanding of how the participants collaboratively construct and produce ‘the competent pre-school child’ and ‘the competent conversational member’ in, and through, their talk. It also examines how the teacher's version of social order is challenged by the child in the conversation. In addition, by proceeding from a distinctly different theoretical perspective, that of conversation analysis, it is possible to show how qualitative research can provide new understandings of an important dimension of early childhood practice.
Listening to Young Children Talking on the Telephone: A Reassessment of Vygotsky's Notion of ‘Egocentric Speech’
Authors: Gillen Julia
Published: November 2005

In this article the author explores aspects of young children's private speech, examining characteristics of their development of discourse knowledge in utterances that are not directed to actual conversants. Two routes are taken, which the author tries to interlink without seeking a hard and fast juncture. The first is a study of what children are doing when they talk into a toy telephone, with reference to a transcript taken from empirical research. Knowledge of the essential structure of telephone discourse is displayed, as are emotional motivations behind the construction of pretence talk. The second is the notion of ‘egocentric speech’ as coined by Piaget and developed, within his sociocultural perspective to language acquisition, by Vygotsky. The author argues that dominant contemporary presentations of Vygotsky's notion of ‘egocentric speech’ tend to stress the self-regulatory or planning function at the expense of its role in expression of the imagination. The two discussions come together in the suggestion that the deployment of the imagination in reassembling sociocultural knowledge for the creation of pretence play, sometimes expressed in private speech, can be a significant factor in the exercise of discourse competencies for young children.
A Unique Pedagogical Project Contextualised within a Children's Art Exhibition
Authors: Harris Vivien
Published: November 2005

Interactions in learning between young children and early childhood student teachers, in a context outside the usual practicum, are reported in this article. The context is a children's art exhibition, in which over 280 artworks of children aged between 17 months and 6 years were exhibited. The project focuses on the mediation of thinking and creative expression between children and early childhood students, around three-dimensional works of art, which generated cross-modal artistic expression in both groups. Students visiting the exhibition were guided by their lecturer in a story-making process, prompted by children's symbolic expressions. The aim was to exemplify a pedagogical process in which children's thinking could be accessed, and then further mediated through story-drama. These stories, and other artworks, were then shared with children back in their early childhood programmes to stimulate further thinking, creativity, and representation across a range of symbolic languages — construction, music-making, dance and pretence. The ‘partnership in thinking’ between children and students thus occurred without face-to-face interactions, but through their symbolic communications. Hence, the art exhibition provided a stimulus and context for integrated learning exchanges between children and early childhood student teachers. This represents a creative pedagogical framework which exemplifies partnerships in action, and a Vygotskian approach to adult and child pedagogy.
Gendered Make-up
Authors: Ochsner Mindy Blaise
Published: November 2005

This article summarizes a recently completed study of gender in an urban kindergarten classroom in the USA. Using a feminist post-structuralist framework to analyze gender, this qualitative study examined how 5 and 6 year-old students socially constructed themselves as gendered beings through the heterosexual matrix. By documenting and analyzing students' talk, actions, drawings, and writings, this investigation explored how students regulated the gendered social order of the classroom through their understandings of gender norms and ideals. Using critical discourse analysis, six gender discourses emerged, uncovering the heterosexual matrix. One of those gender discourses, labeled ‘make-up,’ is briefly discussed.
Critical and Feminist Reconstructions of Early Childhood Education: Continuing the Conversations
Authors: Cannella Gaile S.
Published: November 2005

Over the past few years, several early childhood educators have engaged in both critical and feminist analyses of the dominant perspectives in early childhood education. Following the work of such scholars as William Pinar and Maxine Greene, they have called for reconceptualizations of the field. In a recent session at the American Educational Research Association conference, a large panel of early childhood educators shared their visions for reconceptualization. Four of those visions are included in this colloquium. Readers are invited to react and provide their own suggestions.
Consensus, Dissensus or Community: The Politics of Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education
Authors: Hughes Patrick , Mac Naughton Glenda
Published: November 2005

Parents appear in early childhood texts and policy documents within discourses that position them as ‘others’, preventing the creation of equitable parent—staff relationships. This article draws on discussions with early childhood staff to explore the implications of ‘othering’ parents and it canvasses two contrasting communication strategies through which to challenge this ‘othering’. The first strategy derives from Habermas's modernist notion of communicative consensus; the second from Lyotard's postmodern notion of emancipatory dissensus.
Oppositional Discourses: Deconstructing Responses to Investigations of Male Early Childhood Educators
Authors: Sumsion Jennifer
Published: November 2005

This reflective account begins with verses representing the multiplicity of frequently oppositional responses generated by the author's investigations of the perceptions, experiences and contributions of male early childhood educators. Discourses underpinning these responses are identified. They include (1) male as victim; (2) non-critical advocacy for an increased male presence in early childhood education; (3) critiques of interpretive research; (4) feminist perspectives; and (5) the ‘traditional’ early childhood stance. Each of these discourses is then briefly deconstructed to identify contested assumptions about the participation of men in the early childhood sector and to provide a meta-view of the key issues involved. It is argued that prevailing discourses ignore the voices of children and constrain conceptualisations of possible contributions by male early childhood educators. The article concludes with a call for more inclusive and more flexible discursive spaces in which to explore the potential implications of the involvement of men in early childhood education.
Identifying and Supporting Spatial Intelligence in Young Children
Authors: Diezmann Carmel M. , Watters James J.
Published: November 2005

Intelligence is a concept related to behaviours that are valued in a social and cultural context. Since the establishment of formalised education for Westernised industrial society, education has focused on the development of literacy and numeracy skills and has acknowledged those areas as important in formal education. Intelligence, hence, has been valued in those who are highly literate and numerate. However, a careful analysis of highly creative people in the area of mathematics and science, and recognition of the impact of technology in an Information Age suggests that other behaviours broadly identified as spatial intelligence are significant areas of human capability. Spatial intelligence has been highlighted in recent years though the work of Howard Gardner. However, interpretations of this work have tended to emphasise the role of spatial intelligence in artistic domains and ignored the seminal contribution that spatial intelligence plays in mathematical and scientific domains. The article explores spatial intelligence in the sciences from a variety of perspectives, including a neuropsychological perspective, and uses Gardner's developmental trajectory of intelligence to explore how to facilitate the development of spatial intelligence. We challenge practitioners to examine their practices in educational settings and reflect on the extent to which they provide opportunities for children to demonstrate and develop their spatial intelligence.
Unsettling the Bedtime Story: Parents' Reports of Home Literacy Practices
Authors: Nichols Susan
Published: November 2005

This interview-based study on middle-class Australian parents' involvement in young children's literacy found that reading to children (particularly in the pre-school years) is a routine part of family life, a task shared between mothers and fathers. However, there were patterns of gender difference in the accounts. Mothers were more likely than fathers to emphasise the importance of the child's early exposure to books. They were also often reported to take a supervisory role in relation to their partner's story reading. Men were more likely to undertake reading at bedtime than at any other time and also more likely to report using various strategies to shorten the time spent on story reading. Fathers reading to sons appeared to take on a special significance related to masculine bonding and modelling.
Making Art with Children — Much More Than ‘Doing it Properly’: A Response to Felicity McArdle
Authors: Anderson Angela
Published: November 2005

In this colloquium, the author responds to Felicity McArdle's discussion paper, ‘Art and Young Children’ ( Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 101–104). The colloquium paraphrases Felicity McArdle's article, examining the ‘hidden curricula’ of her discourse and suggesting alternate views that refocus attention on the child rather than the adult.
Exploring Boys' Literacy Performance at School: Incorporating and Transcending Gender
Authors: Alloway Nola
Published: November 2005

This colloquium paper focuses on government-funded projects on boys' literacy performance in Australian schools. It begins by outlining the socio-political context in which the work was undertaken and briefly references the socially critical model that supported the development of professional development and teaching units. The paper draws on work completed and work in progress in highlighting dilemmas inherent in working in this field. The central argument is that it is necessary, but insufficient, to continue discussing gender's association with school literacy outcomes.
Coming to Terms with Culture and Racism
Authors: Burnett Bruce
Published: November 2005

How the early childhood sector engages with and ultimately addresses notions of racism is clearly contingent upon what educators in the field believe to be its origins and causes. Despite what appears to be a complex and multifaceted set of ‘origins and causes’, it is surprising to find that most educational institutions tend to position their anti-racist programmes somewhere along a single continuum where, at one extremity, are programmes that implicate individuals, while at the other are programmes which lay the blame on institutions. The purpose of this short commentary is to outline these two dominant positions and to unpack some of their underlying theoretical baggage. However, another more important goal is to challenge educators into broadening their established understandings of racism and thus allow for non-traditional forms of racism to be included, i.e. those which are not exercised in transparent and overt forms. One of the major hurdles appears to be focusing educators' attention on the elusiveness of the actual target of the anti-racist programme. The predicament in the early childhood sector is how best to provoke its educators into refusing the apparent ‘safety’ of established anti-racist programmes and encourage them to recognise that the manner in which racism is socially constructed and exercised is both fluid and evolving. Only after the imprecise and blurred make-up of contemporary racism is recognised can educators begin a process where successful aspects of traditional antidiscrimination programmes are retained, and new programmes developed to target aspects of racism that are centred on culture.
‘I'm Not White’: Anti-Racist Teacher Education for White Early Childhood Educators
Authors: Goldstein Tara
Published: November 2005

Conceptualising and implementing early childhood teacher education for racial and cultural diversity is a complex task that involves learning about social stratification and race, acknowledging the privileges associated with whiteness, and finding ways to create positive racial teaching identities. This article discusses three ways that teacher educators might prepare white early childhood education students for anti-racist work in their classrooms.
The Development of Subjectivity in Young Children: Theoretical and Pedagogical Considerations
Authors: O'Loughlin Michael
Published: November 2005

The author presents the outlines of a theory of subjectivity that is anchored in processes of identification. Subject formation is a continual process of becoming that is constituted by three interrelated processes: (1) intrapsychic factors within each child; (2) effects of participation in groups on the kinds of identifications and disidentifications a child adopts; and (3) effects of the discursive practices of society on the kinds of subjectivity a particular child performs. The author begins by outlining Melanie Klein's theory of the development of individual subjectivity through early object relations. Then, using neo-Kleinian writings, the effect of group membership on the child's evolving sense of subjectivity is explored. Ways in which specific discursive environments at home, at school, in popular culture and media etc. can either open up possibilities for expanded subject identification for children or limit those possibilities are then explored. Finally, the author explores the pedagogical implications of this way of thinking, focusing on the ethical responsibilities of teachers to understand the workings of otherness in subject formation so that they might create classroom communities that foster empathy and positive identity formation and diminish the capacity of children to hate and exclude others.
Dilemmas of an Indigenous Academic: A Native Hawaiian Story
Authors: Kaomea Julie
Published: November 2005

In this article, the author draws upon the Native Hawaiian practice of ha'i mo'olelo, or storytelling, to problematize her role as an indigenous, Native Hawaiian academic working and researching in Native Hawaiian elementary and early childhood educational communities. Focusing on her personal dilemmas and struggles within this role, she attempts to unpack a number of ethical, cultural and political issues that can present special difficulties for indigenous academics who work partly as insiders and partly as outsiders within both the academy and their home communities. By intertwining Marxist and post-structuralist theory with Native Hawaiian protocol and tradition, she considers possibilities for reconnecting indigenous academics with native communities through the development of hybrid indigenous/Western research methodologies that draw from and speak to both indigenous and Western ways of knowing and being.
Shifting Ethnicities: ‘Native Informants’ and other Theories from/for Early Childhood Education
Authors: Rhedding-Jones Jeanette
Published: November 2005

This article presents and deconstructs discourses of being ‘white’, being ‘other’, being ‘foreign’ and being ‘native’, with local examples from early childhood education events, sites and documentations. Working theoretically (after Spivak) and via subjectively told anecdotes and narratives, a postmodern theory of shifting ethnicities emerges. For hybridity and diaspora in early childhoods and later adulthoods, the modernist and colonial notion of singular and even binary ethnicity is unfixed. The work begins from interview data with ‘bilingual assistants' in pre-school day care centres in Norway.
Children's Conceptions of Participation and Influence in Pre-School: A Perspective on Pedagogical Quality
Authors: Sheridan Sonja , Samuelsson Ingrid Pramling
Published: November 2005

The United Nations Convention and the Swedish curriculum for pre-school clearly state the right of children to express their views in all matters of concern to them. It is imperative, therefore, that an evaluation of the quality of early childhood education includes the voices of children. Without these, an essential part of how children experience quality within various childcare settings as well as an overall understanding of quality in early childhood education is missing. In a study carried out in a small community in Sweden, the quality of various pre-school settings was evaluated both by an external evaluator and by self-evaluations. From the results of the external evaluations, three pre-school units evaluated to be of low quality and three of good quality were selected for in-depth studies. Thirty-nine 5 year-old children from these pre-school units were interviewed about their conceptions of decision-making and how they experienced the opportunities for them to exercise influence in their pre-school setting. The results show that it is vital for the children to participate in decision-making and the meanings given by the children to the concept ‘to decide’, have been grouped into five qualitatively different categories.
Racial and Ethnic Identity Formation of Midwestern Asian-American Children
Authors: Adler Susan Matoba
Published: November 2005

This 2-year qualitative study attempts to raise teacher awareness of the racial and ethnic identity formation of Asian-American children in the cultural contexts of their families and communities. It gives ‘voice’ to Asian-American parents, who share their perspectives on race and ethnicity, their experiences developing racial and ethnic identities of their own, and their descriptions of how they socialized their children to understand and deal with stereotyping, prejudice and racism. It examines how racial and ethnic identities develop in pre-school and elementary aged children and what expectations Asian-American parents have of teachers and schools regarding this development.
Juggling Scarves or Inclusion for What? Young Children with Special Needs in an Era of School ‘Reform’
Authors: O'Brien Leigh M.
Published: November 2005

The article raises questions about the discourse of difference, the meaning of inclusion, the impacts of school ‘reform’ on young children with special needs, and the purposes of schools in the USA. The author uses her own story as a mother of a first-grade daughter with special needs chastised for not wanting to juggle scarves to ask, Inclusion for what? To what end? The author highlights the connections between the economic and educational systems in the USA and asks educators to rethink what schools are for. Finally, she calls for all educators concerned with social justice to take on the transformation of society and schools to move them in a more humane direction.