Bryan Tuck

Teacher stress in intermediate schools

Summary Intermediate school teachers from the same eight New Zealand schools were surveyed five times over four years using the self‐report Stress in Teaching Questionnaire. Sources of teacher stress were found to be similar to those identified in previous research. Higher levels of stress were related to lower job satisfaction and a reduced commitment to remain in the job long term. Absence due to sickness was not found to be correlated with stress. No marked increase in stress among teachers was found over the five survey episodes.

Self‐concept and Anxiety in University Students Studying Social Science Statistics Within a Co‐operative Learning Structure

Abstract Students enrolled in an educational psychology course, which included a laboratory component in social science statistics, were assessed for mathematics self‐concept and mathematics anxiety at the beginning and end of the course. The laboratory teaching practices emphasised co‐operative learning activities and full‐class discussion in an attempt to provide a positive environment. Self‐concept improved significantly over time, as did student confidence in dealing with statistical problems, but mathematics anxiety did not show a significant reduction. These attitudinal factors were mediated by prior experience in mathematics. It is important that such attitudinal factors be considered alongside curriculum issues when designing instruction in mathematics‐related areas, particularly where strong negative attitudes are known to exist for some groups of students.

Responding to the Message: Providing a Social Context for Children Learning to Write.

Abstract In this classroom‐based research study, written expression was viewed as an interactive social process involving written communication between the teacher and the children. Children received increased opportunities to write on topics they chose themselves, and their teacher responded in writing to the content of their writing. The teacher did not provide corrective feedback for accuracy of spelling or grammar throughout the study. Written content feedback from the teacher was provided to each child according to an intra‐subject ABAB research design. Analysis of the teachers written feedback identified her use of six specific categories of positive response to the themes, ideas and characters of each childs writing. Significant increases in both quantity and quality of writing occurred during the written content feedback phases. Spelling accuracy was maintained at a high level of accuracy throughout the study.

Career Indecision and Self-Efficacy among Adolescents

Three hundred and forty-one high school students completed measures of how confident they were in their ability to perform a variety of specific occupational tasks (task career self-efficacy), how decided they were on a career (career decidedness) and how easy it was for them to make independent decisions (indecisiveness). There were no significant differences between the gender groups on the measure of career decidedness, although females reported more difficulty in making decisions. There were significant correlations between some of the task career self-efficacy subscales and both career decidedness and indecisiveness. In particular females and males who were confident in their verbal interpersonal skills tended to be relatively decisive and relatively career-decided. A series of regression analyses indicated that the relationship between task career self-efficacy, indecisiveness and career decidedness was similar for females and males.

Parental Employment Status, Gender, Ethnic Identity and the Employment Commitment of Adolescents in New Zealand

The commitment to the work ethic of 668 New Zealand high school students in Year 12 was examined in relation to their gender and ethnicity and the employment status (employed versus unemployed) of their parents. There was no significant difference between the levels of employment commitment of the female and male adolescents and, contrary to expectations, the commitment of the adolescents with unemployed parents did not differ significantly from those with employed parents. There were, however, significant differences associated with ethnicity: adolescents of Asian and Pacific Island descent had significantly higher levels of employment commitment than adolescents of either European or Maori descent. The discussion centres on the extent to which the findings can be explained by differences in school achievement, “career trajectory” and selective migration.

Employment and adjustment of school-leavers with mild retardation in New Zealand

A series of three studies was undertaken into the employment and adjustment of mildly retarded school leavers. Study 1 focused on the employment status and community adjustment of graduates of a secondary school special education program in West Auckland. Less than half of the graduates surveyed were in open employment and a high proportion (24%) were unemployed at the time of the survey (the remainder were in sheltered employment). Comparatively high levels of police contact and low levels of community participation were also reported. Employment rates and adjustment characteristics were found to be similar in familial retarded and other retarded graduates. Study 2 was concerned with the generalizability of the Study 1 employment findings for the total Auckland metropolitan area. It was found that 45 percent of graduates were in open employment and that 18 percent were unemployed. These percentages are noticeably close to those obtained in Study 1. It is important to note that the rate of unemployment do...

Contexts for Remedial Reading: Practice Reading and Pause, Prompt and Praise tutoring

Abstract Fourteen residential childcare workers were trained to implement both a Practice Reading and the Pause, Prompt and Praise remedial reading procedures in school and cottage settings with 18 low‐progress readers of primary school age. Pause, Prompt and Praise procedures were introduced in each setting only if readers made insufficient progress with Practice Reading alone. Childcare workers displayed major change in their tutoring behaviour between baseline (untrained tutoring) conditions and trained tutoring conditions (Practice Reading or Pause, Prompt and Praise). Readers who received a six week programme of individual reading assistance made significant gains on standardised tests of reading accuracy and comprehension and made accelerated progress through graded book levels, while children in the comparison group did not. Results are discussed in terms of the interactive social contexts provided by the two procedures and of the opportunities for reciprocal gains in skill between readers and tuto...

Employment and Adjustment of Hearing-Impaired School Leavers in New Zealand

Abstract The employment status and social adjustment of two groups of hearing-impaired young adults were compared with those of a group of normal hearing adults of comparable age. One of the hearing-impaired groups had graduated from units (special classes) in regular secondary schools. The rates of unemployment were similar for the hearing-impaired and normal hearing groups, but other intergroup differences in employment characteristics were apparent. In general, the social adjustment of the two groups of hearing-impaired groups was similar to that of the hearing group, although there were indications that the School for Deaf graduates had experienced more difficulty in coping following school graduation.