Through a feminist approach this paper illustrates how humour is used as a resource and strategy for status among Finnish school boys and in constructing culturally accepted masculinity in the field of informal school. Based on interview and observation material collected in three schools, the results suggest that although humour is often…

While many books outline the attributes of successful school leaders, few describe how those traits manifest in daily practice. "The Daily Practices of Successful Principals" goes beyond the outward picture of excellence and provides a compendium of daily practices used by successful principals in various settings. Written by former administrators…

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the behaviors of effective governance teams as they move through stages of group development during regular school board meetings, utilizing the task and process behaviors identified in the Group Development Assessment (Jones & Bearley, 1994). Methodology. This mixed-methods…

Few studies have investigated children's responses to television alcohol advertising. Two separate studies evaluated the appeal of alcohol advertisements on children aged 7-10. An exploratory interview study (N=17) was carried out to assess children's verbal responses to both alcohol and non-alcohol advertisements and to elicit vocabulary to be…

This qualitative study examined messages of everyday communication (small talk and routine interactions). The importance of these messages was highlighted in light of their role in creating structure, safety, and meaning making in the family at the end of life. In addition, family rituals that developed from children's everyday communication were…

Wise teachers of infants and toddlers know how concerned, helpful, empathic, cooperative, and friendly--that is, how prosocial--very young children can be. Teachers see older infants crawl or toddle over to "friends" arriving later in the morning and greet them as if they had not seen them in weeks. Teachers and families know that these young…

The study focuses on storytelling among Mexican families, documenting the frequency of storytelling in the homes of working- and middle-class Mexican families, the range of topics of the stories, characteristics and genres of stories, and intergenerational continuity of storytelling practices. Also examined are potential associations between…

This empirical study explored the impression management techniques and standardized performances college students use on their Facebook profiles to ensure their peers believe they are fully participating in the undergraduate experience. Employing an ethnographic research design and data collected using participant-observation and interview…

With the Internet, foreign language learners can interact more easily with native speakers from other countries than in previous generations. For learners to develop the ability to function in foreign environments, it is vital to understand their experiences in postsecondary online foreign language classes. If educators and educational theorists…

This article describes an interactive way to help students learn to evaluate central tendency measures using a fictional story. The use of humour and fictional dire consequences may increase student understanding and engagement while reducing anxiety.

This qualitative study aimed to explore how infants share and experience friendships and examine the role of infant caregivers in social and friendship experiences among infants. The data were collected through classroom observation over a semester. Findings yielded complex and rich social relationships that both infant friends and caregivers…

Research Findings: Previous research on young children's play has focused narrowly on behaviors that are highly valued in Western societies. The purpose of this study was to draw back the lens on play--to examine a broader range of early childhood pastimes that are more common and meaningful to children of color. Using G. Bateson's (1972) work on…

Within organizations, the communicative phenomenon of humor is commonplace. Humorous talk is just as important and frequent to regular discourse that takes place between organizational members. In this inquiry we examine humor as a particular way of communicating between members of a small Midwestern United States organization. Specifically, we…

The purpose of this research is to examine the motivation level of teachers according to school principals' humor styles. The humor styles survey and job motivation scale were used to gather data from 305 randomly selected teachers employed in primary schools in Karabuk. Results indicated that 141 of the teachers claimed school principal had…

In this article, the author talks about building resilience--that ability to push through hardship to success, to rebound from failure, and to "keep on keepin' on" when things seem impossible. The author assert that lots of gifted and talented kids need help building their resilience. In today's world, when striving for mediocrity can…