Sociologists have documented a convergence of Protestants and Catholics in their valuation of autonomy and obedience as desirable traits for children from 1958 through 1991. By the 1980s, Alwin (1986) found that variation in such values within Protestants and Catholics was greater than that between them. Analyzing the GSS from 1986 to 2002, we…

Recently, a young faculty member commented that e-mail and inexpensive long distance rates were hampering her first-year students' development by making it too easy for them to stay in touch with their parents. Similarly, Judith Shapiro, president of Barnard College, argued in her August 22, 2002, New York Times op-ed piece, "Keeping Parents Off…

The author's reflections on Becky's legacy (see Werth, this issue) revolve around the idea that she can serve as a role model and that Becky's and Jim's experiences provide guidance to others who will inevitably go through the dying process. She also highlights several themes she saw in Werth's article: a cultural revolution around dying, the…

According to self-determination theory (R. M. Ryan & E. L. Deci, 2000), supports for autonomy and competence are essential for growth and well-being in any learning environment. Educational contexts differ in their relative support for these 2 needs. The authors examined the role of autonomy and competence in 2 German and 2 American university…

The development of decision-making autonomy was examined in 76 middle-class African American early adolescents (M=13 years) and their mothers, who were followed longitudinally for 5 years. Adolescent decision-making autonomy over conventional, prudential, multifaceted, and personal issues increased over time but at different rates. Mothers viewed…

This paper investigates classroom interventions using a particular form of multimedia information and communication technology (ICT), and looks to study gains in pupil learning that accrue from its use. The research takes place in eight UK schools with 219, 11-year-old children (eight Year 6 classes). Work within the Literacy Hour is detailed in…

The Dearing Report's (1997) radical proposals challenged lecturers in higher education to develop innovative assessment strategies. This paper explores the dilemmas experienced by one teaching team in designing and implementing a student self-assessment strategy within a community nursing degree programme. The paper reviews the impact on students'…

This article analyses findings from two studies conducted collaboratively across two educational settings, New Zealand and England, in 2001-2002. These studies examined the impact of national educational policy reforms on the nature of primary teachers' work and sense of their own professionalism and compared these impacts across the two…

Women's autonomy has long been a central concern for researchers examining the social position of women in developing countries. However, little emphasis has been placed on the measurement of autonomy, despite its importance for assessing the validity of comparative research. In this research, we use confirmatory factor analyses to determine (1)…

In addition to classroom activities, teachers provide personal and instructional supports meant to facilitate the developing sense of student autonomy. In this article, we offer a way of thinking about autonomy-supportive practices that suggests that such practices can be distinguished at a featural level and that different practices may in fact…

I examine how pre-loss emotional and instrumental dependence on one's spouse affects older adults psychological adjustment to widowhood. Analyses are based on 297 persons from the Changing Lives of Older Couples CLOC study, a prospective study of widowhood among adults aged 65 and older. Women who were most emotionally dependent on their spouses…

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether standards-based school reform is an acceptable strategy for achieving a politically legitimate school system according to a principle of personal liberty. First, it briefly describes the purpose and implementation of standards-based school reform in the U.S. It then considers the ramifications of…

Although job satisfaction has been widely studied among registered nurses working in traditional health care settings, little is known about the job-related values and perceptions of nurses working in school systems. Job satisfaction is linked to lower levels of job-related stress, burnout, and career abandonment among nurses. This study evaluated…

Self-efficacy and perseverance of mid- to late-life adults committed to extraordinary involvement in challenging new pursuits was the subject of dissertation research conducted as a constructivist grounded theory. Eight participants over age 50 were purposefully selected for homogenous criteria. Findings disconfirmed perseverance as a contributor…

This paper argues that to talk about organisations learning is to reify and anthropomorphise organisations. Instead of thinking of an organisation as if it were a thing or a person it is closer to experience to think of an organisation as the patterning of peoples' interactions with each other. This paper explores the assumptions that are being…