Emphasizes that the Brazleton and Greenspan book focuses on the needs of children, not those of parents or service providers, spotlighting healthy maturation. Stresses recommendations for public policy, research, and clinical experiences. (SD)

This article discusses social giftedness and its characteristics. Social giftedness is defined as the exceptional capacity to form mature, productive relationships and develop effective social interactions with peers and others. Special abilities include understanding, empathy, tolerance, and justice. A study using the Delphi technique to identify…

Presents salient features of workshop discussion on encouraging social collaboration through play. Main topics covered are: theories and play; play and the curriculum, including evidence that play-based curricula are developmentally appropriate, desirable educational outcomes; and promoting the value of play, including Parten's typology, grouping,…

Examined conflict behavior of 50 3-year olds in day care centers to learn how and why adults become involved in children's conflicts. Found that adults were more likely to intervene when there was some physical activity involved in the conflict, and that this heading off of violence may inhibit children from learning to deal independently with…

At a private high school in Providence, Rhode Island, students benefit from Big Brother and Sister programs, peer mediation, and lessons in emotional intelligence across the curriculum. These activities are part of a comprehensive social and emotional education program called "Success for Life." For nearly 20 years, seniors have been…

Adult educator training at St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia) focuses on preparing educators for complex global realities. Interviews with four faculty revealed themes in their teaching practices in community-based and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs): storytelling, dialog, questioning, communicating/interacting with students, and…

Evaluates a program designed to improve self-esteem in adolescents. Used commercial movies about teenagers to enhance adolescents' interest and understanding of their world. Findings indicated significant increases in measures of self concept, self satisfaction, family self, and social self over the course of the program. (RJM)

Evaluated the ethological approach in studying children's interactions and play in an Australian preschool. Factor analysis yielded a gender-linked factor loading on looking and playing house, a physical activity factor, and a sociability factor. Findings suggest that though time consuming and labor-intensive, this approach can provide unique…

A study investigated the effectiveness of an 8-week social skills intervention targeting nonverbal communication for eight adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Although minimal nonverbal communication skills development was apparent, some social relationships were developed and the ability of some participants to read the nonverbal communication of…

Examined social behaviors of Head Start children from high- or low-quality classrooms in urban or rural settings. Found that maternal depression related to fewer parent-reported positive social behaviors and more problem behaviors. Parent-reported home violence related to fewer teacher-reported disruptive behaviors. Higher quality classrooms had…

Examined relations between preschoolers' emotion production and classroom social behavior. Also examined influence of familiarity with a child on the perception of emotion expressions and on those relations between emotion expression and social behavior. Found that children who were more negative and dependent had angry production biases and were…

This study examines adolescents' part-time work intensity and its relation to participation in various activities as well as substance use. Two theoretical perspectives are considered: the "time trade-off perspective"; and "the precocious development perspective." Results provide evidence for a combination of both perspectives. (Author)

An effort to increase the implementation of effective instructional methods of school discipline and the promising results from the first year of implementation of the Safe and Responsive Schools Project are described. Results provide some evidence that school discipline need not be equated with punishment and exclusion. (Contains references.)…

A study examined the effectiveness of properly constructed social stories that had been introduced into the natural environment to target the disruptive behavior of three children (ages 7-15) with autism. A decrease in disruptive behavior was evidenced when the intervention was implemented for all participants. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Assessed fourth, fifth- and sixth-graders' social constructions of popularity using perceived popularity nominations and sociometric measures. Found that perceived popularity is related to sociometric popularity and social dominance. Examined correlations with popularity for perceived popular girls and boys who were liked and not well-liked. Found…