This study aimed to explore the experiences of a group of counsellors regarding working with clients who engage in self-harming behaviour, in order to gain an understanding of what it is like to work with this client group. A series of six individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out, which were then transcribed and analysed…

In many programmes, tutorials have proved to be an effective way of providing both academic and personal support. The tutor's role in these involves different aspects of teaching and learning. In this article I explore the value of tutoring as a means of supporting the holistic curriculum development process. I reflect on the reason for…

Students do not have a good understanding of how rocks form. Instead, they have many non-scientific alternative conceptions to explain different aspects of rock formation. Using 10 interviews and nearly 200 questionnaires filled out by students at four different colleges, we identified many alternative conceptions students have about rock…

Leadership development through a civic engagement activity in a local FFA chapter is explored. Through a case study design, researchers illuminate a project that encouraged youth leadership development through the creation and execution of a civic engagement project in their own local community. Holistically, FFA members viewed the project as a…

An organization's top leadership team is responsible for the actions and performance of that organization. Upper echelon theory (Hambrick & Mason, 1984) suggests that the top leadership team has the greatest influence upon the strategies for achieving performance and the effectiveness of organizational results. This study seeks to examine the…

This qualitative research study describes and explores perceptions of 5 parents and their decisions to participate in the school-linked parent-education workshop, the Power of Positive Discipline, POPD. The parent-education workshop was offered at a diverse school in an east coast suburban school district. The methodology of portraiture was used…

Literacy practices can be considered powerful tools used to claim a space, establish an identity, or provide a voice in various social interactions. The goals of this study were to understand the literacy practices of three female young adults who attended an alternative school prior to my study in the spring of 2008. The study also explored the…

This study investigated how counselors develop into advocates for the counseling profession. Qualitative case study design was used when interviewing eight counselor advocates. Participants were chosen randomly from a list of attendees who were present at the 2008 state legislative advocacy training. Qualitative analysis was used to explore the…

Objectives: The Research Career Development Institute for Psychiatry is a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University to recruit and train a broad-based group of promising junior physicians by providing the necessary skills and support for successful research careers in academic psychiatry. Methods: Participants…

In this theoretical manuscript, I use Sartre's image of intentionality as a "bursting forth toward" to describe what it was like for me to bridle my pre-understandings and developing understandings as I studied moments middle grades teachers recognize and respond when students do not understand something during instruction. In doing so, I suggest…

The use of qualitative analysis software has become extremely popular over the recent years; educational researchers now have a range of tools at their disposal, from the ubiquitous word processor to more specialized computer packages. This paper deals with the use of CAQDAS (computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software) in educational…

The article introduces evaluation principles of non-formal and informal learning that determine the quality of evaluation, describes stages of the evaluation procedure, differentiates their qualitative parameters and defines their criteria and indicators. It also brings in the discussion that consideration of qualitative parameters for the…

Responding to the increasing numbers of students who now study across more than one of the traditional sectors of education and training, this research explored quantitative differences in conceptions of learning between students who had entered university study on the basis of a VET qualification, and those who had entered on a basis of previous…

This article outlines how a theory of narrative can be used to deconstruct qualitative research texts. Although research texts are a distinct genre in comparison with works of fiction, the basic components of literary activity are similar. Researchers structure and emphasize data and participants in various ways to tell a logical story. Narrative…

Siblings are important sources of social influence throughout childhood and adolescence. Nevertheless, the processes by which siblings influence one another remain relatively unexplored. We highlight two theories of sibling influence--sibling deidentification and social learning--that offer insights as to how and why siblings develop similar and…