‘More like a tavern than a school house’: Family strife, religious change, and the founding of Oundle Grammar School, 1556–1578

The convoluted and contested foundation of the Grammar School at Oundle, Northamptonshire, in 1573 illustrated the complexities involved in giving concrete shape to pious wishes in 16th-century post-mortem bequests. Although the founder was Sir William Laxton (d. 1556), the key figure was his widow, the assertive matriarch Dame Joan Kirkeby-Luddington-Laxton, the richest woman of early Elizabethan London. This paper analyses the politics, religious context, and family strife of this dispute, and in so doing illuminates the contours of early Elizabethan London.

Maturation-dependent vulnerability of emotion regulation as a response to COVID-19 related stress in adolescents

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created highly unpredictable circumstances which resulted in increased levels of psychological strain. Here we investigate pandemic-related alterations in emotion regulation in adolescents assessed before and during the pandemic. We also take biological age into account in the response to the pandemic.Methods: We compared baseline data on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) total scores of a pre-pandemic adolescent cohort (n=241) with those obtained during the second wave of the pandemic (n=266). We estimated biological age based on an ultrasonic boneage assessment procedure in a subgroup of males. We included both grammar school and vocational school students in the 9th and 10th grades and analyzed their data independently.Findings: There is a gender difference in the timing of vulnerability for pandemic-related stress in grammar school students: females are affected a year earlier than males. Vocational school male students mature faster than grammar school male students, and the timing of emotional vulnerability also precedes that of the grammar school students.Discussion: We interpret our findings in a developmental model suggesting that there might be a window of highest vulnerability in adolescent emotion regulation. The timing of the window is determined by both chronological and biological age, and it seems to be different for females and males.Application to Practice: Defining the exact temporal windows of vulnerability for different adolescent cohorts allows for the timely integration of preventive actions into adolescent care to protect mental health during future chronic stressful situations.

Chief Isaac Oluwole Delano: The Man, His Time, and His Significance

Chief Isaac Oluwole Delano was a Nigerian expert in the Yoruba language and culture who was born in the Ifo District of the Abeokuta Province on the 4th of November, 1904.2 He was born to the family of Chief Edmund Delano and Rebecca Delano (both Egba indigenes). His educational exploits started from Holy Trinity Primary School situated at Okenla Christian Village in Ifo. From there, he was moved to Lagos Grammar School under the tutelage of an Anglican Bishop, Solomon Odutola, and his principal, Reverend E. J. Evans. However, situations necessitated his transfer to Kings College in 1921 where he met with his lifetime friends and college mates; Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, Justice N.O.A. Morgan as well as Dr. Oladele Ajose, to mention a few. Having passed his Senior Cambridge Examinations in 1923, Chief Delano proceeded to successfully write his Senior Clerical Examination in 1924, which propelled him to join the civil service in the same year. However, a severe injury sustained from an accident in 1947 led to his invalidation from the civil service. Worthy of note is the fact that he never blended into the civil service bureaucracy, as his principles and religious faith were constantly tested by various practices within the service. His dream to become more lettered was not going to succeed by his involvement with the civil service alone, and he was not positioned in those days to enjoy the privilege of travelling overseas to further his education. He had studied shorthand, and his love for writing by default made him aspire to a lifetime of authoring. While belonging to a number of literary societies, he tried his hand at writing newspaper articles which were generally well-received by the public. He was able to maintain a following from there, and this fueled his desire to write more works for public consumption; he was determined to make his mark in the field of writing. His first work as an author was published in 1937 under the title The Soul of Nigeria. Tis feat gave him his first taste at writing as an occupation, and the happiness that followed suit spurred him to achieve more. Isaac Delano believed that the first one was always going to be the hardest. His first published work had landed him on top of the world, and he was determined not to rest on his oars.

Perspectives on Molecular Materials—A Tribute to Professor Peter Day

Professor Peter Day FRS was born on 20 August 1938 in Kent (UK) and attended Maidstone Grammar School [...]

The relation between intercultural Sensitivity and world music preferences Among grammar school and vocational School students

The paper explores the influence of the type of secondary education chosen by the participants on the level of intercultural sensitivity and world music preferences, as well as the connection between intercultural sensitivity and world music preferences. The research employed a general data questionnaire, the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and an assessment scale to examine music fragment preferences in a sample of 124 participants. The results have significant implications for music and pedagogical theory and practice, in terms of increasing intercultural sensitivity and the tolerance of students towards members of other cultures and their music.

Is digital heroin creating disturbing behaviors among children?

Addiction of cell phones, tabletsand computers is creating disturbing behaviors among society members universally. The purpose of this study is to describe the influence of digital heroin on youngsters that are students of top Montessori schools and how their parent’s addictive habits acts as a moderator. This research includes the survey of four hundred and fifty respondents, most of them are the parents of children aged between 3 to 8 years in Lahore, Pakistan. Gymboree (a Montessori academy by Beaconhouse), Lahore Grammar School and Choueifat was included in this survey. The results of the survey exhibit that overwhelming usage of digital gadgets has sudden and significant influence on the youngsters’ health; the greater the addiction of parents towards smart phones, greater is the tendency of a child to demonstrate disturbing behavior. Children of this age are having more interaction with digital technology but there is a very fine line between healthy and addictive usage. There are a lot of reasons why parents let their children use smart gadgets for a longer period of time, one of the reasons of which is easy parenting. This research can play a significant role for social science as well as for technological companies who need to realize that the real game lies in long term goodwill and not the short-term profitability through considering the drivers of youngsters’s psychological problem.

Upper-secondary teachers’ perceptions of the Matura exam in mathematics

This paper reports a study on mathematics teachers’ perceptions of the Matura mathematics exam in Croatia. The study focuses on the suitability of mathematics school textbooks for students’ preparation for the exams, the complexity of the tasks in the exams, the grading and scoring of the exams, and teachers’ level of satisfaction with student achievement. The study used a convenience sampling method. It was conducted through a questionnaire administered to 308 upper secondary mathematics teachers. The findings showed that teachers do not perceive school textbooks as suitable resources to prepare for the higher level exam. Furthermore, the teachers believe that the test length is not appropriate i.e., the time given to students for the higher level exam is insufficient. On average they are satisfied with their students’ results, but are undecided about the criteria and scoring of the Matura. Vocational school teachers showed more dissatisfaction with the requirements and outcomes of the Matura exam compared to grammar school teachers. The results of this empirical study can be taken as a good starting point for re-assessing the requirements of the Matura exam in mathematics.

Throw Them All in One Pot? Differences in Stereotypes About Subgroups of Pre-Service Teachers

According to the stereotype content model, stereotypes can be described by using the dimensions competence and warmth. Compared to other professions, teaching is associated with a paternalistic stereotype consisting of high warmth and low competence. In four studies, stereotypes about different subgroups of pre-service teachers were compared. The aim was to understand sub-stereotypes better that could lead to different levels of stereotype threat and adverse behavioral tendencies. In Study 1 (N = 335), we compared stereotypes about elementary school pre-service teachers, grammar school pre-service teachers, computer science students, law students, and psychology students reported by pre-service teachers and psychology students. In contrast to nonteaching students, both groups of pre-service teachers corresponded to the paternalistic stereotype. In Study 2 (N = 243), pre-service teachers reported stereotypes about pre-service teachers for elementary schools, special education schools, comprehensive schools, vocational schools, and grammar schools. Elementary school pre-service teachers were stereotyped most paternalistically, while grammar school pre-service teachers matched the paternalistic stereotype the least. The ratings of other school types mostly fell between these extremes. In Studies 3a (N = 133, open-ended questions) and 3b (N = 308, closed-ended questions), students of various study programs compared pre-service teachers majoring in German and history (representing a non-STEM major combination) to pre-service teachers with the majors mathematics and physics (representing a STEM major combination). Pre-service teachers studying German and history were rated warmer but less competent than pre-service teachers with the majors mathematics and physics, confirmed by both methods of measuring stereotypes. In Studies 1, 3a, and 3b, ingroup favoritism in the ratings by pre-service teacher participants was tested and only found for competence in Study 1. The importance of our results and their implications for stereotype threat effects and possible interventions are discussed.

The impact of research evidence on education policy: How Members of Parliament respond to evidence in relation to secondary selective education

A detailed analysis of Hansard transcripts was undertaken to explore the dialogue used in parliamentary debates and committee meetings where reference was made to grammar schools between October 2015 to March 2019. During this period, the first new grammar school for fifty years had been approved, along with the establishment of the £50 million selective school expansion fund. Detailed qualitative analysis highlighted the widely disproportionate use of the term 'good' in relation to grammar schools. It is argued that 'good' instead of 'outstanding' or 'excellent' is chosen in relation to grammar schools as 'good' has moral overtones that go beyond reported educational standards. Proportionately, the number of comprehensive schools rated good or outstanding would need to be referred to in conjunction with 'good' 6698 times, not the forty-nine times this actually happened. Campaigners for comprehensive education need to reclaim the discourse of 'goodness' for all schools.