No abstract

The asymmetrical structure of educational attainment has been documented widely. The main unresolved problem in educational research now is to explain the process by which this occurs (i.e. the process of social reproduction). In this research, all students in government secondary colleges in Tasmania were asked to nominate teachers who had been 'especially helpful or encouraging'. A teaching style questionnaire was issued subsequently to all teachers (n = 505) receiving two or more nominations. Also, the top 25 teachers were interviewed. The results show that the teacher/student relationship is critical in facilitating the 'educational process', that this relationship is based on the reciprocal expectations (norms) of students and teachers, and that 'effective' teachers use specific techniques in establishing their relationships with students. The research is based on an innovative technique of quantifying the qualitative aspects of these norms or 'working models'. The results suggest that training effective teachers requires more attention to the nature of the relationship between teachers and students. An effective relationship with students can be achieved using a variety of 'role destructuring' techniques.

No abstract

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) appears to be made up of several clusters of illness categories acting alone or in tandem to cause the decline of health through; fatigue/exhaustion, sensitivity/allergies, pain, general muscle and joint pains, cognitive impairment and gastro-intestinal problems. This study investigated how patients interpret, evaluate and respond to the complex and varied symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Data were collected from persons with CFS using a survey (n=90) and an interview (n=45). The researchers investigated how chronic fatigue syndrome is diagnosed by medical practitioners, how the label of CFS is determined and the social consequences for the patient. The results confirm the limited ability of the biomedical paradigm to diagnose adequately and treat effectively 'socially constructed' and medically ambiguous illnesses like CFS. In the absence of a legitimated regime of medical treatment for CFS, a range of often expensive treatments are employed by CFS sufferers, from formal use of pharmaceutical drugs through to 'alternative' therapies, including herbal, vitamin, homeopathic, esoteric meditative techniques, spiritual healing and general counselling are taken in no particular order.

Introduction to the Ichneumonidae of Australia: I. D. Gauld, with a contribution on Metopiinae by M. G. Fitton. British Musuem (Natural History) publication, 1984. pp. 413, 580 figures. £40.00.