The well-established socio-educational model of second language learning motivation developed by R. C. Gardner was adapted and applied to study instrumental music learning motivation. The similarities between music and language suggested that the adaptation might lead to new insights in the study of music motivation. At the heart of the proposed model is a multifaceted description of the relationships among motivation, attitudes, anxiety, support from others, perceived competence, and achievement. A sample of 107 high school band students was selected to participate in this study. Results of a path analysis of questionnaire responses indicate that the adapted and expanded socio-educational model fit very well with the present data and described key motivational structures. The key support for motivation to learn was supplied by integrativeness (an interest in taking on the characteristics of musicians, positive attitudes toward learning instruments, and an interest in music learning), plus attitudes toward the learning situation (music teacher and course).

The purpose of this study is to examine a set of motivation variables within guitar and piano players. We also tested for motivational differences among three groups: those who write music, those who plan to write music in the future, and those who do not write nor intend to write. An international sample of 599 musicians was obtained (guitar: N = 292, piano: N = 307) through the use of an online survey. Self-Determination Theory, a prominent perspective in the motivation literature, was utilized along with other motivational constructs, including perceived competence, musical self-esteem, effort, desire to learn, willingness to play, and possible musical selves. Findings revealed differences between pianists’ and guitarists’ levels of motivational intensity, desire to learn, introjected regulation, perceived competence and willingness to play. Results also indicated that the group who write music had significantly higher levels of musical self-esteem, willingness to play, motivational intensity, desire to learn, and perceived competence. Findings from this study suggest that pianists and guitarists both are intrinsically motivated, but for different reasons. The underlying motivational needs that are met by the instrument’s “culture” appear to focus on competence for pianists and on autonomy and relatedness for guitarists.

We performed a scoping review on sought-after complementary therapies for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), specifically diet, physical activity and exercise (PA/E), and psychotherapy. We aim to update patients with IBD on therapies for self-care and provide physicians with guidance on how to direct their patients for the management of IBD. A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PUBMED was completed in Sept 2016. Studies on diet, PA/E, or psychotherapy in patients with IBD were included. Medical Subject Heading terms and Boolean operators were used. The search was limited to full-text English articles describing an adult population. This review included 67 studies: Diet ( = 19); PA/E ( = 19); and psychotherapy ( = 29). We have made the following recommendations: (1) Diet: Consumption of diets rich in vegetables, fruit and soluble fiber may be beneficial in IBD. A trial of a low FODMAP diet can be considered in those patients with functional gastrointestinal symptoms. Restrictive diets are lacking in evidence and should be avoided; (2) PA/E: Regular low-moderate intensity activity, including cardiovascular and resistance exercise, has been shown to improve quality of life (QOL) and may improve inflammation; and (3) psychotherapy: Therapies such as cognitive-behavioural interventions, mindfulness, hypnosis, and stress management have been shown to improve QOL, but evidence is limited on their impact on anxiety, depression, and disease activity. Overall, these complementary therapies are promising and should be used to treat patients with IBD from a more holistic perspective.

Researchers have explored the issues associated with transition policies, practices, and children's readiness for school. They have collected parents' and teachers' attitudes towards and feelings about children starting school. However, little attention has been given to the voices of children in this matter. This paper reports on the perspectives of one-hundred children aged 5-6 years on their early experiences of school. The first section explores some of the literature relevant to starting school and the emerging international research trend to giving children a voice in matters that concern them. The second discusses the research methodology and findings. These indicate that, while most children settle in well to school, many have concerns about the affective domain of the school environment, the fear of punishment, being bored, and the lack of choice. While just over half of the children liked school most of the time, 83 per cent of them said they did not like school work, which they clearly defined in their own words.

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Prior to attending seminars on child abuse and domestic violence, 86 kindergarten and 64 special education (early childhood) teachers completed a questionnaire seeking views relating to the accuracy of statements relating to all forms of child abuse. This was designed to identify the accuracy of teachers' knowledge of child abuse and neglect versus the influence of universal myths. Results show that special education teachers were less well informed than kindergarten teachers on child protection issues despite international recognition that children with disabilities are the most vulnerable to abuse of all kinds. The results of this survey will be valuable for the Singapore Government's plan to provide preservice and inservice education relating to family violence and child abuse. It is part of a larger project.

This paper emanates from a study that analysed the critical reflection of teacher researchers as they talked about their investigations of the home cultures and literacies of a small group of children from socioculturally diverse family contexts. The collaborative research enterprise was undertaken by university and teacher researchers. The important role that collaborative teacher research and social interaction played in the critical reflection and co-construction of professional understandings in theproject is the focus of this paper. The teacher researchers' theorising about the complexity of their work as a result of the collaborative enterprise is discussed. Through the voiced research and critical reflection of the teachers, it has become obvious that their life's experiences and resources are powerful in their pedagogical theorising. Teachers comment on the way in which they are positioned by 'the system' as technicians and how they experience tension between their own professional and primary discourses and that of the system. It is suggested that teachers be given opportunity within their work sites to enter the conversations about curriculum, pedagogy and change in knowledgeable and meaningful ways that are grounded in collaborative reflection and research. Thispaper explores the critical reflection and the social construction of new understandings about the complexity of teachers' work that occurred in a collaborative research project carried out by a university-based researcher and four school-based early years teacher researchers. It will show how the collaborative research process facilitated critical reflection on previously unquestioned or unconsidered issues about the teachers' work.

Mindfulness, the ability to attend to present-moment thoughts and feelings in a nonjudgmental manner, is associated with a variety of positive health outcomes. In previous research, self-perceived stress mediated the relationship between mindfulness and physical health perceptions, a finding consistent with the Mindfulness Stress Buffering Account. To extend this research, we examined how five facets of mindfulness were related to self-perceived stress and self-reported physical health. We distributed an electronic survey assessing mindfulness, self-perceived stress, and self-reported physical health to 242 undergraduate students. Using regression analyses, we found that for four of five mindfulness factors, selfperceived stress mediated the relationship between mindfulness and self-reported physical health. An examination of effect sizes revealed that the nonjudging mindfulness factor had the strongest relationship with self-reported physical health. These results support the Mindfulness Stress Buffering Account, and extend previous work on the subject by considering specific facets of mindfulness. Public Significance StatementThe more mindful (nonjudgmentally aware) a person is, the more physically healthy they tend to feel. It has been suggested that this is because mindfulness decreases stress which, in turn, helps us feel better. That idea was supported by the results of this study.