In recent decades, struggles for recognition have increasingly dominated the political landscape.1 Recognition theorists such as Charles Taylor (1994) and Axel Honneth (1995) seek to interpret and justify these struggles through the idea that our identity is shaped, at least partly, by our relations with other people. Because our identity is shaped in this way, it is alleged that feelings of self-worth, self-respect and self-esteem are possible only if we are positively recognised for who we are. Consequently, for many political theorists, recognition is an integral component of a satisfactory modern theory of justice, as well as the means by which both historical and contemporary political struggles can be understood and justified.

The Politics of Recognition

aimed to attract a more diverse audience of gamers and non-gamers – and to bring video games off the screen and into the living room. While not all games are well suited for multiplayer play – ‘It’s hard to avoid getting in each other’s way and impeding rather than advancing game progress’ (p. 133) – most games are intended to be played while in the room with other people. ‘The Wii is just the latest attempt by Nintendo to bring a version of this kind of social gaming into the living room, closer to arcade parties and karaoke than to, say, bouts of online multiplayer military simulations’ (p. 142). Jones and Thiruvathukal’s book is as much a user’s manual for the potential of the Nintendo Wii as it is an academic and technical deconstruction of the console as a computing platform. Their joint approach to considering the topic works well, but it isn’t until the very end of the book that Jones’ cultural contextual approach really shines. In the final six pages of the sixth chapter (pp. 143–148), the authors consider the paratext of the Wii, as well as the diegetic and nondiegetic elements of video games – and the various layers of the platform and the games, interactions and activities it supports. ‘This social layer of a video game platform is an essential part of what the system means, because it’s the environment in which the platform gets used’ (p. 148). Much of the existing literature on Nintendo – such as Osamu Inoue’s (2010) Nintendo Magic: Winning the Videogame Wars and Jeff Ryan’s (2011) Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America – concentrates on the company’s success as a business. The more technical literature to date focuses on the use of the Wii Balance Board, another controller for the platform, in healthcare and therapeutic settings. This text sits comfortably in the middle, Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers in hand, making a valuable contribution to the study of the Nintendo Wii and how technology and culture work together.

It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens

1. Most low- and moderate-income families have some form of Internet connection, but many are under-connected, with mobile-only access and inconsistent connectivity. Nine in ten (94%) families have some kind of Internet access, whether through a computer and Internet connection at home, or through a smart mobile device with a data plan. Even among families below the poverty level, nine in ten (91%) are connected in some way. However, many lower-income families are under-connected. For example, one quarter (23%) of families below the median income level and one third (33%) of those below the poverty level rely on mobile-only Internet access. And many experience interruptions to their Internet service or constrained access to digital devices. Among families who have home Internet access, half (52%) say their access is too slow, one quarter (26%) say too many people share the same computer, and one fifth (20%) say their Internet has been cut off in the last year due to lack of payment. Among families with mobile-only access, three in ten (29%) say they have hit the data limits on their plan in the past year, one-quarter (24%) say they have had their phone service cut off in the past year due to lack of payment, and one fifth (21%) say too many people share the same phone for them to be able to get the time on it that they need. 2. Families headed by Hispanic immigrants are less connected than other low- and moderate-income families. One in ten (10%) immigrant Hispanic families have no Internet access at all, compared with 7% of U.S.-born Hispanics, 5% of Whites, and 1% of Blacks. Four in ten (41%) Hispanic immigrant parents report mobile-only Internet access, compared with 25% of Blacks, 16% of Whites, and 17% of U.S.-born Hispanics below the median income. One in five (20%) immigrant Hispanic parents say that they do not go online at all, even occasionally (compared with just 4% of Whites and U.S.-born Hispanics, and 2% of Blacks). And just under half (44%) of immigrant Hispanic parents say they do not use computers, whether at work, school, or home, even occasionally. 3. The main reason some families do not have home computers or Internet access is because they cannot afford it, but discounted Internet programs are reaching very few. Four in 10 parents without a home computer (40%) or home Internet access (42%) say the main reason they do not have these items is because they are too expensive. This is three times as many as those who said they decided they did not need Internet access (13%) and nearly twice as many as the proportion who said they do not need a computer (22%). Yet only 6% of those with incomes below 185% of poverty (a common eligibility level for discounted service) say they have ever signed up for low- cost Internet access through programs specifically for lower-income families. key findings 2 The federal poverty level for a family of four in 2015 was $24,250. https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines Home versus mobile-only Internet access: In this report, “home access” is defined as having a laptop or desktop computer and a way to connect those devices to the Internet while at home. “Mobile-only access” is defined as being able to connect to the Internet through a smart device such as a tablet or smartphone, without having a computer at home. “No access” is defined as not being able to connect to the Internet through a device owned by the respondent or in the respondent’s household. 6 4. Low- and moderate-income parents use the Internet for a broad range of purposes, but mobile-only families are less likely to do certain online activities. Parents with Internet access say they often or sometimes go online to look for information (95%), stay in touch with family and friends (83%), get news (78%), bank or pay bills online (67%), shop online (58%), and apply for jobs or services (52%). But parents with mobile-only access are much less likely to engage in many of these online activities. For example, they are 30 percentage points less likely to shop online (36% vs. 66% of those with home access), 25 percentage points less likely to use online banking or bill-paying (49% vs. 74%), 14 percentage points less likely to apply for jobs or services online (42% vs. 56%), and 12 percentage points less likely to get news or follow local events online (70% vs. 82%). 5. Children from low- and moderate-income families use computers and the Internet for a variety of educational activities, but those without home access are less likely to go online to pursue their interests. Among 10- to 13-year-olds who use computers or the Internet, 81% often or sometimes use computers or the Internet to do homework, and about four in ten use computers or the Internet to write stories or blogs (44%), connect with teachers (40%), and talk with other students about school projects. Among all 6- to 13-year-olds who use computers or the Internet, eight in ten use them to play educational games (81%) and to look up things that they are interested in (81%), while seven in ten (70%) use them to do something creative, such as make their own art or music. But children without home Internet access are less likely to go online to look up information about things that they are interested in: 35% of those with mobile- only access say they “often” do this, compared to 52% of those with home access. 6. Parents feel largely positive about the Internet and digital technology, but many also have concerns. The vast majority of parents agree that computers and mobile devices help children learn important skills (89%); that the Internet exposes children to important new ideas and information (88%); using computers and tablets in class helps prepare children for important tests (84%); that the use of technology in the classroom improves the quality of children’s education (80%); and that computers and mobile devices offer children new and interesting means of self-expression (78%). At the same time, three out of four parents (74%) worry about their child being exposed to inappropriate content online; 63% believe that time with technology detracts from time spent in other important activities; 51% worry about online bullying; 34% worry that teachers know less about their child’s individual needs due to time spent using technology at school; and 18% say technology in the classroom is a distraction that hurts children’s education. Immigrant Hispanic parents are more likely than White, Black, or U.S.-born Hispanic parents to worry that teachers know less about their child’s individual needs due to technology use in the classroom. 7. Children and parents frequently learn with, and about, technology together, especially in families with the lowest incomes and where parents have less education. Among families in which the parent and child both use the Internet, 77% of parents say they have helped their children with using digital technology, and more than half (53%) say their children have helped them. Among parents who did not graduate from high school, 62% say their child has helped them with technology, compared with 45% of parents who graduated from college. Among families with more than one 6- to 13-year-old and a computer in the home, 81% of children often or sometimes help each other learn about computers or mobile devices (including 44% who “often” do so). More than half (53%) of children from the lowest income group (less than $25,000 a year) “often” help each other learn about computers and technology, compared to 33% of those in the higher-income group ($45,000–65,000 a year).

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Opportunity for All? Technology and Learning in Lower-Income Families. Appendix: Questionnaire and Topline Results.

Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second Edition with an Update a Decade Later. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011, 480 pp. $US 24.95 paper (978-0-520-27142-5) The second edition of Annette Lareau's award-winning Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life was released in 2011, adding more than 100 pages of new material. At its heart, the second edition tells two stories--one empirical, and the other a cautionary tale of qualitative methods. In the first edition of Unequal Childhoods, Lareau demonstrated that working-class and poor families enacted the "Accomplishment of Natural Growth." Their children participated in few, if any organized leisure activities, and had extensive interactions with kin. Parents used directives in speaking to children, and saw a clear boundary between the activities of adults and children. Regardless of race, working-class and poor parents did not tend to intervene with institutions on their children's behalf. In contrast, middle-class parents supported "Concerted Cultivation," developing children's talents through organized leisure activities and lessons, eliciting children's thoughts, and actively intervening in institutional settings. Lareau began her data collection for Unequal Childhoods in 1989, intensively observing twelve families between 1993 and 1995. The passage of time takes nothing away from this new edition, nor does it mitigate the impact or resonance of its findings. The book's lasting contribution is Lareau's conclusion that the childrearing patterns persist over time. Unlike in the 1990s, when she interviewed schoolteachers and other relevant adults, Lareau was unable to triangulate her family interviews with other data, and did not complement her interviews with intensive visits, naturalistic observations, nor interviews with employers, college professors, or others. For the second edition, she conducted 2-hour interviews with each of the 12 young adults (6 white, 5 African-American, 1 biracial), and usually interviewed at least one parent and a sibling. The follow-up interviews with the twelve original children tell the most important story of the second edition: how their lives unfolded from the age of nine or ten. Lareau offers a detailed qualitative panel study of sorts, documenting life trajectories of the twelve children--now aged 19-21--and the larger patterns their stories illuminate. Lareau questioned whether the class-based differences in childrearing she witnessed when the children were younger persisted into adulthood. The answer is a resounding "yes." Some of these youth struggled--academically and otherwise--to graduate from high school, as four of the eight working-class and poor students dropped out. Others, with talent and determination to attend college, were not able to make the transition. Working-class and poor parents desperately wanted their children to attend college, but lacked the resources, connections, and know-how to effectively help their children with the labyrinthine American college application process. Despite their and their parents' hopes for college attendance, only one of the eight working class or poor youth persisted as a college student. Six are living with family members and working full-time in a variety of jobs, with one working-class girl married and a full-time homemaker. Three out of the four middle-class children studied graduated from high school, and are attending Ivy League colleges. The remaining student, Melanie Handlon, whose academic struggles were chronicled in the first edition of Unequal Childhoods ultimately abandoned community college for cosmetology school, leaving her parents disappointed, and her mother wishing she had intervened more in Melanie's schooling. The second edition of Unequal Childhoods is a testament to the lasting effect of parents' intervention in institutional settings. Middle-class parents took it upon themselves to actively manage and monitor their children's transition from high school to college. …

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Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second Edition with an Update a Decade Later

Scientific knowledge often appears to contradict many students' religious beliefs. Indeed, the assumptions of science appear contradictory to the metaphysical claims of many religions. This conflict is most evident in discussions of biological evolution. Teachers, in attempts to limit the controversy, often avoid this topic or teach it superficially. Recently, there has been a political effort to teach to the controversy—which some see as a way of introducing religious explanations for biological diversity into science classrooms. Many science educators reject this approach, insisting that teachers limit classroom discussions to science alone. This science only approach leaves the negotiation of alternative knowledge frameworks to students, who are often ill-prepared for such epistemological comparisons. To support students' understanding of science while maintaining their religious commitments, this article explores the utility of emphasizing the boundaries of scientific knowledge and the need to support students in their comparison of contradictory knowledge frameworks.

Acknowledging the Religious Beliefs Students Bring into the Science Classroom

Though summer learning loss has been widely documented across both the United States and Canada, there is little knowledge on how parents and teachers view the use of technology in the context of s...

“Everything’s technology now”: The role of technology in home- and school-based summer learning activities in Canada

Brain drain is an increasingly important concern for local governments in northern communities in Canada in maintaining and enhancing human capital levels to sustain vibrant economies and communities. Researchers, however, have yet to examine the magnitude of north-south out-migration nor do we know the characteristics of youth who are likely to relocate. Our study contributes to this knowledge gap by employing multiple waves from Statistics Canada's Youth in Transition Survey (Cohort A) linked to each youth's reading scores from the Programme for International Student Assessment (measured at age 15), and longitudinally to their tax filer information until age 30 (T1 Family Files).

Will They Stay or Will They Go? Examining the Brain Drain in Canada's Provincial North.

Drawing on a photo-interview study of home reading practices with 35 children (ages 5–8) we examine how the ‘parent-effect’ influences research with young children. Not surprisingly, we find that p...

What role does the ‘parent-effect’ play in child centered research? The case of photo-interviews of children’s home reading practices:

Objectives To examine how recent Doctor of Pharmacy graduates feel about providing full-scope pharmacist services (such as prescribing and immunization) and whether characteristics such as recent graduates’ institutional and personal demographics, practice setting (e.g., busyness of practice, time spent directly with patients), or additional education after graduation affect their perceptions of feeling able and sure to perform services. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting and participants Recent graduates from 2 pharmacy schools in Ontario, Canada, who were licensed Ontario pharmacists and provided direct patient care in a community pharmacy setting. Outcome measures Dichotomous variables measured how able (less or more able) and sure (less or more sure) recent pharmacy graduates felt in performing 14 full-scope pharmacist services. Results Of the 231 survey respondents (23.2% response rate), 120 met the inclusion criteria. Overall, graduates felt prepared to perform these services in practice, although for many services, graduates felt more sure than able. Busier practice settings and services that were provided less frequently had a negative impact on new graduate's perceptions of being able and sure. Respondents who were younger or were pursuing further postgraduate training also felt less able and sure. Conclusion It is important for employers of new graduates and academics who train pharmacy students to recognize and encourage new graduates’ feelings of being sure and able to provide full-scope pharmacist services. However, new graduates were not immune to the impacts of busy practice settings on provision of these services and should be supported in their development and interest in further training.

Cathlene Hillier

Papers

“Everything’s technology now”: The role of technology in home- and school-based summer learning activities in Canada

Will They Stay or Will They Go? Examining the Brain Drain in Canada's Provincial North.

What role does the ‘parent-effect’ play in child centered research? The case of photo-interviews of children’s home reading practices:

Perceived preparedness for full-scope pharmacist services among recent Doctor of Pharmacy graduates from Ontario schools of pharmacy

Mind the Gaps: Examining Youth's Reading, Math and Science Skills Across Northern and Rural Canada*