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Tensions, assumptions and situated ethics: attuning to the unpredictability of ethics in early childhood research participation
No full textResearch in early childhood settings requires careful consideration of the impact on all children in the setting, whether participants or non-participants, and evolving ethical approaches in response to children’s needs. However, flexible approaches and, ‘in the moment’, ethical adaptations are not routinely reported as part of early childhood research. Drawing on examples from previous qualitative, observational research studies, conducted by members of The Open University early childhood research group, this article reflects upon and adds to some of the ethical challenges highlighted by Richardson, T. [2019. “Why Haven’t I got one of Those?’ A Consideration Regarding the Need to Protect non-Participant Children in Early Years Research.” European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 27 (1): 5–14] in an article for this journal. These include the impact of research on non-participating children, the influence of the researcher and research tools, expressions of dissent during research, and adapting iteratively. Six considerations for ethical attunement in early childhood research emerge, which could offer an ‘aide memoire’ for early childhood researchers and encourage more transparent sharing of unpredictable ethics in early childhood research
Testing the AQ10 as a Predictor of Poor Work-Related Psychological Wellbeing Among Newly Ordained Anglican Clergy in England
No full textAlthough the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ10) was originally designed to identify referrals for professional diagnosis for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), recent studies suggest that this instrument may also be tapping more generalised affective disorders. Working with this revised interpretation and a slightly revised measure (dropping one item), this study examines the predictive power of the AQ10 to account for additional variance, after personal and personality factors have been taken into account, on the two scales of the Francis Burnout Inventory. Data provided by 388 Anglican curates serving in their second year of ministry in the Church of England or the Church in Wales demonstrated that 3.8% of the participants recorded six or more red flags on the AQ10 (and so qualified for referral for specialist diagnostic assessment) and that higher scores on the revised AQ10 are associated with significantly lower levels of satisfaction in ministry and with significantly higher levels of emotional exhaustion in ministry. These data suggest that screening with the AQ10 may be helpful in identifying clergy vulnerable to professional burnout and to poor work-related psychological wellbeing, as well as identifying qualification for referral for specialist diagnostic assessment
Worry and the changing sense of responsibility in first year primary undergraduate student teachers
No full textThis paper explores how the sense of responsibility changes for undergraduate student teachers in their first year of training. It is part of a larger case study that sought to identify what undergraduate student teachers reported to be the key sources of worry in their first year at a university in the East Midlands. An initial online questionnaire was used to find out the main aspects that the student teachers were worried about in their first year. These results then fed into a second questionnaire designed to explore the intensity of worry about these aspects, with a focus on responsibility. The final data collection method comprised of a focus group discussion including 4 student teachers in their first year of the course. Data collection points were at the start and end of their first year of teacher training. The results concluded that the students initially worried about wider aspects of the responsibility of being at university for the first time such as living away from home as well as having a growing sense of realisation of the requirements of the course and the associated responsibilities. However, by the end of the first year, this worry had manifested into more significant worry about the responsibility of being a teacher and the specific aspects of the role that hold considerable responsibilities. This study highlighted that an area for further research could be around the potential normalisation of worry about responsibility in education and student experiences in their training about safeguarding. It also identified recommendations for future practice including pre-course training, timetabling considerations, personalised support and staff training
Evaluating liturgical engagement with Psalms of lament: Reading Psalm 74 through the lenses of feeling and thinking
No full textRecent trends in biblical scholarship that have generated new interest in the Book of Psalms and in the voice of lamentation may in turn present new opportunities for the liturgical use of Psalms of lamentation. Drawing on the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics, the present study tests the ways in which feeling types and thinking types may evaluate Psalm 74 differently. The data demonstrated that feeling types and thinking types approach a Psalm of lament in quite different ways. For thinking types this is a satisfying intellectual exercise. They are caught up by the theological questions raised and fascinated by the capacity of the human mind to challenge God to keep God’s side of the covenantal agreement with the people. For feeling types this is a journey of the heart as they identify with the protagonists rehearsing the source and cause of their pain. This is the contrast of which preachers and liturgists need to be aware
Adorno, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Critical Theory: Negative Dialectics and Non-identity Thinking
No full textThis paper explores the relationship between the thought of Theodor W. Adorno and Jiddu Krishnamurti. It focuses upon how both thinkers employ a determinately negative epistemology and revise Hegelian dialectics as a manner of ratiocination to resolve socio-political problems. It is argued that Krishnamurti’s negative epistemology is rendered more robust when read along with Adorno’s critical theory, aesthetic theory and notions of negative dialectics and non-identity thinking. It is hoped that this synthesis of thought raises the possibility for ongoing creative responses to contemporary socio-political challenges over and above either political demonstration or intellectual retreat
A shorter version of the revised Francis Psychological Type and Emotional Temperament Scales (FPTETS-r)
No full textThe Francis Psychological Type and Emotional Temperament Scales (FPTETS) operationalize the psychological-type model of personality alongside emotional temperament. The scales have been widely used in research as continuous variables that explain a wide range of religious beliefs and attitudes. The full instrument consists of five ten-item scales so a shorter version would be useful in longer surveys where completion time needs to be minimized. This study uses data from 700 Church of England clergy who completed the revised version of the FPTETS to reduce the ten-item scales to six-item scales. Ant colony optimization was found to be a better way of selecting the final items than reliability optimization alone because it balanced individual scale reliabilities with maintaining the factor structure of the overall instrument. The selected scales were validated using data from 1194 lay people from Church of England, and two samples of 884 clergy and 2765 lay people from the Episcopal Church (USA). The short scales are commended for use where the need is for continuous scale scores rather than producing psychological typologies
Tracing 'Home' in the Critical Discourse on Migration
No full textThe concept of home is intrinsic to the practice of migration: one only migrates if one leaves a home behind. Home is at once geographical, psychological, emotional and material, making it an extremely rich resource for literary texts. From the late twentieth century to the present day, approaches to home in the critical discourse on migration have moved through three broad phases. First, influenced by postmodernism and postcolonial theory’s celebration of hybridity, home became associated with conservatism while migrancy was embraced as a disruptive metaphor for challenging old essentialisms. However, a second phase was inaugurated by scholars who were critical of metaphorical abstractions of migrancy, emphasizing instead the material differences between migrants. Taking account of class, gender and conditions of departure, arrival and settling demonstrates that home is a privilege that is not equally available to everyone. More recently, as part of the broader 'material turn', there has been a greater focus on the local, material and affective dimensions of home, across particular sites like cities, domestic, and environmental spaces. This chapter elaborates on each of these phases in conversation with some illustrative literary examples. Ultimately, it argues that migration literature has a crucial role to play in 'making' (a) home for the marginalised
Questioning the use in a Muslim society of an IPIP measure of the Big Five Factors: A problem with reverse-coded items?
No full textThis paper examines within a Muslim society the inte¬rnal consistency reliability of an established IPIP measure of the Five Factor Model of personality drawing on the International Personality Item Pool. The specific hypothesis under investigation concerned the performance of the negatively-voiced items included within the measure, testing whether these items (that may imply disrespect for self) detract from the unidimensionality of the five factors. Data provided by 370 young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 years who were born in Punjab and who had lived there since their birth supported this hypothesis. The recommendation is that further work is now required to revisit the IPIP to source items to construct and test a new IPIP measure of the Five Factor Model of personality specifically designed for use in Muslim societies
Anglican cathedrals as ‘episcopal centres of learning’? A survey of current educational provision
No full textMetaphors were introduced to the science of cathedral studies by Muskett in her book, Shop window, flagship, common ground. Such metaphors have the power to inform and shape the perception of cathedrals, but lack theological or ecclesial authority. Gary Hall’s analysis of The purpose of cathedrals offers a different approach to cathedral metaphors when he roots the purpose of cathedrals in the episcopal ordinal: cathedrals are mandated to do what bishops are called to be, by virtue of displaying the activities of the bishop’s cathedra. Central to these activities, exemplifying the bishop’s role as teacher, cathedrals serve as Episcopal centres of learning. Drawing on a careful analysis of information presented by the websites of the 43 Anglican cathedrals within England and the Isle of Man, the current study demonstrated that, like Anglican church schools, as Episcopal centres of learning, Anglican cathedrals offer educational provision that exemplifies a theology of nurture (concerned with the formation of Christian disciples) and educational provision that exemplifies a theology of service (concerned with supporting and serving the wider community)
Sustaining church attendance and a positive attitude toward Christianity among students at Church of England voluntary primary schools: effects of parental church attendance and the perceived Christian character of the school
No full textThis study employs data provided by 531 students attending year 3, 4, 5 and 6 classes within Church of England voluntary primary schools to examine the effect of perception of the Christian character of the school and the effect of parental church attendance on sustaining church attendance and a positive attitude toward Christianity among students, after taking into account the effects of sex and age. The data demonstrated first that the main predictors of student church attendance were parental attendance (positive) and age (negative), with no additional effect for perception of the Christian ethos of the school. Second, the data demonstrated that the main predictors of a positive attitude toward Christianity were personal church attendance (positive), perception of the Christian ethos of the school (positive) and age (negative). These findings suggest that perception of the Christian ethos of the school helps to sustain a positive attitude toward Christianity, while other factors (mothers and fathers not attending church) may inhibit this positive attitude toward Christianity from translating into more frequent church attendance among students