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Janet Ross's intergenerational life writing: female intellectual legacy through memoirs, correspondence, and reminiscences
No full textThree Generations of English Women: Memoirs and Correspondence of Susannah Taylor, Sarah Austin, and Lady Duff Gordon by Janet Ross is a distinctive, but underestimated, Victorian family biography. It narrates the lives of her mother, Lucie Duff Gordon, her grandmother, Sarah Austin, and identifies her great-grandmother, Susannah Taylor, as the originator of this female line of intellectual inheritance, which Ross is indebted to. This article examines how Ross’s work motivates women’s intellectual endeavours by presenting a positive example of female intellectual legacy sustained successfully by foremothers. A Victorian writer, historian and translator, she recognises in her maternal heritage a model of intergenerational mentorship and interaction that promotes intellectual engagement, exchange and transformations. Three Generations of English Women shows that female intergenerational legacy is central not only in uncovering the contribution of Ross’s foremothers but also to a deeper understanding of the development of nineteenth-century women’s intellectual lives
Reading the Lucan call of the first disciples differently : the voices of sensing and intuition
No full textThis paper argues that discipleship is a notion of growing importance to the Christian denominations and that the Marcan narrative of the call of the first disciples has been of particular importance in giving shape to this notion. The Lucan narrative of the call of the first disciple, involving the great catch of fish, is problematic in two ways, concerning its relationship with the Marcan understanding of call and also with the Johannine post-resurrection narrative. Against this background this paper reports on an empirical study, drawing on the reader perspective and on the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics, that illuminates the distinctive voices of sensing types and intuitive types reading Luke 5: 1-7
Guidance for ITT mentors: coaching and mentoring (including ‘communities of practice’ for trainees)
No full textExcessive Internet use and psychopathology: the role of coping
No full textObjective: In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association included Internet Gaming Disorder in the diagnostic manual as a condition which requires further research, indicating the scientific and clinical community are aware of potential health concerns as a consequence of excessive Internet use. From a clinical point of view, it appears that excessive/addictive Internet use is often comorbid with further psychopathologies and assessing comorbidity is relevant in clinical practice, treatment outcome and prevention as the probability to become addicted to using the Internet accelerates with additional (sub)clinical symptoms. Moreover, research indicates individuals play computer games excessively to cope with everyday stressors and to regulate their emotions by applying media-focused coping strategies, suggesting pathological computer game players play in order to relieve stress and to avoid daily hassles. The aims of this research were to replicate and extend previous findings and explanations of the complexities of the relationships between excessive Internet use and Internet addiction, psychopathology and dysfunctional coping strategies. Method: Participants included 681 Polish university students sampled using an online battery of validated psychometric instruments. Results: Results of structural equation models revealed dysfunctional coping strategies (i.e., distraction, denial, self-blame, substance use, venting, media use, and behavioural disengagement) significantly predict excessive Internet use, and the data fit the theoretical model well. A second SEM showed media-focused coping and substance use coping significantly mediate the relationship between psychopathology (operationalised via the Global Severity Index) and excessive Internet use. Conclusions: The findings lend support to the self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders, and suggest psychopathology and dysfunctional coping have additive effects on excessive Internet use
Reaching expert consensus on training different cadres in delivering early childhood development: technical report
No full textAbstract
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) signal a greater focus on inter-sectoral, collaborative approaches to ensuring that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality. This is reflected in the current global concern with promotion of holistic, community-based programmes to support early childhood development and wellbeing – widely referred to as ‘early childhood development’ (ECD). Within this context, the study reported here sought to achieve consensus among 14 global experts on training needs for three groups of personnel (‘cadres’) involved in delivery of early childhood development (ECD) programmes. The three cadre groups, identified via a
comprehensive review of literature on current issues in the provision of ECD, comprise delivery of education, health and community-based early childhood interventions across a diverse range of low resource settings.
The study responds to a gap in knowledge on training needs for ECD cadres, associated with a serious dearth of human resources to support provision of ECD services. Key challenges reported here, based on comprehensive review of available literature, include:
1. A long-running, severe global shortage in availability of cadres to support delivery of ECD programmes.
2. To date, delivery of key health and education interventions principally in siloes, with limited
integration and practitioners/professionals/para-professionals widely employed in vertical programmes.
3. Low professional and social status of many ECD cadres, due to a lack of systematic recognition and support. This has resulted in large numbers of cadres with undefined career paths, and high rates of turnover / attrition2.
In response, expert consensus points to the following potential strategies for enhancing provision of
ECD cadres training and professional development:
1. Development of coherent systems to support ECD training and professional development.
a. Findings indicate consensus around commonalities among and distinctions between essential skills and knowledge required for education professionals, health
professionals and non-certified para-professional groups. These insights could provide a basis for establishing coherent, joined-up professional pathways and support systems for development of ECD cadres.
b. Consensus around the respective roles of these three cadres is reflected in the distinct training needs outlined for each group. There is consensus that, while noncertified
para-professionals require programme-specific training to facilitate delivery of particular tasks, certified education and health professionals require training in
more advanced skills such as problem-solving and flexibility. Exposure to a range of different programmes and approaches is required for certified professionals, to
facilitate informed decision making around programme development and adapting / responding to local contextual needs. These distinctions could provide a basis for establishing clarity in respective roles for ECD cadres with regard to programme delivery.
c. Consensus around training needs across cadre groups is indicated, in particular the need for on-going mentoring and supervision. While there is acknowledgment
among experts about complexities associated with provision of on-going support, consensus around this component of training was strongest among all aspects surveyed. This reflects widespread concern among participating experts, as well as within the literature, that short-term training for ECD cadres must be followed up with opportunities for continuing professional development and systematic support,
to facilitate sustained effective practice.
2. Within systems for ECD cadres training, a strong focus on the importance of contextually grounded programmes, materials / resources and strategies for implementation.
a. There is strong consensus that ECD cadres training should be contextually-grounded to ensure responsive, effective provision. Training should be based on and promote
careful consideration of a range of factors that shape provision of ECD, including but not restricted to, policy, budgets, available resources, local values, beliefs and
practices.
3. Adoption of the concept of nurturing care as an underpinning principle for provision of ECD
cadres training.
a. Delphi findings indicate consensus around essential dispositions, or attitudes, required to support caring, respectful, responsive and trustful interactions with
children, caregivers and communities. They also indicate that all cadres require knowledge and skills in promoting early stimulation; child-centred learning and development; effective communication and collaboration; problem solving, and reflective practice. These strategies are outlined in the proposed framework provided below, which identifies unique roles / training needs for different cadre groups, as well as opportunities for enhancing integration
across ECD cadres training systems.
3 Experts suggest that these ‘dispositions’, which are essential for effective provision, should be viewed as
malleable. Training should work / be designed to promote, model and strengthen these characteristics
Religious experience among Catholic and Protestant sixth-form students in Northern Ireland: looking for signs of the presence of God
No full textJohn Greer conducted major surveys of sixth-form religion in Protestant schools in Northern Ireland in 1968, 1978, and 1988. John Greer’s colleagues continued that research tradition in Northern Ireland in 1998 and in 2010, and extended the survey to include sixth-form students in Catholic schools. Greer’s survey routinely included a question on religious experience, drawing on the approach of Alister Hardy and the Religious Experience Research Unit. The 2010 survey provided the data from around 1,500 sixth-form students analysed in the present paper. These new data offer two main points of contrast, between students in Catholic and in Protestant schools, and between students in 1998 and 2010. The analysis preserves Greer’s historic descriptive categories of religious experience styled: help and guidance, exams, God’s presence, answered prayer, death, sickness, conversion, miscellaneous, and difficulty in describing
Asking questions and analysing answers about religious experience : developing the Greer tradition
No full textAlister Hardy's initiative in starting a programme of empirical research into religious experience in the UK employing the methods of the social sciences continues through the work of the Religious Experience Research Centres. John Greer initiated a similar research tradition through his questionnaire surveys of the incidence and nature of religious experience among children and young people in Northern Ireland. Leslie Francis and Tania ap Siôn replicated Greer's classic surveys, with ap Siôn extending Greer's analysis into nine categories of religious experience (Guidance and help, Exam concerns, God's presence, Answered prayer, Death, Sickness, Conversion, Difficulty of description, and Miscellaneous), while also noting their setting and frequency. This paper develops the Greer tradition further, drawing on more recent data from pupils in the Republic of Ireland, and arguing for a modified analytical process in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of reports of religious experience
The supportive network: rural disadvantaged older people and ICT
No full textThe rapid development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is profoundly transforming the social order, into what Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells calls the network society. Mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are perhaps the definitive tools of the network society; however, cultural and economic barriers exist that restrict access to these transformative tools and to the information networks in which they operate. One group that is particularly at risk is rural older people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on one aspect of a larger action research project that involved working with a small group of rural, socially isolated older people with histories of homelessness and complex needs (N = 7) and their social workers. This paper focuses on the older participants who, having been provided tablet computers, were then supported to use the device in their homes over the course of eight months. Despite most participants having never used a computing device of any kind prior to the research project, findings suggested that participants gained confidence, independence and social engagement as a result of their ICT use. Results also highlighted that they experienced challenges in utilising ICT, specifically technical, economic and social barriers. Findings highlight the individual and structural issues that must be addressed to enable all citizens to participate fully in the network society