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HONOR: A PHILOSOPHICALLY PARSED ASSESSMENT OF HONOR AND ARGUMENTS CONCERNING ITS MORAL FUNCTIONS
Get PDFHonor is a concept familiar to many, yet it can be difficult to articulate. In this thesis, the topic of honor is first explored as a philosophical and social structure. Then, using this structure, an ideal conception of honor is argued. For the formation and support of a functional honor theory, major components of honor are defined by examining and integrating the opinions of philosophers past and present. Terms defined include Individual and Group, as well as Internal behavior and External behavior. These establish honor as a mechanism for social motivation, because moral values that are idealized in a code of honor incentivize certain types of behavior. Next, the arguments for two ideal values for a culture to honor are discussed, followed by a response to potential objections. These two moral values are Personal Responsibility and Humility, which are both parsed by Aristotle’s system of lack, mean, and excess. The discussions of these two values overlap to some degree. Principally, however, Personal Responsibility is debated from the perspective of justice theory (such as the one proposed by Tamler Sommers in Why Honor Matters), whereas Humility is chiefly discussed within the context of religion (primarily that of Islam). A recurring theme throughout is the ability of these two moral values to compensate for the other’s weaknesses. All arguments in support of the thesis that Personal Responsibility and Humility are the ideal values for a culture to honor are measured by a rubric that assesses the practical success of these values. This criterion is the values’ capability to avoid honor violence
Crohn’s Disease and Omega 3: Can it decrease CRP? A Literature Review
Get PDFThe Crohn’s and Colitis foundation of America estimates that 70,000 Americans are diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) each year (2021). Crohn\u27s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by periods of remission and exacerbation triggered by an increase in stress (Mackner et al., 2020). Patients can experience debilitating abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, blood in the stool, and reduced appetite during an exacerbation period, all of which can lead to life-threatening complications (Mayo Clinic, 2020). In most cases, patients are diagnosed in their late teens or early adulthood years, and are prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs (Mayo Clinic, 2020). As there is no true cure for Crohn\u27s disease, medications are never guaranteed to work and patients are often forced to undergo many therapies before finding the right regimen for their condition. Currently, in hospitals, there has not been any added intervention with daily supplements for these patients to assist in treating the inflammation. In controlled clinical trials, omega-3 fatty acid supplements have statistically shown promise as an anti-inflammatory agent to aid in Crohn\u27s disease treatment (Natto et al., 2019)
An Integrative Study of Service and Safety Climate and Performance: Do Climates Compete?
Get PDFOrganizational scholars continue to expand our knowledge of the contextual forces influencing employee behavior in organizations. A notable stream in this research agenda includes organizational climate studies that describe the social processes guiding employee perceptions of their environment. These shared perceptions formulate climate constructs that have demonstrated through theorizing and empirical findings relationships with attitudinal, behavioral, and performance outcomes across multiple levels of analysis. Contemporary climate studies have focused on facet-specific climates, such as a service climate or safety climate, and have linked facet climates with the same facet related performance (e. g. safety climate predicts increased safety performance). Given these strong research programs in climate studies, it is surprising that few researchers have tested the notion of competing climates, despite several calls for such activity in recent climate reviews. The current study adopts a multiple climate perspective to address the differential performance effects given the existence of multiple, competing climates. Using Quinn & Rohrbaugh\u27s (1981) competing values framework, this project tests the notion of climate competition via meta-analysis
GETTING STARTED: THE IMPACT OF TRAINING ON TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTS INTEGRATION STRATEGIES
Get PDFArts integration is a proven cross-cultural methodology for instructing through and with the arts (Sterman, 2018). Professional development experiences are met with enthusiasm and interest; however, a disconnect exists between completion of training and implementation of learned practices. Providers are, therefore, led to question program design and delivery (The Kennedy Center, n.d.). The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the impact of training on perceptions of self-efficacy of teachers participating in The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ professional learning programs and the implementation of arts integration strategies. Using a researcher-created instrument, 51 teachers from within The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Partners in Education national network were surveyed. Upon completion of arts integration training, participant responses regarding self-efficacy resulted in a very large effect of change. Contrary to expectations, however, the greatest degree of effect as a result of the study’s intervention was reflected in “Efficacy in Developing Arts-Integrated Lessons” as opposed to “Basic Understanding of Arts Integration,” as hypothesized. In an openended post-survey prompt, participating teachers additionally offered insights into lack of utilization by citing the need for on-going, in-service coaching in order to implement practices learned. Implications for current professional practice and recommendations for future research involve examination of training programs and processes to adequately address and resolve the discordance between the number of teachers participating in professional development opportunities and those eventually utilizing arts integration instructional strategies (Americans for the Arts, 2020)
THE FATHER’S BUSINESS: EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES OF SECOND-GENERATION MINISTRY LEADERS
Get PDFToday’s pastoral leader must balance more competing priorities than ever before. Pastors are responsible for strategic planning, providing excellent messages, developing a staff or ministry team, overseeing finances, and building ministries to meet the needs of their flocks and communities. Many times, the demands of pastoral leadership, especially in a growing church environment, can be so consuming that the family of the pastor pays the price. Pastors’ children who grow up in such a leadership environment face their own additional pressures and extra challenges. This project explores the question “What are the challenges of growing up as a pastor’s child in a growing church environment in a church in America today; and what are the best practices of pastoral parents in such a setting as seen by their second-generation ministry leadership children?” The research question is answered by a qualitative study involving a focus group of adult children of pastors who are now serving in significant leadership ministry roles. The focus group explores the challenges of growing up in a pastor’s home, the importance of a personal calling in the life of pastor’s children and best practices for pastoral parents
ESTABLISHING TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES WITHIN THE EARLY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Get PDFNearly half of US children have experienced one or more types of serious trauma with rates continually increasing. Early childhood educators get a first-hand encounter with childhood trauma as it affects the learning and behavior of young students. Young children process their trauma differently whether that be through behavioral issues or a withdrawn demeanor. Building strong, positive relationships with students and creating a safe learning environment are practical methods used by educators when working with traumatized young learners, however there is much more to be done to best meet the needs of these students. This thesis emphasizes the detrimental effects of early trauma on brain development and education with an exploration of current literature. This qualitative study, involving a variety of stakeholders within early childhood education, reveals a notable need for an implementation of trauma-informed practices and professional development training within the early learning environment
A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE 22-ITEM EMPATHY ASSESSMENT INDEX
Get PDFThe Empathy Assessment Index (EAI), an instrument based on the social cognitive neuroscience conceptualization of empathy, is a measure of interpersonal empathy with five components: affective response, self-other awareness, perspective taking, affective mentalizing, and emotion regulation. However, the most recently added component, affective mentalizing, has demonstrated high correlations with perspective taking. The high correlations may indicate a lack of discriminant validity within the index. This non-experimental, quantitative, and cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether the factor structure of the 22-Item EAI is a correlated five-component model. A snowball sample of 929 community members completed the 22-Item EAI as an online survey housed in SurveyMonkey. The hypothesized five-component model was examined with a confirmatory factor analysis in a random subsample (n = 300) of the valid dataset (N = 903). Findings indicated that a five correlated model of the 22-Item EAI had inadequate or poor model fit: χ2(199) = 605.41; NC = 3.04; RMSEA = .08 [.08, .09]; CFI = .80; TLI = .77; SRMR = 0.08. The findings suggest that additional research is needed to establish the underlying factor structure of the 22-Item EAI. Future studies should include exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to determine the best model fit of the index. The results of studies that have used the 22-Item EAI as a five-component model should be interpreted with caution. Keywords: Empathy Assessment Index, empathy, confirmatory factor analysis, affective mentalizing, perspective taking, measuremen
A THEOLOGY OF COMPASSION: ENCOURAGING LOCAL CHURCH MINISTRY TO CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE
Get PDFCompassionate care within the local community of a church is of vital essence to a thriving church ministry. For centuries church leaders have endeavored to make an impact in the lives of the people living in their vicinity through outreach efforts. The compassion of the local church is needed in the area of children in foster care. Through the analysis of two church programs focused on serving the spiritual, educational, and social needs of teens in the foster care system, this dissertation will examine how to assist local churches in establishing a program to serve the children in their local foster care system. The research of this project utilizes a theological study of biblical mandates and principles, a study of current literature, as well as surveys and interviews of the pastors, volunteer leaders, and church program volunteers of two churches to answer the question: How does a compassion organization best replicate itself within the ministry of today’s Christian Church? This study maintains its focus upon establishing a ministry to serve the children in the foster care system with an eye toward the population of children within the foster care system who have not nor will be adopted. With large numbers of children within the ranks of the foster care system, it is incumbent upon the church of Jesus Christ to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit to serve the need of those who are at-risk and unable to care for themselves. Should the church heed the word of God to love our neighbor as ourselves, compassion will emerge from its ranks. This project will inform the reader in methods to establish effective compassion for one of society’s most vulnerable generations
INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS: ELEMENTARY REGULAR CLASSROOM TEACHERS’ PERCEIVED STRESSORS AND SUPPORTS NEEDED TO EFFECTIVELY TEACH STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the proportions of students with special needs in elementary classrooms and regular elementary teachers’ stressors and needs for professional development support. The conceptual framework for the study was derived from critical mass theory and tipping point theory. The design of this dissertation study was non-experimental survey research of a non-random, purposive sample of 52 regular elementary classroom teachers who taught students with special needs. The researcher used a broad definition of students with special needs to include those who were working on a RtI Tier 2 or Tier 3 plan in addition to the students with Individual Education Plans or 504 Plans. In this sample of elementary teachers, the mean proportion of all special needs students to total students was .55 or 55%. Survey respondents indicated the extent to which the domains of student behavior, parent, administrative, classroom, professional competency, and personal competency issues were stressful on a four-point Likert scale. All six of the survey’s domains of teachers’ stressors were significantly related to the sample’s mean composite stressor score (Mean = 2.52; p ≤ .001); however, there was no significant relationship (p \u3c .34) between the proportion of students with special needs and teachers’ stressors. Seventy-six percent of the teachers agreed or strongly agreed on the need for more professional development related to meeting the needs of special learners. The relationship between the proportion of students with special needs and teachers’ needs for professional development approached significance (p \u3c .07). Teachers reported that their greatest stressors were related to work required outside contract hours. Keywords: teacher stress; teacher burnout; critical mass theory; tipping points; inclusive education; teacher attrition; teacher turnover; teacher chur