Variation in prevention of child maltreatment by Dutch child healthcare professionals

Child maltreatment (CM) is a common condition with a large impact on the victim and society. In the Netherlands, the preventive child healthcare (CHC) aims to protect children against such threats. However, several studies indicate that the efficacy in this area may be suboptimal for many CHC professionals. Therefore, this study aims to map the practice variation in the primary and secondary prevention of CM, by CHC physicians and nurses. This mixed-methods study used interviews to identify relevant topics and develop an online questionnaire. All CHC organizations in the Netherlands (n = 45) were asked to forward this questionnaire to their professionals. Practice variation was described with domain scores and item response distributions. Multi-level analysis was used to assess case mix-corrected variance between organizations. Interview participants (n = 11) expected suboptimal care in 35 topics which they considered important for prevention of CM, resulting in a 15 min questionnaire. Nearly two-thirds of the organizations (n = 29) agreed to forward the questionnaire to their employees. The response rate was 42% (n = 1104). Suboptimal care and practice variation was found in all domains (i.e. communication, medical expertise, collaboration, involvement in prevention of CM, and improvement opportunities), mostly caused by intra-organization variance. Significant inter-organization variance was found for collaboration (variance partition coefficient 6–7%) and involvement (2–3%). Furthermore, the majority of the respondents (96%) reported fear in acting upon suspicions of CM. Substantial suboptimal care and practice variation in prevention of CM warrant action from authorities, CHC training institutes, CHC organizations, and professionals.     

Conversations about sexuality on a public university campus: perspectives from campus ministry students and leaders

Little is known about university campus religious organisations’ influence on students’ sexuality-related attitudes and behaviours. This study sought to better understand sexuality-related communication within the context of campus ministries by exploring students’ and campus ministry leaders’ conversational experiences at a public university in the south-east USA. Data sources included an online survey of undergraduates participating in student religious organisations (n = 57), focus groups with campus ministry students (n = 36), and individual interviews with campus ministry leaders (n = 19). Findings indicated student satisfaction with the focus and frequency of conversations about romantic relationships and sexual health within the context of campus ministries. However, both campus ministry students and leaders indicated discomfort in discussions of sexuality. Leaders acknowledged their need for better strategies to engage students; students focused on how to integrate religious messages about sexuality with messages from other sources. These findings suggest campus ministry leaders may benefit from focused training and support to communicate more effectively with college students about sexuality.     

Working with childhood sexual abuse: a survey of mental health professionals

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to establish the views of a group of mental health professionals from various disciplines working in mental health service in a British hospital about the needs of clients who had experienced childhood sexual abuse. METHOD: Staff members were asked to complete an anonymous survey which asked questions relating to knowledge of sexual abuse and its effects, and the needs of clients and staff in working with this client group. A total of 54 people responded to the survey, 42 were female, 11 male. Most (72%) reported having over 10 years experience working in mental health, working in both in-patient and out-patient settings. RESULTS: While respondents were reasonably knowledgeable about childhood sexual abuse, they were not very comfortable, competent or supported in their work with this client group. There were no differences in responses according to the age or gender of respondents, but less experienced staff were more likely to feel supported. Those that had received training and/or supervision felt significantly more capable in working with this client group. CONCLUSIONS: The study offers some support for the development of specialist training, consultancy and supervision programs for mental health staff in the area of child sexual abuse.     

Education for the elderly: New directions in a changing Europe

It will be of paramount importance for a united Europe to integrate older men and women and to establish their position in society. European countries are insufficiently prepared for the individual and collective resources of the elderly. Unfortunately the countries lack institutions capable of supporting a lifelong process of education, including the elderly. Today's elderly people become increasingly aware that because of technological and economic demands and changes in society it is necessary to learn and retrain through the whole of one's life. The strengthening of the community of solidarity in Europe requires not only the promotion of older and younger people learning about each other, but especially the transfer of experience and knowledge among the older people of different countries. The reason for this strident demand for education for the elderly has to be seen in the context of a demographic and structural process of change, which affects almost all European societies. Education for the elderly contributes to connecting experiences and the capacity of elderly people to cope with their situation with up-to-date knowledge and with new strategies for possible solutions. At the same time the educational situation is suited to encouraging and promoting a transfer of knowledge between elderly and younger people and among members (elderly or younger) of different countries.

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Zusammenfassung Das Europa der Zukunft verfügt über ein Potential von alternden und letztlich dann alten Frauen und Männern, das zu integrieren und gesellschaftlich zur Geltung zu bringen von zentraler Bedeutung für ein vereintes Europa sein wird. Gleichwohl sind die europäischen Länder auf die individuellen und kollektiven Ressourcen Älterer noch unzureichend eingestellt. Bedauerlicherweise fehlt es an Institutionen, die in der Lage sind, Lern- und Bildungsprozesse lebenslang, vor allem aber im Alter, zu fördern. Alternden Menschen wird heute im zunehmendem Maße bewußt, daß aufgrund technischer und ökonomischer Anforderungen sowie gesellschaftlicher Wandlungsprozesse fortwährende Neu- und Umlernprozesse im Lebensverlauf von Nöten sind. Angesichts der europäischen Integration ist zur Stärkung der Solidargemeinschaft nicht nur ein wechselseitiges Lernen von älteren und jüngeren Menschen zu fördern, sondern vor allem auch der Erfahrungs- und Wissenstransfer zwischen den älteren Menschen verschiedener Nationen. Die Grundlage für die vehemente Forderung nach Bildung im Alter ist in demographischen und strukturellen Wandlungsprozessen zu sehen, von denen nahezu alle europäischen Gesellschaften betroffen sind. Bildung und Lernen im Alter trägt dazu bei, das Erfahrungswissen und die darin eingeschlossenen Auseinandersetzungskompetenzen Älterer in Zusammenhang zu bringen mit aktuellem Wissen sowie mit neuen Lösungsstrategien. Gleichzeitig sind Lern- und Bildungssituationen geeignet, einen Wissenstransfer zwischen verschiedenen Gruppen Älterer, zwischen Älteren und Jüngeren sowie zwischen Mitgliedern (Ältere oder Jüngere) verschiedener Nationen anzuregen und auszubauen.

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Résumé L'intégration des personnes âgées et la promotion de leur position dans la société aura une importance considérable dans l'Europe unifiée. Les pays européens sont mal préparés aux ressources individuelles et collectives de ces personnes. Malheureusement, ces pays manquent d'institutions capables de soutenir un processus d'éducation permanente prenant en considération les personnes âgées. Les personnes d'un âge avancé sont aujourd'hui de plus en plus conscientes, à cause des exigences technologiques et économiques et des changements intervenant dans la société, qu'il apparaît nécessaire d'apprendre et de mettre à jour leurs connaissances tout au long de la vie. Le renforcement de la communauté de solidarité en Europe requiert non seulement la promotion des jeunes et des personnes âgées engagés dans un processus d'apprentissage mutuel, mais surtout le transfert d'expériences et de connaissances entre les personnes âgées de pays différents. La raison de cette demande pressante d'éducation pur les personnes âgées doit être vue dans le contexte d'un processus démographique et structural de changement, qui touche presque tous les pays européens. L'éducation relative aux personnes âgées contribue à établir un rapport entre les expériences et la capacité des personnes âgées à venir à bout de leur situation, et un savoir actuel et de nouvelles stratégies pour des solutions possibles. En même temps, la situation éducative est apte à encourager et à promouvoir un transfert de connaissances entre les jeunes et les personnes âgées et entre les membres (jeunes ou âgés) des différents pays.

     

What professionals can teach us about education: a call for change

After 10 years of interviews with professionals who work across creative and business sectors, the author has drawn together findings in this article to encourage a collapsing of silos between schools and workplaces so that educators can build on untapped expertise from professionals who work and think multimodally. This call for change involves adopting alternative, age-old models of learning such as studio pedagogy where learning is modeled and framed by professionals and then practiced and honed by learners with access to materials and resources in a designated creative, thinking, experimentation space. In this article, historical models, and existing literature on creativity, innovation and play are examined; and telling case studies are presented from interviews with 61 professionals to encourage researchers and policy-makers to adopt a studio-atelier approach to teaching and learning.     

Negotiated silence: the management of the self as a moral subject in young Ethiopian women's discourse about sexuality

In Ethiopia, as in many other countries, moral discourses about female sexuality in general, and pre- and extramarital sexual experience in particular, create an environment that discourages women from engaging in open dialogue about their sexuality and their past or future sexual experience. In the study of induced abortion among unmarried women in Addis Ababa on which this paper rests, women describe a situation in which they are both surrounded by silence about sexual issues and forced to remain silent themselves. This paper investigates the nature of, and conditions for, this silence and the ways in which it is socially brought about and negotiated. In particular, it explores the ways through which young, unmarried women who have undergone abortion seek to reconcile seemingly contradictory, condemning discourses about premarital sex and more general codes addressing social, as well as moral, propriety and integrity. The discussion highlights that, while issues of sexuality are silenced, neither the silence nor the silencing power of dominant, gendered moral discourses is absolute. Moreover, silence may also be jointly produced and negotiated in social discourse fraught with moral objectives and ends.     

Popular social media as a tool for enhancing community-based end-of-life care education for healthcare professionals: a formative study

The purpose of this study is twofold: to assess the acceptance and usefulness of Nagoya University Small Private Online Courses, which is an online end-of-life care educational program through popular social media designed to supplement traditional end-of-life care education among healthcare professionals and to get constructive feedback with the aim of enhancing the impact of the program on fundamental knowledge of and attitudes toward end-of-life care provision. All 107 participants nationwide enrolled in this educational program completed the entire study. We found evidence of the beneficial effect of the social media strategies on participants’ knowledge and practice toward end-of-life care. In addition, data analyses provided insights into modifiable factors associated with learners’ active participation.     

南宋官学与书院的办学思想

南宋的官学与书院都是为封建政府培养人才的地方，作为两种并存的教育组织形式，其办学思想各有所重。官学的学科齐全，为社会培养所需的各方面人才；书院则注重道德修养与学术研究。随着时间的推移，官学和书院之间互相影响。南宋中后期，理学成为官方学说，理学家们讲学的书院也成为官学的一种。     

Special Education Aspects of PGCE Courses in University Departments of Education: a survey report

Abstract

This paper will argue that academic programmes which emphasise personal and/or professional growth create a ‘responsibility’ on their part to continue to support learners’ development following graduation.

The paper will present preliminary evidence gathered from recently graduated Master of Business Administration (MBA) learners which reveals that unless support is continued, in time learners will revert back to previous practices of learning and behaviour in the course of their work, thus undoing the benefits that the programme has sought to introduce.     

从“全纳教育”思想出发谈我国高等特殊教育

全纳教育本质上是一种面向全体学生、以实现教育公平为目标价值取向的全民、终身教育,这就为高等教育提供了办学方向。在我国,弱势群体接受高等特殊教育的现状不容乐观,文章从对其存在的问题进行分析,提出了自己的几点建议。     

Keeping it complex: the power of support from a community of professionals

This paper reports on ways to think about how a teacher educator might learn. A review of the process of writing a Collaborative Action Research Network conference paper is presented, followed by a reflection on the nature of the Conference feedback. The learning at the Conference is built on by an analysis of approaches to thinking about learning. This covers how learners, both teachers in initial education and their teacher educator, might respond to anomalous data. This shows the need to think things through from the points of view of others. This difficult process is aided by conference attendance and also by adopting post-formal thinking. This post-formal approach goes beyond the formal, closed problem approach of a number of models of teacher learning to one that acknowledges a multiplicity of ways of looking and analysing teaching and learning. Evidence is presented that suggests that using the post-formal approach may be a fruitful way to think about teacher development.     

Education on population matters in Europe: results from a comparative survey among students in five European countries

In 1996–1997, within the framework of the European Observatory for Population Education and Information, a comparative survey was conducted among students in final classes of secondary education in several European countries. On the one hand, the survey attempted to assess the effects of education on population in terms of knowledge acquired; the issues addressed in the questionnaire pertained to knowledge of demographic facts and trends (such as the ageing of Western societies and immigration). On the other hand it tried to ascertain students' opinions on demographic trends. What are young people's views on intergenerational solidarity, how tolerant are they towards immigrants, what are their views on recent changes in family structures? This knowledge is important since it is young people's attitudes and future behaviour that will help to shape both the social tissue and the economic prosperity of the European and world population. In this article we present a comparative analysis of survey results obtained in five European countries. We examined the question whether knowledge acquired in the course of scolarisation influences opinions. The results evidence a significant relationship between knowledge of the migrants' issue and attitudes of tolerance towards migrants. By means of multivariate analyses, the impact of factors such as social origin, study orientation and gender on both students' knowledge and attitudes, are investigated. We conclude that adequate educational training on population issues can have a significant positive impact on attitudes of tolerance.     

Education makes a difference: Results of a survey of writing on the job

A survey of 182 employees participating in writing workshops reveals some differences in writing practices, based on the educational level of the employee, and suggests that employees with advanced degrees (e.g., master's or doctoral) vary most noticeably from the other groups. In particular, it seems that a large percentage of workers with graduate training write long reports, write to other experts in their field, and spend time revising. Additional research needs to be done on the impact of educational level on writing practices.     

Comprehensive sexuality education,culture and gender: the effect of the cultural setting on a sexuality education programme in Ethiopia

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is recognised as an effective method of sexual health education, with the school identified as a fitting site of implementation. Its holistic and participatory nature endeavours to develop the knowledge, attitudes and life-skills of students to help them secure their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This qualitative study aimed to better understand aspects of CSE implementation in one context. Specifically, it focuses on the effects of the cultural setting, considering how gender and sexuality norms influence teacher and student implementation strategies. The research was carried out in one secondary school in Ethiopia, which delivered a Dutch-developed programme throughout 2013. Over 50 in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and students, influential community members and experts in SRHR. Data were also gathered through focus group discussions and classroom observations. Results show that CSE teachers and students, both male and female, were able to discuss issues of sexuality. However, the cultural context was seen to affect interpretation of programme information, influencing the nature of this discussion. For an impactful implementation, it is recommended that sexuality education aims to engage with and involve the wider community, to reduce contradictory messages and increase programme support. Furthermore, teachers should undergo extensive and comprehensive pre-programme training that addresses their attitudes and values, not just their knowledge.     

成人高校向高等职业技术教育战略转变的对策

当前，为适应新经济时代对知识和人才的迫切需求，教育体制改革取得一系列积极的进展。许多名牌大学实施扩张发展战略，教学规模的扩大、招生人数的增加、师资力量的增强、各类学科专业的增多，教育资源实行新的配置以充分发挥其潜力，这一切深刻的变化，引起全社会对高等教育事业的关注和投入。众多企业也纷纷投资于教育产业，并创办职业技术培训学院。面对这些新的机遇和挑战，