Skill Acquisition through Indigenous Apprenticeship: A case study of the Yoruba blacksmith in Nigeria

This paper is primarily concerned with indigenous apprenticeship in the Yorubaland of Nigeria with particular reference to training in blacksmithing. First, it provides a background which considers the nature of apprenticeship and shows how it is different from schooling. Then it discusses the necessary and vital ground work that should be done before a candidate is admitted to apprenticeship. The article describes the various stages in the apprentice's training, their rationale and their implications. Finally, the implications of this indigenous approach to manpower development for schooling and out-of-school educational programmes are considered.     

Nigerians' concept of death and its implications for counselling in Nigeria

Motivated partly by the contents of most in memorians and obituaries announced on the pages of Nigeria's newspapers, a study was designed to investigate the attitude of some Nigerian students toward death and related matters. A questionnaire was designed and administered to final year education students in two federal universities and one state college of education. In all, 245 students took part in the study. The results suggest that the Nigerian students involved in the study believe in reincarnation, believe that the dead do see and influence the living, and that death is often caused by the work of evil people. Among the implications of these findings for counselling is the difficulty Nigerian counsellors and counsellees could experience in trying to relate meaningfully to each other as a result of Nigerians' inadequate conception of death and their unwillingness to place implicit trust in other people not perceived as a member of the society. The need for a reorientation in some aspects of indigenous cultural beliefs is advocated. This, it is suggested, could be encouraged through mass literacy programmes and through a carefully designed programme of counsellor training.     

Towards a traditional model for school counselling and care in Nigeria

This paper attempts to present a traditional model that can be used for school counselling in the Nigerian school system.To do this, it discusses beliefs and values in a traditional setting, healing and characteristics of traditional counselling environment and the traditional healing processes. Finally, it gives a discourse on a model for therapy in Nigerian schools.The emphasis of the paper is that it is necessary for school counselling to be marshed with the traditional model as the students schools seek to nurture, ultimately, still go back to tradition for self-realization and self-actualization.     

Stigma of school counselling among Israeli adolescents as a function of ethnicity,counselling orientation and contact frequency

The stigma of counselling frequently affects those groups who need it most. This has certainly been the case in junior high schools in Israel. The research focused on the attitudes toward counselling of 2296 Israeli adolescents. Data analysis showed that students of Asian-African origin (Oriental) who occupy a lower socio-economic stratum, feel more stigmatized by counselling than their European-American origin (Ashkenasic) counterparts, even though they appreciate it more. Both groups experienced less stigma when the counselling service was hybridized with normative functions. Moreover, expanding the frequency of contact with the counsellor was found to increase rather than eliminate vulnerability to stigma among the Oriental students, thus suggesting that varying the nature, and therefore the perception, of the service is a more productive approach.     

A comparison of Thai and American counselling students perceptions of counselling

The expectancies that people of different cultures bring to counselling affect the outcomes of counselling. It was the purpose of this study to examine the ways that counselling students in two different countries, Thailand and the United States, perceived Counselling. The evaluative and potency scales of the Semantic Differential were used to compare the attitudes of these students related to Counselling, Counsellors, and Group Counselling. No significant difference were found in the ratings of the two groups of students on the evaluative scale for Counselling, Counsellors, or Group Counselling, but the American students rated the potency scales for these three variables significantly higher than the Thai students. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

以构建和谐社会的视野正确处理人民内部矛盾

针对新时期人民内部矛盾新特点，认为必须采取经济的办法、民主的方法、综合的办法解决人民内部矛盾。即：必须以经济建设为中心，大力发展社会生产力，从根本上保障和提高人民的物质生活水平，代表好、维护好、发展好广大人民群众的利益；必须建立合理的利益协调机制，并把解决矛盾纠纷纳入法制化轨道，让人民群众在诉求自身利益时渠道畅通；必须完善社会保障制度，让弱势群众能共享改革发展的成果；同时，还应努力提高各级政府的执政能力，以赢取人民群众的信赖和拥戴。     

论邓小平对人民内部矛盾学说的创新与发展

邓小平立足于新的实践,继承和发展了毛泽东关于正确处理人民内部矛盾学说:一是提出解放思想、实事求是,为正确处理人民内部矛盾奠定思想基础;二是大力发展生产力,从根本上解决人民内部矛盾;三是提出改革是解决人民内部矛盾的重要途径;四是通过制度建设解决人民内部矛盾;五是通过思想政治工作化解人民内部矛盾。     

Folklore as an instrument of education among the Chewa people of Zambia

This article considers the folklore of the Chewa people of Zambia as an instrument of education. It suggests that there is only a fine distinction between Chewa culture [mwambo wa a Chewa] and Chewa education [maphunziro ya Uchewa]. The former comprises tribal “truths” to be imposed on the minds of the younger generation. The latter comprises stages in the development of the young through training and some formalised learning. However, by and large, the former dominates the latter. The strongest features of an African Indigenous Knowledge System (AIKS) such as that of the Chewa people are best expressed in terms of Jakayo Peter Ocitti’s five philosophical principles of African indigenous education, namely preparationism, functionalism, communalism, perennialism and holisticism. They build on one another and are, therefore, related. The authors of this article demonstrate how Chewa culture and education use folklore to influence the minds of the young. They give examples of how various components of Chewa folklore are used to criticise, commend, dislike, admire, discard and adapt various traits in people. This paper does not present folklore as an educational panacea; there are weaknesses in Chewa traditional education which are also discussed. Rather, folklore is considered here as a valuable supplementary element in education. What the authors propose is to integrate folklore and informal learning as practised by the community in the formal curriculum to enhance the quality of the education provided for all and to maintain cultural identity.     

新时期农村人民内部利益矛盾问题及对策

新时期我国农村人民内部利益矛盾广泛存在于收入、土地、干群关系、就业等领域,已经对农村社会的稳定和发展造成了一定影响。我们必须从促进改革、维护社会和谐方面予以高度重视。只有正确反映和兼顾不同方面群众的利益,妥善处理相关利益问题和矛盾,才能调动一切积极因素,为建设社会主义新农村凝聚力量,保证全面小康社会的顺利实现。     

Adding value to education through improved mental health: A review of the research evidence on the effectiveness of counselling for children and young people

This paper is set against the backdrop of an increasing number of strategies and policies developed by the Department for Education and Skills in the U.K. regarding the promotion of positive mental health in schools and the recognition of the value of improving mental health in relation to children’s learning, achievement, attendance and behaviour. The aim of the paper is to present the results from a systematic review of the research evidence on counselling children and young people and discuss these results in relation to the educational context and the added value to be gained in addressing the mental health needs of children and young people. A systematic review methodology is used to assess the outcome research literature. The review is structured around a range of counselling issues and four groups of counselling approaches: cognitive-behavioural, person-centred, psychodynamic and creative therapies. Results indicate that all four approaches to counselling are effective for children and young people across the full range of counselling issues. However, more high quality published research evidence was located for the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural counselling than other approaches, identifying significant gaps in the evidence bases for these approaches. Other gaps in the evidence include research into counselling for school related issues and self-harm.     

Child abuse among the Zulus: A people in cultural transition

Due to industrialization and Westernization the life-style of the Zulu people has undergone a rapid and radical change. This has led to a breakdown of the traditional culture and has not been replaced by an adequate social support structure. Consequently, the social ills of the First World abound and are compounded by persistent beliefs in witchcraft and the power of the ancestral spirits. The Zulu child has thus been exposed to a wide variety of abuses including sheer brutality, ongoing “minor” trauma, neglect, sexual and alcohol abuse. The extended family of yesteryear no longer exists to absorb the stresses and the nuclear family is frequently incomplete. Some contributions towards a solution are seen in (1) Appropriate education at every possible level; (2) Promoting formal and informal community support groups; (3) Screening mothers perinatally; (4) Developing and promoting an adoption service; and (5) Improving primary health care facilities.     

正确处理和解决新时期人民内部矛盾

新时期的人民内部矛盾,是在根本利益一致基础上的非对抗性矛盾,从根本上讲,需要通过大力发展生产力来解决。“效率优先、兼顾公平”,发展社会主义民主、健全社会主义法制,加强和改进思想政治工作,应是正确处理和解决新时期人民内部矛盾的原则、手段和方法。     

中国本土心理学的困境及出路

自1981年本土心理学研究取向悄然兴起以来,经过几十年的研究历程,它已经成为当代中国心理学的发展趋势之一,引起了很多心理学研究者的极大兴趣,并取得了一定的研究成果。但还面临着一些困境,如西方心理学理论与中国传统文化之间的差异,研究者的研究取向本土化难以实现,缺少成熟健全的理论模式等。本文试在分析这些困境的基础上,探讨超越困境的方法和途径。     

正确处理人民内部矛盾理论的逻辑演进

正确处理人民内部矛盾的学说,从党的第一代领导核心毛泽东的提出和创立,经历了从政治逻辑的建立到经济逻辑的发展,又到社会逻辑的创新,从而使正确处理人民内部矛盾的学说更加科学化和具体化,充分体现了中国共产党人与时俱进和不断创新的精神。     

Inter-Ethnic Relations among Children at School: the perspectives of young people in Scotland

In the UK, policies and academic writings about inter-ethnic relations have witnessed many changes in recent decades, with a growing focus on the effects of different forms of racism and anti-racism. Opinions have been diverse on the extent to which both the majority and minority populations should respect and adapt to each other's traditions. Relatively little research has been undertaken on the experiences and perceptions of children. This article reports on findings from three linked studies which highlight the viewpoints of white and minority ethnic children as they made the transition to secondary schools. With a few exceptions, the children felt that their schools respected their religious practices and other customs. Most children of minority backgrounds had mixed friendship groups and the range of achievements, experiences and attitudes in relation to school were largely unrelated to ethnic background. Hardly any young people saw teachers as overtly racist, though small numbers believed teachers discriminated in favour of other groups. Peer racism was endemic and reported to be more frequent in secondary school than primary school. Teacher responses were often seen as inadequate.     

A systemic and qualitative exploration of career adaptability among young people with refugee backgrounds

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - This article reports on a secondary analysis of qualitative research about five African young adults with refugee backgrounds who...