What is the meaning of spiritual health among older adults? A concept analysis

ABSTRACT

The different dimensions of spiritual health among older adults remain unknown to date and no globally acceptable definitions have yet been provided for the concept. To conduct the current study, the databases including Proquest, Medline, CINAHL, Science Direct, Blackwell, Iranmedex, SID, Noor Magazine and Irandoc were searched for the articles published between 1980 and 2014 in both English and Persian using keywords including spirituality, spiritual well-being, spiritual health, geriatric, older adult and old people and their Persian equivalents. The search for articles yielded into 197 titles, 31 of which were repeated and were therefore excluded. The remaining 166 articles were screened based on the inclusion criteria. A total of 29 articles were ultimately selected as the study samples. Rodgers’ evolutionary approach to concept analysis is used to identify the attributes, antecedents, consequences and surrogate terms of “spiritual health” and to provide a more comprehensive definition of the concept. The results obtained showed that spiritual health from the perspective of older adults is a multi-dimensional concept with cognitive, functional, affective and consequential components. Each component was found to be composed of several indicators. The results may help in providing a more thorough definition of spiritual health which can be a solid base for future researchers to develop appropriate tools for the assessment of older adults’ spiritual health and encourage research into this partially neglected subject. Care providers may also benefit from the results through acquiring a better understanding of the concept which can be used in designing appropriate spiritual interventions.     

The principal as a key actor in promoting teachers’ innovativeness – analyzing the innovativeness of teaching staff with variance-based partial least square modeling

The study examines the correlation between collective innovativeness of the teaching staff and the principal’s leadership style as well as additional school structure characteristics. The construct of collective innovativeness is examined as a precondition of successful school improvement processes driven by the teaching staff. Based on theoretical interdisciplinary analyses and empirical findings, the examined hypothesis was that the principal’s leadership directly and positively influences the collective innovativeness of the teaching staff. The results of the structural equation modeling (partial least squares regression) indicate that the principal’s leadership style is the strongest predictor of teachers’ collective innovativeness and, together with the teaching staff’s perception of hierarchical structures and autonomy within the school, explained 51% of variance in the construct. The paper highlights important aspects of principals’ leadership styles that can encourage collective innovativeness among teachers.     

Who says aging is lonely? A phenomenology of Filipino older adults’ experiences of happiness when joining international group tours

Across the literature, travelling has been viewed as a recurring activity for older adults and is driven by a multitude of purposes and reasons. Previous studies have probed touristic activities of older adults however, little is known about their emotional experiences specifically their sense of happiness when joining international group tours, hence this phenomenological study. A qualitative approach was utilized to gather data from a group of 15 purposively selected participants aged 60 years and above. A two-part instrument consisting of a robotfoto and a semi-structured interview was used in this study. Through vertical and horizontal analyses of the field text, this study afforded the development of The Spiraling Model of Aging Filipino Tourists’ Happiness. This model describes aging tourists’ happiness while travelling as a product of Shared Moments, Shared Culture, Shared Memories, and Shared Transcendence. Summarily, findings of this study may provide significant insights to service providers such as hotels, airlines and travel agencies across the globe in developing innovative marketing strategies that cater to this promising age group. Empirically, this study may stimulate further exploration in the field of Cognitive Psychology aimed at adding large-scale data regarding the study of emotions specifically older adults’ happiness when joining international group tours.     

What predicts injury from physical punishment? A test of the typologies of violence hypothesis

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the power of child, perpetrator, and socio-economic characteristics to predict injury in cases of reported child physical abuse. The study was designed to assess the validity of the assumption that physically injurious incidents of child physical abuse are qualitatively different from those that do not result in injury, that their generative factors are distinctive, and that the quality of caregiving in these two types of incidents is different. METHOD: A weighted, nationally representative sample of 8,164 substantiated punishment abuse cases in Canada was used. Various models were constructed and evaluated through logistic regression. RESULTS: Of six potential predictors - child age, perpetrator sex, child functioning, parent functioning, economic stress, and social stress - none predicted injury to the child. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that injurious and non-injurious physical abuse cannot be distinguished on the basis of the personal characteristics or circumstances of the child or perpetrator. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: A common criterion for child welfare intervention into cases of suspected physical abuse is injury or risk of injury. This criterion assumes that injurious and non-injurious assaults are qualitatively different phenomena, predicted by different risk factors. In the present study an attempt was made to differentiate between injurious and non-injurious cases of punitive physical abuse on the basis of characteristics of the child, perpetrator, family, and social context. None of these factors explained the likelihood of injury, suggesting that the prediction of injury as an intervention criterion may be questionable.     

What is successful adaptation of lesson study in the US?

This paper features a case study of one US K-8 school district pioneering the use of “lesson study,” a teacher professional development approach adapted from Japan. The case explores events that occurred in the district over more than 4 years (Spring 2000–Fall 2004) as lesson study spread nationally and within the district. We document four categories of changes that occurred in the district’s lesson study approach, and describe some of the early consequences of these changes as well as conditions that enabled the changes to occur. We argue that this case illustrates much of what we would hope to see in a maturing lesson study effort, and conclude that other US sites may need to go through similar changes, organize similar supports, and persist in their learning about lesson study to successfully adapt this model to their local contexts.     

What changes,and for whom? A study of the impact of learning analytics-based process feedback in a large course

Recent developments in educational technologies have provided a viable solution to the challenges associated with scaling personalised feedback to students. However, there is currently little empirical evidence about the impact such scaled feedback has on student learning progress and study behaviour. This paper presents the findings of a study that looked at the impact of a learning analytics (LA)-based feedback system on students' self-regulated learning and academic achievement in a large, first-year undergraduate course. Using the COPES model of self-regulated learning (SRL), we analysed the learning operations of students, by way of log data from the learning management system and e-book, as well as the products of SRL, namely, performance on course assessments, from three years of course offerings. The latest course offering involved an intervention condition that made use of an educational technology to provide LA-based process feedback. Propensity score matching was employed to match a control group to the student cohort enrolled in the latest course offering, creating two equal-sized groups of students who received the feedback (the experimental group) and those who did not (the control group). Growth mixture modelling and mixed between-within ANOVA were also employed to identify differences in the patterns of online self-regulated learning operations over the course of the semester. The results showed that the experimental group showed significantly different patterns in their learning operations and performed better in terms of final grades. Moreover, there was no difference in the effect of feedback on final grades among students with different prior academic achievement scores, indicating that the LA-based feedback deployed in this course is able to support students’ learning, regardless of prior academic standing.     

What are the Earth and the heavenly bodies like? A study of objectual conceptions among Norwegian deaf and hearing pupils

This study addresses deaf pupils' conceptions of phenomena, that can be directly observed, of the Earth and sky. In the study deaf pupils aged 7, 9, 11, and 17 years were interviewed. A control group of 9-year-old Norwegian pupils with normal hearing was also interviewed. The results show that the young deaf children have conceptions that are remarkably like the scientifically accepted ones, when their age is taken into account, while this is not the case for the oldest groups. Four out of five deaf 7-year-olds, for example, thought the Earth was spherical, not flat; while only five out of eight deaf 17-year-olds thought the same for shapes of the heavenly bodies. Possible reasons for this are discussed. The results also indicate that the shapes of the signs representing objects may affect deaf people's conceptions of those objects.     

What makes a professional learning community possible? A case study of a Mathematics department in a junior secondary school of China

The concept of “professional learning community” (PLC) has been suggested as a tool to improve teachers’ professional competency and students’ learning outcomes since the mid-1990s. In such a community, teachers can share their individual practices with the aim of searching for “good practice” based on the outcome of collective inquiry. Such a learning process will result in a reculturing of the school community by reshaping the existing values and cultures and resolving problems such as teacher isolation and individualism. China already has a long tradition of teachers working and learning collaboratively, so investigating collaborative efforts in this context may provide a view of how to contextualize professional development of teachers in schools. This study attempts to access teachers’ lenses in order to explore their views on the effects of subject-based professional learning activities. This also helps to explain how teachers work and openly share their practices aiming at improving their professional competency and student learning outcomes within their communities. Also, factors influencing the sustainability of a professional learning community will be discussed.     

What predicts students’ critical thinking disposition? A comparison of the roles of classroom and family environments

Learning Environments Research - In learning environments research, limited attention has been paid to the effects of the family environment on student thinking. This study constructed a...     

In the same boat? An online group career counseling with a group of young adults in the time of COVID-19

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - An online group of career counseling for unemployed young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic was developed. Twelve participants were...     

What are we aiming for?—A Delphi study on the development of civic scientific literacy in Sweden

Based on the EU FP 7 project, PROFILES, this article presents our findings from a three-round Delphi study conducted in Sweden that aimed at establishing a consensus on how science education should be developed for citizens to enhance civic scientific literacy. A total of 100 stakeholders (9th graders, school teachers, scientists, and science education researchers) were involved in our Delphi study in 2012–2013. The results revealed that there were some highly ranked consensus ideas: environmental issues, inquiry skills, motivation/interest, and holistic comprehension. The conclusions of our research imply the importance of involving different stakeholders in the educational reconstruction process; we suggest that schoolteachers in particular should play a vital role.     

Pupils’ Image of ‘the Scientist’ among Two Communities in Israel: A comparative study

The image of ‘the scientist’ and its effect on the willingness to be a scientist and to follow a career in science were investigated in two different cultural populations of elementary and junior high school pupils in Israel: Hebrew‐speaking (secular) pupils (N = 390) and Arabic‐speaking Bedouin pupils (N = 185). Five different tools were employed in our investigation (naming scientists, pictorial representation of the scientist (‘Draw‐a‐Scientist‐Test’), statements regarding the characteristics of the scientist, reasons for wanting/not wanting or being able/being unable to be scientists, and sources of knowledge regarding the scientist’s image). The image held by Hebrew pupils was similar to those held by western pupils found in previous research, but some details were more elaborate (due to the fact that many different tools were employed here). However, the image held by the Arabic pupils differed from that found in previous research. This image had a strong ethnical trend, with Golden Age Muslim scientists’ names dominating name lists, and drawings of traditional Muslim figures. Another image found in their drawings was of a scientist admired as a teacher, emphasising the Bedouin school’s formal culture. The theory of modernity will be a useful analytical tool to judge the results of the investigation, whether the population is supposed to be (or is close to) a modern population and whether it does not, definitely, fall under this definition (see Methods and Discussion).     

What underlies the shift to a modality of partnership in educational development cooperation?

This paper situates the philosophy and politics of partnership in educational development cooperation in the context of wider epistemological and axiological shifts in contemporary social theory. Partnerships in development cooperation are also considered in the light of the alleged failure of international development assistance, a claim that has received much attention with the publication of, among others, William Easterly’s The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good (2006) and of Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid: Why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa (2008). Partnership as a development strategy offers one response to these claims, but if shared development objectives and policies, shared ownership, shared decisions about where aid is targeted, shared rights, shared responsibilities, and shared implementation strategies still leave the education development community facing challenges as big as ever, it might be time, the paper concludes, to consider whether the concept of partnership has not been expanded too far as a modality in development cooperation.     

What motivates students? A study on the effects of teacher leadership and students’ self-efficacy

Students’ educational motivation is significant for performance and achieving learning, but little is known about what fuels such motivation. Educational motivation is regarded as the drive and inner state that energise educational activities, facilitate learning and channel behaviour towards achieving educational goals. Educational motivation paves the way for students to learn and acquire the knowledge that is essential for successful study outcomes. This article aims to explore what determines students’ educational motivation. Building on the self-determination theory, we modelled the influence of teachers’ leadership and students’ self-efficacy on students’ educational motivation. We used survey data from a sample of upper secondary school students in Sweden; we received a total of 993 answers, equal to a response rate of 74%. The results show that students’ self-efficacy and teacher leadership are of extreme importance for students’ educational motivation, and that highly efficacious students lose most educational motivation when the teacher’s leadership is poor. The results thus support the importance of teachers’ leadership for encouraging student learning.     

Motivations for older adults’ participation in distance education: A study at the National Open University of Taiwan

The paper presents an enabling framework for experiential learning that connects with reflexive modernity. This framework places an emphasis on learning with others and on the role of theory, practice and reflection. A sociological argument is constructed for an alternative framework for experiential learning that derives from social theory. It is argued that reflection in learning connects with the concept of reflexivity in contemporary social theory. The arguments are developed through discussion of the following themes: (a) How does reflective learning in post compulsory education align with the needs of learners and reflexive modernity? (b) How can experiential learning provide a framework for more reflexive learning in education?     

Who benefits from widening participation? A study of targeting in the South West of England

As the Aimhigher programme is a targeted initiative, partnerships have to find ways of locating groups that are under‐represented in higher education (HE) and selecting participants for interventions. If the selection criteria are not robust, resources will be misdirected, while overly narrow indicators can exclude legitimate participants and risk stigmatizing beneficiaries. Striking the right balance is difficult but essential if the programme is to be effective. This article explores the ways in which the Aimhigher partnerships in the South West of England have targeted participants and considers the extent to which their approach has directed the programme towards its intended beneficiaries. Using dual criteria of potential to benefit from HE and no parental experience of HE, these partnerships worked with schools to identify school students to take part in their activities. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data about a sample of 557 school students, 80% had no parental background in HE and 83% achieved five or more A*–Cs at GCSE. Although the criteria for selection were being accurately operationalized, only a third of the sample were from socio‐economic groups IIIm, IV and V that have been identified as under‐represented in HE. Nevertheless, the programme was reaching those without parental experience of HE who might need more support to progress to HE. In addition, those from manual backgrounds were most likely to have obtained most exposure to the programme through multiple interventions. This evidence suggests that the Aimhigher programme in the South West is indeed reaching its prime target group.     

The impact of the secure custodial setting on re-engaging incarcerated children with education and learning – A case study in the UK

As many as 90 % of incarcerated children and young people enter the secure setting disengaged from education. The nature of the secure custodial setting compounds the complex and challenging needs of the children, though efforts to understand this are limited. This paper reports on an ethnographic case study in one secure children’s home in England. Findings show that children can be re-engaged with education, relatively easily within a short space of time, given the right conditions. However, the secure setting was a defining feature, shaping the extent of this engagement. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendation made.     

What do they like? Communication preferences and patterns of older adults in the United States: The role of technology

ABSTRACT

With the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), there are increasingly more Internet-based communication methods available for older adults besides traditional methods (e.g., in-person or landline phone). However, older adults’ preferred communication methods remain under-investigated. The purpose of this study is to explore the communication preferences and patterns of older adults in the United States, with emphasis on technologically-mediated environments. In this study, 17 semistructured interviews were conducted with participants from a midwestern state in the United States. The goal was to examine older adults’ communication patterns and preferences with family members and friends, as well as their views about the impacts of modern technology on communication. Three themes (communication preferences and reasons, communication barriers, and the impacts of technology) were generated from the interviews. The findings showed that although face-to-face communication is the most preferred method, telephone communication is the most commonly adopted method. Interviewees also shared different opinions regarding Internet-based communication. The current study illustrated the importance of understanding the preferences and patterns of older adults’ communication needs and desires.