Towards a unified theory for HIV/AIDS counselling

The paper explores the introduction of an unified theory for HIV/AIDS counselling. To date the provision of HIV/AIDS counselling has been largely based upon the behavioural theory of counselling. This theory has been adopted by WHO/GPA and its main aims have been the prevention of HIV infection and the psychosocial support for those already infected. It is argued that future counselling interventions should be redirected from a disease-centred approach to a person centred approach. This redirection can be facilitated by the adoption of the self concept as the central measure for evaluating change. It is argued that various ideas should be selected from the behavioural, psychoanalytical and humanistic theories of counselling. These ideas should be amalgamated into a unified theory which provides the theoretical foundation upon which a comprehensive counselling intervention can be based.     

Challenges to minority counselling: Arabs in Israel

Speech delivered at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling. University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 1985.     

A dutch contribution to counsellor education an in-service model. An in-service model

In the Netherlands counselling is seen as an integrated part of school life for the benefit of all students. Counsellor education at the University of Utrecht was provided as a part-time, in-service programme for teacher-counsellors. This structure enabled students to integrate the skills and theory learned with their practical application in schools; current school practice enriched learning on the programme. Examples of integrative activities which encouraged these benefits are given.     

Attitudes of counseling students in the United States toward minority clients

One hundred and twenty counseling students representing 10 programs across the United States were administered the Purdue Master Attitude Scale, the Defining Issues Test, the Index of Homophobia and a demographic questionnaire in an effort to identify attitudes of students to ward minority groups. A demographic profile of these counselors in traning presents a picture of the typical American. They are fairly young, mostly caucasian, middle class and were raised in traditional two-parent families.The results of the instruments administered indicate that counseling students appear to reflect the dominant culture attitude with respect to homophobia by demonstrating average to high homophobia, while the Purdue Master Attitude Scale reflects a somewhat overall positive attitude toward ethnic minorities.In terms of statistical analyses, level of moral judgment, as measured by the Defining Issues Test, was significantly related to attitude to ward ethnic and sexual preference minorities. Individuals with more favorable attitudes demonstrated higher levels of moral reasoning and vice versa. Higher frequency of experience with minorities was significantly related to lower homophobia scores and demonstrated a trend in the direction of better attitude scores. Quality of experience, while not achieving significance, showed a trend with better quality ratings being related to better attitude toward ethnic minorities and lower homophobia scores.Paper presented to the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Utrecht, the Netherlands July 15, 1985.     

Overwork and career-centered self-validation among the Japanese: Psychosocial issues and counselling implications

Overwork and workaholism among Japanese corporate workers and related psychosocial issues are explored. Ishiyama's (1989) model of self-validation is used as a conceptual framework. The Japanese culture and the corporate structure are treated as the context in which social pressure for overwork and obsessive work-preoccupation are espoused. The authors examine the nature and consequences of overwork and career-centered self-validation, in terms of family, marital, and existential issues, as well as stress andkaroshi (death by overwork). Implications to counselling and social and systemic change are discussed.     

Challenges and transformations: Counselling in a multicultural context

During the last two decades counselling in a multicultural context has been on the increase with more and more training programmes now including issues of race, culture and ethnicity. This has led to numerous approaches, for example transcultural, inter-cultural, cross-cultural, multicultural, Afro-centric, anti-racist and black feminist, which define counselling with minority groups. Although many of these approaches have a sound theoretical base, they nevertheless remain marginal in terms of convincing the minority communities of their value and effectiveness. This is clearly seen in the pre-mature termination and lack of participation by minorities in counselling and therapy. The chief criticism against counselling throughout this period is that, it has remained essentially, Eurocentric, ethnocentric and individualistic. Culture-sensitive counsellors and counselling within a "culture fit" model have been suggested as a way of making the process more appropriate to a diversity of cultures. Furthermore, this has led to some practitioners strongly advocating the inclusion of socio-economic and political constructs as part of a broader definition of multicultural counselling. For example, the issues of power and influence, cultural hegemony, racism and masculinities are becoming key schemas in cross cultural counselling practices. The challenge for multicultural counselling, in the next decade, would be to include traditional healing practices as part of its discourse, if it is to encourage the active participation of ethnicminorities. This paper is an attempt to explore some of these challenges and highlight some of the transformations that are taking place within multicultural counselling. Finally, through a discussion of a case vignette, the paper illustrates the need to accommodate traditional healing methods in counselling the culturally diverse client.     

The shell game called system rationalization: the politics and economics of retrenchment in the Ontario university system

The paper examines the recent experience of the Ontario university system with financial retrenchment. It is noted that the policy of the Government which was in power until May 1985, was to distribute cutbacks proportionately among all universities through an enrolment based funding formula, and to resist calls from various agencies for more selective intervention in the system. It is suggested that more selective interventions may hold a certain political appeal, and the new Government's first attempt at what it calls rationalizing the university system is described.The paper argues that rationalization is a very ambiguous, and often misleading, term which conceals either changes in university spending patterns or reductions in particular activities, and that such changes or reductions should be the subject of public debate. Most likely, change in the structure of the university system, by itself, will not save money, and the attempts of any government to be seen as making efficiency gains through merely rearranging relationships among universities is characterized as a shell game. Only reducing the number of institutions or programs, with corresponding reductions in numbers of staff and students, will produce significant financial savings, and that is a road down which Ontario politicians have been reluctant to travel, at least until recently. The paper concludes by suggesting that, insofar as it deems that retrenchment in the universities is fiscally necessary, Government should restrict its intervention to the realm of determining publicly affordable and appropriate levels of operating grants. Individual universities themselves should determine the most efficient ways to allocate whatever level of public funding is provided. The policy of making modest annual reductions in total real operating grants, with occasional increases when deemed possible, is probably the most prudent, if least glamorous, of available strategies for retrenchment.     

EDUCATIONAL GOALS OF AUTOMOTIVE MECHANICS STUDENTS ATTENDING POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITUTES IN GEORGIA

The importance of vocational education has long been recognized in meeting society's need for trained workers. Since the early 1960s there has been a gradual shift in emphasis of federal vocational education priorities from specific programs (e.g., agriculture) to special populations, such as minorities, women, disadvantaged or handicapped individuals, and individuals with limited English‐speaking proficiency (Ohanneson, 1982). The Vocational Education Act Amendments of 1976 reinforced this emphasis by requiring that follow‐up information be collected, not just by the vocational discipline but by special population groups as well (U.S. 94th Congress, 1976). Subsequent vocational education legislation places emphasis on providing vocational education to all individuals who can benefit from such training (U.S. 98th Congress, 1984; U.S. 101st Congress, 1990).     

Psychosocial Counselling in Nepal: Perspectives of Counsellors and Beneficiaries

The aims of this qualitative study were (1) to add to the understanding of the growing field of psychosocial counselling in Nepal, and (2) gather concrete points for improvement of services. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with clients (n = 34), para-professional counsellors (n = 26) and managers (n = 23) of organizations in which psychosocial counselling was taking place. The main findings were that stakeholders generally presented a positive view of the significance and supportive function of psychosocial counselling, while providing useful suggestions for improvement. Matters of ongoing training and supervision, confidentiality and integration of counselling within mainstream care provision need to be addressed and potentially adapted. Implications for other non-Western countries with little mental health resources are discussed.     

An examination of the adjustment journey of international students studying in Australia

This study examined at two Australian university campuses the types of problems that prompt international students to seek counselling services. The concerns reported by ninety students fell within three broad categories; adjustment issues, academic concerns and psychosocial problems. Follow-up interviews with a subset of these students (21) were used to gain more detailed information about their personal adjustment issues and also their experience of counselling services. Counsellors were also interviewed to obtain their perspective on the adjustment and counselling experience of students. Most problems for students occurred within the first 12 months of commencing studies and for many tended to reduce in incidence thereafter, but for some students the issues and problems remained ongoing. While the findings are limited to international students at only two Australian campuses, and furthermore the sample sizes are not large, the results suggest that these students often face extreme adjustment difficulties. Moreover, it is suggested that such students tended to only access counselling services when near the point of collapse, or following academic referral. The importance of pre-departure orientation packages for prospective students, while still in their home country, might reduce the incidence of such adjustment issues.     

红军长征与少数民族革命运动的兴起

长征，这一中华民族的壮举，她的胜利不仅粉碎了蒋介石企图消灭红军的迷梦，更扩大了革命影响，遍撒了革命火种，点燃了各少数民族革命的星星之火，促进了少数民族地区革命运动的迅猛发展：土地革命轰轰烈烈，武装斗争蓬勃兴起，政权建设成效显，参军扩红热火朝天等，从而揭开了中国民主革命史上各少数民族革命运动的新篇章。     

Intercultural-bilingual Education for an Interethnic-plurilingual Society? The Case of Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast

This paper aims to contribute to an emerging literature which treats multilingualism as more than, and distinct from, 'bilingualism plus'. It considers some paradoxes and tensions which arise when current Latin American models of 'intercultural-bilingual' education are applied to plurilingual and interethnic regions, such as Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast region. Here, three indigenous and two Afro-Caribbean minorities interact in common or overlapping territories, in ways which often entail the development of multilingual repertoires and dynamic, multifaceted identities. The paper focuses on intercultural-bilingual education programmes initiated in 1985, in two indigenous languages and in English/English-Creole, each with Spanish. It explores some complexities of Coast people's linguistic and cultural practices through autobiographical accounts, by workers in the programmes, of the development of their multilingual repertoires and allegiances. Finally, it suggests that the programmes' efficacy for the maintenance and revitalisation of cultures and languages and for the development of 'interculturality' is limited by their binary conception and design (vernacular+dominant language), and offers some pointers for further research towards their modification.     

Social science: A vehicle of white supremacy?

The traditional body of knowledge of white oriented scholarship has neglected the non-traditional knowledge system of people of color. This has resulted in developing counseling and mental health approaches that have limited relevance when applied to non-white populations.Paper prepared for the 1985 International Round Table for the Advancement of Counseling (IRTAC), Utrecht, The Netherlands.     

Premature termination of conselling at a university Counselling Centre

This study investigated premature termination of counselling at a university Counselling Centre. Twenty (20) premature terminators reported on their experience of counselling by completing a mailed questionnaire containing open- and close-ended items. The following results were obtained: Premature termination was not the result of a negative experience of counselling by the client; nor was premature termination the manifestation of a failed interpersonal relationship between the client and the counsellor; clients who terminated prematurely are likely to seek counselling again at a later stage in their lives; premature terminators would be likely to refer someone for counselling and premature terminators did not consider their participation in the study as violating the counsellor-client confidentiality. Limited support was established for the hypothesis that premature terminators will consider their expectations of counselling as not having been met.     

Political upheaval,cultural assimilation and the origin of counseling needs

At the front lines of counseling services may appear new ethnic groups whose background and view of the world contrast markedly with ours. Where actual disorders or manifestations of maladjustment are evidenced, there probably lies evidence of universal principles, that if recognized by the trans-multicultural counselor, can help the client even in difficult circumstances. In the present case, the dysfunctional behavior pattern that led to referral was understood as a signal of desperation by a confused, frustrated individual with a prior history of social maladjustment. The stress induced by political upheaval, and the uncertainty of Miguel's life situation seem to have triggered the observed maladjustment.Paper presented at the 1985 International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Utrecht, The Netherlands.     

Preparing university teachers in The Netherlands: Issues and trends

Abstract

During the last ten years universities in The Netherlands have become less dependent on national policies regarding salary structures, promotion criteria and reward systems. At the same time the government has put increased pressure on universities to take a serious look at the quality of education in general, and at the teaching qualities of the staff in particular. The effects of these policies on staff development at Dutch universities is described. The main focus is on recent initiatives by two universities, Utrecht and Maastricht, to improve the preparation of university teachers. For Utrecht a closer look is taken at the career system, in which the importance of teaching competence is upgraded; at the teacher training programme; and at the role of portfolios and assessment in the programme. The implications are discussed.     

Stunted Desegregation in Los Angeles

This report is an independent evaluative study of administrative decentralization in the Cleveland Public Schools carried out under contract with the Cleveland Board of Education. The study reviewed the history of decentralization, synthesized the literature on its contemporary development since 1970, summarized its emergence in Cleveland since 1980, and then focused intensively on events during 1984‐1985, Year 3 in that system's scheduled reorganization.

Relevant documents were reviewed from February through May of 1985. Then, 18 administrators, 6 from each of 3 levels, were interviewed in depth in March. In June, 18 other administrators and 14 teachers at 7 schools were interviewed as well. A questionnaire was sent to 335 administrators and 433 teachers, and 444 were returned, for a response rate of 58 percent. The project did not include Board members or parents and community leaders from School‐Community Councils.

Respondents gave fairly high ratings to the value of decentralization for Cleveland and were especially favorable toward the value of increased autonomy for school principals, school control over teacher selection, and school‐community councils. They rated the success of decentralization as of 1985 as no more than average, however, and they gave average ratings to the effort's overall impact thus far on school improvement. Most of those surveyed estimated the system was at the half‐way mark on the road to 100 percent implementation.

Teachers and field administrators generally regard the Board and the central administration as sources of obstacles to the evolution of decentralization. Most teachers have yet to become involved in the effort and this disinvolvement, combined with a more negative attitude by about half of the central staff, depressed the ratings of success and progress overall. In addition, there is a racial effect. White educators in Cleveland are less positive than Black educators toward decentralization.

The study found that the technical aspects of administrative decentralization are in excellent working order; that cluster directors, principals, and key subgroups of senior administrators at headquarters are very enthusiastic about the reorganization and its aims; and that school‐based teacher selection has been working quite well. However, some organizational obstacles remain to be surmounted: central staff lack incentives to let go of old bureaucratic procedures; too few pathways exist for widescale teacher participation; and cluster offices have too many paperwork duties and too few resources to allow them to carry out all of their work effectively. Many assistant principals, moreover, have not been delegated parts to play in decentralization. The implication of this study is that much has been accomplished on decentralization during Year 3, but the notion that the change can be fully installed in three years is in itself unrealistic.

The study concluded by recommending a reform in Cleveland's current practices of selecting principals so that the very best leadership can be secured in future years. It further recommended that organizational rather than technical planning be undertaken in order to integrate the four great changes now in progress in the system: desegregation, decentralization, educational improvement, and fiscal retrenchment. Some final suggestions were also discussed for improving the more affective aspects of decentralization, such as teacher morale and central staff participation in the field.     

Over-education: What influence does the workplace have?

The wage and job satisfaction impacts for over-educated workers have been well-documented; yet little attention has been paid to the consequences for firms. In this paper we examine over-education from the perspective of the workplace. Using linked employer–employee data for the United Kingdom, we derive the standard worker-level penalties on wages and job satisfaction. We then show how over-education rates across workplaces adversely influence workplace pay and workplace labor relations. For individual workers who may be at-risk of over-education, we also distinguish between workforce composition effects and workplace labor practices, such as hiring. The effect of over-education on job satisfaction is particularly strong and its effects are evident at the workplace level. Our results suggest that investigations of over-education at the level of the firm are a promising area of inquiry.     

Developing a Quality Programme for Higher Education at the Hogeschool Utrecht: A Dutch Case Study

This article focuses on the development and implementation of a quality programme for higher education at the Hogeschool Utrecht in the Netherlands. Over the last 5 years, there has been increased interest in the improvement of quality for the educational process in higher education in the Netherlands. On the one hand, higher education is confronted by a diminishing number of students and reductions in government funding. On the other hand, higher education is expected to become more flexible in its organization and finance. Institutes of higher education are developing policies and procedures for assisting the primary process (‘good’ education for students and society). In the Netherlands there are special quality guidelines for services like education, derived from the standard ISO 9004-2.

The Faculty of Computer Sciences and Industrial Management of Hogeschool Utrecht appointed a project team to develop a self-assessment programme addressing topics such as student admission, educational process, graduates, educational development, personnel policy, facilities and material resources, the internal quality system structure, interaction with clients and the operational elements of quality assurance. A report on the results has been sent to the HBO-Raad—the association uniting all Dutch polytechnics and colleges—and was used as the basis for a quality audit in May 1993.     

Curriculum studies at the open university

ABSTRACT

Widening participation – though it has only recently been labelled as such – has been a continuing concern for policy makers and higher education institutions in the United Kingdom since 1945 (and before). This article reviews the evidence for four key target groups – women, lower socio-economic groups, mature adults and ethnic minorities – to produce an overall assessment, a score card, of what has been achieved, and what remains to be done. It concludes that, while progress in the recruitment of women, mature adults and ethnic minorities has been substantial – though with some qualifications – it has been much less so for lower socio-economic groups.