Helping hospitals change: part 1: what childbirth educators can do

Childbirth educators need to take the lead in helping hospitals change by teaching women what the evidence says. When women, one by one and collectively, start insisting on their right to have normal birth options, more bonding time, and better support of breastfeeding, hospitals and care providers will respond and change will happen. This article suggests strategies childbirth educators can use to advocate for women and help hospitals improve their maternity-care practices.     

When and how to push: providing the most current information about second-stage labor to women during childbirth education

Childbirth educators can have a significant impact on safe care for mothers and babies during the second stage of labor. In this guest editorial, educators are encouraged to make sure they are knowledgeable about the latest evidence for best second-stage-care practices so they can adequately prepare women to advocate for themselves during this time.     

Calling for change: A feminist approach to women in art,politics, philosophy and education

Abstract

Michel Foucault showed by his genealogical method that history is random. It comprises sites of disarray and dispersal. In those sites, Simone de Beauvoir wrote philosophy through lived experience of woman as Other in relation to man as the Absolute. Here lies a fecund site for revisionist analysis of female cultural production and its relevance to a philosophy of education. The paper works with a feminist approach to the politics of knowledge, examining textual and political strategies in the recording of history and the ‘othering’ of women through dominant cultural discourses. Infusing this discussion is a feminist politics of interrogation on cultural change for women. The paper investigates contributions of women to fields of art, politics, education and philosophy, and to the ways their contributions have been considered, received, positioned. Different approaches to feminism become apparent in the different conditions of knowledge under discussion. This leads to a final consideration of feminist challenges in context of the politics of neoliberalism as it seeks to identify a feminist potential for ‘a cleansing fire’. The interventions in this paper trace political strategies and challenges for a philosophy of education to keep the momentum of feminist histories and issues to the forefront of scholarly enquiry and political/social action.     

Birth stories: a way of knowing in childbirth education

Birth stories have a lasting impact on expectant mothers. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the influence of birth stories as a key component of informal communication of knowledge about childbirth for expectant mothers. The review of literature and research is related to childbirth education, anthropological thinking, and applied learning theory with foundational concepts from Vygotsky, Bruner, and Bandura. Implications for childbirth educators are included.     

Writing stories,rewriting identities: using journalism education and mobile technologies to empower marginalized high school students

This study examines the impact that producing a print newspaper using cell phones had on marginalized students in a high school journalism classroom. Analysis of data from participant observation, artifact analysis and student interviews revealed that a) students negotiated cell phone use for educational purposes, despite school bans on such devices, and b) students manifested emerging, transformative identities that positively influenced their roles in five key areas: as a conception of self, in other academic classes, among peers, with family, and in the community. Our findings point to the significance of media-based journalism production in allowing marginalized students to embrace professional identities by participating in a meaningful community of practice. This research highlights the academic, social and civic benefits of such initiatives, and calls attention to the range of opportunities and challenges that pertain to using mobile devices as learning tools in these contexts.     

Childbirth education for multiple pregnancy: part 2: intrapartum and postpartum considerations

Women with a multiple pregnancy can expect a different labor and birth course than those with a singleton pregnancy. While the postpartum period is similar to that of families with a singleton, it is likely to be more hectic in families with multiple infants. In addition, a multiple pregnancy increases both maternal and neonatal risks; therefore, women with a multiple pregnancy may experience slight differences in care due to these potential risks, including additional monitoring and treatment. This article discusses the intrapartum and postpartum considerations families with a multiple pregnancy/birth may experience. This information is provided so that the childbirth educator can incorporate this content into courses, as appropriate, and assist families with a multiple pregnancy to anticipate a realistic birth and postpartum experience.     

Helping Muslim boys succeed: the case for history education

Recent research suggests that Muslim boys have become the ‘New Folk Devils’ of British education, who are characterised by resistance to formal education, especially at secondary level, and under-achievement. Since the 1990s, British Muslim boys would appear to have become increasingly alienated from compulsory schooling, especially in the humanities subjects which lack obvious instrumental value.

This mixed-methods study of the performance of 295 secondary school British Muslim boys in their compulsory school history provides evidence which interrupts this narrative of the academic under-achievement and educational dis-engagement of Muslim boys, especially in the humanities subjects. When viewed through the prism of a laminated, non-reductive model of educational success, this indicative sample of British Muslim boys could be considered to have had significant success at a traditional humanities subject such as history intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, instrumentally and civically.

This paper therefore proposes that history can provide a vital meaning-making tool to generate the success of Muslim boys in a variety of significant dimensions both in and out of school. It suggests how history can be more fully and effectively harnessed by teachers, parents and policy-planners to encourage internal integration and external social engagement in British Muslim pupils.     

Helping parents to become partners in the education of their handicapped child

Conclusions Educators are beginning to seek methods of improving parent-child relationships and school and parent relationships, as the evidence accrues and is assimilated, which shows how much more important is the child's family experience. The handicapped child brings the desirability of successful home and school links into clear focus, as the six-hour school day is clearly inadequate for the needs of many severely handicapped children, who require a consistent programme of developmental experiences from waking to sleeping. The only way in which the trust and confidence imposed by close relationships in the home may be continued in the school is by a mutual effort directed at common goals: the development of the child's capacity to learn and care for himself. Perhaps it is the similarity of the tasks undertaken in home and in school, with the severely and profoundly handicapped child, the severely and profoundly handicapped child, which has shown just how powerful the home-and-school combination can be when working in harmony. There are clearly lessons here for the education system at large. Perhaps the longstanding schism between parents and schools can be bridged in the next decades.The importance of social abilities, self-help skills and the confidence which all emanate from a successful family life, are emphasized by Smith and Sykes (1981) and others, who show that social competency is perhaps the key factor in determining vocational and post-school success for handicapped students. These competencies and confidence cannot come from school alone. The initiatives alluded to in this article, and described in full in the literature cited, show that schools have come a long way from believing that they alone can cope.Has written a number of studies on the development of education for the visually handicapped.     

Harnessing homophily to improve climate change education

The Cooperative Extension Service (Extension) in the United States is well positioned to educate the public, particularly farmers and foresters, about climate change and to encourage responsible adoption of adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the climate change attitudes and perceptions of Extension professionals have limited Extension’s involvement. A survey of Extension professionals (n?=?2758) in eight southern states found several statistically significant factors correlating to different attitudes and perceptions about climate change, such as demographics and program area. Willingness to engage with climate change-related programs varies with climate change perceptions, program area, and perceptions of institutional support. This assessment explores the extent to which the climate change issue suggests different needs among Extension professionals – needs that could be addressed by diverse professional development programs. We discuss these results in the context of homophily and provide recommendations to improve climate change education.     

Helping students become better learners: a case study in teacher education

The aim of this project is to increase teacher education students' understanding of the learning process by focussing on their own learning experiences. 67 preservice teacher education students in 4 classes completed measures of academic locus of control and study processes before and after a semester course in a specially designed programme in Educational Psychology. The programme focuses on students taking greater responsibility for their own learning by exposing them to a variety of learning experiences. These experiences include negotiation of the curriculum, peer discussion and teaching, learning contracts, self, peer and collaborative assessment and critical reflection on these and other learning experiences by means of an ongoing learning log.Results indicate an increase in academic locus of control for one class, and an increase in deep motive, achieving strategy, deep approach and deep achieving approach to learning for the whole group. These outcomes are discussed in terms of the congruence between these changes and the particular learning experiences to which the students were exposed.     

Steps toward innovative childbirth education: selected strategies from the blueprint for action

To mark the 50th anniversary of Lamaze International, Childbirth Connection celebrates landmark accomplishments in education for childbearing women and families, and takes stock of the changing educational needs and preferences of current childbearing families in looking toward the future. Childbirth Connection's multi-year, multi-stakeholder Transforming Maternity Care initiative resulted in two landmark reports: 2020 Vision for a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System and Blueprint for Action: Steps Toward a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System. Selected recommendations of greatest relevance to the field of childbirth education are discussed, and the new Transforming Maternity Care Partnership is introduced.     

UK: Preventing under achievement: time to shine a light on education in hospitals

Maria Landy, Special Needs Adviser, Devon LEA and President of NASEN, and Christine Colburn, Headteacher with the Exeter Hospital Teaching Service, highlight the educational difficulties faced by children in hospital and stress that Hospital Education is an essential, but often neglected, element in the continuum of educational provision.