Besley on Foucault’s Discourse of Education

The purpose of this study is to examine Foucault’s discourse-oriented theory, his explanation of the power–knowledge relation, his notions of technologies of domination and technologies of the self, and the Foucauldian critique of the assumed neutrality of education and school counseling. The theory that we shall seek to elaborate here puts considerable emphasis on Foucault’s theory of power, his notion of discourse, his understanding of subjectivity, and his analysis of how power relations and discourses shape processes of ethical self-constitution. The results of the current study converge with Besley’s prior research on Foucault’s analysis of education, his theory of language and social power, his non-essentialist conception of identity, and his emphasis on the centrality of truth in relation to the self.     

Portraits of resilience: headteachers in two different cultures

This article provides two ‘portraits’ of headteachers in primary schools in England and Hong Kong, derived from semi-structured interviews with these individuals. Contrary to some claims that such a small sample is worthless, this article argues that what is most meaningful is sometimes derived from the singular and unique; that generalisations in education are as likely to be useful if they are ‘fuzzy’ generalisations as if they are from scientific or statistical generalisations; and that the individual case can strip away the clutter of large contexts and allow recognition of a common shared humanity. What these portraits also show is that responses to larger contexts are heavily dependent on personality and local context, and that if policy implementation and professional development are to have impact, then an attention to the personal and the local are going to be critical factors in any success in these areas.     

AGING AND HIGHER EDUCATION: PROSPECTS FOR INTERVENTION

Consistently low participation in higher education programs by older adults suggests the need for theory‐derived research efforts to uncover barriers to educational activity in later life. In the present paper it is argued that an understanding of adulthood educational participation be developed according to a criterion of environmental and situationally dependent factors rather than solely to one of inexorable and cross‐situational biophysical decline. Specific environmental and organismic factors that may relate to chronically low rates of educational participation by older learners are pinpointed and described and suggestions are made for examining and rearranging the ecological context of life‐span education in order to stimulate greater educational involvement in the later years. Changes in cross‐age attitudes and behaviors that may result from an influx of older adult learners into college and university classrooms are also considered in light of recent research evidence on inter‐generational contact.     

NASTY,BRUTISH AND LONG: ADVENTURES IN OLD AGE AND THE WORLD OF ELDERCARE By Ira Rosofsky

Nurses play a significant role in geriatric care. However, as the aging population and demand for geriatric nurses increase worldwide, shortages of nurses seem to arise. This creates the need to assess and address the motivation and attitudes of nurses toward geriatric care. The intent of this qualitative study is to surface the essence or the “lebenswelt” that describe the motivation and attitudes of a selected group of Filipino nurses toward geriatric care. A total of six registered nurses who had experienced taking care of elderly patients voluntarily participated as respondents of this study. A two-part instrument developed by the researchers was made to elicit necessary data and information. The first part comprised of the robotfoto intended to establish the baseline characteristics of nurses under study. The second part consisted of a semistructured individual in-depth interview using “aide memoire” to probe into the motivation and attitudes of the nurse respondents. Field texts were phenomenologically reduced via repertory grid. Two distinct and interesting themes, namely Geriatric Service Motivation Typology and the Yin-Yang of Geriatric Attitudes emerged. The first theme includes the Single Loop and Double Loop type of motivation The former involves a transactional and unidirectional process, while the latter constitutes a two-way relational and transformational process. The second theme consists of a harmonious combination of the two sides of the nurses' attitudes toward geriatric care. Through this study, the human side of nursing is seen and captured, thus increasing the awareness and knowledge of nurses, improving provision of optimum geriatric care, and inspiring nurses to pursue geriatric nursing with a yearning to serve the elderly with and from the heart.     

An Empowerment Approach for Elders Living With Diabetes: A Pilot Study of a Community-Based Self-Help Group—The Diabetes Club

ABSTRACT

Diabetes mellitus is a disabling, deadly disease, affecting one in five of adults over 65. Unfortunately, for the few elders that receive diabetes self-care training it is often taught using traditional didactic methods that are insensitive to their unique needs and immersed in the traditional medical paradigm. Integrating diabetes self-care into daily living demands more than knowledge acquisition and skill mastery; it requires acceptance of the disease, motivation for change, instrumental and emotional support, general problem-solving skills, and control over one's life – empowerment. This project sought to develop and pilot-test a peer-led, community-based, self-help intervention for elders with diabetes—the Diabetes Club. The intervention targeted diabetes self-efficacy, seeking to empower elders then increase diabetes self-care behavior targets, resulting in improved glycemic control. Club members and social workers collectively developed, implemented, tested intervention protocols, detailed in this paper with additional materials available on a dedicated website. Albeit over a short time period, findings showed significant improvements in diabetes self-efficacy, self-care behaviors, and reduction of glycosolated hemoglobin (A1C). The results are promising, demonstrating the benefits of social-work involvement in diabetes and the potential of elders helping themselves and each other.     

Filipino Nursing Students' Behavioral Intentions Toward Geriatric Care: A Structural Equation Model (SEM)

Anchored on the key constucts of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (1985 Ajzen , I. ( 1985 ). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior . In J. Kuhl & J. Beckman (Eds.), Action-control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11 – 39 ). Heidelberg , Germany : Springer .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), this paper seeks to test a model that explores the influence of knowledge, attitude, and caring behavior on nursing students’ behavioral intention toward geriatric care. A five-part survey-questionnaire was administered to 839 third and fourth year nursing students from a comprehensive university in the Philippines. To delineate the underlying dimensions of knowledge, attitude, and caring behavior, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out. The resulting factors were integrated in the proposed model prior to structural equation modeling (SEM). The emerging model shows that while knowledge did not directly influence intent, it had a direct impact in the development of attitudes. Impliedly, by delineating the variables through EFA, new relationships between specific knowledge, attitude, and caring behavior dimensions can be observed. As shown, a nursing student's intent to care for older people can be increased if he/she sees them as powerful and wise. On the other hand, if one sees older people as demanding in nature, he/she is less likely to pursue geriatric nursing in the future. Interestingly, the resulting structural model in this study has successfully and clearly delineated the positive and negative determinants of nursing students’ intent to care for geriatric patients. The researchers hope that the model be used as an assessment tool for various nurse populations in order to effectively plan innovative strategies when introducing geriatric nursing.     

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION FROM THE SUNDAY‐SCHOOL VIEWPOINT

Dorothy Day's love of the poor originated from reading novels that portrayed the poor as persons worthy of respect. This article explores how Day's reading novels opened her mind and heart to the realities of poverty. The methodology is literature-based. Dorothy Day's autobiography reveals the novelists who captivated her mind and cultivated a religious heart: Charles Dickens, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and the Russian authors Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. As a journalist and writer, Day described how the poor struggled to survive and how love is needed to counter the challenges that poverty presents. Finally, two novels by authors favored by Day will serve as examples for educating young adults religiously and encouraging love for the poor.     

“CHRISTIANITY AND THE CULTURAL CRISIS” 1

The purpose of this column is to keep religious educators abreast of relevant significant research in the general field of psychology. Its implications for methods and materials in religious education are clear. Religious educators may well take advantage of every finding in scientific research.

Each abstract or group is preceded by an evaluation and interpretive comment, which aims to guide the reader in understanding the research reported.

All of these abstracts are from PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, and used by permission of that periodical. The abstract numbers are from Volume 24, 1950.