The 'Protean' Spirit of Jeff Lewis

In a recent contribution to this journal, Jeff Lewis has criticised the views of both Nigel Blake and myself on spiritual education. In particular he has taken exception to my own claim that concepts of spirituality are indexed to particular religious or other traditions raising difficulties for any common programme of spiritual education. Lewis claims that my own conception of spirituality is mistakenly 'reductionist' and seeks to base a general conception of spiritual education on a more 'holistic' approach. By way of response, I argue (amongst other points): first, that Lewis does not consistently adhere to this 'holistic' conception and that his account of spiritual life is ultimately no less 'reductionist' than mine; second, that his attempt to ground a perspective-neutral conception of spiritual life in the claims of cognitive science is deeply misconceived; third, that his arguments have seriously problematic socio-political implications.     

Educating the Next Generation of Public Health Social Work Leaders: Findings from a Summit

This article reports the findings of a 2-day public health social work (PHSW) summit that brought together PHSW educators, practitioners, and administrators to generate ideas for preparing the next generation of PHSW leaders. Data from focus groups revealed four themes: the importance of PHSW in our healthcare delivery system, the need for public health social workers to develop their professional identity, the significance of branding/promoting PHSW, and the favorable consequences of infusing PHSW content into social work curricula. Attendees generated ideas for bringing PHSW forward and provided recommendations to accrediting bodies for highlighting the importance of PHSW.     

Primary teachers’ self‐perceptions concerning implementation of the National Curriculum for science in the UK

This paper reports on selected aspects of data, with special reference to science, derived from a survey of primary school teachers as part of the Leverhulme Primary Project at the University of Exeter.

A national sample of teachers (N = 901) across 152 schools was surveyed in order to ascertain teachers’ perceptions of competence and needs with respect to the new National Curriculum in the UK. Initially, data were collected in relation to ten subject areas and generic teaching skills, with provision made for free‐form responses concerning National Curriculum implementation.

Selected aspects of these data, principally related to the National Curriculum core area of science, were subjected to detailed further analysis and are reported. Variables identified from the survey findings, and of concern to science educators, included early subject specialism, years of teaching and gender. These were probed for relationships and significance. The tension between competing National Curriculum requirements for specialist subject knowledge and generalist teaching skills was explored.

Findings have implications for innovation in approaches to staff development to cater for perceived needs, teacher educators and curriculum alignment.     

An examination of multiple goals in children's physical education: Motivational effects of goal profiles and the role of perceived climate in multiple goal development

Abstract

In this paper, I present data from two studies that sought to examine multiple achievement goals in the context of children's physical education (PE). Study 1 examined the links that multiple-goal profiles (i.e. mastery/performance-approach/performance-avoidance goals) for PE had with self-determined motivation, affective patterns and levels of extracurricular sporting activity in a sample of 193 Year 7 pupils. Results suggested that children endorsing high mastery/high performance-approach/high performance-avoidance, high mastery/high performance-approach/low performance-avoidance, or high mastery/ low performance-approach/low performance-avoidance profiles typically exhibited the most adaptive motivational responses. In contrast, children endorsing a low mastery/high performance-approach/high performance-avoidance profile typically experienced more maladaptive motivational outcomes. Study 2 examined the development of multiple achievement goals over two terms of PE in conjunction with retrospective perceptions of the motivational climate in the sample. The results of analysis of variance suggested that children exposed to a consistent high mastery/low performance climate experienced decreased performance-avoidance goals and maintained high levels of mastery goals for PE. In contrast, children exposed to a consistent low mastery/high performance climate experienced increased performance-avoidance goals and decreased mastery goals for PE.     

User design: A case study on corporate change

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementing user design strategies within the corporate culture. Using a case study design approach, this article explores the change process within a Fortune 100 company in which users were given significant decision‐making powers. The main focus is on the unique nature of user design in a corporate environment where users become stakeholders in the process, a very different approach from the more typical top‐down management style. The study found that allowing users to design their own day‐to‐day processes gave them a sense of empowerment in their jobs because they could manage how they worked as long as they were meeting company goals. As a result, users were better able to manage their jobs, solve process‐related problems, and increase efficiency.