The promise of the new McLeod, Julie; Wright, Katie
Journal of educational administration and history,
11/2012, Letnik:
44, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The promise of the new underpins much educational reform discourse, from utopian strands and grand gestures to more formulaic rhetoric found in declarations of new policies for new times. Informed by ...genealogical and feminist approaches, this essay introduces some conceptual frameworks for analysing such expressions of hopefulness and newness in educational discourse. While its initial impetus is debates about the education of adolescents in interwar Australia, it extends to a consideration of relations between future-oriented utopian aspirations in the past and educational discourses and practices in the present. It calls for more reflexive problematisation of the past-present relationship in historical and sociological studies of education, and outlines an argument for taking account of the 'untimely' in educational discourses and practices. The essay concludes with an overview of the articles featured in this volume.
This article considers discourses of “nervousness” as an important historical dimension of the “therapeutic turn”. By tracing an emerging therapeutic sensibility through Australian medical literature ...and the popular print media of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it provides an Antipodean perspective on the discursive and cultural terrain receptive to Freudian ideas and psychology, which were central to the ascendancy of a psychotherapeutic ethos. Through a particular focus on concerns about “nervous men”, the article explores how perceived problems of “nervousness” destabilized masculine ideals and helped engender a greater concern with personal distress, factors significant for the florescence of therapeutic culture.
Education for citizenship McLeod, Julie; Wright, Katie
History of education review,
10/2013, Letnik:
42, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine expert ideas about education for citizenship in 1930s Australia. Drawing on a larger study of adolescence and schooling during the middle decades of ...the twentieth century, the paper explores the role of international networks and US philanthropy in fostering the spread of new psychological and curriculum ideas that shaped citizenship education, and broader educational changes during the interwar period. A second purpose is to provide historical perspectives on contemporary concerns about the role of schooling in addressing social values and student wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
– The discussion is informed by approaches drawn from Foucauldian genealogy and historical studies of transnationalism. It examines constructions of the good and problem student and the networks of international educational expertise as forms of “travelling ideas”. These transnational exchanges are explored through a close analysis of a defining moment in Australian educational history, the 1937 conference of the New Education Fellowship.
Findings
– The analysis reveals the ways in which psychological understandings and curriculum reforms shaped education for citizenship in the 1930s and identify in particular the emergent role of psychology in defining what it meant to be a good student and a good future citizen. The paper further finds that Australian education during the interwar years was more cosmopolitan and engaged in international discussions about citizenship and schooling than is usually remembered in the present. Elaborating this is important for building transnational histories of knowledge exchange in Australian education.
Originality/value
– The paper shows the value of a relational analysis of school curriculum and psychological understandings for more fully grasping the different dimensions of education for citizenship both in the interwar years and now. It offers fresh perspectives on contemporary educational debates about globalisation and youth identities, as played out in current concerns about social values and schooling.
Previous research has highlighted the individual and social benefits of participation in arts activities for physical, psychological and social well-being. However, less is known about the ...transformative community aspects of the arts and very few studies have investigated arts participation over a substantial period. This article reports a case study of an older people’s choir over a 4-year period, involving interviews, focus groups, observations and a World Café participatory discussion. In support of previous literature, choir members highlighted many individual and interpersonal benefits of being part of the choir. They also emphasised the importance of developing social relationships within a supportive community, and the importance of musical achievement was central to the ongoing development of the choir. Our analysis identified five main themes: personal investment and reward; inclusive community; always evolving yet fundamentally unchanged; a desire to connect; and leadership and organisation. Considering these with reference to Seligman’s PERMA framework from positive psychology, it is apparent that social relationships, meaning and accomplishment are particularly emphasised as reasons why older people find singing in a community choir so beneficial for well-being. Sustainability is a major concern, and factors such as an expert music leader to support this are identified.
This article examines the insinuation of therapeutic culture into everyday life from the vantage point of a qualitative cross-generational study of economically marginalized young women and their ...mothers. Against dominant assessments of therapeutic culture - as representing cultural decline, social regulation or transformation - we draw on interview narratives to analyse its practical and situated effects. We argue that desires for disclosure and open communication are not trivial or narcissistic and instead interpret them as productive emotional strategies for managing difficult circumstances, and for engendering a sense of competence and possibility. Thus a concern with 'talking things through' is neither ineffectual nor adequately understood as a manifestation of an ahistorical feminine alignment with emotions and interior life. While we do not dismiss regulatory aspects of therapeutic culture, our analysis offers an alternative and empirically based account of the ways cultural imperatives are enacted across generations.
Summary
Objectives To assess the social and economic costs of HIV/AIDS infection on the organisational capacities of selected non‐government organisations (NGOs) in Malawi.
Methods Sixteen ...semi‐structured interviews with senior staff of four NGOs to estimate the costs paid by the NGO and the loss of management and staff time over the last 12 months because of HIV/AIDS, plus questionnaires filled in by 48 NGO leaders.
Results Labour costs were an estimated 12.5% higher because of HIV/AIDS, corresponding to a 3% increase in overall budget costs. There was also an estimated 12.4% loss of staff time to address HIV‐related issues such as funerals, sickness and management time.
Conclusions The organisational costs of HIV/AIDS on NGOs in Malawi may be considerable and more serious than perceived by NGOs, who must develop a workplace response. It also has policy implications for donors, who may need to adjust their funding strategies.
Objectifs Evaluer les coûts sociaux et économiques de l’infection VIH/SIDA sur les capacités d’organisation d’ONG choisies au Malawi.
Méthodes Sixteen interviews semi‐structurées avec les cadres de quatre ONG pour estimer les coûts supportés par l’ONG et la perte en temps pour la gestion et du personnel au cours des 12 derniers mois, liés au VIH/SIDA. En plus, des questionnaires ont été remplis par 48 chefs d’ONG.
Résultats Bien qu’il y ait eu des difficultés dans la validation des coûts directs à cause de la taille réduite de l’échantillon et du manque de groupe témoins, les répondants ont estimé que les coûts de la main‐d’œuvre étaient 12,5% plus élevéà cause du VIH/SIDA. Cela correspond à une augmentation de 3% en coûts globaux sur le budget. Il y avait également une perte d’environ 12,4% du temps du personnel pour répondre aux problèmes liés au VIH tels que le temps pris pour les enterrements, la maladie et la gestion.
Conclusions Les coûts d’organisation du HIV/SIDA sur des ONG au Malawi pourraient être considérables et plus sérieux que ceux perçus par ONG. Ceci a des implications principales pour les ONG qui doivent développer une réponse sur le lieu de travail. Il a également des implications sur la politique des donateurs qui peuvent avoir à ajuster leurs stratégies de financement.
Objetivos Evaluar los costes sociales y económicos de la infección por VIH/SIDA, sobre las capacidades organizativas de una selección de ONGs en Malawi.
Métodos Se realizaron 16 entrevistas semi‐estructuradas a personal directivo de cuatro ONGs, con el fin de estimar los costes pagados por la ONG y la pérdida de tiempo del personal y la administración durante los últimos 12 meses debido al VIH/SIDA, más un cuestionario rellenado por 48 líderes de ONGs.
Resultados Aunque hay problemas con la validación de los costes directos debido al tamaño muestral y la falta de un grupo control, los encuestados estimaron que los costes laborales eran un 12.5% mayores debido al VIH/SIDA. Esto resulta en un aumento del 3% en los presupuestos generales totales. También se estimó una pérdida de tiempo de un 12.4% a la hora de tratar con temas relacionados con el VIH/SIDA, tales como funerales, enfermedad o tiempo de gestión.
Conclusiones Los costes organizativos del VIH/SIDA para las ONGs en Malawi pueden ser considerables y más serios que aquellos percibidos por las ONGs. Estos tiene implicaciones importantes para las ONGs, quienes deberían establecer una estrategia laboral. También tiene implicaciones a nivel político para los donantes, quienes podrían tener que ajustar su estrategia de subvención.
PDF
