What does it mean for teachers to understand their students? For those of who teach gifted and talented students, teachers strive to understand how they think differently than their age-peers typically do. These teachers develop curriculum that fosters what is unique about their thinking. But to understand students fully, they need also to understand how they feel--feel about their learning, about their talents, about their place in the classroom. This article is an introduction to a special issue on social and emotional development of gifted students to the readers of "Gifted Child Today" ("GCT"). The collection of articles in this special issue makes the point that whenever students' minds are engaged, their social/emotional needs are engaged also.
There has been increasing interest in the promotion of social and emotional learning in schools, and research has shown positive outcomes. However, relatively few studies have been conducted in kindergarten classrooms or considered the feasibility of kindergarten implementation. This study examined the effects of "Strong Start" on the social and emotional competence of 67 kindergarten students, using a time-series design. Four kindergarten teachers taught the ten "Strong Start" lessons in their classrooms. Results indicated gains in students' prosocial behaviors and decreases in internalizing behaviors, as rated by teachers and parents. Implementation integrity and teachers' ratings of social validity were high, suggesting the program's feasibility and potential effectiveness in natural classroom settings. Limitations and implications are discussed.
In this chapter, we provide the reader with a rationale, definition, and conceptual framework for social and emotional learning (SEL). We highlight the need to coordinate SEL with kindred approaches that promote positive school climates and cultures, and enhance students' intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Then we summarize some of the major research findings that clarify the evidence base for SEL programs. Numerous findings from implementation science have confirmed that a critical factor affecting outcomes of interventions is the quality of program implementation that is obtained. Some of the major issues related to quality implementation of SEL are also discussed in this section. As a portent of the remainder of this volume, we next discuss some critical research, practice, and policy issues that need to be resolved in order to drive the field of SEL forward in the most efficient and effective manner. We end the chapter with an overview of the contents of this volume. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
The inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) in general education classrooms in Europe due to education policy and social developments is currently up for debate, especially in Germany. This paper addresses whether or not co-education of students with and without classroom problems and/or disabilities has negative consequences with respect to social and emotional situation within the classroom community. Although international research on inclusion shows an increased risk of social isolation for children with SEN, conclusions are not clear with German populations. In this study, 2,839 first graders were surveyed to determine if children with classroom behavior problems (CBP) and classroom learning difficulties (CLD) are more likely to be socially rejected than their peers. Sociometric interviews and a questionnaire were used to assess social integration, feeling of being accepted by the classroom teacher, academic self-concept, and classroom climate. Results reveal that first grade students with CBP and CLD experienced significantly higher levels of social rejection. An exploratory analysis based on the distribution of social and emotional differences between students with and without CBP and CLD supports these results at the classroom and school levels.
This descriptive study uses narrative analysis to examine the nature and quality of pre-service teachers' initial attempts at reflection via the genre of memoir writing in a social studies methods course. The paper begins by reviewing other uses of narrative reflection and autobiographical writing in teacher education. This is followed by an explanation of how students develop a memoir as part of their social studies course work and the methodology employed by the researchers to examine these texts. The paper concludes with an analysis of the findings accompanied by a discussion of the educational significance of this study in initiating reflection through autobiographical writing.
Soulless Matter, Seats of Energy: Metals, Gems and Minerals in South Asian Traditions investigates the way in which Indian culture has represented inorganic matter and geological formations such as mountains and the earth itself. The volume is divided into four sections, each discussing from different angles the manifold dimensions occupied by minerals, gems and metals in traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The various chapters offer a rigorous analysis of a variety of texts from different South Asian regions from a range of perspectives such as history, philology, philosophy, hermeneutics and ethnography. The themes discussed include literature (myth and epics), ritual, ethics, folklore, and sciences such as astrology, medicine, alchemy and cosmetics. The volume critically reflects on the concept of "inanimate world" and shows how Indian traditions have variously interpreted the concept of embodied life and lifelessness. Ranging from worldviews and disciplines which regard metals, minerals, gems as alive, sentient or inhabited by divine presences and powers to ideas which deny matter possesses life and sentience, the Indian Subcontinent proves to be a challenge for taxonomic investigations but at the same time provides historians of religions and philosophers with stimulating material.
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This assessment project explored students' responses to contemplative exercises in a required communication course. The contemplative exercises complemented the public speaking aspect of the course, with the intent that students would feel more confident when giving presentations and that they would experience other benefits of contemplative practice. A student survey revealed that half of the students identified some of the exercises as very helpful or as practices they intended to continue. Although the results suggest that some minor changes in the exercises could be made, the contemplative component seems useful to students, in the course and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Communication Teacher is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Background:Compassion is considered an essential element in quality patient care. One of the conceptual challenges in healthcare literature is that compassion is often confused with sympathy and empathy. Studies comparing and contrasting patients’ perspectives of sympathy, empathy, and compassion are largely absent.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to investigate advanced cancer patients’ understandings, experiences, and preferences of “sympathy,” “empathy,” and “compassion” in order to develop conceptual clarity for future research and to inform clinical practice.
Design:
Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and then independently analyzed by the research team using the three stages and principles of Straussian grounded theory.
Setting/participants:
Data were collected from 53 advanced cancer inpatients in a large urban hospital.
Results:
Constructs of sympathy, empathy, and compassion contain distinct themes and sub-themes. Sympathy was described as an unwanted, pity-based response to a distressing situation, characterized by a lack of understanding and self-preservation of the observer. Empathy was experienced as an affective response that acknowledges and attempts to understand individual’s suffering through emotional resonance. Compassion enhanced the key facets of empathy while adding distinct features of being motivated by love, the altruistic role of the responder, action, and small, supererogatory acts of kindness. Patients reported that unlike sympathy, empathy and compassion were beneficial, with compassion being the most preferred and impactful.
Conclusion:
Although sympathy, empathy, and compassion are used interchangeably and frequently conflated in healthcare literature, patients distinguish and experience them uniquely. Understanding patients’ perspectives is important and can guide practice, policy reform, and future research.
Purpose: To systematically review articles reporting on depression, anxiety, and burnout among U.S. and Canadian medical students.
Method: Medline and PubMed were searched to identify peer-reviewed English-language studies published between January 1980 and May 2005 reporting on depression, anxiety, and burnout among U.S. and Canadian medical students. Searches used combinations of the Medical Subject Heading terms medical student and depression, depressive disorder major, depressive disorder, professional burnout, mental health, depersonalization, distress, anxiety, or emotional exhaustion. Reference lists of retrieved articles were inspected to identify relevant additional articles. Demographic information, instruments used, prevalence data on student distress, and statistically significant associations were abstracted.
Results: The search identified 40 articles on medical student psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, burnout, and related mental health problems) that met the authors' criteria. No studies of burnout among medical students were identified. The studies suggest a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among medical students, with levels of overall psychological distress consistently higher than in the general population and age-matched peers by the later years of training. Overall, the studies suggest psychological distress may be higher among female students. Limited data were available regarding the causes of student distress and its impact on academic performance, dropout rates, and professional development.
Conclusions: Medical school is a time of significant psychological distress for physicians-in-training. Currently available information is insufficient to draw firm conclusions on the causes and consequences of student distress. Large, prospective, multicenter studies are needed to identify personal and training-related features that influence depression, anxiety, and burnout among students and explore relationships between distress and competency.
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The scientific discovery of novel training paradigms has yielded better understanding of basic mechanisms underlying cortical plasticity, learning and development. This study is a first step in evaluating Tai Chi (TC), the Chinese slow-motion meditative exercise, as a training paradigm that, while not engaging in direct tactile stimulus training, elicits enhanced tactile acuity in long-term practitioners. The rationale for this study comes from the fact that, unlike previously studied direct-touch tactile training paradigms, TC practitioners focus specific mental attention on the body’s extremities including the fingertips and hands as they perform their slow routine. To determine whether TC is associated with enhanced tactile acuity, experienced adult TC practitioners were recruited and compared to age–gender matched controls. A blinded assessor used a validated method (Van Boven et al. in Neurology 54(12): 2230–2236, 2000) to compare TC practitioners’ and controls’ ability to discriminate between two different orientations (parallel and horizontal) across different grating widths at the fingertip. Study results showed that TC practitioners’ tactile spatial acuity was superior to that of the matched controls (P < 0.04). There was a trend showing TC may have an enhanced effect on older practitioners (P < 0.066), suggesting that TC may slow age related decline in this measure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate a long-term attentional practice’s effects on a perceptual measure. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine whether TC initiates or is merely correlated with perceptual changes and whether it elicits long-term plasticity in primary sensory cortical maps. Further studies should also assess whether related somatosensory attentional practices (such as Yoga, mindfulness meditation and Qigong) achieve similar effects.
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<p>The article reviews significant findings from over 15 years of research on the culture of fertility and family transitions in two Tamang communities of Nepal. The data sources include both qualitative ethnography and quantitative survey materials collected from the collaborative Tamang family research project. The major findings indicate that behavioral transitions in family and childbearing patterns are closely associated with changing economic contexts away from earlier subsistence production to increasing involvement in the monetized economy. More recently, research has further indicated the beginnings of transitions in the cultural contexts of family and identity. The authors suggest that the moral entailments of Tamang patterns of meaning are the key to variations in behavior in response to changing material conditions.</p>
BACKGROUND:It has been shown that mindfulness practice can be helpful in preventing relapse from depression. However, practicing mindfulness regularly at home is often a challenge for people with depression. Mobile phone text messaging (short message service, SMS) may be a feasible approach to assist regular mindfulness home practice.
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of text message-based feedback to support mindfulness practice in people with depressive symptoms after inpatient psychiatric treatment.
METHODS:
Participants received a manualized group introduction to three mindfulness exercises during inpatient treatment and were randomized at hospital discharge. All participants were asked to practice the exercises daily during the 4-month follow-up period. Only participants allocated to the intervention group received reinforcing feedback via mobile phone text messages after reporting their mindfulness practice via text message. Participation rates and satisfaction with the interventions were evaluated, and effects on relevant outcomes were explored.
RESULTS:
Of the 176 eligible inpatients invited to participate, 65.9% (116/176) attended the introductory mindfulness group at least once, 33.0% (58/176) were willing to participate in the study, and 41 were randomized. The majority 85% (35/41) of these participants completed the study. Among the participants allocated to the intervention group (n=21), 81% (17/21) used the text message support at least once. The average number of text messages sent during the intervention period was 14 (SD 21, range 0-91). Satisfaction rates were high. Preliminary analyses of the effects of the intervention yielded mixed results.
CONCLUSIONS:
Findings indicate that text messaging following inpatient treatment is feasible for some, but not for all people with depressive symptoms. Modest use of the text messaging intervention and its mixed effects imply that dose and ingredients of the intervention should be increased for this group of patients in a future full-size RCT. Such a larger study should also include a process evaluation to investigate moderators of the effect of mindfulness practice and text message feedback on clinical outcome.
TRIAL REGISTRATION:
International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 58808893; http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN58808893 (Archived by Webcite at http://www.webcitation.org/6pmrDRnGt).
Greater Good Magazine provides insight demonstrated through the Compassionate Organizations Quiz on the productivity of compassionate workplaces, including employee wellness, creative problem solving, and the bottom line. The Greater Good Science Center partnered with CompassionLab and the University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship to develop a Compassionate Organizations Quiz, asking readers about their experiences of compassion in an important organization in their life. Findings illustrate significant components which distinguish compassioniate companies from others, including the organization ethos; age range; size of organization; and geographcal location.
<p>Contains a Tibetan-English vocabulary to the texts. (Michael Walter and Manfred Taube 2006-05-15, revised by Bill McGrath 2008-01-03)</p>
<p>A Tibetan-English-Chinese-English glossary based on two Tun-huang text fragments. (Michael Walter and Manfred Taube 2006-05-15, revised by Bill McGrath 2008-01-03)</p>
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