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1 – 10 of over 12000Dorothy Kass and Martin Sullivan
Originally written in the 1990s but unpublished, the paper is now revised; the purpose of this paper is to examine the context of the formation of the Educational Workers League…
Abstract
Purpose
Originally written in the 1990s but unpublished, the paper is now revised; the purpose of this paper is to examine the context of the formation of the Educational Workers League of NSW in 1931 with particular emphasis on the NSW Crown Employees (Teachers) Conciliation Committee and the enactment of its agreement in the worsening economic conditions of the Depression. The aims, reception and possible influence of the League on Federation policy and practice are addressed.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary source material consulted includes the minutes of the Conciliation Committee’s sittings from September 1927 to July 1929; papers relating to the Educational Workers League held in the Teachers Federation Library; and the Teachers Federation journal, Education.
Findings
The Conciliation Committee’s proceedings and outcomes had far reaching implications. The resultant salary agreement received a hostile reception from assistant teachers and fuelled distrust between assistants and headmasters. As economic depression deepened, dissatisfaction with the conservative leadership and tactics of the Federation increased. One outcome was the formation of the radical, leftist Educational Workers League by teachers, including Sam Lewis, who would later play key roles within the Federation itself.
Originality/value
While acknowledging the extensive earlier work of Bruce Mitchell, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of teacher unionism and teacher activism in the 1920s and 1930s. Apart from brief attention by Federation historians in the 1960s and 1970s, there has been no history of the formation, reception and significance of the Educational Workers League.
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This study explores the social, biological, and genetic determinants of depression in later life. It adds complexity to the idea that later life depression is a natural outgrowth…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the social, biological, and genetic determinants of depression in later life. It adds complexity to the idea that later life depression is a natural outgrowth of vascular impairment, antagonistic pleiotropy, or compromised neuroanatomical structures, arguing instead for the importance of education as a fundamental cause.
Methodology/approach
The study uses the NAS-NRC Twin Registry of World War II Veterans. The use of twins permits the exploration of gene-environment interplay. A recent survey instrument associated with the registry contains numerous indicators of health, including a measure of depression.
Findings
The results show that education has a strong negative relationship with depression among those in their 70s and early 80s. Although this relationship is partly explained by lower rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes among the well-educated, the relationship between education and many common physical illnesses is quite small. Most people of this age experience at least one chronic illness. The relationship between education and depression is explained, instead, by how education reduces impairments in activities of daily living. These impairments are not an inevitable outgrowth of declining health. The well-educated are better able to moderate the impact of poor health on daily functioning. Moreover, the well-educated are able to avoid the otherwise strong genetic risks for depression in later life. Gene × environment models show a high heritability for later life depression on average, but also reveal that this heritability declines with increasing education. Among those with a four-year college degree, the heritability of depression is very small.
Originality/value
These patterns are interpreted in light of compensatory gene × environment interactions, which emphasize the importance of especially enriched environments for overcoming genetic risk.
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Marianne Johnson and Warren J. Samuels
“Economics is a Serious Subject.” Edwin Cannan.
Charlotte V. Farewell, Priyanka Shreedar, Diane Brogden and Jini E. Puma
The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood developmental trajectories and simultaneously experiences significant mental health…
Abstract
Purpose
The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood developmental trajectories and simultaneously experiences significant mental health disparities. The purpose of this study is to investigate how social determinants of health and external stressors are associated with the mental health of ECE staff, which represent a low-resourced segment of the workforce; how psychological capital (psycap) can mitigate these associations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors administered an 89-item survey to 332 ECE staff employed in 42 Head Start centers in the USA. The authors ran three hierarchical linear regression models to analyze associations between social determinants of health, external sources of stress, psycap and potential moderation effects and mental health outcomes.
Findings
Individuals experiencing greater finance-related stress reported 0.15 higher scores on the depression scale and 0.20 higher scores on the anxiety scale than those experiencing less finance-related stress (p < 0.05). Individuals experiencing greater work-related stress reported 1.26 more days of poorer mental health in the past month than those experiencing less work-related stress (p < 0.01). After controlling for all sociodemographic variables and sources of stress, psycap was significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptomology (b-weight = −0.02, p < 0.01) and the number of poor mental health days reported in the past month (b-weight = −0.13, p < 0.05). Moderation models suggest that higher levels of psycap may mitigate the association between work-related stress and the number of poor mental health days reported in the past month (b-weight = −0.06, p = 0.02).
Originality/value
The implications of these findings suggest a need for policy change to mitigate social determinants of health and promote pay equity and multi-level interventio ns that target workplace-related stressors and psycap to combat poor mental health of the ECE workforce.
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This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and…
Abstract
This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.
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The purpose of this paper is to make the case for bringing compassion to students in educational settings, preschool through graduate school (PK-20).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to make the case for bringing compassion to students in educational settings, preschool through graduate school (PK-20).
Design/methodology/approach
First, the author defines what is meant by “compassion” and differentiates it from the related constructs. Next, the author discusses the importance of bringing compassion into education, thinking specifically about preschool, K-12 (elementary and middle school/junior high/high school), college students, and graduate students (e.g. law, medical, nurses, counselors and therapists-in-training). The author then reviews the scant empirical literature on compassion in education and makes recommendations for future research. In the final section, the author makes specific and practical recommendations for the classroom (e.g. how to teach and evaluate compassion in PK-20).
Findings
While there is a fair amount of research on compassion with college students, and specifically regarding compassion for oneself, as the author reviews in this paper, the field is wide open in terms of empirical research with other students and examining other forms of compassion.
Research limitations/implications
This is not a formal review or meta-analysis.
Practical implications
This paper will be a useful resource for teachers and those interested in PK-20 education.
Social implications
This paper highlights the problems and opportunities for bringing compassion into education settings.
Originality/value
To date, no review of compassion in PK-20 exists.
Madeleine Ferrari and Stephney Whillier
Given rising incidence rates of mental health concerns in the general population it is important for all primary health care practitioners, including chiropractors, to have…
Abstract
Purpose
Given rising incidence rates of mental health concerns in the general population it is important for all primary health care practitioners, including chiropractors, to have knowledge of such presentations. Practitioners frequently need to refer clients to appropriate mental health services, manage the biopsychosocial aspects of all conditions they treat, and work in interdisciplinary teams to ensure optimal patient outcomes. The mental health literacy (MHL) of these practitioners may, however, be influenced by both learnt knowledge and common misconceptions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the MHL of a final year Master of Chiropractic student cohort.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 89 students completed an online questionnaire assessing mental health knowledge, misconceptions, perceived value of such knowledge for practicing chiropractors and demographic information.
Findings
Student knowledge of the primary symptoms for depression and schizophrenia was competent, similar to community samples. However a high false positive response suggested students were poor at mental health differential diagnosis. A high number of common misconceptions about mental health were also endorsed, particularly in relation to depression, anxiety and suicide. Age and value of such knowledge seemed to predict greater MHL.
Research limitations/implications
The present study offers direction for chiropractic education. In addition to content-based education, MHL may improve through targeting the students’ perceived value of the information for chiropractors and combating common misconceptions. Future research could evaluate the incremental value of these approaches, and assess subsequent behavioural responses such as the students’ confidence in managing patients with mental health concerns, and knowing when to refer on.
Originality/value
Taken together, the current results suggest chiropractic students are able to identify symptoms causing distress; however tend to over-pathologise and endorse false symptoms as indicative of specific mental illnesses. In other words, students are poor at mental health differential diagnosis. Students also seemed to simultaneously hold a large number of misconceptions about mental health in general. It is of great importance to better understand gaps in student knowledge about mental health to prepare them for working with patients in a health setting.
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Deborah Oyine Aluh, Matthew Okonta and Valentine Odili
The purpose of this paper is to assess and compare the knowledge and help-seeking behaviors toward depression among pharmacy students and non-pharmacy students.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess and compare the knowledge and help-seeking behaviors toward depression among pharmacy students and non-pharmacy students.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey and was carried out among undergraduate students of the oldest and largest university in Eastern Nigeria, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Open-ended questions were used to assess the participants’ recognition of depression and their preferred source of help for a vignette character. The open-ended responses were categorized based on the similarity of thematic content and presented as frequencies/percentages.
Findings
A total of 118 out of the 200 pharmacy students sampled responded (59 percent) and 270 students out of the 300 non-pharmacy students surveyed responded (90 percent). A significantly higher proportion of pharmacy students correctly labeled the vignette as depression (61.9 percent) compared to non-pharmacy students (39.6 percent) (χ2=16.57, p=<0.001). Psychologists were the most recommended source of help by both groups of students surveyed. A statistically significant greater proportion of pharmacy students recommended psychiatrists compared to non-pharmacy students (χ2=3.79, p=0.044). There was a significant association between academic level of study and ability to correctly label the vignette among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students [(χ2=18.08, p<0.001), (χ2=10.35, p=0.016)], respectively.
Originality/value
This is the first time the depression literacy of pharmacy students has been surveyed in an African country. The findings from this study are interesting in the context of current efforts to decrease the enormous treatment gap for depression by improving its recognition in community pharmacy settings.
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Jill M. Gradwell, Jonathan Amidon, Danielle LaJudice and Mary Westlake-Douds
This lesson uses Steel Town to explore the making of steel and life in a steel mill town during the Great Depression. Moving through four centers, students explore resources such…
Abstract
This lesson uses Steel Town to explore the making of steel and life in a steel mill town during the Great Depression. Moving through four centers, students explore resources such as photographs, first-hand accounts, recipes, and songs from the era to learn what life was like at a steel mill, in a steelworker’s home and neighborhood, and throughout the town. Based on their analyses of the resources provided, students compare the benefits and drawbacks of technology to answer the ultimate question regarding steel production: “Is it worth it?” This lesson was created for use in a second or third grade classroom but can be adjusted for older students with the extensions provided.