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This paper aims to look forward to the next generation of policymaking on learning disability and recommends a unitary strategy covering all phases of life including childhood.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to look forward to the next generation of policymaking on learning disability and recommends a unitary strategy covering all phases of life including childhood.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the author addresses the policy gap between inclusion in ordinary (“mainstream”) schools and inclusion in ordinary adult life. The author asks why what has been accepted, at least in principle, for the adult two-thirds of the learning disabled population is still contested for the other, younger third. In the following sections, the author summarises the present discrepancy, compares the rights of children in general with those of people with learning disabilities and outlines the rationale for a 0-99 years focus in research and practice on learning disability, and for future government strategy to establish a 0-99 policy.
Findings
It is in the broad context of a unitary 0-99 years approach that policymaking must in future be addressed. The education of children is key to the success of their adult lives, and makes the policy of educating them together in ordinary schools (i.e. giving them from the start the “ordinary lives” that are the main goal of adult policy) an imperative.
Originality/value
The need to consider children’s rights in a general sense has not previously been applied to the field of policymaking for adults with learning disabilities.
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This paper aims to better understand the cultural‐philosophical significance of microblogging. In this way it seeks to inform evaluations of this new medium and of the culture and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to better understand the cultural‐philosophical significance of microblogging. In this way it seeks to inform evaluations of this new medium and of the culture and society it co‐shapes and in which it is rooted.
Design/methodology/approach
Engaging in philosophical reflection inspired by philosophy of technology, political philosophy, and cultural history, this paper identifies and discusses some structural features of microblogging such as Twitter.
Findings
This paper discusses the following structural features of microblogging as a medium: an emphasis on activity, the rule of opinion, emphasis on the ordinary and on the self, blurring of the private/public distinction, the primacy of the present, and the paradox of distance and proximity. The discussion also suggests that microblogging remediates “older” media such as letters, e‐mails, texting, diaries, and newspaper writings. Finally, the paper explores some strategies to cope with the new medium, including “hacking” it in order to widen the spectrum of possibilities it offers.
Social implications
The paper assists users and policy makers to reflect on how new media such as microblogging might change the way we live and think. It helps them to better understand the medium and to evaluate its use.
Originality/value
Although there are data available now on the use of Twitter and other microblogging technologies, there has been very little philosophical reflection on the phenomenon. This paper begins to bridge this gap and makes novel connections between ideas from different academic fields.
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While the right to life, ‘personhood’, and the educability of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities are still under‐debated, service providers and research…
Abstract
While the right to life, ‘personhood’, and the educability of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities are still under‐debated, service providers and research workers continue to extend the boundaries of expectation with respect to what such people can achieve. In this paper the messages of recent research are summarised and key references for fuller information suggested. The need to bring together such specialised knowledge in the framework of an ordinary life aimed at enhancing competence and quality of life is urged.
David Barton, Kath Ward and Hazel Roddam
The purpose of this paper is to draw upon a range of material to improve the understanding of disengagement with everyday life, by some individuals who have learning disabilities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw upon a range of material to improve the understanding of disengagement with everyday life, by some individuals who have learning disabilities and mental health difficulties. Illustrative incidents from historical clinical cases are utilised, to consider whether this reframing may enhance the interpretation of presenting behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
Key recurring themes within transpersonal literature were reviewed, relevant to adults with behaviour indicating a degree of disengagement from everyday life. These were grouped into Physical Realm, Psychosocial Realm and Realm of Being. Illustrative examples of behaviour are reviewed and re-interpreted within this framework.
Findings
These examples generated plausible interpretations for the presenting behaviours within this framework of the Three Realms. These interpretations support a fresh understanding of the quality of the individual's inner experience. This paper suggests a potential framework to consider the way in which some individuals may experience a different quality of consciousness than the usual.
Practical implications
Use of the Three Realms for behaviour interpretation should result into a more empathetic and client-centred approach that could reduce the need for aversive approaches, lessening risk for the client and any employing organisation. The identification of behaviours that signal participation in the Realm of Being could be defined and evaluated with the potential to be used to inform the nature and content of the support provided.
Originality/value
This paper, rooted in clinical examples, offers an original synthesis with reasons to include the immaterial realm in the perspective of the human condition. This could benefit people with substantial episodes of disconnection from the Physical Realm and everyday culture and those who support them.
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This paper aims to discuss tourism development, tourism policy development and its challenges in Rotterdam through the lens of “new urban tourism”, reviewing the relevance of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss tourism development, tourism policy development and its challenges in Rotterdam through the lens of “new urban tourism”, reviewing the relevance of the concept.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper comprises a review of the concept of new urban tourism and a case study of Rotterdam. Methods used include a literature review and social media search, an analysis of policy documents and street interviews.
Findings
Tourism in Rotterdam has grown rapidly, exhibiting aspects of new urban tourism such as encounters with the ordinary and everydayness, authenticity and de-differentiation. Details about tourism motives and nature of tourism are unknown. It is concluded that the concept of new urban tourism is a rather elusive and difficult notion to apply to the case of Rotterdam.
Research limitations/implications
This research is a case study of one city.
Practical implications
This paper suggests that different tourism information and statistics are needed for policymaking and for understanding urban tourism.
Originality/value
The Rotterdam case raises new questions about new urban tourism, as the concept appears to be rather indefinable.
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Riccardo Pronzato and Elisabetta Risi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the measures of social distancing and home confinement have been perceived and experienced in the Italian socio-cultural context…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the measures of social distancing and home confinement have been perceived and experienced in the Italian socio-cultural context, how they reshaped everyday life and which are their social implications.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was exploratory and interpretative in nature and a qualitative research design was adopted accordingly. A total of 60 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted.
Findings
Research findings highlight the fact that the boundaries of everyday practices have been completely reframed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Italy. Informants show that scarcity of personal spaces, intertwined with the collapse of the boundaries between private and professional life, and also the lack of physical contact, resulted in a complex management of different social roles and in a stress overload.
Originality/value
There are no prior studies that critically analyse the lived experiences of individuals during the lockdown and the impact of home confinement on their meaning-making processes. This paper sheds light on the reframing of everyday life, thereby enhancing our understanding of a novel issue that is of primary concern for social scientists.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine a social marketing initiative pursued by the privately owned Swedish music festival Way Out West during 2012-2014. This paper’s aim is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a social marketing initiative pursued by the privately owned Swedish music festival Way Out West during 2012-2014. This paper’s aim is to explore how events can support individual behaviour changes, and it seeks to assess the effects of Way Out West, as well as to understand what motivated visitors to change.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical lens of perceived consumer value (Holbrook, 1999) as the individual outcome of a social marketing exchange is used for the analysis. The paper uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods; a Web survey (n = 1757) monitors self-reported behaviour over time, and in-depth interviews are conducted with a handful visitors who reduced regular meat consumption.
Findings
The results of this paper suggest that the initiative was a strong inspiration for 15 per cent of the sample (corresponding to ca. 9,300 festival visitors who decreased their meat consumption 2012-2014). It was evident that these “Decreasers” perceived functional, emotional, social and altruistic value as outcomes of changed behaviour. The paper identifies and discusses links between the adoption of a new behaviour in the temporal non-ordinary setting of a music festival and the endurance of the behaviour in a mundane environment.
Originality/value
This paper examines self-perceived effects on behaviour that a private social marketing initiative had on consumers. The paper contributes by applying Holbrook’s (1999) theoretical framework of perceived consumer value to empirical context, by investigating hedonic aspects of social marketing consumption in the non-ordinary setting of a music festival. The paper discusses how a temporarily adopted behaviour continues to create value for consumers, when maintained in ordinary life.
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The purpose of this study is to reflect on some of the challenges faced by caregivers when making decisions relating to school placements for their child with a learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to reflect on some of the challenges faced by caregivers when making decisions relating to school placements for their child with a learning disability.
Design/methodology/approach
Quotes from parents and caregivers, contacted via a national syndrome support charity, are shared, along with broader perspectives gained through the charity’s helpline service.
Findings
A number of themes are discussed, including friendships and role models; expectations and educational targets; training, speciality and capacity of staff and managing a widening gap.
Originality/value
When considering the future of education provision, it is important to consider some of the tensions between an ideology of inclusion and the current realities of service provision. To create effective solutions to achieving more effective inclusion, the concerns and experiences of families, as well as children, must be considered.
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