Through qualitative interviews with five teachers from three schools, two public schools within the same school management and a Waldorf school, the purpose of this study is to find out teachers' views on the phenomenon of life skills in the lower classes in school. What is the subject, how do teachers work with life skills, and should it be seen as a separate subject or integrated in all school subjects? The results show that the definition of life skills is a term with many interpretations. Two concepts that can be seen as the common denominators in the educators' views on the subject, however is, social and emotional skills. This is something that educators believe develop self-awareness and empathy in children and sees that as important as learning other subjects. However, different educators' perceptions of the life skills should be a subject or not. The methods that teachers mainly work with is SET, social and emotional training. Various calls, role-playing games, values clarification and EQ-bears are also essential elements. The teacher is seen as a great role model and her attitude is an important part in the work. / Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på pedagogers uppfattningar kring fenomenet livskunskap i de lägre klasserna. Vad innebär livskunskap, hur arbetar pedagogerna med denna samt bör det vara ett eget ämne eller integrerat i alla ämnen? För att få svar på dessa frågor har kvalitativa intervjuer gjorts med fem pedagoger från tre olika skolor, varav två kommunala inom samma rektorsområde samt en waldorfskola. Resultatet visar att livskunskap är ett mångfacetterat område. Två delar vilka kan ses som de gemensamma nämnarna i pedagogernas syn på ämnet är social och emotionell kompetens. Detta är något som pedagogerna tror utvecklar barnens självkännedom och empatiska förmåga samt ser som lika väsentligt som att lära sig övriga ämnen. Dock skiljer sig pedagogernas uppfattningar kring om livskunskap bör vara ett skolämne eller inte. De metoder som pedagogerna arbetar med är främst SET (social och emotionell träning). De arbetar även med olika samtal, värderingsövningar, rollspel och EQ-björnar. Läraren ses i arbetet som en stor förebild och dennes förhållningssätt är således en viktig del i arbetet.

The purpose of this is work to analyse self-awareness, self-esteem, sense of coherence, understanding of sequence of a vital way, and also a choice of attractive and unattractive images of this sequence at 7-8 years children’s from not full families in comparison with children from full families. Self-esteem was measured by the semantic differential type scale developed by Beresneviciene D. (1995) and Pileckaite-Markoviene (2001). Sense of coherence scale for children was measured by Margalit (1995) and Pileckaite-Markoviene (2001). Identify own age, understanding of sequence of a vital way, and also a choice of attractive and unattractive images, was investigated using a technique of children's self-awareness by Belopolskaja N.L. (1998). 241 primary school children (163 from full families and 78 not full families) were evaluated using these tools. The results showed that children from not full families estimate themselves below on parameter "happy" (t(239) =3,281, p=0,001) than children from full families. Results have shown that children from full families have a higher level of sense of coherence, than children from not full families. Statistically important difference is visible on components “trust to an environment " (t(239)=2,627, p=0,009) and "acceptance of requirements of an environment” (t(239)=2,464, p=0,014). Results of empirical investigations showed that primary school children with high level of sense of coherence had higher level of self-esteem (r=0,378... [to full text]

Darbo tema: valstybės ir tautos santykis (susvetimėjimo aspektas), darbą atliko Vilniaus Pedagoginio Universiteto Socialinių mokslų fakulteto Sociologijos ir politologijos katedros Politinės sociologijos magistrantūros studentas Domas Grigaliūnas. Kadangi globalizacija supa mus ir daro poveikį mūsų kasdienybei, paliesdama mums artimą pasaulį, iškeldama diskusiją su mums įprastomis mūsų politinėms bei kultūrinėmis vertybėmis, buvo iškeltas tyrimo tikslas - išsiaiškinti tautos ir valstybės atskirties (susvetimėjimo) politinės ir kultūrinės globalizacijos kontekste priežastis. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti globalizacijos sampratos teorinius aspektus, Europos Sąjungos vaidmenį; 2. Apibendrinti valstybės ir tautos santykį politinės ir kultūrinės globalizacijos kontekste vertybiniu ir atskirties aspektai; 3. Atlikti tyrimą, leidžiantį išsiaiškinti tautos ir valstybės atskirties (susvetimėjimo) politinės ir kultūrinės globalizacijos kontekste priežastis. Tyrimo objektas: politinės ir kultūrinės globalizacijos vertinimas. Tyrimo metu patvirtintos šios hipotezės: 1. Respondentai laiko globalizaciją visuotinai paplitusiu reiškiniu, tačiau šią sąvoką iš dalies tapatina su globalizmo sąvoka. Politinė ir kultūrinė globalizacija yra laikoma aktualiausia, daugelis respondentų globalizaciją mano esant iššūkiu tautos vertybėms. 2. Daugelio respondentų pagrindinis Europos Sąjungos tikslas – sukurti kuo glaudesnę Europos tautų sąjungą, vertinamas tik iš dalies teigiamai. Pilietiškumas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The subject of the work is “The relation between the polity and nation (the aspect of alienation). The work was made by Domas Grigaliūnas, Political sociology master’s degree student of VPU Social sciences faculty Sociology and political sciences department. The globalization is around us and influences our commonness, touching the world that is close to us, raising the discussion with our ordinary political and cultural values. Because of that there was raised the purpose of the investigation – to ascertain the causes of the disjuncture (alienation) between the nation and polity in political and cultural globalization context. The tasks of the work: 1. To analyze the theoretical aspects of the conception of the globalization, the role of European Union; 2. To summarize the relation between the polity and the nation in the political and cultural globalization context in the value and disjuncture aspects; 3. To fulfill the investigation that would let us to ascertain the causes of the of the disjuncture (alienation) between the nation and polity in political and cultural globalization context The object of the investigation is the evaluation of the political and cultural globalization. These hypotheses were proved during the investigation: 1. Respondents consider the globalization as the universally prevailing phenomenon, but they partly identify this concept with the globalization concept. Political and cultural globalization is considered as the most topical, many... [to full text]

Šiame darbe aptariama religinės savimonės pokyčiai XX a. pradžios lietuvių literatūroje. Nagrinėti pasirinkti romanai Vinco Mykolaičio – Putino „Altorių šešėlis“, Igno Šeiniaus „Kuprelis“ (trečiasis (1913 m.) ir ketvirtasis (1932 m.) variantai ir Julijono Lindės – Dobilo „Blūdas“. Nes laikoma, kad jie ryškiausiai atvaizduoja ir parodo XX amžiaus pradžios lietuvių savimonę. Tokį kūrinių pasirinkimą lėmė, antropologinis žiūrėjimas į tekstus, aptinkamus būtent juose pasikartojančius ir bendrus religinės savimonės elementus. Darbe keliama hipotezė, jog XX a. pradžioje lietuviškoje religinėje kultūroje ir sąmonėje įvyko pokyčiai, kurie reiškėsi ir per literatūrinius tekstus, kurie, kaip to laiko dokumentai, byloja apie kultūrinėje terpėje vyravusį pasikeitimą. Šie romanai byloja apie naują, individualios, savimonės susiformavimą ir kitimą bei skirtybę nuo vyraujančio kultūrinio masyvo. Prieštaraujančią jam, bet neišvengiamai darančią įtaką, labiau nei etaloninis bei idealus religijos praktikos aprašymas J. Gintauto apysakoje „Tiesiame kelyje“, kuris sukurtas kaip tendencinga dvasininkijos apologija. Senasis būdas tikėti, net jei kultūriškai buvo priimtinesnis ir netgi visuomenės labiau palaikomas, neprigijo, nes tolesnis mechaniškas ritų ir tikėjimų visuma paremtas religijos supratimas, bei religinė savimonė jau buvo pakitusi. Darbe susikoncentruota į religinės savimonės, jos raiškos ir pokyčių konkrečiuose literatūriniuose kūriniuose tyrimą, paremtą antropologiniu kultūros... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The objective for these Master theses is to discuss alteration of religious self awareness in the Lithuanian literature of the beginning of the 20th century. For analysis there were selected several novels: V. M. Putinas “Altoriu sesely”, I.Seinius “Kuprelis” (the third edition released in 1913 and the fourth edition released in 1932) and J. Linde – Dobilas “Bludas”. These novels were chosen for several reasons: they distinctly reflect and demonstrate self awareness of Lithuanians in the beginning of 20th century; also anthropological viewpoint of chosen novels exhibits repeated and common elements of religious self awareness. These Master theses are raising hypothesis, that in the beginning of 20th century in religious and cultural consciousness changes happened, they were expressed through literature, and as literature is a as document of a particular time period, it shows an alteration in cultural environment. Analyzed novels show the formation and change of new, individual self awareness also distinction from dominant cultural array. It is reverse to the tradition, but culturally more significant than ideal description of religion practices in J. Gintautas novel “Tiesiu keliu”, which was written as tendentious apologia of clergy. Old - fashioned way of faith, though culturally more acceptable and yet more supported by society, didn’t entrench mostly because further mechanical understanding of religion (based on rituals as well as entirety of beliefs) and religious self... [to full text]

This work is a collectivist engagement between researcher and participants in a knowledge quest for self-hood through engaged bodily awareness and sense. The world of the teen girl is explored from a philosophical, social, and political perspective that emphasizes expression of self through embodied knowing and being. The process is performative where yoga is used as an arts-based method to explore the self through bodily awareness. The body is reclaimed as a way to know oneself. Yoga is the expression of the living, being, and knowing body. The asana practice, the still of meditation, and the flow of the breath are emancipatory discourse where each of us moves, changes, and grows; and ultimately becomes. This becoming is a consciousness raising experience that finds and grows voice. The transformative process engages a physical expression where participants’ and researcher’s individual sense of self is connected with their universal sense of self hereby replacing current patterns of harmful thinking with new consciousness that is reflective of self awareness and realization. Found poetry is used to explore the experience of the participants. The poetic representation brings the reader into the world of the teen girl. Voices that have been secret and silenced are celebrated. The body is the instrument through which power and ownership of the moment and the self are expressed through emotion and experience. The participants and researcher move collectively and intuitively from passive objects to self-knowing subjects; subjects who are thoroughly engaged in the world and aware of their highest potential as liberated selves. The findings of this collectivist and activist research approach indicate that embodied engagements elicit the space where flesh speaks and external and internal become unified as one. Yoga is an artful, embodied expression that is about experiencing the world without being enslaved by the world. This is not a passive engagement but an activist engagement that challenges hegemonic ideas of girls in the world and in the world of a girl. This further embraces the idea of the unity of whole-self and mind-body interconnectedness where we are not passive observers of the body with awareness of self located in the head watching over the body as object. Subject and object as separate dissolve and mindfulness is the present. The end result is one where we become; we become fully engaged in a creative and fluid self-hood enabling self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-love. / Graduate / 0727 / 0525 / 0273 / kyte_d@yahoo.ca

This work is a collectivist engagement between researcher and participants in a knowledge quest for self-hood through engaged bodily awareness and sense. The world of the teen girl is explored from a philosophical, social, and political perspective that emphasizes expression of self through embodied knowing and being. The process is performative where yoga is used as an arts-based method to explore the self through bodily awareness. The body is reclaimed as a way to know oneself. Yoga is the expression of the living, being, and knowing body. The asana practice, the still of meditation, and the flow of the breath are emancipatory discourse where each of us moves, changes, and grows; and ultimately becomes. This becoming is a consciousness raising experience that finds and grows voice. The transformative process engages a physical expression where participants’ and researcher’s individual sense of self is connected with their universal sense of self hereby replacing current patterns of harmful thinking with new consciousness that is reflective of self awareness and realization. Found poetry is used to explore the experience of the participants. The poetic representation brings the reader into the world of the teen girl. Voices that have been secret and silenced are celebrated. The body is the instrument through which power and ownership of the moment and the self are expressed through emotion and experience. The participants and researcher move collectively and intuitively from passive objects to self-knowing subjects; subjects who are thoroughly engaged in the world and aware of their highest potential as liberated selves. The findings of this collectivist and activist research approach indicate that embodied engagements elicit the space where flesh speaks and external and internal become unified as one. Yoga is an artful, embodied expression that is about experiencing the world without being enslaved by the world. This is not a passive engagement but an activist engagement that challenges hegemonic ideas of girls in the world and in the world of a girl. This further embraces the idea of the unity of whole-self and mind-body interconnectedness where we are not passive observers of the body with awareness of self located in the head watching over the body as object. Subject and object as separate dissolve and mindfulness is the present. The end result is one where we become; we become fully engaged in a creative and fluid self-hood enabling self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-love. / Graduate / 0727 / 0525 / 0273 / kyte_d@yahoo.ca

Although a modest body of literature has emerged to investigate the experiences of youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there is a need to better understand their experiences to guide developmentally appropriate interventions and supports. This exploratory mixed-methods project included two studies aimed at gathering information about the self-perceptions and lived experiences of adolescents with ASD. In study 1, 27 adolescents (ages 13-18) completed measures to examine their self-concept and self-perceived competence, self-awareness of ASD characteristics and behaviours, and the types of behavioural attributions and stigmatizing beliefs they ascribe to their problematic behaviours. Two comparison groups (adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and typically developing adolescents) were used for self-concept and behavioural attribution comparisons. Study 2 comprised a smaller sub-set of 13 participants who participated in interviews designed to capture how ASD is perceived and experienced by those living with this disorder. Study 1 results suggested that adolescents with ASD have some awareness of the social, behavioural and adaptive challenges associated with their diagnosis and, as a group, hold some self-perceptions of competence and behavioural attributions that are different from those of adolescents without ASD. In Study 2, interviews were analyzed thematically to capture how adolescents talk about their diagnosis and psychosocial experiences, and how this may impact their self-concept and self-image. Four major categories emerged: (1) self-awareness and understanding of ASD; (2) psychosocial stress; (3) social-ecological factors; and (4) sources of support. Together, these results provide insights about how they perceive themselves and their diagnosis and some of the individual, family, and school factors related to their self-perceptions and self-awareness. Results from both studies converge to provide support for a systems approach to understanding the interactions between adolescents, families, peers, school, community, and greater society when undertaking individual assessments of needs and treatment planning for ASD. Findings from the studies are discussed with respect to the positive and negative effects of awareness and knowledge about one’s diagnosis on self-perceptions and psychological adaptation. This research has important implications for clinical and educational interventions that address the unique needs and strengths of adolescents with ASD to promote positive developmental outcomes.

Although a modest body of literature has emerged to investigate the experiences of youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there is a need to better understand their experiences to guide developmentally appropriate interventions and supports. This exploratory mixed-methods project included two studies aimed at gathering information about the self-perceptions and lived experiences of adolescents with ASD. In study 1, 27 adolescents (ages 13-18) completed measures to examine their self-concept and self-perceived competence, self-awareness of ASD characteristics and behaviours, and the types of behavioural attributions and stigmatizing beliefs they ascribe to their problematic behaviours. Two comparison groups (adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and typically developing adolescents) were used for self-concept and behavioural attribution comparisons. Study 2 comprised a smaller sub-set of 13 participants who participated in interviews designed to capture how ASD is perceived and experienced by those living with this disorder. Study 1 results suggested that adolescents with ASD have some awareness of the social, behavioural and adaptive challenges associated with their diagnosis and, as a group, hold some self-perceptions of competence and behavioural attributions that are different from those of adolescents without ASD. In Study 2, interviews were analyzed thematically to capture how adolescents talk about their diagnosis and psychosocial experiences, and how this may impact their self-concept and self-image. Four major categories emerged: (1) self-awareness and understanding of ASD; (2) psychosocial stress; (3) social-ecological factors; and (4) sources of support. Together, these results provide insights about how they perceive themselves and their diagnosis and some of the individual, family, and school factors related to their self-perceptions and self-awareness. Results from both studies converge to provide support for a systems approach to understanding the interactions between adolescents, families, peers, school, community, and greater society when undertaking individual assessments of needs and treatment planning for ASD. Findings from the studies are discussed with respect to the positive and negative effects of awareness and knowledge about one’s diagnosis on self-perceptions and psychological adaptation. This research has important implications for clinical and educational interventions that address the unique needs and strengths of adolescents with ASD to promote positive developmental outcomes.

This qualitative study investigates how music therapists work within a culturally diverse environment in New Zealand and the researcher's own growing experience as a student clinician. This research endeavoured to answer two research questions. Firstly, what do music therapists in New Zealand perceive from their experience of working with clients from different culture? Secondly, how does my own experience as a second generation Korean MTS affect my clinical work in a multicultural environment in New Zealand? This study applied aspects of qualitative research. Four qualified New Zealand music therapists and the researcher herself participated in this study. Data was collected from the interviews with the music therapy participatns, the music therapy student's reflection on case notes from two clinical cases, and a research journal. Music therapists identified various issues that associated with their experiences of working cross-culturally. The main areas of key ideas were categorized under 1) cultural considerations 2) preconceptions 3) building a communicative bridge 4) clinical competency 5) different approaches 6) culturally appropriate practice. The ideas under these categories have crystallized to articulate the different voices of participants for the benefit of the knowledge in the existing literatures and for the enhancement of personal tools towards self awareness and culturally appropriate clinical practice. From the overview of all the participants consulted in this study it was concluded that recognition of the importance of self awareness was one of the most significant factors in building culturally appropriate practice in a multicultural environment.

A qualitative descriptive approach was undertaken to explore the leadership experience of seven first line nurse managers working in the Cook Islands. For the purposes of this study first line nurse managers are those nurses working as a charge nurse in a hospital, nursing supervisors, chief public health nurse, and nurses working autonomously in the outer islands of the Cook Islands. Nurses in these roles are in key positions to influence the practice of others and set the standard of practice and culture of a unit. The participants were recruited if they were currently employed in any of these positions. The seven participants were all Cook Islands women who received their undergraduate nursing education in the Cook Islands. The purpose of the study was to describe their leadership experience, to raise an awareness of their role, and to make recommendations to support and improve the preparation of nurses for leadership roles in the Cook Islands. Through face-to-face interviews, the participants' stories were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Six of the seven transcripts required translation from Cook Islands Maori to English and this was conducted by the researcher who is fluent in both languages. Content and thematic analysis of the data revealed a spiritual, emotive and intuitive theme in the participants' leadership experience. The findings of the study revealed the self confidence of these nurses to manage in this role despite being challenged by management issues and the lack of preparedness for the role. The supportive network established within their staff, their family and the people around them has provided the impetus to continue to 'serve' their people. The findings also revealed that these nurses recognised the need to continue to learn and develop themselves and their staff. The findings of this study have significance for nurses aspiring to be nurse leaders in the Cook Islands or other Pacific Islands and rural communities. A key stakeholder in this study is the Cook Islands Ministry of Health, as insights and awareness gained can contribute to an appropriate preparation and support programme for nurses working in its organisation.