The Integration of Personal and Professional Selves: Developing Students' Critical Awareness in Social Work Practice

How social work students incorporate personal and professional selves in the contexts of field education represents a cornerstone of effective and sustainable practice. This paper presents a qualitative component of a study that tracked 15 third-year bachelor of social work students across their first field placement to document their use of self, critical reflections and experiential learning. The project examined students' assessed ‘use of self’ assignments to understand their capacity for and development of critical awareness across this placement. Students were most articulate in being able to identify stressful situations that arose from placement in terms of what they were thinking (mind) and feeling (emotion) and to a much lesser extent to what they were sensing (body). Over time, students demonstrated a growing critical awareness to better identify and respond to their self-reported tensions. The findings provide developmental insights into how students integrate personal and professional selves and potentially shift from reflective and reflexive practices to incorporating praxis in their work. Through considering the linkages between self and practice, this paper explores student experiences whilst on placement and the associated developmental tasks of critical awareness.     

Parental constructions of masculinity at the transition to parenthood: the division of parental leave among Austrian couples

Men and masculinity are considered a key factor in changing gender inequality at the transition to parenthood. Prior research on gendered division of parental leave concentrated on fathers’ perspectives. This paper includes perspectives of fathers and mothers who make use of parental leave in different ways and asks how masculinity is jointly constructed, how these constructions are linked to the use of parental leave, and if and how they are oriented towards hegemonic masculinity. The analysis is based on 44 qualitative interviews with 11 Austrian couples before and after birth when decisions concerning parental leave were made. Our case reconstructions reveal that parents considered parental leave a central element of masculinity as long as it suited fathers’ needs and circumstances permitted. The decisions for sharing parental leave were father-centred as both partners valued father’s leave higher than mother’s.     

Exploring Cultural Issues for Constellation Work in South Africa

Constellation work is a therapeutic and counselling intervention recognised in Germany and other European countries since the 1970s. Various scientists and practitioners have contributed to its theoretical and practical development, and research on the subject has increased over the past few years. However culture in constellation work has received little research attention and has not been empirically studied in African contexts. The aim of this article is to reflect on culture and its influence on constellation work in multicultural, post‐apartheid South Africa. An empirical qualitative research approach within the phenomenological paradigm was adopted. Six constellation facilitators were interviewed with in‐depth and field notes taken during participative observations of constellation workshops. The findings provide insight into culture in constellation work in the South African context. Theoretical and practical recommendations for scientists and therapy practitioners working with systemic interventions like constellation work are provided.     

The Heart of the Matter: Exploring Intergenerational Themes in Children’s Literature

Exploring intergenerational themes in children’s literature, this article shares the perspective of one grandfather and the reactions of educators in response to stories of young and old. Four themes found within intergenerational children’s literature are identified: (a) perceptions of grandparents’ interests and personalities, (b) passing down of knowledge, (c) shared moments/adventures, and (d) perceptions of aging. Intended as a reference point for educators as they select books depicting intergenerational themes, a question asked is, What is at the heart of the matter when it comes to children’s literature depicting themes of young and old?     

What's wrong is right: A response to the state of the discipline

In the June issue ofSociological Forum, several authors addressed the question, What's Wrong with Sociology. Answers included increased fragmentation of the discipline, and the lack of an identifiable cumulative core of sociological knowledge. This paper examines many of the claims made by the contributors to the June 1994Sociological Forum, reframes their arguments, and by placing debates regarding the problems in sociology in a broader perspective, identifies many of the recent advances made by the discipline. Focusing on such notable contributions to the field as feminist and postmodern scholarship, we locate the positive side of multiple perspective research.Feminist Scholars in Sociology is a collective of researchers and teachers at the University of Colorado interested in exploring and sharing feminist theory and methodology.     

李敖与《胡适评传》

《胡适评传》一书 ,体现了李敖对胡适倡导的传记思想的理解 ,是李敖对胡适“新体传记”理论的大胆实践。他在作品中体现出来的细密宏阔的脚注叙述 ,展示出胡适成长的大背景 ,写出了那个时代的众生相 ;作品语言的简约含蓄 ,给读者留下了广阔的联想空间。作者摆脱了传统传记单纯评价传主的单一的审美规范 ,高屋建瓴 ,以巨大的叙事空间和含蓄的描述语言使作品充满了张力和厚重感 ,产生独具特色的艺术魅力     

基于认知分层理论的外语思辨能力研究

思辨能力培养是我国外语专业教学的薄弱环节,更是外语人才培养的软肋。外语专业教学必须以培养学生的思辨能力为导向,纠正影响思辨能力发展的外部因素。文章基于布鲁姆认知能力分层理论,以具体的写作课、语言学课、英语演讲课为例,从不同角度、不同内容和不同层次对思辨能力的培养纳入外语专业的教育过程进行了详实阐述,所以只有提升外语专业学生的思辨能力,才能提高外语人才的培养质量。     

Effective interventions to promote child and family wellness: a study of outcomes of intervention through Children's Family Centres

This paper reports research carried out in Australia designed to evaluate the impact of family support interventions by comparing the views of families and their caseworkers with respect to the perceived benefits and outcomes of the interventions in the context of changes in family functioning and parent–child relationships, and the extent to which changes led to reduced involvement in protective services. The intervention was monitored over a six‐month period using a pre‐ and post‐test design, incorporating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the methodology. The paper discusses: problem domains identified; changes in caregivers’ level of distress, problem solving and learning ability, bonding style and use of discipline; parents’ and children's cooperation with the programme; and implications of the findings for policy and research methodology.     

Four Public Declarations of the Revolutionary Period

In our complex, interdependent world, it is critical that educators prepare students for global citizenship. One way to develop students’ awareness and understanding of the world is through global literature. Through exposure to this type of literature, students gain multiple perspectives and learn about the social, political, and moral conditions under which people around the world live. They also develop respect and understanding of socially and politically oppressed peoples and learn why it is important to promote social justice. The authors discuss global literature for elementary students and describe an example of a lesson taught in a third-grade classroom using these books. Finally, the authors share the outcomes of the lesson based on their observations and analysis of the students’ oral responses and written reflections.     

论大学英语写作教学原则

本文着重探讨写作与批评性阅读之间的关系 ,认为在写作教学中通过批评性阅读培养学生的批评性语言意识是提高他们写作能力的一条重要原则。