The formation of conscience : pedagogy of the sacred

This qualitative study explores Thomas Green's (1999) treatise, Voices: The Educational Formation of Conscience; for the purpose of reconstruing the transformative usefulness of conscience in moral education. Conscience is "reflexive judgment about things that matter" (Green, 1999, p. 21). Paul Lehmann (1963) suggested that we must "do the conscience over or do the conscience in" (p. 327). Thomas Green "does the conscience over", arguing that a philosophy of moral education, and not a moral philosophy, provides the only framework from which governance of moral behaviour can be understood. Narratives from four one-to-one interviews and a focus group are analysed and interpreted in search of: (a) awareness and understanding of conscience, (b) voices of conscience, (c) normation, (d) reflexive emotions, and (e) the idea of the sacred. Participants in this study (ages 16-21) demonstrated an active awareness of their conscience and a willingness to engage in a reflective process of their moral behaviour. They understood their conscience to be a process of self-judgment about what is right and wrong, and that its authority comes from within themselves. Narrative accounts from childhood indicated that conscience is there "from the beginning" with evidence of selfcorrecting behaviour. A maturing conscience is accompanied by an increased cognitive capacity, more complicated life experiences, and individualization. Moral motivation was grounded in " a desire to connect with things that are most important." A model for conscience formation is proposed, which visualizes a critical path of reflexive emotions. It is argued that schools, striving to shape good citizens, can promote conscience formation through a "curriculum of moral skills"; a curriculum that embraces complexity, diversity, social criticism, and selfhood.

Ojibwe Elders' Experiences of Peace: To Teach Our Well-Being With the Earth

This research focuses on exploring the Anishinaabek/Ojibwe worldview founded upon the spiritual relationship with Mother Earth as the Anishinaabek view of peace to teach our well-being with earth. This research explores the experiences of four 21st century traditional Anishinaabek elders through describing their ways of knowing and of being as it relates to the Anishinaabek worldview of respect and peace with nature. This respect for Mother Earth and respecting earth’s way−akii-bimaadizi is articulated and shared regarding elders’ experiences of teaching our well-being with earth−Akinomaage mino akii-ayaa and is based upon Anishinaabek spirituality. This research details the Anishinaabek worldview from the elders’ shared experiences of earth as teacher and elder. Ten themes emerged from the data. These themes included (a) going back to our original gifts and instructions/building your sacred bundle/sharing your sacred bundle, (b) wisdom−nbwaakaawin: connecting the dots/original instructions/medicine−mshkiki/environmental consciousness, (c) sacred teachings/learning from the elders, (d) relationships/honoring elders/eldership, (e) political experiences and awareness, (f) a way of being in Anishinaabek research, (g) survival, (h) peace is our worldview demonstrated, (i) be aware of colonialistic thinking, (j) Akinomaage: earth as context. The researcher also shares her reflections as a researcher and as an Anishinaabekwe: Ojibwe woman.

Evaporative respiratory cooling augments pit organ thermal detection in rattlesnakes

Rattlesnakes use their facial pit organs to sense external thermal fluctuations. A temperature decrease in the heat-sensing membrane of the pit organ has the potential to enhance heat flux between their endothermic prey and the thermal sensors, affect the optimal functioning of thermal sensors in the pit membrane and reduce the formation of thermal ‘‘afterimages’’, improving thermal detection. We examined the potential for respiratory cooling to improve strike behaviour, capture, and consumption of endothermic prey in the South American rattlesnake, as behavioural indicators of thermal detection. Snakes with a higher degree of rostral cooling were more accurate during the strike, attacking warmer regions of their prey, and relocated and consumed their prey faster. These findings reveal that by cooling their pit organs, rattlesnakes increase their ability to detect endothermic prey; disabling the pit organs caused these differences to disappear. Rattlesnakes also modify the degree of rostral cooling by altering their breathing pattern in response to biologically relevant stimuli, such as a mouse odour. Our findings reveal that low humidity increases their ability to detect endothermic prey, suggesting that habitat and ambush sites election in the wild may be influenced by external humidity levels as well as temperature.

Fenian raid 1866 with Lieut.-Col. J. Stoughton Dennis at Fort Erie, June 2

The Introduction of the text reads: "After nearly forty-four years of silence, I consider it wise to present to the public the inner history of the Fenian Raid of 1866, where an incompetent military officer was entrusted with the lives of a small body of men, and, who by failure in the performance of a sacred duty, may prove a wholesome and useful lesson to commanders of troops in the field."