An investigation into the nature and consequences of teachers' implicit philosophies of science

The aims of this study were to investigate the beliefs concerning the philosophy of science held by practising science teachers and to relate those beliefs to their pupils' understanding of the philosophy of science. Three philosophies of science, differing in the way they relate experimental work to other parts of the scientific enterprise, are described. By the use of questionnaire techniques, teachers of four extreme types were identified. These are: the H type or hypothetico-deductivist teacher, who sees experiments as potential falsifiers of hypotheses or of logical deductions from them; the I type or inductivist teacher, who regards experiments mainly as a way of increasing the range of observations available for recording before patterns are noted and inductive generalisation is carried out; the V type or verificationist teacher, who expects experiments to provide proof and to demonstrate the truth or accuracy of scientific statements; and the 0 type, who has no discernible philosophical beliefs about the nature of science or its methodology. Following interviews of selected teachers to check their responses to the questionnaire and to determine their normal teaching methods, an experiment was organised in which parallel groups were given H, I and V type teaching in the normal school situation during most of one academic year. Using pre-test and post-test scores on a specially developed test of pupil understanding of the philosophy of science, it was shown that pupils were positively affected by their teacher's implied philosophy of science. There was also some indication that V type teaching improved marks obtained in school science examinations, but appeared to discourage the more able from continuing the study of science. Effects were also noted on vocabulary used by pupils to describe scientists and their activities.

Critical approaches to care:understanding caring relations, identities and cutures

What does ‘care’ mean in contemporary society? How are caring relationships practised in different contexts? What resources do individuals and collectives draw upon in order to care for, care with and care about themselves and others? How do such relationships and practices relate to broader social processes? Care shapes people’s everyday lives and relationships and caring relations and practices influence the economies of different societies. This interdisciplinary book takes a nuanced and context-sensitive approach to exploring caring relationships, identities and practices within and across a variety of cultural, familial, geographical and institutional arenas. Grounded in rich empirical research and discussing key theoretical, policy and practice debates, it provides important, yet often neglected, international and cross-cultural perspectives. It is divided into four sections covering: caring within educational institutions; caring amongst communities and networks; caring and families; and caring across the life-course. Contributing to broader theoretical, philosophical and moral debates associated with the ethics of care, citizenship, justice, relationality and entanglements of power, Critical Approaches to Care is an important work for students and academics studying caring and care work in the fields of health and social care, sociology, social policy, anthropology, education, human geography and politics.

Co-constructed caring research and intellectual disability:an exploration of friendship, intimacy and being human

For this paper, emotional and socio-political questions lie at the heart of relationships in understanding intellectual disability and what it is to be a human. While the sexual and intimate is more often than not based on a private and personal relationship with the self and (an)other, the sexual and intimate life of intellectually disabled people is more often a ‘public’ affair governed by parents and/or carers, destabilizing what we might consider ethical and caring practices. In the socio-political sphere, as an all-encompassing ‘care space’, social intolerance and aversion to difficult differences are played out, impacting upon the intimate lives of intellectually disabled people. As co-researchers (one intellectually disabled and one ‘non-disabled’), we discuss narratives from a small scale research project and our personal reflections. In sociological research and more specifically within disability research it is clear that we need to keep sex and intimacy on the agenda, yet also find ways of doing research in a meaningful, caring and co-constructed way.

Interventions for nurses caring for a child who has an unexpected acute life threatening event (ALTE) in hospital

Introduction: Caring for a child who has an unexpected ALTE in hospital can be stressful. An ALTE may include a cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest or call for immediate assistance. An international survey of practice was conducted to identify any existing interventions to inform a PhD program of work aimed at reducing the stress from these events through preparation and support. Purpose: The purpose of the survey was threefold: (1) Describe ‘normal’ practice when it comes to preparing staff or providing psychological support after caring for a child who has had an ALTE. (2) Determine if there are any interventions to prepare clinical staff for potential psychological effects of caring for a child who has an ALTE. (3) Determine if there are any interventions to provide support for clinical staff after caring for a child who has an ALTE. Material - Methods: An 18 item semi structured questionnaire was designed for the study to allow respondent to describe practices within their institution and outline their opinions and professional experiences. Clinicians from selected children’s and adult hospitals in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America were contacted by telephone. Following consent they were given the option to complete the survey via the telephone, by post or online. Results: Of the 61 hospitals approached 44 (72%) clinicians responded. Eighteen (41%) respondents identified interventions in place to prepare nurses for an ALTE ranging from (but not limited to) ad hoc discussions during life support training through to structured simulation training. Thirty-six (82%) respondents identified that they had interventions in place to support nurses after an ALTE ranging from (but not limited to) debriefing through to structured case reviews. Conclusions: Interventions varied across institutions, with no outcome or evaluation data for the interventions published to date.

The role of pharmacists in caring for young people with chronic illness

Purpose - To explore the perceived and potential roles of pharmacists in the care of young people aged 10-24 years with chronic illness, through the exemplar of juvenile arthritis, from the perspectives of UK community and hospital pharmacists, health service commissioners, rheumatology health professionals and lay advocates. Methods - A sequential mixed methods study design comprising: focus groups with community and hospital pharmacists; telephone interviews with pharmacy and rheumatology stakeholders and commissioners, and multidisciplinary group discussions to prioritize roles generated by the first two qualitative phases. Results - The high priority roles for pharmacists, identified by pharmacists and rheumatology staff, were: developing generic healthcare skills among young people; transferring information effectively across care interfaces; building trusting relationships with young people; helping young people to find credible online health information, and the need to develop specialist expertise. Participants identified associated challenges for pharmacists in supporting young people with chronic illness. These challenges included parents collecting prescription refills alone, thus reducing opportunities to engage, and pharmacist isolation from the wider healthcare team. Conclusions - This study has led to the identification of specific enhancements to pharmacy services for young people which have received the endorsement of a wide range of stakeholders. These suggestions could inform the next steps in developing the contribution of community and hospital pharmacy to support young people with chronic illness in the optimal use of their medication.