Good education,the good teacher,and a practical art of living a good life: a Catholic perspective

What is good education? We value education for reasons connected to the good provided by education in society. This good is connected to be the pedagogical aim of education. This article distinguishes five criteria for good education based on the concept of ‘Bildung’.

Next, these five criteria are used to develop the idea of the good teacher. The rationale behind the analysis is that the good teacher should be able to realise what we consider to be good education. There are different traditions of religiously affiliated schools in the world. This article gives insight into the idea of the good teacher in two documents of the Catholic Congregation of Education on the lay teacher. Finally, the article focuses on the formation of a practical art of living a good life. Again, the five characteristics of good education structure the analysis of this type of educational formation.     

The spiritual experience index: A measure of spiritual maturity

The Spiritual Experience Index was developed to measure spiritual maturity in persons of diverse religious and spiritual beliefs. The scale was constructed from a developmental rather than a multidimensional conceptualization of faith. Initial findings from a religiously heterogeneous college sample indicated good reliability for the SEI and supported its use as a unidimensional measure. Higher scores on the SEI were significantly related to lower dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity. The SEI was also moderately related to higher religious participation and positively correlated with intrinsicness and quest. However, compared with the intrinsic and quest scales, the SEI emerged as the strongest indicator of adaptive spiritual functioning. Directions for future research are suggested.     

Perceived control of life regrets: good for young and bad for old adults

Age differences in the associations among intensity of regret, control attributions, and intrusive thoughts were investigated (N = 122, age range = 20-87 years). Given that the opportunities to overcome regrettable behavior decline with age, older adults' attributions of low internal control were expected to serve self-protective functions and facilitate deactivation of regret. In younger adults, by contrast, high levels of internal-control attributions might facilitate active change of regrettable behavior, resulting in low intensities of regret. The results showed that internal-control attributions were related to high intensity of regret and intrusive thoughts in older adults. Among younger adults, however, internal-control attributions were associated with low intensity of regret and low levels of intrusive thoughts.     

Relationships between quality of life,spiritual well-being,and psychological adjustment styles for people living with leukaemia: An exploratory study

This paper reports on the relationships between quality of life, spiritual well-being, and psychological adjustment styles for people living with leukaemia. Participants were 40 adults (26 women and 14 men) aged between 22 and 80 years living with acute or chronic leukaemia in Western Australia. Participants completed three scales measuring spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp-12-C Version 4; Cella, 1997 Cella, D. 1997. “Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Manual, Version 4”. In Chicago: Center on Outcomes Research and Education CORE, Evanston, Chicago: Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern University.  [Google Scholar]), psychological adjustment styles (MAC; Watson, Greer, & Bliss, 1989 Watson, M, Greer, S and Bliss, JM. 1989. Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) Scale: User's manual, London: CRC Psychological Medicine Research Group The Royal Marsden Hospital.  [Google Scholar]), and quality of life (FACIT-G; Cella, 1997 Cella, D. 1997. “Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Manual, Version 4”. In Chicago: Center on Outcomes Research and Education CORE, Evanston, Chicago: Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern University.  [Google Scholar]). No differences were found between the men and women participants, with the exception of the anxious preoccupation adjustment style. Significant positive correlations were found between spiritual well-being and quality of life (r?=?0.72, p?=?<0.01), and between fighting spirit and both spiritual well-being (r?=?0.55, p?<?0.01) and quality of life (r?=?0.67, p?<?0.01). Spiritual well-being and quality of life were both significantly negatively correlated with hopelessness/helplessness, fatalism, and anxious preoccupation, suggesting that people who are able to find meaning in their illness are more likely to utilize functional psychological adjustment styles. A stepwise multiple regression revealed that spiritual well-being was most strongly associated with quality of life for people living with leukaemia, followed by a fighting spirit; together, these accounted for 61% of the variance in quality of life scores. Thus, having a reason for living, making life more productive, finding comfort in faith or spiritual beliefs, being determined to control the environment, and feeling a sense of meaning, peace, harmony, purpose, and comfortable in oneself are factors that contribute to a better quality of life among patients with leukaemia. Strengths, limitations, and implications of the findings are discussed.     

The pediatric emotional distress scale: a brief screening measure for young children exposed to traumatic events

Introduced the Pediatric Emotional Distress Scale (PEDS), which was developed to quickly assess behaviors identified in empirical and theoretical literature as significantly elevated in children after experiencing traumatic events. The 21-item parent-report rating scale includes 17 general behavior items and 4 trauma-specific items. Factor analyses on the 17 items, with 475 two- to ten-year-olds (traumatic event exposure and nontraumatic event exposure), yielded 3 reliable factors labeled Anxious/Withdrawn, Fearful, and Acting Out. Factor and total scores were shown to have good internal consistency, and both test-retest and interrater reliability were at acceptable levels. Discriminant analyses demonstrated the PEDS could distinguish traumatic event exposure and nonexposure groups, although maternal education should be a significant consideration in interpretation. Future research with diverse populations who have documented trauma is needed to enhance the utility of the full PEDS scale.     

A new measure for dispositional optimism and pessimism in young children

We describe here a new test for dispositional optimism and pessimism in young children, the Parent‐rated Life Orientation Test of children (the PLOT) and assess its psychometric properties. Two hundred and twenty one mother–father pairs rated their children's (mean age = 8.1, SD = 0.3 years) dispositional optimism and pessimism using a new scale, the PLOT, including four optimism and four pessimism items. We associated the PLOT with parent‐rated self‐esteem (Behavioral Rating Scale of Presented Self‐Esteem in Young Children), social competence (Social Competence and Behaviour Evaluation Scale, the SCBE‐30), psychiatric symptoms (Child Behaviour Checklist, the CBCL) and temperament (Children's Behaviour Questionnaire, the CBQ) of the child. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the mother‐ and father‐rated PLOT revealed a significantly better fit for a two‐ over a one‐factor solution (p < 0.001). The optimism and pessimism subscales displayed good reliabilities, inter‐parental agreement and modest to moderate associations, in the expected direction, with the measures of self‐esteem, social competence, temperament and behaviour problems. To conclude, the PLOT shows good construct and convergent validity and reliability. The findings encourage its use to assess early emerging generalized expectancies of positive and negative outcomes in young children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Feeling one's way in the world: Making a life

This paper argues for the psychoanalytic relevance of the works of James Gibson and Susanne Langer in explicating the early development of the human child and makes use of this combined formulation of development to think about psychoanalytic theory and practice. From the insights of James Gibson's ecological psychology we can appreciate the embodiment and embeddedness of the child's growing mind within both her physical and social environments. Making use of Susanne Langer's concept of feeling to redefine ecological psychology's perceptual counterpart to action allows us to understand the child's seamless transition into active participation in her culture, as she learns to project her animalian capacity to feel into intersubjectively defined forms of behavior and experience with others. The paper presents a lengthy exposition of Gibson's ecological psychology, before explaining Langer's thinking and launching into the combined insights of these scholars to explicate the nature of the child's mind as she feels her way in the world and makes a life for herself within it. This is the life she will be able to remake in the embeddedness of a psychoanalytic therapeutic relationship where she can learn to feel her way in the world in a new light.     

Maternal spiritual health as a predictor of psychological well-being and resilience of her young adult offspring

The unique bond between a mother and her child has drawn the attention of many researchers through the years. Yet, there is a dearth of studies that inquire maternal spiritual health and its potential manifestation through the mother–child bond. Since associations between spiritual health, resilience and psychological well-being have been established through literature, it would be interesting to study how spiritual health of a mother might be a potential source of influence in the life of her child. The current study inquires whether maternal spiritual health can predict psychological well-being and resilience in her young adult. Sample data for the study were collected from 205 families (205 mothers along with their respective young adults, N?=?410). Results indicate maternal spiritual health is a significant predictor of psychological well-being (p?p?相似文献   

为了美好的人生 做个好人

古老的华夏文明,历史源远流长,内蕴博大精深.道教文化因其特有的思想性和民族性,成为中华传统文化的特有载体.道教的思想及思维方式,更是中国传统哲学形成发展的精神源泉.在日新月异的当代社会,与时俱进的现代道教以其浓郁的文化氛围和圆满的生存智慧,不断完善自我演进和传播,展示着中华民族对自然的理解和诠释,倡导对完美生活的无限向往和不断追求.     

Development of a spiritual screening tool for children and adolescents

A chaplain's ability to provide care where it is most needed depends upon some method of pastoral triage. Screening for spiritual needs of children and adolescents has been a largely neglected area. A Delphi panel developed elements to be included in a tool to screen 10-18 year olds' spiritual needs and resources. The Delphi panelists were informed of survey results of school-aged children and adolescents' opinions on spiritual issues important to them if they were hospitalized. A case study of the tool's use was conducted with a convenient sample of children and adolescents. Subsequent pilot use of the tool by five pediatric chaplains demonstrated the tool's utility in identifying patients' spiritual issues, ability to serve as a springboard to deeper discussion, and as a basis for initiating discussion of spiritual concerns with other disciplines on the healthcare team. Feedback indicates the potential clinical usefulness of this tool for hospitalized children and adolescents.     

Message in a bottle: a comparative study of spiritual needs of children and young people in and out of hospital

Using the metaphor of a message in a bottle as a framework and sending an S.O.S. to adults, the question of what are the three biggest needs of children and young people was asked. Data consisting of 107 important needs of children and young people was collected from 36 children and young people both in and out of hospital: in hospital by chaplains and other health care professionals, and out of hospital by children and youth work undergraduate students. This was a convenience sample across the United Kingdom with the majority of respondents in the Midlands. The data were coded and then thematically analysed and separately compared to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Emotional needs was the largest theme for hospitalised children and young people and relationship needs for the non-hospitalised children and young people. For both groups Maslow’s level 3 need of belonging was the greatest averaging at just over half the needs shared. A discussion of the results of the analyses identifies some ways in which the needs of hospitalised children and young people may differ, identifying some implications for practice.     

Feeling at home in one's school: a first look at a new measure

We report on the development of the Hospitality Scale, which measures two aspects of adolescents' perception of social capital in school-the extent to which they perceive that they have social capital and the extent to which they provide social capital to others. The scale was developed in reference to the literature exploring adolescent social isolation and social tolerance, as well as constructs developed in research on adults, especially related to psychological sense of community and collective efficacy. We examine the reliability of the scale and the association between scale scores and behavioral factors that may reflect social isolation.     

Future events,early experience,and mental health: clinical assessment using the anticipated life history measure

This study's goals were (a) to provide convergent validity for the Anticipated Life History measure (ALH), an instrument prompting participants to describe their future life course from their 21st birthday until their death, and (b) to assess the impact of early experience and early memories on the ALH. The ALH narratives were coded for the presence and/or absence of future life events and for five clinical features (Narrative Integrity, Depression, Fantasy Distortion, Impulsivity, and Malevolence) using a detailed scoring manuaL A sample of 285 young adults completed the ALH and a battery of cognitive, mood, and life events measures. The results confirm the utility of this new instrument: Participants whose ALH scored high on the clinical measures also had higher levels of current depression, lower quality-of-life satisfaction, reported more negative early life experiences, and recounted negative early memories.     

Feeling good: autonomic nervous system responding in five positive emotions

Although dozens of studies have examined the autonomic nervous system (ANS) aspects of negative emotions, less is known about ANS responding in positive emotion. An evolutionary framework was used to define five positive emotions in terms of fitness-enhancing function, and to guide hypotheses regarding autonomic responding. In a repeated measures design, participants viewed sets of visual images eliciting these positive emotions (anticipatory enthusiasm, attachment love, nurturant love, amusement, and awe) plus an emotionally neutral state. Peripheral measures of sympathetic and vagal parasympathetic activation were assessed. Results indicated that the emotion conditions were characterized by qualitatively distinct profiles of autonomic activation, suggesting the existence of multiple, physiologically distinct positive emotions.     

The unconscious cost of good fortune: implicit and explicit self-esteem, positive life events, and health.

J. D. Brown and K. L. McGill (1989) found that positive life events were associated with better health only for people high in self-esteem. Among people low in self-esteem, positive life events were associated with poorer health. The authors of this study replicated this finding in a self-report survey of 61 male and 110 female college students. In addition, they showed that implicit self-esteem moderated the relation between positive life events and self-reported health in the same fashion as explicit self-esteem did. Whereas people high in implicit self-esteem reported being healthier when they experienced more positive life events, people low in implicit self-esteem reported being healthier when they experienced fewer positive life events. Moreover, the effects of implicit self-esteem were statistically independent of the effects of explicit self-esteem.