The role of occupational standards in workplace religious literacy

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the UK National Occupational Standards to identify the breadth of occupations for which it has been determined that workers need some degree of religious literacy. A total of 465 standards documents which mention religion and beliefs relating to a diverse range of occupations were retrieved, of which 13 had a primary focus on religion and beliefs. Approximately 60 percent of these standards noted the need for knowledge about religion and beliefs, though only a quarter of these specified actual performance criteria. With some exceptions, most of the standards were vague as to what is meant by religion and its proxies, with very few attempts to define their terms. A lack of specificity renders the inclusion of references to religion largely tokenistic rather than reflecting a measure of religious literacy which could be practically operationalised.     

从《战国策》看战国时期社会风气与思想倾向

《战国策》中的思想极其复杂，被称作“畔经离道之书”。《战国策》暴露出人类最原始、最本能的一面——追求物质利益的最大化。仁义廉耻等儒家通常所谓的美德，跟很多战国策士的价值观格格不入。但是，也正是在这样宽松自由的时代背景下，人们的思想与意识由百家争鸣渐渐向儒家的标准合拢，价值观由多元化向一元化靠拢。儒家的价值观正在悄然地受到尊重。汉代“罢黜百家，独尊儒术”有着一定的社会背景和思想意识基础。     

Academic Hardiness as a Moderator between Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism and Academic Procrastination in Students

Abstract

Academic procrastination is a common phenomenon in students that can have a negative impact on effective learning, academic achievement, self-esteem, and quality of life. This study examined the associations among the two dimensions of perfectionism (personal standards perfectionism and evaluative concerns perfectionism), academic hardiness, and academic procrastination, as well as the moderating role of academic hardiness in the relationship between the two dimensions of perfectionism and academic procrastination. Participants of this study included 410 high school students in grades 9 to 12 from six schools in Tehran, Iran who completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, the Academic Hardiness Scale, and the Procrastination Assessment Scale. The results indicated that personal standards perfectionism and academic hardiness had negative relationships with academic procrastination, whereas evaluative concerns perfectionism had a positive relationship with academic procrastination. Interaction-moderation analysis demonstrated that academic hardiness only played a buffering role in the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and academic procrastination. The results of this study elucidate the experience of academic procrastination in students and highlight the role of academic hardiness and personal standards perfectionism. Implications for educators and psychologists are discussed.     

Standards,Harmonization and Cultural Differences: Examining the Implementation of a European Stem Cell Clinical Trial

ABSTRACT

A complex set of European regulations aims to facilitate regenerative medicine, harmonizing good clinical and manufacturing standards and streamlining ethical approval procedures. The sociology of standardization has elaborated some of the effects of regulation but little is known about how such implementation works in practice across institutions and countries in regenerative medicine. The effects of transnational harmonization of clinical trial conduct are complex. A long-term ethnographic study alongside a multinational clinical trial finds a range of obstacles. Harmonization standardizes at one level, but implementing the standards brings to the fore new layers of difference between countries. Europe-wide harmonization of regulations currently disadvantages low-cost clinician-lead research in comparison to industry-sponsored clinical trials. Moreover, harmonized standards must be aligned with the cultural variations in everyday practice across European countries. Each clinical team must find its own way of bridging harmonized compulsory practice with how things are done where they are, respecting expectations from both patients and the local hospital ethics committee. Established ways of working must further be adapted to a range of institutional and cultural conventions that affect the clinical trial such as insurance practices and understandings of patient autonomy. An additional finding is that the specific practical roles of team members in the trial affect their evaluation of the importance of these challenges. Our findings lead to conclusions of wider significance for the sociology of standards concerning how regulation works and for medical sociology about how trial funding and research directions in stem cell medicine intersect.     

从“道德容许行为”到“次道德”——道德评价标准理想性的丧失

道德评价标准的理想性、前瞻性是道德存在的意义,是道德导向功能、教育功能、规范功能发挥作用的理论前提。从“道德容许行为”到“次道德”范畴的提出,道德评价标准的理想性、前瞻性正在丧失,道德的规范作用、引领作用日益淡化,道德已经跌出了“道德底线”。道德在沦为经济附庸的同时丧失自己的高贵品位。因此,道德建设必须高扬理想的旗帜,实现道德评价标准理想性和现实性的有机统一。