Through the Lens of the Cross: Cruciformity as a Model for Teaching Ministry

As the contemporary church travels deeper into the postmodern era, modern methods of education and catechesis have remained. In this paper, a foundational set of principles drawn from Michael Gorman’s analysis of Pauline spirituality—known as “cruciformity”—is examined and presented as a lens to inform and support the teaching ministry in churches. Gorman’s thought provides a fresh way to understand the central theme of Paul’s correspondence to the first century churches. The paper begins with a brief explanation of the current conditions regarding the adult education ministry of churches and then examines Gorman’s cruciform patterns of faith, love, power, and hope, in detail. With careful study and reflection on these four narrative patterns of Pauline spirituality, students can understand the gospels and the Pauline corpus in ways consistent with the crucified Christ

About the quality and sustainable education in European countries: a comparative econometric analysis

This work examines the quality of education in European countries, analyzing its evolution towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in three different stages of efficiency: levels, patterns and determinants. The SDGs are a call to action for all countries to promote prosperity, while protecting the planet with determinant aspects in an equitable society, such as ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (Goal 4), see [1]. The analysis is made under a non-parametric and deterministic model for measuring efficiency, based on DEA-CCR model, [2], in combination with other mathematical techniques important in the data analysis. In this context, two indicators are defined, one of them to calculate the accumulated effort of the decision units and the other one, to establish the most significant differences between groups with different levels of efficiency. The study is based on the EU's set of indicators to monitor progress towards the UN SDGs: basic education, tertiary education and adult learning. EU's set of indicators involves the participation in early childhood education; achievement in reading, mathematics or science; adult participation in learning; early leavers from education; tertiary education attainment and employment rates of recent graduates. With the aim of having a broader vision of the European educative performance, are considered two approaches. The approach (A1) considers five Eu set indicators, to examine 31 European countries during eleven years: 2006-2016. The approach (A2) considers the six Eu set indicators to examine 17 European countries during five non-consecutive years (2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018). A comparative econometric analysis is carried out between approaches (A1) and (A2). This study aims to advance the analysis of strategies that allow us to identify the most efficient European countries in relation to performance factors; highlighting the improvements that could be applied to the less efficient ones, to increase their efficiency and achieve the objectives set for the year of 2030.publishe

An fMRI Study

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are characterized by emotional instability, impaired emotion regulation and unresolved attachment patterns associated with abusive childhood experiences. We investigated the neural response during the activation of the attachment system in BPD patients compared to healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Eleven female patients with BPD without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 17 healthy female controls matched for age and education were telling stories in the scanner in response to the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), an eight-picture set assessment of adult attachment. The picture set includes theoretically-derived attachment scenes, such as separation, death, threat and potential abuse. The picture presentation order is designed to gradually increase the activation of the attachment system. Each picture stimulus was presented for 2 min. Analyses examine group differences in attachment classifications and neural activation patterns over the course of the task. Unresolved attachment was associated with increasing amygdala activation over the course of the attachment task in patients as well as controls. Unresolved controls, but not patients, showed activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ). We interpret this as a neural signature of BPD patients’ inability to exert top-down control under conditions of attachment distress. These findings point to possible neural mechanisms for underlying affective dysregulation in BPD in the context of attachment trauma and fear

Orphanhood and the living arrangements of children in sub-saharan Africa

Increasing adult mortality due to HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa raises considerable concerns about the welfare of surviving children. Studies have found substantial variability across countries in the negative impacts of orphanhood on child health and education. One hypothesis for this variability is the resilience of the extended family network in some countries to care for orphans-networks under increasing pressure by the sheer number of orphans in many settings. Using household survey data from 21 countries in Africa, this study examines trends in orphanhood and living arrangements, and the links between the two. The findings confirm that orphanhood is increasing, although not all countries are experiencing rapid rises. In many countries, there has been a shift toward grandparents taking on increased childcare responsibility-especially where orphan rates are growing rapidly. This suggests some merit to the claim that the extended network is narrowing, focusing on grandparents who are older and may be less able to financially support orphans than working-age adults. However there are also changes in childcare patterns in countries with stable orphan rates or low HIV prevalence. This suggests future work on living arrangements should not exclude low HIV/AIDS prevalence countries, and explanations for changes should include a broader set of factors.Street Children,HIV AIDS,Youth and Governance,Primary Education,Population Policies

Towards an improved adult learning monitoring framework. Revisiting the available data and indicators

Adult education is recognised as an essential driver of economic growth and social development within the European Union and has been a political priority for nearly two decades. It is deemed to play a pivotal role to create better jobs in Europe, improve quality of life and promote individual development, personal fulfillment and active citizenship. A number of Commission initiatives in the recent past have underscored the importance of adult learning. In particular, the European Pillar of Social Rights, proclaimed and signed by the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Commission during the Gothenburg Social Summit for fair jobs and growth announced the right to quality and inclusive education, training, and life-long learning as its very first principle. In addition, as part of the Education and Training 2020 (ET2020) strategy, EU Member States have agreed on a common target to increase participation in adult learning in the EU. Fostering adult learning is now more important than ever because of three concurrent factors: technological change, population ageing and global migration flows. Technological change, and in particular automation and digitisation, affecting the world of work by altering or erasing certain tasks, often the most repetitive and standardised, and creating new ones. Adult and learning is essential to ensure that workers, and especially older ones, are equipped with the necessary skills throughout their lifetime, so that they can thrive in a constantly changing labour market. Similarly, in the context of population ageing, adult learning and continuing education become crucial as they can provide older people with the capabilities they need to stay in work well into their sixties and seventies. Finally, adult learning has a central role to play in a context of international migration, since it can be a tool to support the linguistic, social and cultural integration of immigrants. . The "Education and Training 2020" (ET 2020) strategic framework is a crucial tool to monitor participation in adult learning; it set the average participation rate in adult learning at 15% of the population aged 25-64 by 2020. Yet, so far, only a few Member States have reached the benchmark. Furthermore, to underpin the adult learning target and support its monitoring within the European Semester, in 2018 Member States approved a comprehensive framework, developed by the Commission, for benchmarking adult skills and adult learning systems in the EU,. This report aims to reflect on the performance of the existing ET 2020 benchmark on adult participation in learning, by comparing cross-country patterns of participation using different sources of data. In particular, this report provides empirical evidence on participation in adult learning, with a specific focus on different subgroups, such as older people or others belonging to groups that are traditionally excluded from learning, which are identified as a priority by the European Council’s “Renewed European Agenda for Adult Learning” (EEAL). The report also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the current data source used to create the indicators, i.e. the EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) and extended coverage of adult learning in the EU-LFS as of 2022, enabling improved indicators, and further introduces the possibility to create other indicators based on different, complementary data sources, such as the Adult Education Survey (AES), the Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS), the OECD Survey on Adult Skills (PIAAC), and others.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

PUTTING OUT THE FIRES: WILL HIGHER TAXES REDUCE YOUTH SMOKING?

This paper re-examines the empirical support for predictions that proposed cigarette tax or price increases will substantially reduce youth smoking. Part of the support for these predictions comes from evidence that higher taxes reduce aggregate tobacco sales and adult smoking rates. But taxes may have much different impacts on youth starting behavior than on adult quitting behavior. We use a panel microdata set, the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS:88), that spans a period when many states increased taxes on cigarettes.We are able to study the impact of taxes and prices on smoking behavior during exactly the period in adolescence when most smokers start their habits. Cross-sectional models of 12th grade smoking based on the NELS:88 data yield estimated price elasticities ranging from -0.29 to -0.98,similar to previous studies. But when we exploit the longitudinal nature of the data our results suggest that cigarette taxes or prices are not important determinants of smoking initiation. We find weak or nonexistent tax and price effects in models of the onset of smoking between 8th and 12th grade, models of the onset into heavy smoking between 8th and 12th grade, and discrete time hazard models that include state fixed effects. Our estimates create doubt about the strength of the response of youth smoking to higher taxes or prices, and suggest that alternative policy approaches to preventing youth smoking deserve serious attention. We also provide a new perspective on the relationship between smoking and schooling. We find that students with better tests scores are less likely to smoke, and that eventual dropouts are already more likely to smoke in 8th grade. Possible explanations for these patterns include individual heterogeneity in: the rate of time preference; tastes for deviancy; parental investment in smoking prevention as an aspect of child quality; and optimal lifetime plans for health and education human capital investment.Cigarette smoking; taxation

Remittances from Sweden. an Exploration of Swedish Survey Data

The present study explores data on transfers of gifts/economic support to relatives from a recent Swedish Household Income Survey (HEK) compiled by Statistics Sweden. It provides the first analysis of demographic determinants of remittances from Sweden based on official household survey and register data. By exploring a data set that also includes non-migrant households, it presents a unique comparison of patterns of gift-giving and intra-family support between migrant and non-migrant households. We argue that data from the Household Income Survey can be used to obtain an empirically based estimation of the determinants of remittances from Sweden. According to our results, the flows of remittances to developing countries from Sweden appear to be relatively small in comparison with remittance flows from other developed countries. The article analyses these transfers of gifts/economic support in relation to different kinds of income, education, age, time since migration, acquisition of citizenship and family situation. Analyses are made for three types of country groups : developing countries, non-developing countries and Sweden. Whereas the general propensity to give economic support to relatives is similar among native Swedes and migrants from developing and non-developing countries, the patterns of gift-giving and intra-family economic support differ significantly over the life course between individuals from different country groups. Native Swedes tend to give gifts and economic support to relatives at higher ages and when they have adult children who have moved away from home. Migrants from developing countries tend to be younger and have children living at home. The propensity of native Swedes to remit increases with increasing income. Among migrants born in developing countries, other factors than income seem to be more decisive for the propensity to remit. Diverging patterns of remittances between migrants from developing countries and the other groups indicate that remittances are strongly related to phases in the individual life course that vary with the individual migration history.Remittances; Intra-family transfers; Life course

Participation in Lifelong Learning in Europe: What Can Be Measured and Compared?

This publication analyses participation patterns in lifelong learning in the European countries. It describes the European political context in the field of lifelong learning and discusses the main monitoring issues at the EU level by looking at the EU benchmark set up in this area. Indicators on participation in education and training at various life-time stages are as well presented and analysed in the publication. A composite measure of the overall participation in lifelong learning for European countries is constructed and analysed in the publication. The lifelong learning index shows some progress in the European Union as a whole, mainly due to progress in pre-school and school/higher education participation. But it is too slow to reach the benchmark by 2010 unless major progress is achieved in participation in adult learning, where equity needs to be more fully addressed. In particular, some new Member states will have to increase their participation rates substantially, in order to catch up with the European average.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

Characteristics, Pathways, and Predictors Related to the Transfer Behaviors of Adult College and University Students

Adult students are a population that is critical to addressing the college completion crisis. Retention and completion for adults lags behind students who enter college directly from high school. However, higher education has largely been built around service to younger high school graduates, and institutions are slow to change. A shift in focus to accommodate the needs and interests of adult learners will require additional research regarding the enrollment patterns and behaviors of adult students. This manuscript dissertation uses quantitative methods and the Beginning Postsecondary Students 12/14 data set to consider the role of transfer in the experience of the adult learner, with specific attention to the characteristics, demographics, and experiences of adult transfer students as well as the predictors of reverse and lateral transfer behavior in adult student populations

Sustainable development in education: a non-parametric analysis

The SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. In 2015 all UN Member States, adopted the 2030 Agenda for the SDG, which comprises an action plan for people, the planet and prosperity with 17 objectives covering the economic, social and environmental dimensions, [1]. SDG 4 is the goal of quality education with made up of 10 targets to ensure an inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In this sense, it is expected that all countries increasing the number of young people and adults with relevant professional skills, decent jobs, entrepreneurship, eliminating gender and income disparities in access to education. This article examines the quality of education in 17 European countries using a model nonparametric deterministic for measuring efficiency based on MEA (Multidirectional Efficiency Analysis) [2], in combination with other mathematical techniques (such as accumulated effort and group indicator), during seven years (every three years from 2000-2018). To this end, we analyze the countries evolution at three distinct efficiency stages: levels, patterns and determinants. The study is based on the EU's set of indicators to monitor progress towards the UN SDGs: basic education (early leavers from education and training, participation in early childhood education and achievement in reading, mathematic or science), tertiary education (tertiary education attainment and employment rates of recent graduates) and adult learning (adult participation in learning). This study allows us to address questions such as: To what extent are European countries improving education quality? Which European countries have significant advances / setbacks over time? What factors are intervening in the process of the countries that are most efficient and least efficient? In other words, our results clarify which are the profiles of the countries that are most efficient, giving some insight about the improvements which could be applied in the less efficient to raise their efficiency, in view of reaching the proposed objectives for the year 2030. References: [1] Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (E/CN.3/2016/2/Rev.1), Economic and Social Council, United Nations, 1-39, 2016. [2] P. Bogetoft and J. L. Hougaard, Efficiency evaluations based on potential (Non-proportional) improvements, J. Productivity Analysis, 12(3), 233-247, 1999.publishe