Perceptions of Archdiocese of San Francisco Principals regarding the Implementation of Partners in Faith: Parish, School and Family (2000)

The Catholic Church consistently affirms the rights and responsibilities that parents, the Church, and its schools have in passing on the faith to children. While Church teaching holds that parents are the primary educators of their children, it also maintains an important role for parishes and schools in nurturing faith formation. The relationship among these three partners provided the focus for this study. In 2000, the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco published the Partners in Faith: Parish, School and Family report to address the relationships among parishes, schools and families in the Archdiocese’s parish schools. In the report, the Council of Priests identified the attitudes and beliefs that each of the three partners should foster relative to the faith formation of children. It also articulated goals for how parishes, schools, and families may work together to foster the Catholic faith: (a) collaboration, (b) a witnessing community, (c) worship, (d) Christian service, and (e) adult faith formation. There has been no previous empirical study to evaluate the extent to which the Council of Priests’ recommendations have been fulfilled. Research affirms the critical role that the principal plays as a “bridge” for the family, the school, and the parish (Fuchs, 1985), and thus, the purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of the parish school principals regarding the attitudes and beliefs articulated by the Council of Priests on the roles of each of the partners and the relationships among them. In addition, this study investigated the implementation of the goals and objectives of the report, through the lens of the principal. This study utilized a survey methodology. Thirty-three of the 50 parish school principals in the Archdiocese of San Francisco chose to participate in the online survey. Participating principals indicated strong agreement with the statements of the Council of Priests and a strong understanding of their own pastoral role. Principals described many activities in the areas of Christian service, a witnessing community, and collaboration. However, adult faith formation and vibrant family ministry remain areas identified by the principals as needing greater attention

Disability Transitions Across the Life Course: Preliminary Data from Australia

The aim of this working paper is to present preliminary analyses of longitudinal data from Australia that addresses various aspects of the dynamic nature of disability over time. Disability research is dominated by cross-sectional studies that have examined the prevalence and correlates of disability at a particular point in time. As a result, little is known about the duration of disability or the factors that may be associated with disability offset. This reliance on cross-sectional data has served to reinforce the notion that disability once acquired is a relatively permanent state. In recent years, the increasing availability of longitudinal data (especially from well-constructed population-based surveys) has opened up new opportunities for disability research. These have included the possibility of investigating the dynamic nature of disability over time. The data presented in this working paper are based on analysis of ten years of data collected by the study of Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA). Our analyses focused on the most recent consecutive five year period in which the study participants provided information on their disability status.Centre for Disability Research and Polic

LEFT BEHIND: 2013 MONITORING THE SOCIAL INCLUSION OF YOUNG AUSTRALIANS WITH SELF-REPORTED LONG TERM HEALTH CONDITIONS, IMPAIRMENTS OR DISABILITIES 2001 - 2011

Disabled Australian adolescents and young adults are more likely to experience social exclusion than their non-disabled peers. The gap between the two actually widened between 2001 and 2011. Social exclusion in adolescence leads to poor outcomes, such as lower educational achievement and unemployment, in adulthood. It affects not only the health and wellbeing of the individual; it also impacts on their family and the wider community. The inability of people with disabilities to participate socially and economically is a loss to the whole of society. This report maps the extent of social inclusion or exclusion of young disabled Australians, aged between 15 and 29, over the years 2001 to 2011. It found that although the social inclusion of young disabled Australians increased on a number of key indicators, the gap between disabled and non-disabled young Australians actually increased over the 11 year period. On 13 key indicators of social inclusion including employment, living in a jobless household, having support from family or friends in times of crisis and feeling safe, young disabled Australians are now more disadvantaged compared to their non-disabled peers than they were in 2001.Centre for Disability Research and Polic

The Well-being of Children with Disabilities in the Asia Pacific Region: Analysis of UNICEF MICS 3 Survey Data from Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Mongolia and Thailand

In this report we have used data from the third round of UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted 2005-8 to describe the relative well-being of disabled and non-disabled children in four South Asian/Pacific countries: Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Mongolia and Thailand. Indicators of well-being were extracted to address issues such as the child’s right to education, health and a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. Our main findings were: In all four countries children with disabilities were markedly more disadvantaged than their non-disabled peers on the majority of the indicators available. In all four countries children with disabilities were markedly more disadvantaged than their non-disabled peers on indicators relating to the child’s right to education, health and an adequate standard of living. In all four countries there were notable differences between disabled children regarding the extent of disadvantage they faced. In both Bangladesh and Lao PDR, for example, children with sensory impairments fared particularly poorly. In Thailand, by contrast, children with cognitive delay fared particularly poorly. These data are important on three counts. First, they demonstrate the viability of using simple items in population surveys to identify and characterize the well-being of disabled children. Second, they add to the limited evidence base on the well-being of children with disabilities in low and middle income countries. Third, they illustrate the importance of disaggregating disability information by type of impairment. UNICEF is working to establish a rigorous and systematic process for collecting data about children with disabilities, preferably as part of all ongoing data collections about children and young people locally, at national level and globally. This is critical to ensuring disabled children are not invisible in attempts to monitor global progress in improving the lives of children. The MICS module despite some limitations was an excellent first step in collecting data on children with disabilities as: (1) MICS is one of the main vehicles for monitoring progress toward achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;4 and (2) there is a growing consensus that achieving the Millennium Development Goals and reducing global inequalities in health and well-being will not be possible unless attention is paid to the specific situation of children with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.Centre for Disability Research and Polic

LEFT BEHIND: MONITORING THE SOCIAL INCLUSION OF YOUNG AUSTRALIANS WITH SELF- REPORTED LONG TERM HEALTH CONDITIONS, IMPAIRMENTS OR DISABILITIES 2001 - 2009

Adolescents and young adults with disabilities are at heightened risk of social exclusion. Exclusion leads to poor outcomes in adulthood which in turn affects individuals’ health and wellbeing and that of their families and society through loss of productive engagement in their communities. Australia’s Social Inclusion Indicators Framework provides indices in domains of participation, resources and multiple and entrenched disadvantage to monitor and report on social inclusion. The Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey provides data over time on households in Australia. Using these tools we report here on the extent of social inclusion/exclusion of young disabled Australians over the past decade. Relative to their non-disabled peers, young disabled Australians are significantly less likely to do well on participation indicators.Centre for Disability Research and Polic

Four activities to promote student engagement with referencing skills

Teaching academic writing skills in a way that engages students in deep learning is difficult and there is a risk of encouraging surface learning approaches. Moreover, linking the experience of the research process to understanding the provenance of research studies is difficult for students as they tend to experience research, referencing, citing, and related areas in disparate and unconnected ways. We report our initial experiences of designing a series of four mutually supportive tutorial activities that are based on the principles of scaffolding, social interaction, and experiential learning. The aim was to help students identify suitable research material that could be used as evidence in assignments and to promote their understanding of how evidence can be used effectively, through referencing, when writing reports and essays

Four activities to promote student engagement with referencing skills

Teaching academic writing skills in a way that engages students in deep learning is difficult and there is a risk of encouraging surface learning approaches. Moreover, linking the experience of the research process to understanding the provenance of research studies is difficult for students as they tend to experience research, referencing, citing, and related areas in disparate and unconnected ways. We report our initial experiences of designing a series of four mutually supportive tutorial activities that are based on the principles of scaffolding, social interaction, and experiential learning. The aim was to help students identify suitable research material that could be used as evidence in assignments and to promote their understanding of how evidence can be used effectively, through referencing, when writing reports and essays

Perceptions of safety and exposure to violence in public places among working age adults with disabilities or long-term health conditions in the UK:cross sectional study

ObjectivesTo examine perceptions of safety and exposure to violence in public places among working age adults with and without disabilities in the UK and to assess the extent to which any between-group differences may be moderated by gender and socio-economic situation.  Study designCross-sectional study. MethodsSecondary analysis of data collected in Wave 3 (2011-13) of Understanding Society. Data were extracted on a subsample of 5,069 respondents aged 16 to 64 (28% of whom had a disability/long-term health condition) who were administered a questionnaire module addressing experiences of harassment. Between-group comparisons were made on four self-reported indicators of safety. ResultsRespondents with disabilities/long-term health conditions were significantly more likely to have been attacked (adjusted OR 2.30, 95%CI(1.17-4.50), p<0.05), insulted (adjusted OR 1.48, 95%CI (1.16-1.90), p<0.01) and to feel unsafe in public places (adjusted OR 1.32, 95%CI(1.16-1.56), p<0.01) over the previous 12 months. There were no statistically significant differences between groups with regard to self-reported avoidance of public places. These associations were moderated by both gender and poverty status, with the increased risk of exposure to violence among people with disabilities being greater for both women and people living in poverty. ConclusionsThe data add further support to the growing evidence base suggesting that people with a disability/long-term health condition are at significantly increased risk of exposure to interpersonal violence, particularly if they are living in poverty or are women. As such, there is a clear need to develop interventions that are targeted to the particular circumstances and needs of these high risk groups

Improving Health with Science: Exploring Community-Driven Science Education in Kenya

This study examines the role of place-based science education in fostering student-driven health interventions. While literature shows the need to connect science with students’ place and community, there is limited understanding of strategies for doing so. Making such connections is important for underrepresented students who tend to perceive learning science in school as disconnected to their experiences out of school (Aikenhead, Calabrese-Barton, &amp; Chinn, 2006). To better understand how students can learn to connect place and community with science and engineering practices in a village in Kenya, I worked with community leaders, teachers, and students to develop and study an education program (a school-based health club) with the goal of improving knowledge of health and sanitation in a Kenyan village. While students selected the health topics and problems they hoped to address through participating in the club, the topics were taught with a focus on providing opportunities for students to learn the practices of science and health applications of these practices. Students learned chemistry, physics, environmental science, and engineering to help them address the health problems they had identified in their community. Surveys, student artifacts, ethnographic field notes, and interview data from six months of field research were used to examine the following questions: (1) In what ways were learning opportunities planned for using science and engineering practices to improve community health? (2) In what ways did students apply science and engineering practices and knowledge learned from the health club in their school, homes, and community? and (3) What factors seemed to influence whether students applied or intended to apply what they learned in the health club? Drawing on place-based science education theory and community-engagement models of health, process and structural coding (Saldaña, 2013) were used to determine patterns in students’ applications of their learning. Students applied learning across health topics they identified as interesting and relevant to their community: hand-washing, disease-prevention, first aid, balanced diet, and water. Students’ application of their learning was influenced by internal, external, and relational factors with the community, science education factors, and cultural factors. Some factors, which may have been barriers for students to apply their learning, were turned into supports via bridging strategies used by the students and teacher. Bridging strategies allowed students to connect between their place and science in meaningful ways in the classroom. These strategies were critical in bringing students’ place into the classroom and enabling students to apply their learning toward place.The model resulting from the identified factors informed existing models for sociocultural considerations in community-based health interventions. The community-engagement applied practices of science (CAPS) model serves to conceptualize findings in this study and informs an integrated method for using community-engagement education as a stimuli for students to become cultural brokers and improve community health. In addition to focusing on teaching practices of science and encouraging students to apply their learning, this research suggests that bridging strategies can be used to connect science with a students’ place in meaningful ways that serve both students and their local communities