Establishing Entrepreneurial Thinking and Acting in Swiss Vocational College

Switzerland has one of the best ecosystems for entrepreneurship. However, there is a blind spot with regard to vocational colleges: A systematic integration of the topic is currently missing. The initiative «Entrepreneurial Thinking and Acting in Swiss Vocational Colleges – Economic, Social and Ethical Dimensions» aims to address this blind spot. The vision of the initiative is to ensure that all 75,000 young people entering vocational colleges each year in Switzerland are given the opportunity to acquire entrepreneurial skills to enable them to play an active role in positively shaping the economy and society of the future. In the article, we focus on three key aspects of the initiative: (1) the pedagogical approach of the entrepreneurship program that allows students to develop personal initiative, entrepreneurial competences, and an awareness of sustainability; (2) the continuous evaluation of the program and the teacher training; and (3) the parallel bottom-up and top-down approach chosen to integrate entrepreneurial thinking and acting in the vocational education and training system

The Happy Victimizer Pattern in Adulthood: State of the Art and Contrasting Approaches: Introduction to the Special Issue

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International Organisations, NGOs, and Evidence-Based Programmes in Preventing School Violence and Bullying

Violence and bullying among children are global problems. They have numerous negative social implications, and collaborative efforts are required to find effective solutions. In order to address this issue, many international organisations, foundations and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) provide different grants or implement various psycho-social and educational programmes aimed at preventing school violence and bullying. While they play an important role in supporting, transferring, or developing anti-bullying programmes worldwide, little attention is paid to this topic in the literature. This paper attempts to fill this critical gap by exploring the role, partnerships, funding mechanisms as well as programme evidence that these types of organisations incorporate into combating school bullying at the international, national, or local level. By presenting NGO-led anti-bullying and anti-violence programmes funded by three different international organisations and relating them to the Norwegian “Ungsinn” system for bullying research and review evidence, the paper identifies comprehensive school preventive and collaborative activities implemented at different levels. At the same time, these organisations face limitations in developing and implementing rigorously tested and effective evidence-based preventive programmes. A significant disparity exists between the outcomes of the programmes’ activities and the lack of evidence needed to demonstrate their effectiveness in preventing or combating school violence and bullying. As a result of the analysis, the paper challenges the reality that international organisations and NGO-led programmes rely solely on evidence-based practices for preventing bullying and school violence, and recommends an alternative approach based on evidence-informed practices and utilising a whole education approach.acceptedVersio

Kindergarten children witnessing victimization

In der vorliegenden Studie wurde untersucht, wie Kinder reagieren, wenn sie Zeugen von Mobbing werden. 968 Kinder aus 59 Kindergärten, in denen Mobbing stattfand, nahmen an der Studie teil. Es zeigten sich Alters- und Geschlechtseffekte bei Mobber- und Opfer-unterstützendem Zeugenverhalten sowie beim Ausmaß an hilflosen Reaktionen. Zudem variierte das Zeugenverhalten in Abhängigkeit von der Mobbingrolle: Mobber zeigten mehr Mobber-unterstützende, nicht-involvierte Kinder mehr Opfer-unterstützende und passive Opfer mehr hilflose Reaktionen. Auch das habituelle Verhalten der Kinder in der Gruppe hing mit den Zeugenreaktionen der einzelnen Kindern zusammen: Viel aggressives Verhalten in der Kindergartengruppe ging mit mehr Mobber-unterstützenden Reaktionen einher, während es mehr Opfer-unterstützende Reaktionen in Gruppen gab, in welchen Konfliktsituationen eher positiv gehandhabt wurden. Die Rolle der Zeugen wird im Rahmen präventiver Ansätze diskutiert. (DIPF/Orig.)The present study investigates the reactions children show when witnessing victimization. It was carried out with 968 children from 59 kindergartens, in which victimization occurred. Effects of age and gender are found on both behavior supporting the bully and behaviour supporting the victim, as well as helpless behaviour. Moreover, witnessing behaviour varies as a function of bully/victim role: Bullies display more behaviour supporting the (actual) bully; children usually not involved in bullying show more behaviour supporting the victim; and passive victims exhibit more helplessness. Behaviour in the classroom is also related to witnessing reactions: High levels of aggression in the classroom are associated with more reactions supporting the bully, whereas more reactions supporting the victim are found in groups with higher levels of positive conflict solving. The role of the witnesses is discussed within the framework of bullying prevention. (DIPF/Orig.

Clinical Outcome in Acute Small Bowel Obstruction after Surgical or Conservative Management

Background: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is characterized by a high rate of recurrence. In the present study, we aimed to compare the outcomes of patients managed either by conservative treatment or surgical operation for an episode of SBO. Methods: The outcomes of all patients hospitalized at a single center for acute SBO between 2004 and 2007 were assessed. The occurrence of recurrent hospitalization, surgery, SBO symptoms at home, and mortality was determined. Results: Among 221 patients admitted with SBO, 136 underwent a surgical procedure (surgical group) and 85 were managed conservatively (conservative group). Baseline characteristics were similar between treatment groups. The median follow-up time (interquartile range) was 4.7 (3.7-5.8) years. Nineteen patients (14.0%) of the surgical group were hospitalized for recurrent SBO versus 25 (29.4%) of the conservative group [hazard ratio (HR), 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9]. The need for a surgical management of a new SBO episode was similar between the two groups, ten patients (7.4%) in the surgical group and six patients (7.1%) in the conservative group (HR, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.4-3.1). Five-year mortality from the date of hospital discharge was not significantly different between the two groups (age- and sex-adjusted HR, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.6-2.1). A follow-up evaluation was obtained for 130 patients. Among them, 24 patients (34.8%) of the surgical group and 35 patients (57.4%) of the conservative group had recurrent SBO symptoms (odds ratio, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.8). Conclusions: The recurrence of SBO symptoms and new hospitalizations were significantly lower after surgical management of SBO compared with conservative treatment

Moralität in alltäglichen Konsumsituationen: eine entwicklungspsychologische Perspektive

Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene brauchen eine gut ausgebildete, die moralischen Dimensionen berücksichtigende Konsumkompetenz, um ihre geteilte Konsumentenverantwortung (lokal und global) wahrnehmen zu können. Die dafür nötigen moralbezogenen Voraussetzungen werden aus einer Perspektive der sozio-moralischen Entwicklung skizziert. (DIPF/Orig.

Moral Disengagement and Aggression: Comments on the Special Issue

This special issue on the relationship between moral disengagement and aggression brings together nine sophisticated as well as theoretically, methodologically and analytically stimulating studies. Three of the articles are concerned with individual characteristics that moderate (or buffer or aggravate) the impact of moral disengagement on aggression or include moral disengagement as a moderator on the link between individual characteristics and aggression. Three address trajectories and age-related changes by exploring developmental pathways of moral disengagement and aggression, while the remaining three treat moral disengagement in its situational context in school and family and raise questions of socialization. Besides summarizing and discussing the nine articles, this commentary raises some critical issues–for example, regarding the assessment of moral developmental processes

Lehrerbildnerinnen und Lehrerbildner: Was tun sie gern und was nicht? Eine Studie zur Interessenstruktur von Personen, die an der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung mitwirken

Vor dem Hintergrund sich verändernder Organisationsformen und didaktischer Konzepte der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung wurden 447 Lehrerbildnerinnen und Lehrerbildner aus Deutschland, der Schweiz und Österreich bezüglich ihrer allgemeinen und berufsspezifischen Interessen befragt. Es zeigten sich unterschiedliche Interessenprofile in Abhängigkeit von der ausgeübten Funktion, z.B. ein höheres intellektuell-forschendes Interesse bei Forschenden und ein stärkeres Interesse am Beraten bei Mentorinnen und Mentoren. Die einzelnen Funktionen erscheinen den Befragten umso attraktiver, je ausgeprägter ihr Interesse an den mit der betreffenden Funktion verbundenen Tätigkeitsbereichen ist. Die Ergebnisse werden im Hinblick auf Massnahmen zur Rekrutierung und Weiterqualifizierung von Lehrerbildnerinnen und Lehrerbildnern diskutiert.Against the background of current changes in teacher education, regarding both its organizational structures and its teaching-related conceptions, a sample of 447 German, Swiss, and Austrian teacher educators were asked to state their general and professional interests. From this survey, different interest profiles resulted, depending on the teacher educators’ professional function. Researchers, for example, reported higher levels of investigative interests, whereas a higher level of interest in coaching and mentoring was found in mentors. The higher the teacher educators’ interest in the activities related to the different functions was, the more attractive these functions appeared to them. Results are discussed with respect to potential measures for the recruitment of teacher educators and professional development