6 research outputs found
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UME-21 and teaching ethics: a step in the right direction
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESEthics education for medical students has included a number of relatively vague descriptions of appropriate curricular objectives, but medical schools struggle with the general teaching of ethics, as well as with presenting the ethical dilemmas posed by managed care. This paper proposes some standards and uses them to analyze the general and managed care ethics content of the Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century (UME-21) curricula.METHODSWe analyzed progress and final reports from each school to define their learning objectives, content, teaching methods, and evaluation strategies in ethics. Each was evaluated using principles of adult learning and Rest's Four Component Model of Moral Development. Good examples of curricular elements from participating schools are described.RESULTSEthics curricula varied widely among the schools. Goals and objectives were often stated in generalities. Teaching methods were diverse and innovative, and several new combinations of learning activities were created to highlight ethics topics. Content represented managed care and non-managed care topics in varying proportions. Student surveys of attitudes toward managed care and opinions of the ethics programs were the most commonly used as evaluation tools. Some schools were able to develop more direct means of evaluating student learning. The Four Component Model was not fully addressed in the programs developed by the participating schools.CONCLUSIONSWe make recommendations about the objectives, teaching methods, content, and evaluation methods of an ideal medical school curriculum in ethics
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“Know Your Roots”: Development and Evaluation of an Oral History Curriculum for Native American Middle-School Students
As Aaquumeh youngsters, we were constantly reminded to heed our elders, including the old ones who had lived before. We were encouraged to serve and respect them and to attend to their words, especially when they spoke of our heritage and past, so that we, in turn, could pass this knowledge on to the next generation.
—Simon Ortiz
American Indian children have systematically been denied the opportunity to learn about their origin stories and oral traditions in the mainstream American public school system and have suffered from approaches long documented as failing them. In fact, Indian Education: A National Tragedy—A National Challenge, a summary report of a special Senate subcommittee on Indian education, criticized schools as being ineffective and destroying the identity of Indian children. The report stated that “the goal, from the beginning of attempts at formal education of the American Indian, has been not so much to educate him as to change him.” The report emphasizes the need for more Indians to become involved in the education of their youth. Historically, Western European models of education did not take into consideration the rich resources available in American Indian communities, namely, elders and community members. Educators, researchers, and scholars genuinely interested in working with American Indian communities might do well to ask how traditional forms of Indian ways of learning about the world can be an integral focus of their work