Parental Perceptions of the Management of Childern with Type 1 Diabetes at School: A Broader Perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine parental perceptions related to the care and management of children with Type 1 diabetes at school. Parents of elementary and middle school-age children with Type 1 diabetes completed a survey questionnaire, which included one open-ended question. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers based on original questionnaires by Nabors, Lehmkuhl, Christos, and Andreone (2003) and Lewis, Powers, Goodenough and Poth (2003 ). Permission to use and modify the questionnaires was provided by Nabors and Poth. Results from this study showed a split in parental satisfaction regarding care provided by school personnel in the following areas: level of knowledge and skills on diabetes, ability to handle a hypoglycemic episode, communication between parents and school, and accommodation in meeting the needs of the child at school. The majority of parents offered suggestions for school nurses and school personnel regarding the care of children with diabetes. Suggestions included the need for training and education, more support, and better communication. Findings from this study provide evidence to support specific content for educating school staff, a greater presence of licensed personnel, and more open communication between families and school personnel

The 4th Dimension. Wittgenstein on Colour and Imagination

In this paper I first discuss the colour-octahedron and the position of this model as an idealized system with respect to the remarks on colour-concepts in Remarks on Colour (RC). The next part examines the notion of aspect seeing in the light of the colour-octahedron and RC. From there a connection is made with On Certainty (OC). By linking the remarks on colour, seeing aspects and certainty, it may become clear that the investigations of Wittgenstein concerning colour and certainty direct us towards a reflective dynamics and an anthropological interpretation of his ideas

Making myth: the image of 'Big Jim' Larkin in Plunkett's 'Strumpet city'

James Larkin is a revered figure in Irish history, remarkably so in view of his associations with revolutionary syndicalism and communism. Among the contributions to the creation of the myth of ‘Big Jim’, James Plunkett’s novel Strumpet City takes pride of place. The book’s treatment of Larkin is examined here as an outstanding example of Gramsci’s call for the emergence of a popular culture that challenges the hegemony of the ruling classes. By getting into the desperate lives of the Dublin poor in the bitter industrial struggles prior to the First World War, Plunkett affirms the Gramscian idea of developing a new way of conceiving the world by presenting Larkin as the mythical embodiment of social justice and solidarity. Although the events are now in the distant past, images developed with the great affective power of this novel may jolt modern readers to a greater awareness of present-day global struggles

The Artistic Turn

We are living in an increasingly complex world. How are we able to cope with this complexity and the difficulties that arise from it? Can philosophy and art, classified as the two utmost useless and pointless disciplines, have any (positive) influence on the urgent and pressing problems at hand? And, related to this, if the two have more than just their uselessness in common, how, then, are philosophy and art related? In this article, I will argue that although ‘useless’ disciplines such as philosophy and art have no direct influence on our complex world, they are nonetheless the most important ones, because those working within them practice their insights in an indirect way. Indirect influence may take a little longer, but the impact is much stronger, affecting our thinking and our attitudes from within, as it were. This indirect approach has everything to do with the sort of questions philosophers and artists occupy themselves with. I will show how both address, albeit each in their own way, fundamental questions, and thereby make use of thought experiments. Intuition and imagination play a decisive part in the creative processes that are involved in thought experiments and thinking. It is argued that we all are able to learn a ‘delayed unconscious thinking’ that leads to an artistic attitude; one that will activate an artistic turn

The antinomies of aggressive atheism

The spate of popular books attacking religion can be seen as a manifestation of the recoil against the idea of multiculturalism. Religious identities are also cultural identities, and no meaningful form of multiculturalism is possible that leaves religion outside the sphere of public recognitiom. This paper argues that 'aggressive atheism' undermines its appeal to reason by refusing to see anything of value in religion. It also risks exacerbating cultural differences at a time when reconciliation is needed. The critique focuses on the contribution of Richard Dawkins and examines a number of tensions within the aggressive atheism of his best-selling book The God Delusion. The second part of the paper introduces an alternative, a framework of reconciliatory dialogues, between atheism and religion and within religious communities, operating not just at a formal or institutional level but also in cultural expressions and in the practices of everyday life