Challenges for the labor market : 2 complementary approaches to premature cessation of occupational activity

Objectives: Current demographic trends, such as society aging, the spreading of chronic diseases, as well as early retirement choices, lead to the dwindling labor market population. Taking into consideration the foregoing tendencies and their consequences, the issue of the shrinking labor force resources seems to be the most important challenge for the labor market. In response to it, this paper identifies individual and institutional causes of withdrawal from the labor market, and explores the views of Polish stakeholders on existing strategies for the occupational re-integration of persons with chronic diseases (PwCDs). Material and Methods: Polish results of 2 European projects: “Participation to Healthy Workplaces and Inclusive Strategies in the Work Sector” (the PATHWAYS project) and “The Collaborative Research on Aging in Europe” (COURAGE in Europe) complemented each other. The cross-sectional population data and data from stakeholders’ interviews were used. Results: The authors identified several causes which could encourage people to withdraw from the labor market before attaining the official retirement age at 3 different levels: individual, occupational, and institutional. Although research has shown that the macro-level situation is crucial to staying occupationally active, in Poland stakeholders have reported the lack of effective coordination in the implementation of policies for the occupational re-integration of PwCDs. Conclusions: A decision to cease work prematurely reflects a combination of many different factors, such as individual determinates, work characteristics, personal convictions, and systemic solutions. The study demonstrated that, despite the awareness of the dwindling resources of labor force, the employment-related challenges faced by PwCDs as well as people who are close to the retirement age remain unaddressed

Bullying and victimization in children with special educational needs: implications for inclusive practices

Bullying has been recognized as a widespread, persistent and serious problem occurring in schools across different national contexts. Despite the surge of interest in bullying in recent years, much of the research has focused on its multiple facets and characteristics among non-disabled students, while little is known about its incidence and dimensions in the population of students receiving special education support provision. It is well-known that schooling has generally been constructed and operates around the notions of normalization and homogeneity and children’s diversity often generates discriminating responses contributing to exclusionary educational experiences. In the light of above, the present study aims at exploring the extent and different types of bullying and victimization among Greek students receiving special education support provision. The sample of the study consisted of 173 students attending 5th and 6th primary school grades and participating in pull-out special education delivery programs operating within mainstream schools. According to the findings, participants were actively involved in both bullying and victimization with higher rates in victimization. Bullying was mainly related to physical aggressiveness, humiliating and racist behaviors towards others and social isolation from peers, while victimization included destruction of personal belongings attacked. Statistically significant differences were identified between girls and boys over the different types of bullying and victimization getting involved in, with girls experiencing mostly social isolation and manipulation from others and boys displaying aggressiveness towards others and attacking peers. Statistically significant differences were also found in physical bullying between children receiving more than 12 hours a week special education support and the rest. Children with developmental disabilities tended to use more indirect methods of bullying such as social exclusion more often than children with learning difficulties and children with learning difficulties combined with socio-emotional behavioral disorders. Overall bullying behavior was found to be predicted by presence of playmates during playtime and victimization by absence of playmates during break and limited number of friends in class. The implications of the study for developing school-based inclusive responses to students with SENs, are also discussed. - O bullying tem sido reconhecido como um problema generalizado, persistente e grave que ocorre nas escolas em diferentes contextos nacionais. Apesar da onda de interesse nos comportamentos de bullying ao longo dos últimos anos, grande parte da pesquisa concentrou-se nas suas múltiplas facetas e características entre os estudantes sem deficiência, pouco se sabendo sobre a incidência e dimensões no seio da população estudantil com necessidades educativas especiais. É sabido que a escolaridade tem sido geralmente orientada e opera em função das noções de normalização e de homogeneidade, sendo que a diversidade das crianças gera, muitas vezes, atitudes discriminatórias que contribuem para experiências de exclusão educativa. À luz do exposto, o presente estudo tem por objectivo explorar a extensão e diferentes tipos de bullying e vitimização entre estudantes gregos que recebem apoio ao nível da educação especial. A amostra do estudo foi constituída por 173 alunos do 5 º e 6 º anos do ensino básico que participam em programas de educação especial em funcionamento no seio de escolas regulares. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, verificou-se que os alunos da amostra se encontravam activamente envolvidos em comportamentos de bullying e vitimização, com índices de envolvimento mais elevados de vitimização. O bullying encontrou-se fundamentalmente relacionado aos comportamentos agressivos físicos, comportamentos racistas e de humilhação para com os outros e isolamento social dos seus pares, enquanto a vitimização incluiu a destruição de pertences pessoais e ser atacado. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram identificadas entre raparigas e rapazes relativamente aos diferentes tipos de comportamentos de bullying e vitimização em que se envolveram, sendo que as raparigas vivenciaram maioritariamente o isolamento social e a manipulação de outros, e os rapazes exibindo maioritariamente comportamentos de agressividade para com os outros e ataques aos colegas. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram também encontradas relativamente aos comportamentos de bullying entre crianças que recebem mais de 12 horas semanais de apoio no ensino especial. Crianças com deficiências de desenvolvimento tendem a usar métodos mais indirectos de bullying, como a exclusão social, mais frequentemente do que crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem e do que as crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem combinadas com distúrbios sócio-emocionais e comportamentais. No geral confirmou-se, como factor preditor da ocorrência de comportamentos de bullying, a presença dos colegas durante o recreio, e como factor preditor da vitimização a falta de companheiros durante o intervalo e o número limitado de amigos na sala de aula. As implicações do estudo para o desenvolvimento de respostas baseadas na escola inclusiva para alunos com necessidades educativas especiais, também são discutidas

Organizational preparedness domains and indicators of educational organizations for students with disabilities in pandemic times: A scoping review

BackgroundThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational systems has caused a profound shift in the organization and delivery of education worldwide. The effects of the pandemic crisis on educational systems proved to be detrimental for students with disabilities, highlighting not only the looming social and educational inequalities but also the huge gap in organizational preparedness for education, including identifying the main areas (domains) of preparedness that guide the process of organizational preparedness and the sub-themes (indicators) per domain that help educational organizations to evaluate their level of preparedness and to identify potential gaps and set priorities for preparedness planning.MethodsScoping review with thematic analysis was performed on literature published from 2010 to 2022. Six scientific databases (PsycInfo, Web of Science, Eric, Scopus, Proquest, JSTOR) and one academic search engine (Google Scholar) were examined in order to identify publications (peer-reviewed and preprint) in English. The search strategy and robust eligibility criteria were defined by the authors, who also performed screening of the papers, eligibility decisions, and key data extractions. A thematic analysis was applied to define the organizational preparedness domains and indicators per domain, informed by a system thinking approach for educational organizations. Conflicts were collaboratively resolved after each step. All members of the research team were involved in the data synthesis.ResultsFrom 1,564 publications identified, 216 were included in the final analysis. Six domains and 14 indicators were identified.ConclusionThe organizational preparedness in educational organizations in pandemic crisis times needs to be prioritized in the educational policy agenda, drawing special attention on students with disabilities. The identified preparedness domains and indicators may guide the policy dialogue and inform accordingly a system thinking change approach in education and disability

Policy guidelines for effective inclusion and reintegration of people with chronic diseases in the workplace : national and European perspectives

The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases among the European working age population, as well as the implications for the individual and societal level, underline the need for policy guidelines targeting the effective inclusion of persons with chronic diseases in the workplace. The aim of the present paper was to explore the perspectives of European and National-level stakeholders on existing strategies for work re-integration of persons with chronic diseases, and to provide policy guidelines. A highly-structured interview protocol was distributed to 58 National level stakeholders (policy makers, professionals and employers) from seven European countries. Additionally, 20 European organizations concerned with health-related issues and employment completed an online survey. The findings reveal that employment-related challenges remain largely unaddressed. Both national and European stakeholders considered the existing legislative frameworks inadequate and appraised the co-ordination for the implementation of employment re-integration policies as ineffective. Policies targeting at work re-integration of persons with chronic diseases at European and national level should focus on consistent cooperation among all key stakeholders, awareness raising to staff and management, dissemination of effective strategies, developing research and evaluation standards and establishing monitoring systems on inclusive labour markets

Effectiveness of Integration and Re-Integration into Work Strategies for Persons with Chronic Conditions: A Systematic Review of European Strategies

Due to low employment rates associated to chronic conditions in Europe, it is essential to foster effective integration and re-integration into work strategies. The objective of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of strategies for integration and re-integration to work for persons with chronic diseases or with musculoskeletal disorders, implemented in Europe in the past five years. A systematic search was conducted in MedLine, PsycINFO, CDR-HTA, CDR-DARE and Cochrane Systematic Reviews. Overall, 32 relevant publications were identified. Of these, 21 were considered eligible after a methodological assessment and included. Positive changes in employment status, return to work and sick leave outcomes were achieved with graded sickness-absence certificates, part-time sick leave, early ergonomic interventions for back pain, disability evaluation followed by information and advice, and with multidisciplinary, coordinated and tailored return to work interventions. Additionally, a positive association between the co-existence of active labour market policies to promote employment and passive support measures (e.g., pensions or benefits) and the probability of finding a job was observed. Research on the evaluation of the effectiveness of strategies targeting integration and re-integration into work for persons with chronic health conditions needs, however, to be improved and strengthened

What Persons with Chronic Health Conditions Need to Maintain or Return to Work-Results of an Online-Survey in Seven European Countries

Chronic health conditions represent the major share of the disease burden in Europe and have a significant impact on work. This study aims to: (1) identify factors that have a negative or positive impact on the work lives of persons with chronic health conditions; (2) explore the needs of these persons to maintain a job or return to work and (3) compare these results with respect to these persons' occupational status. An online survey was performed in seven European countries. Open-ended survey questions were analyzed using qualitative methods. In total, 487 participants with six chronic health conditions participated. The majority of participants named work-related aspects (such as career development, stress at the workplace, work structure and schedule as well as workload), support of others and attitudes of others as being the factors positively and negatively impact their work lives the most. Our study shed light on the importance of changing the attitudes of supervisors and co-workers to counteract stigmatization of persons with chronic health conditions in the workplace. In conclusion, this study provides a basis for developing new strategies of integration and reintegration at work for persons with chronic health conditions in European countries

Teachers and peers attitudes towards the integration of pupils with Down's Syndrome.

This study is an exploratory piece of research into the question of attitudes towards the process of integration. A socio-political approach to attitudes is used as a theoretical framework for exploring and understanding the meanings and the complexities involved in the formation of attitudes. The study considers the case of one primary school in particular, Yorkshire School, that had a policy of integrating, in a cross sectional way, forty pupils identified as having special educational needs, including six pupils with Down's Syndrome. The research involved extensive participant observations within the school, semi-structured interviews and informal discussions with nineteen (19) teachers as well as individual and group discussions with the use of a picture with a hundred and three (103) pupils. The findings of this study show that integration has become a contentious term. Teachers' attitudes are conflicting and often confusing while the directives embedded in the teaching act, especially after the introduction of the Educational Reform Act, render the commitment of inclusive education more difficult to maintain. Further, the exploration of the meanings children ascribe to their interactional and perceptual patternings with disabled peers revealed the ways that "handicapped" identities are being socially created. The value conflicts and ethical dilemmas in which both teachers and pupils are becoming enmeshed as well as the structural conditions within which integration is implemented are discussed in an attempt to show that integration must become a policy oriented towards its own destruction. The findings also confirm the necessity of a socio-political approach in the study of attitudes by revealing that any serious attempt of exploring and understanding the complexities involved in the formation of attitudes towards the integration process cannot be divorced either from the wider set of social formations or from the educational context within which attitudes have been developed in the first place

Διαδικτυακός Εκφοβισμός (Cyber – Bullying) Η θεωρητική και εμπειρική προσέγγιση του φαινομένου

Στην παρούσα εργασία διερευνάται ένας από τους αναδυόμενους εκ του διαδικτύου κινδύνους, αυτός του διαδικτυακού εκφοβισμού (Cyber – Βullying). Συγκεκριμένα, αρχικά (Κεφάλαιο Πρώτο), επιχειρείται μία εννοιολογική προσέγγιση του ως άνω όρου, σε σχέση και με αυτόν του παραδοσιακού εκφοβισμού (Bullying), όπως προκύπτει από την επισκόπηση της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας και αρθρογραφίας, καθώς και εκτίθεται η ελληνική νομοθεσία, η οποία αφορά στο φαινόμενο του διαδικτυακού εκφοβισμού. Εν συνεχεία, στο Δεύτερο Κεφάλαιο συγκεντρώνονται οι διάφορες εγκληματολογικές θεωρίες οι οποίες έχουν, έως σήμερα, χρησιμοποιηθεί για την θεωρητική ερμηνεία του φαινομένου αυτού. Ακολούθως, το Τρίτο Κεφάλαιο αναφέρεται στην εμπειρική και ερευνητική προσέγγιση του φαινομένου. Σε αυτό εκτίθενται πορίσματα διαφόρων ερευνών, ελληνικών και μη, που έχουν εκπονηθεί σχετικά με το εν λόγω φαινόμενο, ενώ ακόμα παρουσιάζονται και τα ευρήματα και πορίσματα εκ της έρευνας που διεξήχθη στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας από την γράφουσα. Κλείνοντας, στο τελευταίο μέρος της παρούσας, αντί επιλόγου, προτείνονται μέτρα πρόληψης αλλά και αντιμετώπισης τυχόν τέτοιου είδους περιστατικών.This dissertation explores Cyber - Bullying, one of the emerging e-threats of our time. Specifically, the first chapter attempts a conceptual approach of this phenomenon, especially in comparison with traditionally defined Bullying, as outlined in literature reviews. Additionally, Greek legislation concerning Cyber - Bullying is presented. In the second chapter, several Criminology theories which have been used to interpret it are reviewed. The following chapter attempts an empirical approach of the phenomenon, presenting not only Greek and international research findings concerning Cyber - Bullying, but also the findings of the author’s own research. By way of epilogue, a few preventive and response measures are suggested

Terpsis. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology in honour of Nota Kourou

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The role of social capital in inclusive education

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