scholarly journals Experiential Education: A Pedagogical Alternative for Difficult Cases?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-212
Author(s):  
Herbert Zoglowek ◽  
◽  
Hermann Kuhl ◽  

The purpose of this action research project is to study the possibilities of the concept of experiential Education (in German: Erlebnispädagogik) for compensatory support in schoolwork. The article describes the experiences at a German secondary school. The main aim was to use the idea of experiential education to develop the social abilities of pupils who showed deviant behaviour at school and in relationships with others. First a short theoretical reflection about the concept of experiential education and its possible educational potential is given. This is followed by a description of the action research project and a discussion of the preliminary results. Schools have been struggling with a variety of problems in their teaching and educational mission. In the search for suitable concepts to counter the increasingly frequent learning and behavioural problems, experiential education has gained in importance. This concept places the experience at the centre of learning. The experience-action-oriented provision of learning situations is an interventive attempt at compensatory support for pupils with behavioural, social and/or communication problems. The initial findings from observations, interviews and action research related reflections on children’s behaviour show that children with behavioural problems which are, in many respects, learning disabilities, can gain a different approach to themselves, to others and to the demands made in the subject lessons through special movement and socially related activity offers. The teachers involved report clear changes in children’s behaviour and corresponding positive consequences for the regular lessons.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Liegghio

While globally advances have been made to recognize children as social actors in their own right, for psychiatrized young people their experiences of distress are often seen as a limitation and thus used as a justification for denying their meaningful participation in matters of concern to their lives. However, what would it mean if ‘mental illness’ was not seen as a ‘limitation’, but rather as an ‘epistemological position’ from which the social world is experienced, understood and acted upon? What would it mean if our theories about ‘distress’ and ‘helping’ were premised on the subjugated knowledges of psychiatrized children and youth? The consumer/survivor-led research movement has made significant gains in answering these questions for the adult, but not necessarily for the child and youth mental health field. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the significance of psychiatrized young people setting and executing their own research and, ultimately, practice agendas. Presented are the outcomes of an evaluation of a participatory action research project examining the stigma of mental illness conducted with seven psychiatrized youth, 14 to 17 years old. The outcomes suggest our roles as practitioners and researchers need to shift from being ‘agents’ working on behalf of to ‘allies’ working in solidarity with young people to change the social conditions of their marginalization. The article concludes with the limits of consumer/survivor-led research for addressing adultism and, instead, ends with a call for decolonizing children’s mental health.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-93
Author(s):  
Steven Arnfjord ◽  
John Andersen

Socialforskningen i Grønland har gennem årtier dokumenteret sociale problemer. Populært sagt har socialforskningen i Grønland indtil for nylig kun bestået af beskrivende, kvantitativ elendighedsforskning. Der eksisterer således (modsat fx socialforskning med canadisk inuit) stort set ikke nogen kvalitativ eller deltagerorienteret forskning om vilkår for indsatser og praksis i forhold til at håndtere de sociale udfordringer. Der har således manglet sociologisk og handlingsorienteret praksisviden, der kan understøtte professionel og organisatorisk kapacitetsopbygning i det socialpolitiske felt. Denne artikel handler om empowerment og aktionsforskning med socialarbejdere i Grønland og bygger på Steven Arnfjords ph.d. projekt fra 2014. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Steven Arnfjord and John Andersen: Social Work and Action Research in Greenland Years of social science research in Greenland has documented a range of social problems in the country. However social research in Greenland has been limited to quantitative research that has focused only on misery. Contrary to what we have seen in Canadian Inuit research, there has been no qualitative nor participatory research into the concrete circumstances under which Greenlandic social workers deal with the social challenges they face daily. This article draws on a research project that, for the first time, employed exploratory interviews with social workers. Analysis of these interviews uncovered the social workers’ feelings of despair and their atomised sense of loneliness because of having no references to an external network of professionals (e.g. through a union). The research was then extended to an action research project, which set out to form a social workers union in order to create a sense of unity and professional group awareness within the profession. Keywords: Greenland, action research, empowerment, social work, social planning, marxism.


Author(s):  
Vibe Aarkrog ◽  
Bjarne Wahlgren

Social competences are crucial parts of vocational education and training (VET) competences. As part of a development project preparing unskilled young people for VET, an action research project was conducted with the aim of developing a schema for assessing and grading social competences. The development included defining the social competences as well as three levels for assessing these competences. The schema was developed in cooperation with the assessors, i.e., representatives from workplaces, municipal youth guidance centres, and VET colleges. There were two main findings. First, the definitions of the competences and the levels for assessing the competences are related to the context in which the competences should be developed. Second, even though the definitions should be related to the specific contexts, to be manageable they should not be too elaborate. The aim of the project being to develop a schema that practitioners in general can use for assessing young peoples' social competences in relation to work-based training, the study concludes that further research is needed to clarify whether the schema can be used without instruction or training. 


Author(s):  
Barend KLITSIE ◽  
Rebecca PRICE ◽  
Christine DE LILLE

Companies are organised to fulfil two distinctive functions: efficient and resilient exploitation of current business and parallel exploration of new possibilities. For the latter, companies require strong organisational infrastructure such as team compositions and functional structures to ensure exploration remains effective. This paper explores the potential for designing organisational infrastructure to be part of fourth order subject matter. In particular, it explores how organisational infrastructure could be designed in the context of an exploratory unit, operating in a large heritage airline. This paper leverages insights from a long-term action research project and finds that building trust and shared frames are crucial to designing infrastructure that affords the greater explorative agenda of an organisation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096973302199079
Author(s):  
Finn Th Hansen ◽  
Lene Bastrup Jørgensen

Three forms of leadership are frequently identified as prerequisites to the re-humanization of the healthcare system: ‘authentic leadership’, ‘mindful leadership’ and ‘ethical leadership’. In different ways and to varying extents, these approaches all focus on person- or human-centred caring. In a phenomenological action research project at a Danish hospital, the nurses experienced and then described how developing a conscious sense of wonder enhanced their ability to hear, to get in resonance with the existential in their meetings with patients and relatives, and to respond ethically. This ability was fostered through so-called Wonder Labs in which the notion of ‘phenomenon-led care’ evolved, which called for ‘slow thinking’ and ‘slow wondrous listening’. For the 10 nurses involved, it proved challenging to find the necessary serenity and space for this slow and wonder-based practice. This article critiques and examines, from a theoretical perspective, the kind of leadership that is needed to encourage this wonder-based approach to nursing, and it suggests a new type of leadership that is itself inspired by wonder and is guided by 10 tangible elements.


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