Friendship of Well-known and Undeservedly Forgotten Masters in Late 19th and Early 20th Century Russian Piano Music. The Life and Work of Medtner, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin

"In this study, I explore the life and work of three outstanding pianists and composers in the late 19th and early 20th century: Medtner, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin, who were not only contemporaries and colleagues but also supportive friends to each other. All three were largely influenced by their years at the Moscow Conservatory, where they became prominent pianists and first showed promise as composers. They received similar impulses and could learn from the same teachers. As a defining common element in their lives, they explored and strived to combine Russian musical traditions and Western classical music. At the same time, their different personalities are apparent from their music, so despite their common roots, their individual musical language is unmistakable. Even at the beginning of their careers, it was clear that despite the commonalities, their lives and careers took a different direction. All three tried their luck abroad, but only Scriabin returned home for the rest of his short life. In addition to their distinct life paths and musical language, their recognition is quite different. Scriabin’s name sounds familiar to many, but he does not belong to the most popular composers of our time. Rachmaninoff’s widespread popularity can be observed among professional musicians as well as the public. In contrast, it is not impossible to meet a professional for whom Medtner’s music is unknown. This is not necessarily explained by disparities in talent and abilities but rather by differences in circumstances, opportunities, and personalities. In this study, I attempt to shed light on the reasons for the three composers’ contrasting popularity from the perspective of their life and work. Keywords: Russian composers, Russian music, Late 19th, and early 20th century, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner "

Playcentre Parents-as-Educators: Links between Background Experiences and Teaching Practice

<p>Playcentres are unique Aotearoa/New Zealand sessional early childhood education services which are run as parent cooperatives, where the parents take on the role of educators in the centre. This study investigated the way parents-as-educators used their life experiences, skills and knowledges in their teaching practice. Case studies were completed for four parents-as-educators in one urban Playcentre during one 10 week school term, using observations of teaching practice and document analysis, a short questionnaire and individual interviews. Teaching practice was then described using a framework based on McWilliam, de Kruif and Zulli's (2002) four contexts of teaching. Results were analysed using Rogoff's (2003) personal, interpersonal and cultural planes of analysis and Reid and Stover's (2005) model of individual agency. The parents-as-educators primarily drew on their parenting experiences to inform their teaching practice, and were selective in applying other prior skills and knowledges, based on their current interests and passions and on specific choices about their future life paths. The utilisation of their background in their teaching practice was also influenced by their individual agency. This depended on their changing sense of belonging within the centre, on the context of the sessions which included interactions between adults and responses from the children, and on their perception of, and alignment with, Playcentre philosophy. Implications of the findings suggest that Playcentres should look for ways of empowering parents-as-educators to use their background skills and knowledges whilst respecting their choices, so that the children in the centres experience as rich a curriculum as possible. To do this Playcentre philosophy should be more openly debated. This is because the philosophy of parents and children learning together added to group cohesiveness and empowered the parents-as-educators, yet other philosophical tenets, such as child-centredness and the approach to teaching art, created tension and constrained the parents-as-educators from fully using their background in their teaching practice.</p>

Playcentre Parents-as-Educators: Links between Background Experiences and Teaching Practice

<p>Playcentres are unique Aotearoa/New Zealand sessional early childhood education services which are run as parent cooperatives, where the parents take on the role of educators in the centre. This study investigated the way parents-as-educators used their life experiences, skills and knowledges in their teaching practice. Case studies were completed for four parents-as-educators in one urban Playcentre during one 10 week school term, using observations of teaching practice and document analysis, a short questionnaire and individual interviews. Teaching practice was then described using a framework based on McWilliam, de Kruif and Zulli's (2002) four contexts of teaching. Results were analysed using Rogoff's (2003) personal, interpersonal and cultural planes of analysis and Reid and Stover's (2005) model of individual agency. The parents-as-educators primarily drew on their parenting experiences to inform their teaching practice, and were selective in applying other prior skills and knowledges, based on their current interests and passions and on specific choices about their future life paths. The utilisation of their background in their teaching practice was also influenced by their individual agency. This depended on their changing sense of belonging within the centre, on the context of the sessions which included interactions between adults and responses from the children, and on their perception of, and alignment with, Playcentre philosophy. Implications of the findings suggest that Playcentres should look for ways of empowering parents-as-educators to use their background skills and knowledges whilst respecting their choices, so that the children in the centres experience as rich a curriculum as possible. To do this Playcentre philosophy should be more openly debated. This is because the philosophy of parents and children learning together added to group cohesiveness and empowered the parents-as-educators, yet other philosophical tenets, such as child-centredness and the approach to teaching art, created tension and constrained the parents-as-educators from fully using their background in their teaching practice.</p>

Survey of violence against women at a refugee settlement in Uganda

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) can have long-term repercussions on the mental and physical health of survivors. The threat of SGBV increases for women and girls in times of crisis and is on the rise in humanitarian emergencies. For example, women in refugee camps are at risk of SGBV. Associate Professor Tamaki Hatano is working to promote awareness of this situation and help establish a future where SGBV is eradicated. In her work, she conducts interviews with female refugees in order to hear their stories and learn of their experiences. At present, Hatano is studying the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Uganda. Although her work has been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2015 and 2016 she visited the Settlement and interviewed 30 women. In doing so, she found that SGBV, including rape and violence in the form of theft and threats, is pervasive. This work also highlighted the impact of SGBV on physical and psychological health and how it can alter life paths. This work confirmed to Hatano that there is a need for improved systems in place, including the establishment of a culture in which women feel safe reporting SGBV and also feel assured that their experiences will be taken seriously and that they will be protected. In enhancing awareness and understanding of SGBV, Hatano envisions a future where it is eradicated.

Psychological Distress Symptoms and Resilience Assets in Adolescents in Residential Care

Most studies with institutionalised children and adolescents focus on evaluating the impact of negative life events on emotional development. However, few have investigated the relationship between resilience assets and the teenagers’ psychopathological problems. The purpose of the present study was to investigate differences in psychological distress symptoms and in resilience assets in institutionalised and non-institutionalised adolescents. A total of 266 adolescents aged between 12 and 19 years old took part in the study (60.5% female): 125 lived in residential care and 144 resided with their families. Results found a significant and inverse relation between psychopathology and the perception of individual resilience assets, specifically with self-efficacy and self-awareness in the community sample, and with empathy in the institutionalised sample. Overall, and regardless of the age group, adolescents in residential care tend to perceive themselves as significantly less resilient in perceived self-efficacy and empathy, and they report fewer goals and aspirations for the future. The importance of promoting mental health and resilience assets in adolescents, particularly in those in residential care, is discussed. This can be achieved through early interventions that may prevent emotional suffering and deviant life paths, with transgenerational repercussions.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the book’s protagonists and main subject: the other ‘68ers, a group of centre-right activists who had participated in the West German student movement of the late 1960s and 1970s and later commemorated their efforts as a form of democratic resistance against left-wing radicals. It argues that a close examination of the other ‘68ers’ ideas, experiences, repertoires, and remarkable career trajectories enables us to rethink the history of 1968 and its afterlives in important ways. Studying the hitherto neglected role these individuals played at the time, as well as their life paths and long-term impact on West German political culture, opens up new vistas for understanding the history of protest in 1968, the late Federal Republic, and the role that generation played in postwar Germany. The Introduction also discusses the different sources used for this study, including the oral history methodology on which parts of the book are based.

Damned to Do Nothing

Using the example of the couple Rosi Wolfstein (1888-1987) and Paul Frölich (1884-1953), Riccardo Altieri's contribution shows a transnational double biography framed by a network of people who must be consulted to reconstruct the portrait of their lives. Open and closed sub-networks from various left-wing parties from the period before the First World War to after the Second World War are elaborated. The essay is intended as a practical example of the theoretical field of transmigration research of refugees from the Nazi regime, on whose life paths only a small number of sources have survived. Network research is capable of bridging such gaps in the archival tradition.

The Holy Grail: The Evaluation of Anti-Radicalization Policies in the Netherlands

Since the 1970s, the Dutch anti-radicalization strategy has been characterized by a close collaboration between police, welfare providers, community groups, and national and local governments. This comprehensive approach aims to identify individuals at risk of radicalization at an early stage, offering them alternative life paths and robustly responding to imminent threats. The comprehensive approach generally enjoys considerable support among professionals, politicians, and the populace at large. However, a swelling tide is asking for more evidence that this combination of “soft” and “hard” interventions is working. Parliament is asking the government to take more measures against emerging extremist threats, but also demands more proof that these measures are effective. Liberal parties in parliament are critical of the financial and societal costs of counter-terrorism and anti-radicalization measures, while right-wing parties worry the government is not tough enough. Over the past five years, the Dutch government has commissioned multiple evaluations. Specific incidents, such as the shooting in Utrecht on 18 March 2019, have been extensively evaluated. A more general review in 2015 examined the counter-terrorism policy as a whole, finding that the ideas for the comprehensive approach were sound; yet, that the investment of ministries in this approach fell apart in the perceived low-threat period, making the intended “comprehensive” strategy become a pick-and-choice approach. Currently, the national and local governments involved in anti-radicalization efforts keep asking for more evaluations. The Ministry of Social Affairs created an evaluation toolkit, which local governments can use to evaluate interventions. The City of Arnhem commissioned a review of its anti-radicalization efforts, which is mainly able to assess the plans and processes, but not yet the outputs of the interventions. Moving forward, more collaboration may be needed within or even between European countries to amass sufficient data to enable full effect evaluations.