Fiction Reading and Empathy Capacity of Selected Filipino Adolescents and Young Adults

This study aimed to discover if adolescents’ and young adults’ empathy capacity is higher when they engage more in fiction reading. A total of 301 students, aged 16-22, completed a self-administered questionnaire. More than half (56%) of the respondents consider reading as a hobby with books as the preferred reading material. Around 38% have moderate fiction reading scores and around 77% have high empathy capacity scores. Findings showed that the older the respondent is, the less likely they would read fiction and the lower their empathy level. Females are more likely to read fiction and are more empathic than males. Also, results revealed that the more the individual reads fiction, the more empathic they can become. Home and school interventions can be created to increase opportunities and desire for reading fiction and enhancing empathy capacity.

Mnemonic Fakery and Other Interpretive Strategies: Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall through Ethical Spectacle

Providing a glimpse of the ongoing wrestle with ethics and practice involved in the Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibition, an iterative residential school Survivor-led reclamation project, this article considers critical methods for implementing museal projects reckoning with difficult knowledge, and the ethical latitude they require. Doing so, it discusses risks of misrepresentation/recognition and the necessity of hopeful wounding, exposing the manipulations, fakery, and the prosthetic memories that exhibitions with great affective force produce. Exploring a range of exhibition-focused museal strategies that seek both to redress and prevent the recurrence of genocide and mass violence, this article articulates the tensions between i) affective power and cultural safety, ii) absence and presence, and iii) prosthetic and “authentic” memory that permeate the process of exhibition design. Returning to the evidentiary landscape of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School, interventions hybridizing examples discussed, putting them into the service of Survivors, offer a direction for future reclamation.

The I’m Learning! intervention methodology for quality learning environments in developing country contexts

Within the context of the global learning crisis and calls to focus on the quality of education, one international organisation took a systematic and holistic approach to improve learning, wellbeing, and development in schools. Known as the Quality Learning Environment (QLE) Framework, it conceptualised the quality of the learning environment in schools with four guiding principles: emotional and psychological protection of learners, physical wellbeing of children, active learning processes, and close collaboration between school and parents/community. From 2013 – 2017, the framework was piloted in three countries of Cambodia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to improve learning environments and outcomes while documenting the process, methods, and results of the QLE pilot in their country. The interventions in the three countries were closely tracked by a longitudinal research study. This paper explores the ambition of global and national research firms to carry out rigorous cross-country research alongside contextualized and evolving school interventions.

Effectiveness of Psychosocial School Interventions in Finnish Schools for Refugee and Immigrant Children, “Refugees Well School” in Finland (RWS-FI): A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Schools are considered as natural environments to enhance students’ social-emotional skills in general and mental health and affiliation among students with refugee and immigrant background. A layered or tiered provision of services are recommended as they can be effective to meet the needs of war-affected adolescents’ who variably show posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study tests the effectiveness of multi-layered interventions integrating targeted cognitive-behavioral treatment-based TRT (Teaching Recovery Techniques), a class-room focused preventive intervention PIER (Peer Integration and Enhancement Resources), and a whole school psychoeducative teacher-led intervention INSETT (In Service Teacher Training) in enhancing the wellbeing of children in their school environments. We analyze first, whether the interventions are effective in decreasing symptoms of PTSD and psychological distress and increasing positive resources i.e. prosocial behavior and resilience among refugees and immigrant students. Second, we analyze which student-, school- and parent-related factors mediate the possible beneficial changes, and third, we look at which groups benefit the interventions most. Methods A three-arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment, with approximately 1:1 allocation ratio, is applied among 16 schools that agreed to participate in the Refugees Well School interventions and effectiveness study. Schools were randomized to three conditions of two active interventions and a waiting-list control condition. Students, their parents, and teachers in intervention and control schools participate at baseline before the interventions, after the interventions, and at 6 to 12 months after the interventions. The primary effectiveness criterion variables are psychological distress (SDQ) symptoms, resilience (CYRM-12), executive functioning (AEFI) and prosocial behavior (SDQ). PTSD (CRIES-8) symptoms are used as outcome variable in one of the interventions (TRT). Discussion The current study provides a recommended universal approach of layered interventions aiming to reduce psychological distress and increase resilience among migrated students. Combination of promotive, preventive and targeted interventions may offer a holistic, ecological intervention package for schools to better address the needs of the whole group. Trial registration: ISRCTN, identifier: ISRCTN64245549. Registered 10. June 2020. Retrospectively registered, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN64245549

Scoping Review on Interventions for Physical Activity and Physical Literacy Components in Brazilian School-Aged Children and Adolescents

This scoping review mapped the existing evidence on interventions to promote physical activity (PA) and/or components of physical literacy (PL) in Brazilian school-aged children and adolescents. Nine electronic databases and gray literature were consulted in May 2020, with no limit on year or language. School-based intervention studies (6 to 18 years old, primarily) that assessed PA or PL components (PA-related factors or attributes) were eligible. The studies were stratified by children (<12 years of age) and adolescents (≥12 years of age). A total of 63 documents were included, which refer to 42 different intervention studies. Twenty-five interventions focused on adolescents and 17 on children. The most-used strategies in the interventions were changes in physical and environmental education classes, extracurricular PA sessions, and health education. No study has analyzed all components of PL or evaluated PL using specific protocols or instruments. PA attributes were the most studied components (30 studies). This review identified the need to conduct interventions with strategies that target all components of PL, representing important elements for a research agenda that underlies school interventions that contribute to an active lifestyle.

Burnout: A Review of the Literature

In this review of literature related to burnout, I compiled definitions of the term, discussed factors contributing to burnout, effects of burnout, and prevention/possible remedies for burnout. Although there is no consensus on the term’s definition, it is well understood that burnout has three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization/cynicism, and personal accomplishment. There are personal (internal) and organizational (external) factors that contribute to burnout. When teachers feel lack of control, overloaded, and underresourced, the potential for burnout is amplified. Burnout is manifested in physical (poor health) and psychological ways (detachment, boredom, and rigidity). Prevention strategies generally fall into the categories of (a) in-school interventions (including being more prepared and developing high quality interpersonal relationships), (b) out of school interventions (better work–life balance), and (c) mentoring. Given that engagement is the antithesis of burnout, keeping teachers engaged and feeling valued are mitigating factors for burnout.

The impact of relaxing interventions on human contact patterns and SARS-CoV-2 transmission in China

Nonpharmaceutical interventions to control SARS-CoV-2 spread have been implemented with different intensity, timing, and impact on transmission. As a result, post-lockdown COVID-19 dynamics are heterogeneous and difficult to interpret. We describe a set of contact surveys performed in four Chinese cities (Wuhan, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Changsha) during the pre-pandemic, lockdown and post-lockdown periods to quantify changes in contact patterns. In the post-lockdown period, the mean number of contacts increased by 5 to 17% as compared to the lockdown period. However, it remains three to seven times lower than its pre-pandemic level sufficient to control SARS-CoV-2 transmission. We find that the impact of school interventions depends nonlinearly on the intensity of other activities. When most community activities are halted, school closure leads to a 77% decrease in the reproduction number; in contrast, when social mixing outside of schools is at pre-pandemic level, school closure leads to a 5% reduction in transmission.