For qualitative researchers seeking the perspectives of people with unusual characteristics or circumstances, compliance with expectations about participant anonymity can be difficult, if not impossible. In the age of internet communications and emerging research methodologies, traditional strategies require ongoing re-examination to ensure cohesion between a project’s ethical framework and its research practice. This paper reflects on the approach to informed consent used in a study with parent carers whose children had high-level support needs. A two-step process of written consent was (...) developed in response to concerns about the possible re-identification of these parents as a result of their highly individual circumstances. This approach acknowledged the potential for identification, and maximised participants’ agency in choosing the level of risk that they were comfortable to accommodate. The paper discusses the researcher’s and participants’ responses to the adapted consent process and recommends that researchers and ethics review committees remain open to the development of collaborative and innovative approaches that are also culturally and contextually relevant, to enable people to contribute perspectives that might otherwise be silenced by the very ethical frameworks that purport to protect their interests. (shrink)

This book explores images of schoolteachers in America from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, using a wide range of approaches to scholarship and writing. It is intended for both experienced and aspiring teachers to use as a springboard for discussion and reflection about the teaching profession and for contemplating these questions: _ What does it mean to be a teacher? What has influenced and sustained our beliefs about teachers? New in the second edition_ * The focus (...) is shifted to the teaching profession as the 21st century unfolds. * The volume continues to explore teacher images through various genres--oral history, narrative, literature, and popular culture. In the second edition, the authors place more emphasis on the social-political context that has shaped teachers' daily experiences and the teaching profession itself. In the study of teacher images and schooling, the essays draw from feminist research methods and the critical tradition in educational inquiry to probe issues of power and authority, race, social class, and gender. * The emphasis is on the multidimensionality of teacher images rather than normative characterizations. * Six totally new chapters have been written for this new edition: an "invented interview" spanning 100 years of school teaching; portraits of progressive activist teachers; an exploration of teachers in fiction for young adults; a retrospective of the satirical cartoon show, _The Simpsons_; a study of crusading and caring teachers in films; and an overview of progressive classroom practices in "the new millennium." Seven chapters have been thoroughly revised to reflect current scholarship and the authors' evolving knowledge and interests. (shrink)

The only commonality between the various psychiatric disorders is that they reflect contemporary problematic behaviors. Some psychiatric disorders have a substantial genetic component, whereas others are essentially shaped by prevailing environmental factors. Because psychiatric ailments are so heterogeneous, any universal explanation of mental illness is not likely to have any clinical or theoretical utility. (Published Online November 9 2006).

Society is broken. We can design our way to a better one. In our increasingly interconnected world, self-interest and social-interest are rapidly becoming indistinguishable. If the oceans die, if society fractures, or if global warming spirals out of control, personal success becomes meaningless. But our broken system incentivizes behavior that only makes these problems worse. If true human rights progress is to be achieved today, it is time we dig deeper-rethinking the very foundation of our social system. In this engaging, (...) important work, Peter Joseph, founder of the world's largest grassroots social movement in the world-The Zeitgeist Movement-draws from economics, history, philosophy, and modern public-health research to present a bold case for rethinking activism in the 21st century. The conventional wisdom views poverty, social oppression, and the growing loss of public health as unfortunate and immutable side effects of our way of life. The New Human Rights Movement argues that these outcomes are, in fact, contrived-only natural to our outdated economic system. Social activists can never succeed in dramatically improving human life on this planet until they understand the structural reasons these problems exist. Arguing against the long-standing narrative of universal scarcity and other pervasive, legitimizing myths that defend the current state of affairs, The New Human Rights Movement ultimately presents the case for an updated economic approach. Joseph explores the potential of this grand social shift and how we can design our way to a post-scarcity world-a world where poverty doesn't exist and the human family has become truly sustainable. The New Human Rights Movement reveals the critical importance of a unified activism in this direction, through understanding and working to alter the inherent injustice of our current social system. This book not only warns against what is in store if we continue to ignore our broken society but also reveals the positive future possible if we succeed. Will you join the movement? (shrink)

This book provides a discussion of the philosophy of being according to three major traditions in Western philosophy, the Analytic, the Continental, and the Thomistic. The origin of the point of view of each of these traditions is associated with a seminal figure, Gottlob Frege, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Aquinas, respectively. The questions addressed in this book are constitutional for the philosophy of being, considering the meaning of being, the relationship between thinking and being, and the methods for using thought (...) to access being. On the one hand, the book honors diversity and pluralism, as it highlights how the three traditions may be clearly and distinctly differentiated regarding the philosophy of being. On the other hand, it honors a sense of solidarity and ecumenism, as it demonstrates how the methods and focal points of these traditions constitute, and continue to shape, the development of Western philosophy. This book contributes toward an essential overview of Western metaphysics and will be of particular interest to those working in the history of philosophy and in the philosophy of being. (shrink)