The concept of a comprehensive language curriculum provides an important basis for the development of student's plurilingual competence. It ensures the inclusion of all students' language skills in language education, the creation of cross-linguistic connections, and the development of language awareness and awareness of language learning. Factors that influence the implementation of this concept at the school level are, amongst others: school leadership, collaboration among school staff, appropriate teaching methods, and beliefs and attitudes of all members of the school as (...) an educational community. To determine possibilities for the implementation of comprehensive language curricula in Croatian primary schools, qualitative methods were used to investigate beliefs of language teachers, professional associates, and school principals about the development of students' plurilingual competence, as well as language teachers' teaching practice and the ways plurilingual education is supported at school level. Data analysis shows that the participants mostly have monolingual beliefs when it comes to the development of students' plurilingual competence. Also, although most teachers state that they make comparisons between languages in their teaching, a systematic cross-linguistic comparison and cooperation in the planning and implementation of language education are almost completely absent. (shrink)

In a recent article Joshua James Hatherley argues that, if physician-assisted suicide is morally permissible for patients suffering from somatic illnesses, it should be permissible for psychiatric patients as well. He argues that psychiatric disorders do not necessarily impair decision-making ability, that they are not necessarily treatable and that legalising PAS for psychiatric patients would not diminish research and therapeutic interest in psychiatric treatments or impair their recovery through loss of hope. However, by erasing distinction between somatic and psychiatric disorders (...) on those grounds, he also erases distinction between healthy adults and patients essentially implying that PAS should be available to all, for all reasons or, ultimately no reason. Furthermore, as psychiatric patients are much more likely to be a source of usable organs for transplantation, their broad inclusion would strengthen the link between PAS/euthanasia and organ donation, potentially undermining both as well as diminishing already declining general trust in medical authorities and professionals and public health authorities and activists. (shrink)

This paper discusses the changes in pedagogical paradigms depending on the socio-historical context in which they occur. Each pedagogical idea elaborated in the social documents that shape the work of early and pre-school institutions is the result of collective reflection on the vision of development and advancement of society. Different historical periods, marked by specific knowledge, needs and interests, form distinctive political, economic, cultural, and educational environments. It is precisely for this reason that understanding individual pedagogical paradigms is possible only (...) through consideration and appreciation of the context in which they are carried out. As there are no universal pedagogical truths, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of a research approach to current educational system. Observing the characteristics of the current pedagogical paradigm through objective perception of its positive and imprecise elements allows its systematic correcting that focuses on the welfare of the child to whom it is predominantly intended for. (shrink)

U radu se tematizira preobrazba tradicionalnog odgojitelja biheviorističke odgojno-obrazovne paradigme, svojstvene socijalističkom razdoblju u Republici Hrvatskoj, u suvremenog odgojitelja, zagovornika konstruktivističkog odgojno-obrazovnog koncepta, svojstvenog razdoblju demokratskog života u istom kontekstu. U radu se nastoji uputiti na ključne razlike između tradicionalnog i suvremenog odgojitelja, a ujedno i na njihove srodnosti, kako bi se bolje razumjela očekivanja i kriteriji za procjenu uspješnosti djelovanja u aktualnoj odgojno- obrazovnoj djelatnosti. Tematizira se implicitna pedagogija kao odgojiteljeva subjektivna odgojno-obrazovna teorija te se ukazuje na opravdanost shvaćanja (...) implicitne pedagogije kao ključnog konstrukta odgojno-obrazovnog koncepta. Također se upućuje i na važnost refleksivne prakse kao sastavnice odgojiteljeva profesionalnoga razvoja te se problematizira provedba akcijskih istraživanja kao instrumenta razvoja odgojiteljeve djelatnosti. This paper discusses the transformation of a traditional educator in behaviorist educational paradigm, which was characteristic to a socialist period in the Republic of Croatia, into a modern one, who is an advocate of a constructivist educational concept, characteristic to the period of democratic life. The paper addresses key differences and similarities between traditional and modern educators in order to better understand expectations and criteria for successful performance in the contemporary educational activity. Implicit pedagogy is also discussed as an educator’s subjective educational theory. The justification of its understanding as a key construct of the educational concept is pointed out. The paper also emphasizes the importance of reflective practice as a component of educator’s professional development, and problematizes implementation of action research as an instrument for development of educator’ s activity. (shrink)

This paper discusses the transformation of a traditional educator in behaviorist educational paradigm, which was characteristic to a socialist period in the Republic of Croatia, into a modern one, who is an advocate of a constructivist educational concept, characteristic to the period of democratic life. The paper addresses key differences and similarities between traditional and modern educators in order to better understand expectations and criteria for successful performance in the contemporary educational activity. Implicit pedagogy is also discussed as an educator’s (...) subjective educational theory. The justification of its understanding as a key construct of the educational concept is pointed out. The paper also emphasizes the importance of reflective practice as a component of educator’s professional development, and problematizes implementation of action research as an instrument for development of educator’ s activity. (shrink)

An increasing number of bioethicists are raising concerns that young childless women requesting sterilisation as means of birth control are facing unfair obstacles. It is argued that these obstacles are inconsistent, paternalistic, that they reflect pronatalist bias and that men seem to face fewer obstacles. It is commonly recommended that physicians should change their approach to this type of patient. In contrast, I argue that physicians’ reluctance to eagerly follow an unusual request is understandable and that whatever obstacles result from (...) this reluctance serve as a useful filter for women who are not seriously committed to their expressed requests for sterilisation. As women already disproportionally bear the birth control burden, less resistance that men might be getting in terms of voluntary sterilisation works to women’s advantage, providing a much needed balance. Societal attitudes towards women and motherhood should not be confused with individual physicians’ reasonable reluctance to jump at a serious elective procedure at fairly mild expression of interest. (shrink)

Breastfeeding is analogous to pregnancy as an experience, in its exclusiveness to women, and in its cost and the effects it has on equitable share of labor. Therefore, the history of formula feeding provides useful insights into the future of full ectogenesis, which could evolve into a more severe version of what formula feeding is today: simplify life for some women and provide couples with a more equitable share of work at the cost of stigma, guilt and a daily diet (...) of studies purporting to show the benefits of natural pregnancy. Making pregnancy an optional route to motherhood would make women's life trajectory more similar to men's and thus put pressure on women to compete with men on the ground shaped by men's preferences. Despite being a treasured experience of many women today, bearing children could become the luxury of the few, the province of the very poor and a choice working women will pay a high price for as women who choose pregnancy become stigmatized as self-indulgent or unprofessional and penalized for it in the workplace. At the same time, scarce societal resources that could be used to support pregnant women and working mothers would instead be directed toward proving to women or even forcing them to gestate children "the right way." While not necessarily threatening on its own, when added to formula feeding, IVF, stem-cell produced ova and sex robots, full ectogenesis could diminish men's stake in women's wellbeing and even existence. (shrink)

In his paper, ‘Patients, doctors and risk attitudes’, Makins argues that doctors, when choosing a treatment for their patient, need to follow their risk profile.1 He presents a pair of fictitious diseases facing a patient who either has ‘exemplitis’, which requires no treatment or ‘caseopathy’, which is severe and disabling and for which there is a treatment with unpleasant side effects. The doctor needs to decide whether the patient should pursue the unpleasant treatment, just in case he has caseopathy. Makins (...) believes that rational-choice theory is a productive way to approach this problem. This theory frames all decisions as gambles. Each possible gamble (eg, not to pursue treatment) leads, probabilistically, to a set of outcomes (life with no disease and no side effects, but also, possibly, life with a disabling disease, since no treatment is taken). Utilities of these outcomes and probabilities that they will happen are combined to yield a number—expected utility. One is supposed to gamble—to make a choice—in a way that maximises this expected utility. Makins takes this framework for granted and is focused on an additional complication, the patient’s risk preference. He believes that, in his hypothetical example, even if expected utility were exactly the same, withholding treatment …. (shrink)

In the past, a vast majority of medical assistance in dying patients were elderly patients with cancer who are not suitable for organ donation, making organ donation from such patients a rare event. However, more expansive criteria for MAiD combined with an increased participation of MAiD patients in organ donation is likely to drastically increase the pool of MAiD patients who can serve as organ donors. Previous discussions of ethical issues arising from these trends have not fully addressed difficulties involved (...) in separating decision to end one’s life from the one to donate one’s organs. However, realities of organ donation logistics and human decision making suggest that this separation can be extraordinary difficult. The need to maximise quality of donated organs complicates dying experience of the donor and is likely in tension with the dying experience the patient envisioned when first considering MAiD. Furthermore, the idea that patients will think about MAiD first, and only when firmly decided to end their life, consider organ donation, runs contrary to organ donation policies in some countries as well as end of life and everyday decision making. This opens the door for organ donation to serve as an incentive in MAiD decisions. Dispensing with the simplistic assumption that organ donation can never be a factor in MAiD decisions is, therefore, essential first step to properly addressing ethical issues at hand. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe work of Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues has established that people do not always think and act “rationally.” However, this amounts to saying that Kahneman and his collaborators interpret people's behavior in experimental settings to be inconsistent with the narrow understanding of rationality deployed by orthodox neoclassical economists. Whether this means that people make poor decisions in the real world, however, has not been demonstrated, a fact that calls into doubt the significance of the list of heuristics and biases (...) generated by behavioral economists. Dual-process theory was meant to give theoretical coherence to this list, but its empirical foundation, too, retains the premises of “rational” choice as an ideal. (shrink)

In his remarkably meticulous and even-handed 2005 book, Expert Political Judgment, Philip E. Tetlock establishes that the only thing we can count on in the political experts' predictions is that they will underperform-in some cases significantly-the predictions made by mechanical statistical procedures, including random chance. Experts have many uses and Tetlock does not claim that they have no value. However, Tetlock zeroes in on experts' important political role-as prognosticators. Tetlock does not attempt the impossible by trying to judge experts on (...) their ability to prognosticate the effects of public policies; this would require that Tetlock himself could know what those effects were, and even in retrospect, it isn't that simple. Experts' failure to predict much simpler matters, however, such as GDP growth within a broad range, strongly suggests that technocracy is worse than putting dart-throwing chimps in charge of public policy. (shrink)

In his remarkably meticulous and even-handed 2005 book, Expert Political Judgment, Philip E. Tetlock establishes that the only thing we can count on in the political experts' predictions is that they will underperform-in some cases significantly-the predictions made by mechanical statistical procedures, including random chance. Experts have many uses and Tetlock does not claim that they have no value. However, Tetlock zeroes in on experts' important political role-as prognosticators. Tetlock does not attempt the impossible by trying to judge experts on (...) their ability to prognosticate the effects of public policies; this would require that Tetlock himself could know what those effects were, and even in retrospect, it isn't that simple. Experts' failure to predict much simpler matters, however, such as GDP growth within a broad range, strongly suggests that technocracy is worse than putting dart-throwing chimps in charge of public policy. (shrink)

The paper examines the significance of hysteria in relation to gender, the Darwinian psychiatrical construction of hysteria in the 19th century, and finally the psychoanalytical concept of hysteria as an example of mental disorder. This suggests that the study of pathology started as the study of female pathology. The question is whethe rit is possible to give new meaning to hysteria and to say that it is a revolt against patriarchal discourse, following this ‘ontological’ link between women and madness based (...) on women’s hyper-emotionality. Furthermore, it even reassess hysteria within post-feminism which stands for diversity, to such an extent that from being women’s‘un-power’ it turns hysteria into ‘woman-power’ – the power of emotions, which is elaborated in the works of contemporary philosophers Megan Boler and AlisonJaggar. (shrink)

Tema teksta bit će odnos određenih psihoanalitičkih učenja i suvremenih new age teorija i tehnika, pri čemu se popularnost i raspostranjenost new age tehnika može dovesti u vezu s opadanjem značaja psihoanalitičkih terapijskih tehnika. New age će biti doveden u vezu s Jungovim naslijeđem i idejom razaranja Ja kako bi se porodilo sebstvo što je vezano uz zahtjev new agea za osobnom preobrazbom preko izmijenjenih stanja svijesti. Freuda se unutar new agea općenito tumači kao vrhunac zapadnjačke racionalnosti, kao krajnju supremaciju (...) racionalnog mišljenja koje je u svom prosvjetiteljskom zanosu krenulo racionalizirati i posljednju stvar, to jest – nesvjesno. Freud, za razliku od new agera, ipak, polaže nade u vladavinu svijesti i očuvanje svjesnog dijela ličnosti ili čvrstoću ega kao temelja ili jamca duševnog zdravlja, kao i očuvanje stroge granice koja dijeli svjesno i nesvjesno. The theme of this essay is the relation of certain psychoanalytic theories and contemporary new age theories, and it is implied that the all-pervasiveness of the new age techniques can be brought into the context of the diminishing power of psychoanalysis. The new age movement will be considered together with Jung’s heritage and the idea of the shattered ego which is a prerequisite for the birth of the self, which is linked to the demand of the new age – that of personal transformation through modified states of consciousness. Within the new age, Freud is generally considered as the apogee of Western rationality, as the apogee of rational thinking which in its enlightenment vein, strove to rationalize the last of all things- the unconscious. Freud, in difference from the new agers, relies on the reign of the conscious part of the personality, or firmnes of the ego as the foundation or guarantor of mental health, as well as keeping a sharp boundary between the conscious and the unconscious. (shrink)

A conditional survey establishes a preliminary case for believing that policy differences are to some extent driven by fundamental beliefs about empirical aspects of society and economics. The survey shows willingness in about a third of all respondents to shift their expressed policy preferences when asked a hypothetical question positing negative consequences of their initial preferences. This suggests that assumptions about the consequences of public policies may play as important a role in policy preferences, or a more important role, than (...) do values, personality traits, or motivation. However, roughly a third of those with the strongest initial attitudes expressed even stronger attitudes—but in the same direction—when confronted with counterattitudinal hypotheticals. This may reflect attitude polarization of the sort encountered by previous researchers, such as Lord et al. (1979) and Taber and Lodge (2006). Or it may indicate a tacit objection to the very idea of basing policy preferences on policy consequences. (shrink)

Baumard's application of Life History Theory to explain the origins of economic growth is a needed amendment to incentive-based explanations of modern economics. However, even though it is grounded in evolution, the theory does not do enough to specify the relevant evolutionary mechanisms. As such, it accommodates too many alternative historic scenarios, yet remains unable to explain divergent regional patterns of economic growth.

There are no clear criteria regarding what kind of beliefs should count as folk-economic beliefs, or any way to make an exhaustive list that could be filtered through such criteria. This allows the target article authors, Boyer & Petersen, to cherry-pick FEBs, which results in the omission of some well-established FEBs. The authors do not sufficiently address a strong relationship between ideology and FEBs.

Bollen et al, replying to my own article, describe, in great detail, administrative and logistical aspects of euthanasia approval and organ donation in the Netherlands. They seem to believe that no useful lessons can be drawn from experiences of related groups such as euthanasia patients who cannot donate organs; patients who chose assisted suicide as opposed to euthanasia; patients in intensive care units and their relatives and suicidal young people as if we can only learn about organ donation in euthanasia (...) patients by studying this exact group and no other, no matter how closely related and obviously relevant. However, it is not only permissible but also absolutely essential to gather evidence that goes beyond immediate point of interest and carefully study groups that share important features with it. Also, groups eligible for euthanasia are constantly expanding, theoretically, legally and practically, and it would be irresponsible to not foresee what are likely future developments. Finally, myopic focus on the technicalities of the procedure misses psychological reality that drives decisions and behaviours and which rarely mimics administrative timelines. Patients proceeding through euthanasia pipeline already face substantial situational pressure and adding organ donation on top of it can make the whole process work as a commitment device. By allowing euthanasia patients to donate their organs, we are giving them additional reason to end their lives, thus creating an unbreakable connection between the two. (shrink)

Volume 20, Issue 4, May 2020, Page 54-55.

The maintenance of professional competence is a core ethical responsibility of health professionals. Continuing Education (CE) is one quality assurance mechanism that helps health professionals to...

The aim of this research is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of satisfaction with life by determining the relationship between personality traits and the subjective experience of satisfaction with life in students—recreational athletes. This research is based on the biological theory of personality by Hans Eysenck and it attempts to offer explanations of a possible change in satisfaction with life in the period of great social deprivation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sample of subjects consisted of (...) 120 undergraduate students of all years and both sexes, 55 males and 65 females, at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, the University of Nis. The average age of the subjects was 23.63 years. Eysenck's personality questionnaire was used for the operationalization of personality structure. The SWLS scale was used for estimating satisfaction with life. A significant regression model, which explains 11% of variance in the subjective experience of satisfaction with life in recreational athletes, was obtained. In the model, extraversion stands out as a significant predictor from the group of personality traits. Neuroticism and psychoticism did not prove to be significant predictors of satisfaction with life in the structural model regardless of there being a significant negative correlation between neuroticism and satisfaction with life. The more extraverted participants had a keener subjective sense of satisfaction with life. (shrink)

One of the main goals of sport psychology is to identify those psychological factors that are relevant for sport performance as well as possibilities of their development. The aim of the study was to determine whether the set of specific psychological characteristics [generalized self-efficacy, time perspective, emotional intelligence, general achievement motivation, and personality dimensions] makes the distinction between athletes based on their -participation in the senior national team, that is, their belonging to the subsample of elite or non-elite athletes depending (...) on this criterion. According to the group centroids it can be said that elite athletes are characterized by a positive high score in self-efficacy, emotionality, present fatalistic time perspective, past positive time perspective, and openness to experience. They are also characterized by low past negative time perspective, emotional competence, and future time perspective. Non-elite athletes have the opposite traits. The results have been discussed in the context of their application in the process of talent selection and development in sport as well as the development of life skills in athletes. (shrink)

Članak predstavlja prikaz obilježavanja 50. obljetnice Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, koje se održalo u Zagrebu od 6. do 8. prosinca 2007., a uključivalo je simpozij Suvremena hrvatska filozofija, predstavljanje novih knjiga u izdanju Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, godišnju skupštinu Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, svečanu akademiju u povodu 50. obljetnice Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, te okrugli stol o Vladimiru Filipoviću, prvom predsjedniku Hrvatskog filozofskog društva.The paper outlines the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Croatian Philosophical Society that took place in Zagreb 6–8 December, 2007. (...) The event incorporated the symposium entitled Contemporary Croatian Philosophy, the presentation of books published by the Society, the annual assembly of the Society, the formal academy to mark the 50th anniversary, and the round table on Vladimir Filipović, the first president of the Croatian Philosophical Society. (shrink)

Jakovljevic and Crnčevic review the concept of comorbidity in relation to mental disorders, which is timely. Yet they seem to ignore a longstanding and important notion of comorbidity, highlighted in psychiatry particularly by Sigmund Freud. The ignored notion is that of compensatory comorbidity. Compensatory comorbidity is a special case of compensatory phenomena in relation to disrupted health.