Positive Social Competence in Mainstream Deaf Students

Positive Social Competence in Mainstream Deaf Students A Study of Behaviors, Characteristics and Environmental Aspects Michelle Swaney Social Competence of Mainstream Deaf Students Mainstreaming of deaf students in the general education classroom has drastically increased over the past 10 to 15 years. Generally, deaf students in general education/mainstream settings demonstrate lower social competence (e.g., self-concept, self-esteem, social skills and peer relationships) (Antia, Jones, Luckner, Kreimeyer, Reed, 2011) reporting feelings of isolation and loneliness (McCain and Shirin, 2005; Gent, Goedhart, Knoors, Westenberg, Treffers, 2011) than those in inclusion settings. Considerable research has been conducted related to deaf students and low social competence (Vogel-Walcutt, Schatschneider, Bowers, 2011) in general education settings, but there is not research readily available for deaf students who have positive social competence in these settings. This study proposes to ascertain behaviors and characteristics of deaf students who exhibit positive social competence as well as environmental aspects they interact within. As mainstreaming of deaf students continues to significantly increase, having studies available that provide information about deaf students with positive levels of self-concept, self-esteem, social skills and peer relationships in the mainstream setting will greatly benefit parents and educators alike. Design This proposed design of the study will be to determine behaviors and characteristics of deaf students with positive social competence as well as environmental aspects that may lend to enhancing the students’ social competence. Questions to be considered in this study include: 1) How does the deaf student interact and communicate with hearing peers (sign language, writing notes, etc.)? 2) What is the deaf student’s level of self-concept in relation to their deafness? 3) Does the deaf student have supportive and involved parents and/or family relationships? 4) What are the characteristics of the educational classrooms and the environment for the student (e.g., do teachers willingly recognize and interact with the student)? 5) Is the deaf student involved in extra-curricular activities? Answers to each of these questions will provide guidance and help educators to determine what behaviors could be modeled, environmental changes that could be made as well as what characteri stics they should encourage in deaf students in order for more deaf students to begin to develop positive social competence in the general education setting. Participants This study will include up to 25 deaf students in the mainstream/general education setting who demonstrate positive social competence. Students will be selected from elementary, middle/junior high, and high school levels in order to determine characteristics, behaviors, and environmental aspects of these students at each interval of education. Preference will be to have 5 students at the elementary level, 8 students at the middle/junior high level, and 12 students at the high school level. Participant use of amplification (hearing aids) or whether they have a cochlear implant will also be noted in the study as well as their preferred mode of communication as this may indicate a correlational relationship with social competence. Procedure The study procedure will include both observations of the student at home as well as in the educational environment and interviews with the student, educators, and family members. The student will participate in an interview with researchers where they are asked relevant questions to provide their perspective on each of the five questions. After the interview has been conducted with the student, observation in the educational and home setting will be held in order to determine if the student’s answers are an appropriate reflection of their environments. Once the observations have taken place, researchers will also interview educators and parents/family and ask for their perspectives regarding the student on each of the five questions. Interviews and observations will be documented through researcher note-taking as well as video recording for review as needed. Follow-up will occur with elementary and middle/junior high students one-year after they have transitioned to the next level to determine if there have been any noticeable positive or negative changes in any of the five questions. Follow-up for high school students who were freshmen through juniors at the time of the study will occur mid-year of the students’ senior year in high school. This type of follow-up will provide researchers a longitudinal study that will provide a strong basis of information on positive social competence for deaf students as they transition throughout their elementary and secondary education (Wolters, Knoors, Cillessen , Verhoeven, 2012). Predictions Predictions regarding the questions of the study come from the researcher’s knowledge and understanding of the aspects of deafness. Predictions are listed for each study question. 1) How does the deaf student interact and communicate with hearing peers (sign language, writing notes, etc.)? Unless the deaf student utilizes speech, it is predicted that communication and interaction initially originates with writing notes and progresses with lip reading and then into the use of sign language if the student utilizes sign language. If the student is oral, it is highly likely that deaf students will immediately utilize speech in communication and interaction with hearing peers. 2) What is the deaf student’s level of self-concept in relation to their deafness? It is predicted that the deaf student will have a mainly positive level of self-concept in relation to their deafness. They will likely view their deafness as part of their identity rather than a disability that negatively impacts their lives. In addition, they will also be satisfied with their mode of communication, speech/language use, and amplification if used. 3) Does the deaf student have supportive and involved parents and/or family relationships? As with any child who has positive social competence, it is predicted that deaf student’s parents and families will be supportive and involved and well as have consistent ongoing communication with the student. This is not always the case for deaf students, especially with fathers as the lack of communication in the family unit occurs frequently. 4) What are the characteristics of the educational classrooms and the environment (e.g., do teachers willingly recognize and interact with the student) for the student? It is predicted that the characteristics of the educational environment will include teachers who model positive relationships and communication with the deaf student. Likely, the interpreter or other accommodations that the student utilizes are viewed in a positive light and the student is constantly encouraged to be an active member and participant. 5) Is the deaf student involved in extra-curricular activities? The prediction for this question is that a high percentage of the student participants will likely be involved in extra-curricular activities and have integrated themselves into the school culture. Implications The implications of the findings from this study have the potential to make positive changes for deaf students in the mainstream environment as it relates to their level and development of social competence. This may occur several ways: 1) by providing educators and parents with information on behaviors and characteristics that demonstrate positive social competence for deaf students in the mainstream/general education setting, 2) helping both educators and parents determine what potential environmental changes could take place in both settings that could promote positive social competence, and 3) provide deaf middle and high school students transitioning into the mainstream/general education environment with examples of deaf students who have had positive social experiences and thereby been successful in both academic and social realms of the mainstream/general education setting. References Antia, S. D., Jones, P., Kreimeyer, K. H., Luckner, J., Reed, S. (2011). Social outcomes of  students who are deaf and hard of hearing in general education classrooms. Exceptional  Children, 77 (4), 489+. Antia, S. D., McCain, K. G. (2005). Academic and social status of hearing, deaf, and hard of  hearing students participating a co-enrolled classroom. Communication Disorders  Quarterly, 27 (1), 20+. Van Gent, T. Goedhart, A. W., Knoors, H. E. T., Westenberg, P. W., Treffers, P. D. A. (2012).  Self-concept and ego development in deaf adolescents: A comparative study. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, (3), 333-351. Vogel-Walcutt, J. J., Schatschneider, C., Bowers, C. (2011). Social-emotional functioning  of elementary-age deaf children: A profile analysis  American Annals of the Deaf, 156 (1), 6-22. Gallaudet University Press. Wolters, N., Knoors, H. Cillessen, A. H. N., Verhoeven, L. (2012). Impact of peer and teacher  relations on deaf early adolescents’ well-being: Comparisons before and after a major school transition. Journal Of Deaf Studies And Deaf Education, (4), 463-482.

Immanent and Economic Trinity

Immanent and Economic Trinity When you think of God do you think of one divine entity or do you take into account the age old idea of the trinity? For all of time we have understood the three individual person’s in God, the Trinity, to be one in the same. The teaching of the Christian church tells us that God is three unique and separate people’s, but they are at the same time all one person in God. Now people have many different ways to picture or represent the idea of three people as one. The trial of history has come up with many different ideas and images to try and represent the trinity.Like many things that have to do with the unknown nature of religion we put our mental limitations on our ideas. This is only natural because it is the only way we can comprehend things, and we only have earthly definitions and limits for things in the realm of this existence. The Economic  Trinity is the doctrine concerning how the  Father, son, and Holy Spirit relate to each o ther and the world. The word economic is used from the Greek  oikonomikos,  which means relating to arrangement of activities.Each person has different roles within the  Godhead  and each has different roles in relationship to the world. One way of thinking about the economic Trinity is to think of the Father as creator, Son as redeemer, and Holy Spirit as sustainer. Subordinationism is the position consistently rejected by the ancient church that the Son and/or Spirit are  ontologically  subordinate to the Father. The Council of Nicaea rejected this position with respect to the Son by employing terms like homoousias of one being and begotten not made.The former refers to the shared substance of divinity between Father and Son, the fact that both are equally eternal and thus equal in glory and power. The latter refers to the fact that, while the Father is indeed the source of the Son’s generation, the Father does  not create the Son. Only finite beings are creat ed; the Son is generated, and the Spirit proceeds or is spirated. These terms are utterly unique with respect to the being of God If we only articulate the appropriations or functions within the trinitarian life of God, we can quickly land ourselves in heretical hot water, so to speak.A doctrine of appropriations on its own quite easily leads to tritheism, in which there are three gods at work rather than one. Against this, we must take heed of the Augustinian axiom against tritheism:  opera trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa, the external acts of the trinity are indivisible. This rule of trinitarian theology means that what each trinitarian person or mode of being does is inseparable from the other two persons. In other words, the actions of the Son in the world are also the actions of the Father and the Spirit; the same applies to the other trinitarian persons.This Augustinian rule is related to the ancient doctrine of divine  perichoresis  or inter-penetration within Godâ₠¬â„¢s being. According to this doctrine, each person or mode of being participates in the other two persons or modes. The axiom of Augustine derives from this ontological point the functional or economic claim that every action of God is an act of all three together. To appropriate one action to one person never means that the other two are not equally involved in its execution.If there were indeed an act belonging to  only  one person, the result would be tritheism, or at least ditheism. The Trinity is something that explains to us God and Strengthens our religious beliefs as well as our minds. It makes us think and can lead to many different ideas. We have to understand that the ideas we have are all explanations of unknown things. We have to use the knowledge we have and push onward and honor god with thought of Him. One day we will understand things in a way that is more clear to us, but until then we must keep trying to understand these things the best we can.

Child Case Study

Child Case Study Physical Presence and Gesture: Brady is a boy who is 7 yrs. 3 months in age. For his age Brady appears to be large in size. He stands 4 ft. 6 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds. Next to his peers Brady stands out as he is in the 99th percentile for both height and weight. Brady is the oldest child of 4. Brady has short brown hair, big brown eyes, and a big smile. When Brady is smiling the gap in his front teeth is very noticeable as well as his dimples. When Brady is feeling mischievous he gets slightly cross-eyes but only for a brief moment.Brady has big ears and his right ear is missing cartilage causing it to fold over slightly. Brady has several freckles and a couple of tiny moles on his cheeks. Brady has a creamy white complexion but when frustrated becomes very red in the cheeks as well as on the tops of his ears. Brady’s head is very circular and seems a bit large for his body. Brady has what some might consider a flat face. He has a button nose, big chee ks, and very long, thick eyelashes. Brady is quite stalky with a little bit of chubbiness about him. Brady likes to fidget and is constantly moving.He likes to sway his arms, kick his feet, fidget with his fingers; he is constantly moving some body part. Disposition & Temperament Brady is diagnosed as having an anger disorder and ODD. Brady likes to talk a lot and is very inquisitive. Brady is also gifted/talented causing him to become bored easily if he is not challenged. Brady is easily angered and is often triggered to an anger outburst by simple rejections. Brady at times can be very loving and cuddly. Brady fears being alone and is scared to be in a room when nobody is present. Brady appears to have two sides to him.When Brady is not triggered by anger outbursts he is very friendly, kind, has a heart of gold, is helpful to others, likes to play with his friends & siblings, doesn’t seem so fearful of small everyday events and situations, and yet when he is experiencing an ger outbursts his anxiety level is extreme, he is harmful to himself/others, makes threats to kill people (has begun to tell them how he would kill them), states that he sees monsters/alligators, becomes extremely hot, and then when the outbursts are depleting he begins to feel sick to his stomach, coughs, and cries. Sometimes Brady feels remorse for his actions, but most likely not.Brady has been physical with his siblings/friends & mother. Brady has hit things (causing himself to break his pinky), smashed things, and threatened to run away. Brady takes medication for his outbursts but they don’t seem to be working. There are sometimes where these angry bouts disappear for a couple of weeks and then there are times where they happen several times throughout one day. Connections with other people Brady values his friendships that he does have and his relationships with teachers/authority. It takes a very long time for Brady to open up to others and trust is not something that Brady easily comes by.Brady likes to learn a lot about a person before he decides if they will be of value to him. Once Brady has developed close relationships he tends to try to purposely destroy these relationships by being hurtful to others. He says hurtful thing’s, he becomes cold and distant, and then becomes sad when the other person gets angry or upset with him. He doesn’t seem to want these relationships to end when all is considered. Brady is very funny. Brady likes to talk in different voices and enjoys making people laugh. Brady looks for reassurance when he says something funny.Brady loves to give hugs and kisses and loves to cuddle. Brady seems to become more engaged with peers much older than him. Brady began the current school year in first grade and was skipped to second. Brady did not build any friendships in his first grade class and only has a couple in his second grade class. Brady tends to attach to the older children in school between the fifth a nd sixth grade. Brady spends a great portion of his day out of the classroom and in the guidance office, this is where Brady has developed these friendships. Brady has two close friends who are both seven years of age.Brady spends time at their homes but not often as he prefers to have his friends over to his house. Brady likes to play video games with his friends, tag, and they enjoy making their own activities up. Brady has two younger brothers who are 4 & 5 and Brady doesn’t always choose to play with them. Brady is often annoyed and irritated by the noise that he brothers make and he does not enjoy playing using the imagination. Brady has a great relationship with his one year old sister and is a wonderful big brother. Only when Brady is in an anger outburst does he make mean comments about the baby.At times he calls her stupid baby, shut up baby, etc. He has not harmed his sister as he has his brothers. Brady is very attached to his mother and suffers a great deal of sep aration anxiety. Four days a month Brady goes to his father’s house with his five year old brother, step mother, and step brother (15). Brady does not have a close relationship with his real father as he is angry about the divorce and his father’s lack of presence in his life. Brady does not enjoy his step brother because he states that his step brother does not play with him or engage with him and his sibling.Brady is very close with his stepfather. Brady values his relationship with his stepfather and always seeks to spend time with him. Brady enjoys his stepfather’s sense of humor and they have a very close bond and mutual respect for each other. Brady enjoys helping his stepfather lift weights, work on vehicles, tinker with tools, and play video games or trucks together. Strong Interests & Preferences Brady’s main preference is to play with electronics. Brady enjoys playing his XBOX 360. There is much controversy between him and his mother about what games should be age appropriate.As he is 7 but is much more mature for his age, his mother allows him to play games that may not seem appropriate. Brady likes to play war games, shooting games, and some strategy games. He also enjoys playing with the laptop and talking with friends through instant message and texting. The activities that Brady prefers are for the teenage years and he gets upset when he is told this. There are some times where he will become engaged in a game with his brother around the house of hide & seek, tag, board games, etc. but that is generally when he is told that he can’t have electronics.He enjoys playing board games such as Monopoly, Chess, Yahtzee, and Memory. He is very inquisitive when it comes to learning new games and likes to play until he has mastered the game. Brady participates in Border Hoop. He enjoys playing basketball and when weather permits spends most of his time practicing at home. He likes to play basketball with his stepfather an d learn new techniques. He asks a lot of questions, pays very close attention to body movement, and continuously practices new techniques until he has them down. This year will be Brady’s first attempt at soccer.Modes of Thinking & Learning Brady is a very hand’s on learner. He enjoys learning new math problems, new spelling words, and new ways to solve problems. When Brady becomes intrigues by a new subject he likes to fully research that subject until he knows the ins and outs. He is very thorough in his learning technique and quickly finds shortcuts to solving problems. He enjoys learning big numbers using the calculator and asks people to give him hard problems. Brady learns a lot by asking a lot of questions. Generally one answer to a question leads to long conversations.He loves to hear of others experiences and later will recap the story to someone else pretending that it was him who experienced it. He fully applies himself to written work and is far ahead of hi s age group. Brady’s school was very impressed by his IQ score and other academic scores. Brady spends about an hour each week with his schools gifted/talented teacher. Brady’s mom does not think that this is enough time and thinks that it should be more time. With Brady lacking in the social area, too much time out of the regular classroom would not be beneficial for his education.Brady has been told many times by his teachers and administrators that he is very smart and so he is afraid to fail. He approaches challenges by avoiding them. When he begins to struggle with something academically he will not seek help as he feels as though he has not met the expectations of those who think he is extremely smart. He is beginning to learn that the point of education is to struggle so that he can learn. He has had to be explained to him that if he wasn’t struggling in any area then he would know everything and wouldn’t need to be educated. That would be no fun, and that challenges are always a great thing.

Transformational leadership in nursing - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 561 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/10/10 Did you like this example? As we have already learned, transformation leadership is an approach to leadership that seeks to bring about changes in individuals and social systems. In healthcare management, transformational leadership seeks to change the way healthcare professionals and systems deal with different issues in the sector especially the managerial issues. Implementation of transformational leadership in the healthcare system is hindered by some technical and managerial barriers which prevent it from taking full effect in healthcare scenarios. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Transformational leadership in nursing" essay for you Create order The established healthcare hierarchy is one of these barriers which has hindered implementation of transformational leadership for a long time. Healthcare hierarchy refers to the organization structure of leadership management from the senior to the junior practitioners. Traditionally, the hierarchy in the healthcare system is disciplined and very rigid therefore new ideas such as transformational leadership are hard to introduce into the system (Marshall, 2010). The Hierarchy in healthcare system like in any other field is made up of people or practitioners who are already in the system. Naturally, the majority of individuals who have been within the systems for a while favor maintenance of status quo because of various reasons such as the fear of changes as well as comfort with the system. The top of the leadership management is the most non-receptive to the concept of transformational leadership because it disrupts their comfort regarding the processes of dealing with issues in the sector as well as contact of healthcare professionals in the work environment (Wendt et al., 2009). Intellectual stimulation is one of the main aspects promoted by transformational leadership in the healthcare system. This aspect focuses on the ability of a leader to facilitate and encourage the nurses to exercises problem solving and critical thinking skills in the course of their workplace experience. Established hierarchy in the healthcare system especially the top leadership do not particularly like this aspect because they deem it as surrendering their authority to their junior health staff. It is this reasoning that most leadership hierarchy in health care is not keen to implement leadership transformational approach (BAMFORD?WADE, 2010). The other thing transformational leadership in healthcare system promotes is openly reporting and discussion of medical error amongst physician and nurses. Clinical professionals from the physicians to the nurses in the clinical setting have been taught to report such cases of errors to only a few individuals, and this is mainly down to the issue of hierarchy. Senior clinical officers for example doctors and physicians do not feel comfortable letting their junior employees that they have made errors. Junior employees, on the other hand, may also fear to report their errors to their seniors will attract disciplinary actions and other repercussions from. This kind of thinking hinders transformational leadership at unit-level and organization level (Castel et al., 2015). Transformational leadership in a clinical setting also brings about introduction of new ideas and skill requirements which may not be available within institutions. As a result, this may demand the professionals to undergo training and short courses to undertake certain tasks. Established hierarchy may not however like this kind of ideas because some senior practitioners may perceive them as an avenue through which junior staff may overtake them regarding promotions or even compensation. To make sure this does not happen, some of these senior professionals sabotage the programs by unfairly awarding such opportunities to their favored juniors who they do not perceive as a threat (Alexander, 2015).