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Pastoral Care in Education
An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Volume 34, 2016 - Issue 4
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Editorial

Editorial

Readers of Pastoral Care in Education will have noticed the range of subjects that are regularly featured within the journal. In 2016, however, we used our special edition to focus on what was a relatively new issue for the journal – spirituality. Other topics covered during the year included bullying, the development of inclusive pastoral practice, transactional analysis, circle time and social and educational exclusion and disadvantage. We also introduced the opportunity for potential authors to write shorter reflective pieces. Above all we continue to attempt to strike a balance in producing a publication that engages the interest of both academic and practitioner audiences.

It is also pleasing to report that the international readership of the journal continues to expand – demonstrated through both readership downloads and the global geographical distribution of citations. It is important to thank those individual authors who make a proactive choice to publish with us based on the aims and scope of the journal, our reputation, a recommendation made by a colleague, or our ability to provide a high quality and speedy review experience (the choices listed are taken from a recent Decision to Submit survey).

We dedicate a section of our journal to the reviewing of recently published books. The editorial board sees this as an important aspect of the journal’s work. Giles Barrow, our book review editor, welcomes contributions from our readership in terms of either submitting a review or recommending a specific new publication.

In this edition of Pastoral Care in Education, we bring together a range of important topics and issues for consideration. Again, we feature two international papers contributed by authors in Australia and the USA. The first article written by Goldman and Grimbeek focuses on the subject of puberty and its impact on the lives of primary school students. Crucially, the authors point to the need to understand how processes of puberty can be better understood and pedagogically responded to through ‘preservice’ education and training opportunities provided for Bachelor of Education (Primary) degree students. The mixed-methods study undertaken with student-teachers in Australia offers a revealing insight into the preferred content of such forms of preservice education. The impact of puberty on children and young people is a subject that many teachers find difficult to deal with. For Goldman and Grimbeek, preservice health and sexuality programmes can help to promote understanding, confidence and competence.

Our next article looks at play but from a very different perspective from that which we usually explore within this journal. Written by Harris, the paper focuses on the learning potential of reconceptualising ‘superhero play’ with young children. The study, carried out in the USA, builds on earlier work into the influence and fascination of superheroes for many children and young people. In considering the potentially ‘heroic’ content of such forms of play, it is the author’s view that by focusing on matters such as resilience and kindness, such qualities can be replicated within classroom relationships. At the same time it becomes possible to consider how barriers can be dismantled that ‘produce unfairness, bullying and aggressive behaviours’.

In our third article, submitted by Hibbin, the author considers the psychosocial benefits of oral storytelling with children in the classroom. From the outset it is acknowledged that storytelling, as an important aspect of Primary Education in the UK, is often ‘under-utilised’. Yet it is asserted that oral storytelling can have important psychosocial benefits. For it provides opportunities for children to become proactively involved in a range of listening and speaking activities. Accordingly, such activities can be utilised to encourage children and young people to take risks with language, try out new words, improve their listening skills, write and share experiences with peers and adults. Hibbin specifically argues that ‘oral language practice’ can facilitate the ‘psychosocial development of young people in schools’.

In the final article, we return to an issue that has previously been debated within the journal; the issue of cyberbullying. However, Harrison presents for consideration what is described as an alternative perspective that focuses on the development within young people of ‘virtual ethics’. Using concepts adopted from character building educational programmes and activities, examples are offered as to how young people might employ an ‘imaginative mindset’ to reflect critically on the impact of cyberbullying. The idea of ‘cyber-phonesis’ is discussed in relation to enabling individuals to ‘do the right thing, at the right time, and in the right amount whilst online’.

Stan Tucker
Newman University, Birmingham, UK
[email protected]

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