Editorial

Welcome to the second edition of Pastoral Care in Education for 2017. You will see that there are six articles in the edition, five of which have been submitted by international authors. This is particularly pleasing as it points to the growing number of international articles that have been submitted over the last two years. I hope that readers of the journal find both the spread of subject matter and locations of interest. From the perspective of the journal’s editorial board it certainly adds weight to our claim that we are ‘an international journal of personal, social and emotional development’.

The first article from Goldman and Collier-Harris offers a revealing insight into the value of exploring ‘quality international sexuality education documents’. By focusing on three specific documents produced by different global organisations, the case is made for the value that such documents can have in promoting positive improvements in the quality of teaching and learning about sexuality in both primary and secondary schools. Indeed, it is argued that such documents can be used for a variety of purposes including benchmarking, curriculum planning and construction and the development of appropriate age-related standards.

In the second paper Brown focuses on the issue of social disadvantaged as it currently impacts on schools in Northern Ireland. In adopting a social justice perspective the author outlines what he sees to be the ‘ill-equipped’ position of students entering teaching to ‘empathise’ with school pupils from disadvantaged communities across Northern Ireland. For example, he explains that some 74% of students entering college from school ‘came from selective grammar schools, a sector which is less likely to have socially disadvantaged pupils’. Brown goes on to report on the development of a project called STRIVE, constructed around principals of social justice, designed to increase student experience of working in disadvantaged areas. As a non-accredited voluntary project less than 4% of the Year 4 student cohort chose to participate. Yet despite the poor level of participation it is interesting to explore the analysis provided of the project and consider if similar ventures might be considered elsewhere.

Pandya presents, in the third paper, an analysis of a study conducted across 12 countries focusing on the value of spirituality for high school students. The paper considers the views of high school teachers as to the value of spirituality, ‘spiritual assessment and spiritual techniques of working with adolescents’, and the place of spirituality in the curriculum. Using largely quantitative research methods it proved possible sample the view of 1689 teachers. The results of the survey are of particular interest to readers of Pastoral Care in Education as they point to the potential of spirituality as a vehicle in both enabling and empowering young people. A link between spirituality and academic performance is suggested, as well the building of ‘relational consciousness’ to support the construction of ‘meaningful social relationships’ and ‘altruistic potential’. There can be no doubt that in reading the paper many issue and questions will be raised. Responses to the paper would be welcomed.

In the next paper Kennedy et al. focus on the subject of death, dying and bereavement. As the authors note these can be difficult subjects to broach with children and young people – especially within schools. The paper provides the reader with a comprehensive review of literature largely available within the area of palliative care and applies it to work within schools. For the authors there is a need to develop what they term as ‘compassionate’ schools, where the issue of death can be explored as part of what might be considered as the normal life course. In order to achieve this it is argued that attention needs to be paid to matters of ‘compassion’ and ‘partnership’. In conclusion, the authors assert that it is essential ‘to understand how we can socially and culturally create a compassionate, positive and healthy regard for the issue in our communities’.

In the penultimate paper Wiseman and O’Gorman present for consideration their ideas and experiences of developing and delivering anger management group work in a school in Spring Hill, Australia. How best to support young people who display problems in controlling their anger is an issue for many schools and has been previously reported in this journal. Within the articles focus is placed on describing a pilot intervention project where the primary concern was to consider ‘emotional regulation’ in attempt to improve academic outcomes. The paper explores elements of the intervention which cover a six-week period.

In a recent edition of Pastoral Care in Education, Harris (2016) argued the case for the reconceptualisation of superhero play. The final article in this edition of the journal from Fradkin et al. should be read as an extension to discussion provided by Harris. Crucially, the case is made for the need to pay attention to what is described as the ‘common history of pre-cloak adversities’ and the adversities they faced in their early lives. In doing an increased level of support can be offered to both orphaned and abandoned children and young people.

Stan Tucker
Newman University
[email protected]