Concept Of Autonomy Research Articles

Curriculum designers: A critical analysis of the concept of teacher autonomy in the Finnish schooling system

Curriculum designers: A critical analysis of the concept of teacher autonomy in the Finnish schooling system

Enhancing Autonomy, Authenticity And Selecting The Child With The Best Moral Life

In the human enhancement literature, there is a recurrent fear that biomedical technologies will negatively impact the autonomy and authenticity of moral agents, even when the agents would end up having better capacities and an improved life with the aid of these technologies. I will explore several ways in which biomedical enhancement may improve the autonomy of moral agents and try to show that biomedical methods are, all things considered, beneficial to our autonomy and authenticity. I will argue that there are instances when it’s desirable to limit the autonomy of moral agents and that strict regulations are to be put in place if a great number of people will have easy access to powerful, genetic-altering technologies which can impact the life of future children. I will advocate for using assisted reproductive technologies in order to select the child with the best chance of the best moral life and in doing so I will analyse several procreative principles which have been proposed by different scholars in the genetic enhancement debate and try to determine which one would be best to adhere to. Usually, people place high value on the concept of autonomy and there are many cases in which they end up overestimating autonomy in relation to other moral values. While autonomy is important, it’s also important to know how to limit it when reasonable societal norms require it. Sometimes autonomy is defined in strong connection with the concept of authenticity, in the sense that it’s not sufficient for our choices to be autonomous if they are not also authentic. I will try to defend the idea that authenticity can be enhanced as well with the aid of enhancement technologies which can actually prove beneficial in our quest to improve our own self.

Home Care Services for Seniors: A Typology of Instruments and Administrative Burdens in Industrialized Countries

This contribution has two key objectives. First, inspired by earlier studies in comparative welfare state and in (social) gerontology, we develop a conceptualization of autonomy that is rooted in its social dimensions. This concept is then deployed to assess its policy considerations within the field of home care, both with regards to access and generosity in 21 industrialized countries. Second, this contribution performs a comparative assessment of the key factors resulting in a prioritization of the social dimensions of home care and social services in long term care. This study involves an-depth analysis of policy instruments deployed by public authorities to enhance the (social) autonomy of older adults, complemented with interviews with policy makers in diverse home care policy settings (Canada, France, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States). As such, this study features an evaluation of the presence of social elements in the definition and supply of care needs across 21 countries. It leads to the construct of a social dimensions of autonomy index based upon these instruments and the budgetary prioritization of home care within long term care policies. Among core findings, one discovers broader access and more generous funding when home care responsibilities are firmly embedded at the local level.

An overview of popular website platforms and mobile apps for language learning

This paper aims at providing a survey of the most popular online educational platforms and mobile apps for language learning. It gives an overview of the development and current trends in what is generally labelled computer-assisted language learning (CALL) with reference to select pedagogical theories; in particular, those embedded in the theoretical framework of broadly defined constructivism, as well as select learning processes, including self-regulation, self-directed learning, personal knowledge management and the concept of learner autonomy. Following this theoretical backdrop, the analysis of 30 educational platforms for language learning is presented, which were evaluated against several criteria, such as accessibility, revised Bloom et al.’s taxonomy of learning outcomes, language levels, typology of exercises, etc.

In Search of Autonomy: Dancing With Rules.

Purpose: Autonomy in organisations cannot exist without rules nor relationships. Yet, previous research tends to elicit understandings of autonomy as freedom from external constraints to enact free individual will. And there are numerous positive effects related to autonomy at work. But research has not kept pace with modern-day organisations that are highly flexible and dynamic. Current understandings of autonomy are static. Autonomy is mainly regarded as something individuals possess, more or less constricted by rules. Our purpose is to contribute a more flexible and practice-oriented concept of autonomy to answer the research question: How is autonomy developed and practiced in relation to formal rules in high-risk organisations?Design: To investigate autonomy as a dynamic and flexible concept, we draw on two case studies comprised of a total of 52 interviews and more than 10 h of observation. The cases include a factory and a hospital unit.Findings: We suggest, based on the data, that autonomy is a relational phenomenon. We suggest four different autonomy-rule dynamics: Passive, loyal, self-promoting, and co-generative learning.Research Implications: Regarding autonomy as relational rather than individual contributes to our understanding of organisations as always in the making. In this, we emphasise the interactive element of autonomy.Practical Implications: Practitioners and managers may use our suggestions to work with autonomy in a different way, spurring creativity and improvisation by constructively using rules.Originality: Little research has paid attention to the concept of autonomy (despite its importance), and arguably, a trend in the available research concerns a commodification of the phenomenon, primarily aligning autonomy with (degrees of) negative freedom and individual decision making. We unpack the concept with attention to interaction – what we have called dancing with rules.

Autonomy and capacity: the ethical and legal considerations

This article discusses the important concept of autonomy and what this means for patients and their families. This concept is the first of the four ethical principles identified by Beauchamp and Childress (2019) and is an important legal issue. First, the ethical position of autonomy will be explored, before moving on to discuss the legal aspects. Next, definitions will be presented, and the relevant and pertinent parts of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2018) code introduced. Finally, closely linked to autonomy is capacity. This link will be discussed, highlighting the processes and considerations that need to be considered if a person’s capacity is reduced.

Kant on education and improvement: Themes and problems

Whilst Kant is one of the most influential figures in the history of philosophy and was also, in his own time, an important theorist of education, he is sometimes regarded with suspicion by contemporary educational theorists. His philosophy, it is often maintained, is fraught with problematic dualisms and other familiar confusions of the Enlightenment that are obstacles to cogent educational theory and liberatory pedagogical practice. At the same time, of course, there are many Kantian ideas that have informed and inspired important developments in philosophy of education, not least of all the concept of autonomy, which played a prominent role in the London School's conception of liberal education in the 1960s and 1970s and which has had ever since a vital, if contested, place in theories of educational aims and values. In this essay—a prologue to the Special Issue, Kant on Education and Improvement—we explore the enduring relevance to education of Kant's insights on the following topics: autonomy; dignity and respect for persons; pedagogy; motivation and sensitivity; judgement; public reason; progress; and duties to self. We end by considering two significant problems in Kant's legacy: his dreadful views of race, gender and sexuality, on the one hand, and the apparently problematic metaphysical foundations of his philosophy, on the other.

A Partnership of Equals? ‘Deeper’ Economic Integration Between the EU and Northern Africa

Strengthening ties with Africa has become a top priority for the current geopolitical European Commission. The focus on Africa is not new: Since 2004, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) has gradually developed a framework for political dialogue and reforms in Northern African countries, which form part of the Southern Neighbourhood. The conclusion of association agreements and free trade agreements (FTAs) at the end of the previous century brought these countries closer to the European Union (EU) in commercial terms. In February 2021, the EU launched a renewed agenda for the South Mediterranean with a view to integrating these economies further to the EU edifice. Against this backdrop, this Article discusses how economic integration manifests itself in the region. It further pinpoints the economic fundamentals and political realities that will shape further economic integration between the EU and Northern Africa. A central element of EU’s renewed strategy in the region is the conclusion of deep and comprehensive free trade agreements (DCFTAs) with Northern African countries. It is argued that the conclusion of such agreements will constitute a litmus test for EU’s new assertive approach in trade matters in line with the newly adopted concept of open strategic autonomy. European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Southern Neighbourhood, Northern Africa, EU trade policy, EU foreign policy, strategic autonomy, deep and comprehensive free trade agreements (DCFTAs), South Mediterranean, economic integration

Schiller on the Aesthetic Constitution of Moral Virtue and the Justification of Aesthetic Obligations

AbstractFriedrich Schiller’s notion of moral virtue includes self-determination through practical rationality as well as sensual self-determination through the pursuit of aesthetic value, i.e., through beauty. This paper surveys conceptual assumptions behind Schiller’s notions of moral and aesthetic perfections that allow him to ground both, moral virtue and beauty on conceptions of freedom. While Schiller’s notions of grace and dignity describe relations between the aesthetic and the moral aspects of certain determining actions, the ‘aesthetic condition’ conceptualises human beings from the perspective of aesthetic self-determinability. Schiller thereby provides a normative aesthetic standard that not only affects the moral nature of our motives and actions, but also of what we, as human beings, want to and should be conceived of in the first place. As I argue in this paper, considering this aesthetic self-determinability from a moral perspective results in an aesthetic constitution of moral virtue, which in turn justifies aesthetic obligations. Schiller thereby merges the perfections of the two normative domains for an extended anthropological conception of aesthetically infused notion of moral virtue while assuring the conceptual autonomy of each normative domain. Giving aesthetic demands a practical normative role by partly constituting moral virtue and thereby still maintain their aesthetic normative source is a move that opens up many resources for current research on the interactions between various normative demands, such as aesthetic reasons for moral or legal judgements and action, aesthetic obligations or weighing varying sources and elements of normative authority and hegemony against each other.

Pre-teaching Vocabulary in Teaching Reading Skill: A Hindrance to Learner Autonomy?

Pre-teaching vocabulary of unfamiliar words of a reading or listening lesson is a technique used by English language teachers where they define and explain unfamiliar but essential words of the text just before the start of the comprehension task.Conversely, learner autonomy is an educational practice that refers to the learners' responsibility for their own learning, both in terms of what they learn and how they learn. These two diametrical ideals in English Language Teaching (ELT) demand research to justify pre-teaching vocabulary in teaching receptive language skills. Accordingly, this review paper investigated the effectiveness of pre-teaching vocabulary in teaching reading skills to English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners by reviewing recent literature. It sheds light on the concepts of learner autonomy, strategies to teach vocabularies in reading, pre-teaching vocabulary, and the extent pre-teaching is justified. This paper concludes that, while the principle of vocabulary pre-instruction is generally in conflict with that of learner autonomy, this particular strategy in ELT cannot be entirely disregarded to facilitate comprehension of a reading text and thus in promoting the use of target language, and can selectively be used by the teachers in interesting and useful ways. The study will help teachers to better understand to what extent pre-teaching vocabulary is useful and what strategies of this teaching technique can help motivate students to read and comprehend a reading text. Scope for future research is provided

Using self-determination theory to understand and improve recruitment for the Coaching for Healthy Ageing (CHAnGE) trial.

BackgroundIntervention trials promoting physical activity among older people frequently report low and unrepresentative recruitment. Better understanding of reasons for participation can help improve recruitment. This study explored why participants enrolled in the Coaching for Healthy Ageing (CHAnGE) trial, including how their decision was influenced by recruitment strategies. CHAnGE was a cluster randomised controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a healthy ageing program targeting inactivity and falls. Seventy-two groups of people aged 60+ were recruited from community organisations via informal presentations by the health coaches.MethodsWe conducted a secondary thematic analysis of interview data from our wider qualitative evaluation in which 32 purposively sampled trial participants took part in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of CHAnGE. Data relating to recruitment and participation were analysed inductively to identify themes, then a coding framework comprising the core constructs from self-determination theory—autonomy, competence and relatedness—was used to explore if and how this theory fit with and helped to explain our data.ResultsRecruitment presentations promoted the CHAnGE intervention well in terms of addressing value expectations of structured support, different forms of accountability, credibility, achievability and, for some, a potential to enhance social relationships. Participation was motivated by the desire for improved health and decelerated ageing, altruism and curiosity. These factors related strongly to self-determination concepts of autonomy, competence and relatedness, but the intervention’s demonstrated potential to support self-determination needs could be conveyed more effectively.ConclusionsFindings suggest that recruitment could have greater reach using: 1. Strengths-based messaging focusing on holistic gains, 2. Participant stories that highlight positive experiences, and 3. Peer support and information sharing to leverage altruism and curiosity. These theory-informed improvements will be used to increase participation in future trials, including people in hard-to-recruit groups. They may also inform other physical activity trials and community programs.

The Multiply Produced Film: Collaboration, Ethnography, and Feminist Epistemology

This article introduces the “multiply produced film” as a methodology and analytic that highlights the asymmetrical dynamics inherent to collaboration. I draw on (auto)ethnographic material from the making of Get By (2014), a film on worker-community solidarity, to explore collaboration across race, class, and gender in subject matter and method. I situate the multiply produced film within a genealogy that grafts ontological insights from the anthropology of exchange onto the epistemological contributions of feminist, decolonial, and visual anthropologists committed to collaboration. I argue that as a method, collaborative filmmaking has the potential to challenge narrow Western conceptions of autonomy and authorship through shared authority and fluid roles that engender a cascading multivocality that shapes the resulting filmic form. As an analytic, the multiply produced film reveals how collaboration entails a fundamental tension between the gift-like exchanges of solidarity and the outwardly commoditized form (e.g., films, books) produced by such exchanges, raising questions about asymmetries of power, prestige, and accountability.

A heuristic model for health-related autonomy based on health promotion ideas: the 'Health-Autonomy Interaction Model'.

Autonomy and health are central concepts in health promotion literature. Operational frameworks explaining their relationship are important to support health-related autonomy actions. This study presents a heuristic model describing the 'health-autonomy relationship' based on health promotion ideas, particularly Antonovsky's and Nordenfeldt's works. Central to the 'Health-Autonomy Interaction Model' is the existence of inter-related dimensions of autonomy: thought, intention and action, all influenced by negative and positive factors of physical and social environments (extrinsic factors) and personal resources to cope with life needs (intrinsic factors). Intrinsic factors comprise elements often included in definitions of negative (ill-health) and positive health (well-being and fitness), therefore establishing a bridge between conceptions of health and autonomy. Unique to this biopsychosocial framework is the differentiation between the potential for being autonomous and the degree of autonomy effectively achieved-the potential autonomy reflects the individual set of abilities to accomplish any task, while the expressed autonomy results from the extent to which this satisfies the demands of the environment and vital goals. Conceptualizing autonomy in this manner highlights that it is a multi-factorial capability referred to external conditions, reflecting a cluster of abilities to be and do things indicative of a self-empowered life. Concluding, our model moves the concept of health-related autonomy from a focus on 'disease' and 'incapacity' to a broader view in which the meaning of 'capacity' depends on the achievement of 'self-fulfillment' in given circumstances. The notion of autonomy is regarded as a precondition for health and an essential priority in health promotion.

Two limits to the application of Rawls’s concepts of autonomy and the difference principle in contemporary philosophy of education

The concept of justice that Rawls discussed in his famous book “A Theory of Justice” has had a profound influence on contemporary political and moral philosophy, as well as, to some extent, philosophy of education. Many philosophers of education have applied or criticized Rawls’s concepts – above all the concepts of autonomy, the person, fair equality of opportunity and the difference principle – which he developed as an essential part of his theory of justice. In this paper I will discuss very briefly only one of the problems that philosophers of education face when applying his concepts of the autonomous person and the difference principle. The essence of this problem is expressed in the question of whether or not to respect the limits of the applicability of these concepts set by Rawls himself.

When conceptual autonomy leads to in the (autonomous) absence: Where is moral damage going? A revision of Italian case law

When conceptual autonomy leads to in the (autonomous) absence: Where is moral damage going? A revision of Italian case law

THE AUTONOMY AS AN EXPRESSION OF THE HUMAN BEING

The article focuses on the autonomy achieved by a person with disabilities in connection with a network that has to make the imaginary project feasible. A multidisciplinary reading on the concept of autonomy that is related to the idea of dependence and independence is essential within this network. Furthermore, possible autonomies are presented, dealing with spheres of the human being that are usually regarded as inaccessible to a person with disabilities, such as the sexual sphere, living alone, social life and work. These aspects of life belong to adulthood, which every human being undertakes at some point in their life. But the latter is not usually recognized to the person with disabilities, locking them up in a dimension of non-growth and "eternal child". The concept of autonomy implies dependence. As the Argentine pedagogist Myrtha Chokler reminds us, "there is no autonomy without dependence". We all depend on everyone, children and adults: in our life, we talk about co-dependence or mutual dependence. On the other hand, autonomy also means self-governance, i.e. not doing things for oneself, but doing for oneself. This represents an important dimension of autonomy: the will. In the educational field, autonomy requires a mutual involvement between educator and student which is characterized by a mutual affective and emotional dependence in which the will always remain the central focus of the student's action, without it slipping into obedience. Autonomy, therefore, is a conquest. A process in which the adult educator, who takes care of the student, works on the educative relationship through trust, freedom of movement, affective security, within a safe space, physical but also emotional, in which there is openness to novelty and change. This requires the creation of an environment that welcomes the pleasure of the student (especially at an early age) to be autonomous, that welcomes his attempts that will be the way to learn not to depend on the adult. And for all this, an indeterminate and personalized amount of time is required.

Why Digital Assistants Need Your Information to Support Your Autonomy

This article investigates how human life is conceptualized in the design and use of digital assistants and how this conceptualization feeds back into the life really lived. It suggests that a specific way of conceptualizing human life — namely as a set of tasks to be optimized — is responsible for the much-criticized information hunger of these digital assistants. The data collection of digital assistants raises not just several issues of privacy, but also the potential for improving people’s degree of self-determination, because the optimization model of daily activity is genuinely suited to a certain mode of self-determination, namely the explicit and reflective setting, pursuing, and monitoring of goals. Furthermore, optimization systems’ need for generation and analysis of data overcomes one of the core weaknesses in human capacities for self-determination, namely problems with objective and quantitative self-assessment. It will be argued that critiques according to which digital assistants threaten to reduce their users’ autonomy tend to ignore that the risks to autonomy are derivative to potential gains in autonomy. These critiques are based on an overemphasis of a success conception of autonomy. Counter to this conception, being autonomous does not require a choice environment that exclusively supports a person’s “true” preferences, but the opportunity to engage with external influences, supportive as well as adverse. In conclusion, it will be argued that ethical evaluations of digital assistants should consider potential gains as well as potential risks for autonomy caused by the use of digital assistants.

Experiences of influencing one's own life when living with working-age dementia

AbstractHaving opportunities to make decisions and choices regarding one's life is crucial when living with dementia. This inter-disciplinary study draws on the concept of relational autonomy to explore how working-age people living dementia seek to influence their lives, and what makes it easier or more difficult for them in their everyday life. The data consist of three focus group discussions conducted with 12 retired adults who developed dementia while still employed. The results illuminate various resources that enable a person to (a) handle their difficulties at work and related consequences with dignity, (b) manage everyday tasks and live a fulfilling life, and (c) fight the stigma associated with (working-age) dementia. Challenges related to these aspects reported by the participants reveal gaps and obstacles that impede the full realisation of the rights of people living with early onset dementia. This research highlights the need for workplace education for different stakeholders, equal and ongoing access to guidance and counselling for younger people who live with dementia, and an effort by society as a whole to eradicate stigma.

The Online Representation of Palliative Care by Practice, Policy, and Advocacy Organizations: Definitional Variations and Discursive Tensions.

Negative beliefs and a lack of clarity surrounding the meaning of palliative care have been widely reported as obstacles to its uptake. Information available to the public possibly contributes to this. A descriptive and discourse-theoretical analysis was conducted of information spread online by palliative care policy, advocacy, and practice organizations. Discrepancies were found in the way palliative care was defined in relation to curative, end-of-life, terminal, and supportive care. Beyond these definitional variations, meaning was generated through the representation of palliative care as a culture, connected to total care, compassion, and openness. Tensions arose around the concepts of autonomy, a natural death, and an emphasis on the quality of life away from death and dying. Overall, this study showed that the online information of palliative care is a potential source of confusion and might even contribute to its stigmatization. Insights are provided that may help improve clarity toward the public.

Relational Autonomy, the Right to Reject Treatment, and Advance Directives in Japan

Although the patient’s right to decide what they want for themselves, which is encompassed in the notion of ‘patient-centred medicine’ and ‘informed consent’, is widely recognised and emphasised in Japan, there remain grave problems when it comes to respecting the wishes of the no-longer-competent when death is imminent. In general, it is believed that the concepts above do not include the right to refuse treatment when treatment withdrawal inevitably results in death, even when the patient previously expressed the wish to exercise this right when competent. In this paper, I first explain the current social and legal situation in Japan, where the lack of legal clarity regarding the right to reject treatment tends to result in doctors adopting the interpretation of patients’ words that is least conducive to treatment withdrawal. I then argue that the right to refuse treatment should be taken seriously, even when the patient is no longer competent, or the treatment refusal will result in death. I suggest that the concept of relational autonomy might have some practical and valuable implications in a country where individual autonomy is considered incompatible with societal values. Finally, I answer possible objections to relational autonomy and address the widespread societal concern about sliding down the slippery slope from allowing the right to refuse treatment to the obligation to die.