In-depth Informant Interviews Research Articles

Teachers’ Pedagogy and Conceptions of History: Decolonizing and Transforming History in Elementary

Educators teaching practices matter more than the formal curriculum. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that affect their decisions on what and how to teach a particular subject. This study described elementary conceptions of history and analyzed how these influence their pedagogy. In addition to this, issues that emerged from these conceptions and pedagogy were identified. The findings of this research were used to develop a pedagogical approach that intends to improve the teaching of history in elementary. In-depth informant interviews were conducted with four public elementary school teachers in Metro Manila, Philippines. Results revealed that conceptions of history influence the content and skills that they value in their instruction. Moreover, critical issues related to the teaching of Philippine history were identified: (1) propagation of uncritical and colonial history, (2) the lack of cognitively engaged pedagogy, and (3) limited knowledge in history and pedagogy. This study recommends the teacher education institutions to strengthen the disciplinal knowledge of future educators and the schools to implement the proposed Kasaysayang Bayan approach to decolonize and transform the teaching of history in the Philippines. Keywords—History; Kasaysayang Bayan; Pedagogy; Social Studies; Traditional History. Abbreviations—Basic Education Curriculum (BEC); National Achievement Test (NAT).

The Igbo Concepts of Citizenship: Nwadiala and Osu: Why the Difference?

This paper examines the concepts of citizenship dichotomy between nwadiala and Osu in traditional Igbo culture with reference to a particular group of people classified as Osu an outcaste (a total stranger to the custom of the land) and the other as nwadiala – citizen (free born-bona-fide custodian of the custom) of the community. This citizenship dichotomy explains why a particular group of people in Igbo culture are socially referred to as ‘outcaste’ osu stigmatized with negative attributes like untouchable ‘demigod’ elements in the community. Osu is faced with problems of dehumanization, discrimination, exploitation and stigmatized in the community. The questions are: who is the Osu person? What is his social status in the community? What are his rights and obligations in the community? And where did he come from? To answer these questions, the study employed ethnographic (qualitative) methods of key informant interview, in-depth interview and focus group discussions. This touches on citizenship structure-functionalists construction and deconstruction to make a departure from a mere negative perspective of Osu as a subject of inhumanity in the community he lives in the modern Igbo society, arguing that a more satisfactory way of constructing new citizenship status and destroying the Osu stigmatization is to articulate his free-born citizenship status rights and obligations in the society.

Social work as gendered issue from a generational point of view

Social work is a gendered activity in terms both of its workforce and of the students who enter this profession. In this paper we analyse the underlying dynamics of this phenomenon in the Italian context, according to the characteristics and points of view of different generations of social workers. Data from a 2008 survey of 1000 interviews and 50 in-depth informant interviews are considered. Two multinomial linear models have been included in order to analyse the perceptions of younger and older social workers with regard to social work as ‘female work’ or ‘male work’. The results show that the perception of social work as a matter of gender is stronger among younger social workers, and that the younger generations appear to be less oriented towards equal gender roles. Longer work experience contributes to explaining different gender models. The chronological age of social workers, however, seems to be a less important variable in explaining the differences between generations.

An ethnographic study of factors influencing cancer pain management in South Africa.

Although the knowledge exists to relieve cancer pain, inadequate pain relief persists as an international health problem. The World Health Organization has recommended a threefold strategy to improve cancer pain management: health policy, drug availability, and education. Yet major barriers to effective cancer pain management exist in every country of the world. Effective strategies to improve pain management must be based on an understanding of the issues in individual countries. This report evaluates cultural and other factors influencing cancer pain management in the Republic of South Africa. This ethnographic field study included multiple methods of data collection: analysis of documents, participant observation, focused interviews, and in-depth interviews of informants (n = 33) who represented multiple stakeholders in a variety of settings. Cultural beliefs and practices form the context for understanding cancer pain and how it is managed. Cultural variability exists regarding cancer as a disease, pain expectations, pain tolerance, pain expression, and health care practices. Key factors that influence how pain is managed included standards, knowledge, resources, communication and the patient-provider relationship, and teamwork and professional relationships. The existence of these factors promotes effective pain management, whereas their absence creates a barrier to achieving this aim.

A Qualitative Study of the Professional Relationship between Family Physicians and Hospital Specialists

The professional relationships between family physicians (general practitioners or GPs) and specialist doctors are crucial in a referral-based national health service such as that in the United Kingdom. They may, for example, have a fundamental influence on what in the past have been assumed to be logical or proximity-based utilisation patterns of secondary and even tertiary hospital facilities if GPs refer to specialists with whom they have greater rapport. Until recently, research has identified a generally poor mutual understanding between the two key clinical branches of the National Health Service (NHS), and this research was conducted to determine the state of the current relationship. A range of qualitative methods was employed—including key informant interviews, focus groups, and in-depth interviews—with family doctors and specialists in the south and west region of the United Kingdom. The participants described a much better mutual relationship than that found in previous studies. Four major issues were identified relating to professional interaction. These included the reasons for choosing one of the two main branches of medicine in which to practice, the ways in which doctors interact over clinical issues, the effects of teaching and learning together on the relationship, and possible future models of professional interaction. In process terms, the theme of cooperation was more evident than that of conflict and there was minimal evidence of a struggle for power or status. If anything, the balance of influence within the profession seemed to be shifting in favour of the primary practitioners rather than the specialists. This research therefore indicates key variables for inclusion in future behavioural studies of the use of health services in physician referral-based systems. We illustrate the strengths and potential of qualitative methods in health care research and health care geography for investigating professional relationships which are likely to impact on patient care and service quality as well as being factors that might influence spatial patterns of patient behaviour.

Sexual Practices That May Favor the Transmission of HIV in a Rural Community in Nigeria

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have been documented as a primarily urban phenomenon in Nigeria. The risk of spread to rural communities, where the largest portion of the population still lives, exists. This article presents a qualitative research study that was designed to explore sexual practices in a rural Nigerian community that held potential risk for introducing HIV into the community and for enabling HIV transmission should an infected person enters local sexual networks, in the small town of Ago-Are, Oyo State. Seven key informant interviews, in-depth interviews and observations with five commercial sex workers (CSWs), and focus group discussions (FGD) with married and single male and female residents were held. CSWs were found to be the most likely route whereby HIV could enter the community, both because of their own mobility, being resident in the community on average only nine months, and because of the mobility of their main clients, migrant farm laborers and commercial drivers. This did not preclude local patronage, which was more discrete. Another possible point of entry for HIV was through casual sexual relations during ceremonies, holidays and festivals, when towns' people working in the large urban centers came home. Within the community, extramarital sexual relations were posited as a likely route for spread within the community. The continued existence of a taboo against sexual intercourse while a mother is breastfeeding, frequent informal divorces and a tendency toward polygamy were identified by FGD members as factors that encourage extra-marital sex. The strong role that social and religious associations play in the community was identified as an ideal mechanism for health education to prevent HIV/AIDS.