Responsibility For Personal Development Research Articles

"I Didn't Make It, but…": Deselected Athletes' Experiences of the Talent Development Pathway.

The experiences of youth athletes on specialized talent development pathways has received considerable attention in both the media and literature. Despite the low conversion of pathway entrants into senior athletes, the experiences of deselected athletes have received less attention. The purpose of this study therefore was to explore the talent pathway experiences of youth athletes who were deselected from a pathway and to consider how those experiences influenced their life post deselection. Ten participants were purposefully sampled based on their prior involvement in a formalized and selective talent programme. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data was analyzed via a thematic analysis. Participants identified constructs of the talent development environment, psychobehavioral skills for future development and personal responsibility for future development as facilitators for future success beyond the talent pathway. Specifically, environmental constructs, such as high performance support systems and expectations of professionalism positively contributed toward the acquisition of transferable psychobehavioral skills, such as a determination to be successful, a confidence to back oneself and social maturity. Youth athletes reported feeling empowered to take personal responsibility for development, through attributes such as a commitment to be the best they can be and an intrinsic motivation to succeed. These findings suggest positive experiences, built around the development of transferable skills and behaviors, can accrue from being on the talent pathway. As such, the talent pathway can be a successful foundation for both success in that sport and as a facilitator of success beyond sport.

Theology and development: Taking personal responsibility for community development

This article is part of an international research group, CODE, to address the inadequacies of the dominant community development theories and models. This is an attempt to deal with personal responsibility for development from a theological perspective. The limitations of the modernisation theory and secular theories such as Sen’s expansion of choices are pointed out as hegemonic or amorphous. Personhood as the root of personal responsibility forms the point of convergence for perceived opposites such as being and doing, individual and community, and receiver and giver. Important themes such as reciprocity, perichoresis, creation and vocation as found in relational theology form the basis of a contribution by theology to community development.

Methods of developing stress resistance of law enforcement officers at the stage of professional training

The results of theoretical analysis of modern directions, approaches and methods of stress management have been presented. It has been determined that the classification of methods of stress management depends on the type of psychotherapy, the direction of work with stress, time parameters of interaction with stress factors, the method of influencing the functional state, the method of anti-stress influence, etc. Based on the analysis of various scientific approaches, the methods of developing the ability to handle stress from law enforcers who study in higher education institutions with specific learning conditions are systematized and divided into three branches: prevention, neutralization and correction of stress, and recovery of organism resources.
 A series of trainings aimed on the formation and development of stress resistance and resource conservation among police officers at the stage of professional training were presented. For the first year cadets of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs a training program “Adaptation” was developed, the purpose of which is to develop skills and abilities of self-organization of the person that are essential for studying in higher education institutions with specific learning conditions; development of responsibility, social courage, high standards of behavior and motivation of achievement; development of active and prosocial models of behavior. For the second year cadets, a training program “Stress and Lifestyle” was developed, the purpose of which is the formation of rules of psycho-hygiene and mastering the methods of self-regulation of stress. For the third year cadets there is a training “Professional stress”, which task is to develop responsibility for personal development and promote self-realization and the formation of a cadet as a self-sufficient creative person. Also for the third year cadets we offer personal growth training “Life design of the person”, the purpose of which is to form the need for an active life position, willingness for self-development, self-improvement and increase of responsibility for one’s own life.
 On the basis of the research, conclusions were made on the expediency of the integrated implementation of the training system as a mean of forming and developing stress resistance and enhancing the existing personal resources of police officers at various stages of professional training.

THE MEDICAL AWARENESS OF FUTURE MOTHERS ABOUT HEALTH OF NEWBORNS AND CHILDREN OF EARLY AGE

The efficiency of preventive activities depends on medical awareness of population in issues of health. By force of this, the problem of increasing of awareness about issuers of health is considered by the WHO as the most actual one in area of public health. The particular interest is raised by awareness of female population - future mothers - concerning development of health of future children. The purpose of study is to analyze and evaluate awareness of pregnant women and involvement of obstetricians-gynecologists in development of health of newborns and children of early age. The sociological survey was carried out in the form of correspondence questionnaire survey of 350 pregnant women and 25 physicians. The study established low awareness of pregnant women about issues of development of health of children at the prenatal stage: 62.6% of women have no knowledge about effect of risk factors on health of future children, 59.3% experience emotional tension and 87% mention necessity of health education related to these issues. The vested interest of physicians in increasing of medical awareness of pregnant women is determined. It is established that most of obstetricians-gynecologists suffer from inadequate knowledge concerning issues of early diagnostic and primary prevention of inborn and inherited diseases. The obtained results determine necessity of implementation of organizational methodological activities targeted to increasing of medical awareness of women concerning their own health and understanding of personal responsibility for development of health of their future children.

Development and South Africa: A critical Theological Reflection on the Discourse of Development within the All Africa Conference of Churches and its significance for post-Apartheid South Africa

The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) has made significant contributions to the theological discourse of development in Africa. Two gatherings, Lome (1987) and Harare (1992), stand out in the history of the AACC as defining moments in the theological discourse on the regression of development in Africa since the achievement of independence of the first African states from colonial rule. The purpose of this article is to investigate the contributions of these two gatherings and to assess the role of personhood and personal responsibility for development in South Africa as one of the last African countries to achieve democratic rule. Development attempts by the religious, and specifically Christian institutions such as the Ecumenical Federation of Southern Africa (EFSA) and the World Council of Churches, are correlated with dominant development theories to demonstrate the overlapping of development approaches. Some of the weaknesses of these approaches are pointed out. The constructive part of the article suggests that a theological notion of personhood and its relation to development is a more sustainable form of development within the context of contemporary South Africa.

Moderating Influence of Critical Psychological States on Work Engagement and Personal Outcomes in the Telecom Sector

Organizations want their employees to be engaged with their work, exhibiting proactive behavior, initiative, and responsibility for personal development. Existing literature has a dearth of studies that evaluate all the three key variables that lead to optimal employee performance— critical psychological states (CPSs), work engagement, and personal outcomes. The present study attempts to fill that gap by linking the variable CPSs (which measures experienced meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge of results) with the other two. The study surveyed 359 sales personnel in the Indian telecom industry and adopted standardized, valid, and reliable instruments to measure their work engagement, CPSs, and personal outcomes. Analysis was done using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings indicated that CPSs significantly moderate the relationship between personal outcomes and work engagement.

Effect of psychological contract on innovative behavior in nurses

Objective To explore the effect of psychological contract on innovation behavior in nurses. Methods 266 nurses were questionnaired with Psychological Contract Scale and Innovative Behavior Scale. And then, explored the relationship between the psychological contract and innovative behavior. Results ①The average score of nurse innovative behavior was (4.58 ± 0.73), which was in the middle level. There were significant differences between the scores of innovative behavior of nurses in the different age, or work experience, or professional titles.②Pearson correlation analysis showed that nurse innovative behavior score was significantly negatively correlated with each dimension of psychological contract(r=-0.542-0.441, P<0.05). ③The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the scores of development responsibility of hospital, realistic responsibility of hospital, personal development responsibility and personal realistic responsibility were the independent influencing factors of nurse innovative behavior. Conclusions Psychological contract is the important influencing factor of nurse innovative behavior. Key words: Innovative behavior; Psychological contract; Nurse

Goodbye Renaissance man: globalized concepts of physical education and sport in Singapore

This paper provides an analysis of physical education and sport as educational concepts that have informed Singaporean society in its journey from newly independent state to developed nation status. Their early development owes much to the influence of Loughborough University. The initial concepts had their foundation in the 1933 UK syllabus for Physical Education modified by broader trends in education experienced after the war years. The core concept was responsibility for personal development in all domains not only physical but also cognitive, affective, moral and social. An historical focus on discipline had been progressively replaced via the Swedish influence by one of the well-rounded physical development through a range of targeted exercises. This component was complemented by games, athletics and gymnastics, which offered opportunity for social development. Physical education was a broad education through the physical as opposed to the narrower education (or at worst, training) of the physical. The concepts of physical education found fertile soil in Singapore because of a fortuitous congruence between political and educational objectives of the 1960s, particularly the goal of a more cultivated citizenry. With present-day Singapore now absorbing the global commodification of body and sport, the match between these evolving concepts of health and sport and an engaged and active population may be proving less fortuitous than hoped for with the foundation of the College of Physical Education in 1986.

Appraisal in postgraduate medical education

Appraisal is one important means of maximising progress under the adult learning model. With trainee and trainer working together in partnership, appraisal provides an opportunity for review of training, setting of realistic objectives and identification of training opportunities and learning methods. Appraisal is a positive, dynamic process, which provides support and praise alongside regular guidance. Appraisal cannot be expected to overcome a deficiency of learning opportunities and it must not remove the responsibility for personal development from the trainee. The initial interview is often relatively informal but a structured approach is important nevertheless. Appraisal should be viewed as an acquired skill and formal training is essential.

Performance appraisal: carrot or stick?

This article reports on a small-scale action research project conducted in the Academic Development Centre (ADC) across both campuses of Rhodes University in 2000. In line with the growing movement to extend the professionalism of teachers and to meet the needs of assuring quality, Rhodes University has recently adopted a developmental model of Quality Assurance, which places the responsibility for personal development with individual lecturers themselves. To be critically reflective, practitioners need to gather feedback about their performance so that they can reflect on it and develop themselves in those areas in which weaknesses are recognised. The Academic Development Centre staff agreed to participate in a departmental Performance Appraisal process in order to initiate the appraisal of our own individual performances; better understand the quality assurance demands on academic staff; and gauge the usefulness of Performance Appraisal as a tool for becoming critically reflective. Each ADC staff member was assigned the roles of appraisee and appraiser. Findings suggest that the success of the Performance Appraisal process was dependent firstly on the perceived purpose of the appraisal, and secondly on the capacity (both real and perceived) of individual members of the department, to benefit from and work within the appraisal relationships.