laurence butler

lb

Achievements

Activity

  • Managers are, in my opinion, the single LARGEST source of stress in the workplace. Massive resources should be thrown at trying to help them to understand the harm they do to workers and the insulated, privileged and often iniquitous positions they hold/power they exercise. This will become abundantly clear and true once post-lockdown sackings, redundancies...

  • I mentioned many of these features in my suggested 'Covid' mnemonic in section 2.12

  • "Constantly watching the news can make people feel more worried ..." I completely agree. The 'news' is neither impartial nor there to inform. It is another aspect of entertainment; at best, "infotainment". I rarely watch any tv news channel; they filter, distort and put a spin on what's happening. I would always advise, if someone wants to keep up with what...

  • Surely we have to keep thinking of that other person's position and perceptions and tailor our response to it. To continue the "in their shoes" analogy, I think it's more constructive to help them to see how their own shoes will eventually carry them to resolution and recovery without trite homilies.
    One key thing is never to descend into management-speak or...

  • "Check that the person you are helping is happy and able to talk."
    Surely, the point is that they are likely to be UNhappy?

  • Children may be 'resilient', but that is partly because they will adapt to changing situations. However, that adaptation may not be healthy in terms of their eventual social interactions and personal thinking and feeling. A key example is an abused child themselves becoming an abuser. Perhaps the article above excessively downplays children's...

  • "Some preteens and teenagers respond to worrying situations by acting out".
    Why describe it that way?
    Did you mean 'acting up'? 'Misbehaving'? 'Being complete and utter ****s'?

  • Moral injury especially relates to those who feel that they have broken fundamental laws of behaviour and action. It's related to cognitive disssonance at fundamental/core levels of a person's beliefs and values.
    It has long-term consequences and we will be seeing those for many years to...

  • In effect, what is being discussed has resonance with Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-hierarchy-needs

  • Again, only ideas to kick-start discussion below:

    C: cognitive changes = changes to thinking about how to solve problems, plan ahead and so-on; "I can't think straight; my mind is sluggish/racing/clouded with thoughts about this emergency/situation/pandemic." Cognition being swamped by emotion (see 'o.v.i.d' below).
    O: observable changes to behaviour or...

  • If we're going to use what initially seems to be an acronym like 'look', it might be an idea to construct an acronym!
    The following is only my amateurish attemtp at a first draft...
    LOOK:
    Listen: sympathetically to the concerns of any person who needs your help
    Options: from what they've said, what does this person need, immediately?
    Observe: safety...

  • I absolutely agree that it is essential to support JIm and to help him see his best way to solving his own problems, including his responses to a stressful situation.
    However, I disagree that "It is important to rule out any medical cause of Jim’s symptoms."
    Although it may sound like a pedantic/semantic point, it is extremely important to rule IN what...

  • Again, I have to take issue with your absolute claims of fact [1.9 of this course: "It is important to note that stress does not cause high temperature."]
    High body temperature CAN be caused by stress. Since you are so far neglecting to do so, here is a reference from a reputable journal on the subject that cites other sources in turn. REF: Takakazu Oka...

  • Again, your usage of terminolgy leaves me somewhat perplexed. Is a 'mental health problem' merely long-term distress as you are implying above in 1.8? Further, where does the 2-week cutoff come from; what is the research base?

  • You have said not to "...assume that behaviour that is different to ‘normal’ is actually different for that individual – but also do not assume that this is just because of their cognitive difference." What does this mean? I do not consider that you have appropriately discussed the meaning or implications of this terminolgy. In other words, are you using...

  • What research is being drawn on to claim that most people behave rationally and unselfishly in a pandemic? It does not accord with the frequent news stories broadcast and published by reputable sources. Examples include the near-ransacking of supermarket shelves, the refusal by significant numbers of people to abide by lockdown, to socially distance and to...

  • Don't all humans show 'cognitive difference' from each other?
    In that case, is this really a useful construct/terminology in the context of this course?
    What is being discussed in this chapter (1.6) of this course appears to me to range from reversible cognitive-affective discord/mismatch at one end of a spectrum to irreversible cognitive-affective...

  • I just finished week 3. Think I might sign up a SECOND time!

  • laurence butler made a comment

    This has been a very valuable experience. I've expecially liked the interactive component; it is precisely what I have to build in to my own online courses, sessions, synergistics with my students. I'm learning now to help theirs later .

  • (ouR students. Remembering it was exciting and I mis-typed!)

  • Some of the work that I'm most proud of I produced with colleagues. With one of them in particular, also a close friend, we'd walk around a large table in a meeting room bouncing ideas off each other. Lots of laughts, lots of raised voices and lots of productivity. When something emerged that we liked/valued, we'd write it on a white board, then photograph...

  • I especially liked Tony Bates' resource (Step nine: evaluate and innovate, from Teaching in a Digital Age.) It reinforced the idea that the evaluator needs to self-evaluate. Sort of 'who watches the watcher'?
    Arguably the more important question is 'why should the course designer/deliverer watch themselves?' The answer being 'to give the richest learning...

  • Advancing, questing, optimistic...

  • Occam's razor: use the simplest approach that works!

  • Feedback is mutually nurturing.

  • Professor Mark Brown's caution against providing too many competing resources is an excellent reminder not to assume that our (adult) students are operating at - or even near - our own level of experience and expertise. We shoud take pains -and be delighted - to move across (not 'down'!) to their level.

  • Knowing your students' personalities is as important as knowing your own. They are all facets of the same gemstone.

  • I presume that you " Which aspect of maintaining... your studentS' experience since going online so far?" (plural).
    Most valuable so far seems to have been renewing and refreshing personal contact under Covid 'house arrest' while taking a 'we're in this as a team' approach.