We’re wrapping up the shortest month of the year with more selections from the latest groundbreaking research published on our Open Access platform this month. With a range of topics including mental health, environmental motivation, and cultural stigmas around women’s reproductive health, our February Top Picks is guaranteed to offer you some crucial insights.
1. How can teachers better support children with ADHD?
Teachers are a cornerstone of every society, helping mould the minds of future leaders, thinkers, and innovators. A teacher’s job does not simply begin and end at the whiteboard, but instead helps to shape the way children think about the world and about themselves. Students with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) are particularly sensitive to this influence, as a teacher who isn’t properly informed about the symptoms of this disorder could worsen the self-image of a child by painting them as unfocused, lazy, or mischievous in the classroom, while a teacher with better awareness and sensitivity could help bring out their brilliance and strengthen their sense of self.
This article considers the importance of breaking existing biases and misconceptions around ADHD in the classroom.
2. How important is leadership style on the sustainable behaviours of a company?
At times, the fight against climate change can feel overwhelming and can often lead some towards feelings of resignation or apathy, especially when individuals feel isolated in their efforts to save the planet. However, new workplace leadership styles, with an emphasis on more collectivist approaches, are helping to motivate employees. Transformative leadership has the potential to bring community back into the conversation by mobilising staff towards environmental change through sentiments of togetherness.
Learn more about how transformative leadership can motivate teams to stay ‘green’ here.
3. How can stepparents better support the mental health of children in the home?
Blended families are becoming more prevalent than ever, as single parents remarry and bring their children together under one house. Young children can sometimes struggle with the changes this brings. In fact, children with divorced parents are said to experience depression at rates 1.29 times higher than children without divorced parents. This, coupled with images in the media of ‘evil stepmothers’ and their mistreatment of stepchildren can lead to strained relationships in the home.
This study explores the ways that communication between stepparents and their stepchildren can help to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the family.
4. How can vlogging improve learning in the classroom?
When we think of vlogging, we may conjure up images of young people with selfie sticks sharing their lives on social media as they walk their dogs, run errands, hang out with friends, and get ready for bed. But what if this light-hearted activity could play a more crucial role in our world? Teachers have begun exploring vlogging as a learning tool, implementing the activity in their study plans and encouraging youth to document key aspects of their lives.
Find out how vlogging could help serve a greater purpose in our society here.
5. How can we improve cultural stigma around endometriosis in the Arab world?
Endometriosis, a challenging chronic disease, has often been shrouded in delayed diagnosis due to cultural stigmas held by families, communities, and doctors alike in conservative cultures. In the Arab world, reproductive capacity stands as a defining feature in a woman’s life, and diagnoses of this nature can significantly influence a girl’s marriage prospects which can harm her, especially as within these cultural contexts, marriage is perceived as a protective shield, guarding against potential future hardships. However, if handled with care and sensitivity, the reversal of these biases could help improve the lives of women across the region and beyond.
Explore how researchers in this study look to break down cultural stigma here.