Reliability and construct validity were demonstrated for COHRQoL [8-10] and supported the scale for adoption as an epidemiological and scientific tool for group comparisons. CFA showed that the three constructs or latent variables underlying the overall COHRQoL ratings were discrete measures that can be reliably assessed in children. Further model testing with additional data will increase generalization of these findings.

In relation to health promotion and education, the use of post-positivist and constructivist approaches has been gathering strength in recent years. Despite this emerging tradition, little has been done to explore what this sort of approach actually represents, particularly in terms of health promotion in schools, professional organizations and wider society. Acknowledging this, it is suggested that more researchers in this area should be adopting qualitative approaches-including semi-structured interviews, focus groups, story/dialogue workshops and developmental schemes of health education-in order to uncover the hidden meaning of 'health promotion', particularly in the school context. This paper therefore attempts to challenge the idea that traditionalist paradigms of positivist research are capable of appropriately representing the nature and complexity of the health promotion issues. In this paper, methodological and theoretical frameworks that can enable researchers to understand health promotion from the perspective of students, teachers and school 'stakeholders' are suggested. Particular attention is given to a discussion of the potential value of designing and implementing programmes of health education or promotion using a critical pedagogical approach within schools in the UK. It is argued that programmes using a critical pedagogical and reflective approach, and which are aimed at social transformation, would be of enormous benefit to both researchers and educational/health professionals who are seeking to understand the complexity of health promotion issues from the perspective of children and adolescents.

Developing recent ethnographic work on the subjective experiences of those involved in traumatic events, this paper examines the stories that Protestants tell about their experiences of violence along the Irish border in the 1970s and 1980s. These stories are only now beginning to surface, and the paper considers the transition from the private experience of suffering to its public telling. It focuses on how people find a voice for their telling and what happens as a result of breaking the silence. Of special interest is the language and style in which the narratives enter the public domain, and the silences that remain. The paper argues that the narratives are shaped as much by the demands of communal identity as by individual experience, and thereby complements the trauma literature that tends to emphasise the latter.

No abstract

The models of reflective practice and experiential learning, described within this article, provide the dental practitioner and his/her team with realistic methods by which they can improve their skills and working atmosphere, and also reduce occupational stress. The reflective dentist is one who engages his/her team in a process of discussion regarding a variety of clinical situations, and who learns from both positive and negative clinical experience. This article offers a detailed analysis of reflective practice and experiential learning, and the ways in which application of these procedures can contribute significantly to the continuing professional development of dentists and dental teams.