English law once included a principal that the thing that had caused accidental death or injury - the carving knife that had accidentally chopped off the finger, or the carriage that trampled the person's leg - should be surrendered to God in recognition of its part in causing harm or suffering. This 'thing' was called a deodand and it existed in law from around 1200AD until it was abolished in 1846. The object would be surrendered to the crown and used or sold to compensate for the harm done. William Pietz said that 'any culture must establish some procedure of compensation, expiation, or punishment to settle the debt created by unintended human deaths whose direct cause is not a … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy is part of the debt we pay when things go wrong
Critical things to do this week
Firstly, some of you will notice that things have been a bit quiet on the site this last 10 days. That's because we've migrated the whole shooting match over to a new paid site. We have a new look, new functions, and a much more stable site that, we hope, will be much nicer for you to use, and easier for us to manage. Huge thanks once again go to our good friend Sofia Woods from Shortie Designs for helping us with all the technical things. Our own Jo Bloggs will be posting more about the upgrade soon. Since we've been away for a few days, I thought it might be nice to recommend a few things to make your week a little bit more critical, because everyone should make time for at least … [Read more...] about Critical things to do this week
Critique, Resistance and Action conference update
Back in mid-December, we posted about a critical health conference coming up in Sydney later this year. The Critique, Resistance and Action conference will be hosted by the University of Sydney from 31 October to 2 November 2016 (see the original conference announcement here). The deadline for abstracts closes on 28th February, and it looks as if a few members of the CPN will be attending. We normally try to arrange a get-together for members each year and would like to know if you plan on going. If you're thinking about going, and would like to know more about the arrangements, please contact david.nicholls@aut.ac.nz for more information. … [Read more...] about Critique, Resistance and Action conference update
How 21st century (higher) education can, and must change
There are many critical thinkers interested in education, particularly since the advent of the internet; distributive learning technologies like Google, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter; and personal computing. This video will resonate with a lot of CPN members and others who work with students, in university and college programmes, and with the challenges of thinking 'otherwise' about learning and teaching in physiotherapy, medicine, health care, and elsewhere. In this video, Gardner Campbell from Baylor University talks about why it is that the widespread availability of the Internet and social media haven't yet managed to really penetrate the university. We're not talking here about … [Read more...] about How 21st century (higher) education can, and must change
New: Activism
Many years ago, I was one of the first of the new student reps to attend the CSP’s annual Congress. Back then Billy Bragg was railing against the Miner’s Strike and the IR department of the CSP reigned supreme. It became obvious pretty quickly that people took Congress really seriously. The first motion I remember being discussed was a levy on member’s fees to raise funds for Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters. Sadly the motion went no further after being referred to Council, where it ended up disappearing like gold in the San Juan rivershed. Not long after the Congress I attended an Association for Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care meeting and was dismayed to hear the keynote … [Read more...] about New: Activism
New: Organisations
If you are someone who follows this blog, uses Facebook, Twitter or other social media like email and texting, you may have become quite familiar with the idea that people are now networking in ways that were impossible only a few years ago. A friend of mine was telling me the other day about her eight-year-old son, who was now the embodiment of a digital native. He knew how to log onto their computer, how to search for school projects, and how to use his tablet in the classroom to draw, add, compose and write. She was wondering what the future of work and study would be for him, and whether today's lecturers and practitioners knew what they were in for. According to a report last … [Read more...] about New: Organisations
New: Journals
Physiotherapy desperately needs more journals. Not the kind of journals that have 4,ooo word limits, or the kinds that still celebrate passive third-person prose, but the kind where the quality of ideas trump the elegance of the scatter plot. We need journals where physiotherapists can engage in the kinds of discussion you see in Nursing Inquiry, Body and Society or Health. These journals are fora where writers can exercise Karl Popper's assertion that the scholarly community should not prop up existing beliefs, but should commit all its not insignificant resources to tearing down current dogmas and ideologies, creating a space where new ideas can prosper. Physiotherapists have … [Read more...] about New: Journals