Welcome to David Beswick's Home Page, a diverse collection of interests in church and public affairs, higher education, psychological research, theology, family history, Australian native plants, etc
Vale Hazel Williams Beswick: A personal history; and a brief tribute.
Worship
and Preaching
Resources for preachers and worship
leaders using the Revised Common Lectionary. Bible readings, suggested
hymns, a sermon and an order of service are posted in advance for each
Sunday.
Psychological
Research
My basic discipline is psychology. In
retirement I picked up again some of the psychological research which
I began over fifty years ago, particularly the work on human curiosity. In the book Cognitive motivation: From curiosity to identity, purpose and meaningI published by Cambridge University Press in 2017 the cognitive process theory of curiosity developed in my PhD thesis "Theory and Measurement of Human Curiosity" (Harvard, 1964) was generalized to apply to what I now call a theory of cognitive motivation. For some early work on this project see An Introduction to research on curiosity, Management
Implications of the Interaction between Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic
Motivation and From Curiosity
to Identity. And a related paper Identity: A Psychological Perspective.
Family History
The history of the Tasmanian family of
Thomas and Mary Beswick begins with the arrest
of Thomas in London on Christmas Eve 1822. Related families include Peever
, Clarke, Dick,
Jessup, MacGregor, Thompson,
Cummins, Featherstone,
Newman, Harris, McIver, James
and Green. For
recent updates on Mary Ann Clarke and Henry Peever see Dromore
and more on Mary Ann and Henry
Peever's Family of Origin, Birmingham. On the Jessup side new work
in England in 2004 gives the family of origin of Richard
Olding Cummins and two reports on John
Thompson, his military discharge, and his birth
and service record - and see
John Thompson's family in Tasmania.
Of my late wife Joan's family, see her Green
family origin in Birmingham. There is a new report on the burial and
possible birth of Thomas
Beswick the London publican. Photos
from Beswick 05 gathering.
Basic Christian
Beliefs
A straightforward account of what is
taught about the Christian faith in the mainstream churches.
Issues in the
Uniting Church in Australia
The unity of the Uniting Church, which
was established in 1977 by union of the Congregational, Methodist and
Presbyterian Churches with an agreed Basis of Union, has been tested by
controversy in recent years. Some of my contributions to the debates,
mainly in the 1980s and 90s, are available here.
Hobbies and Interests
My interests in addition to things theological,
educational and psychological, include native plants and photography (see
Australian wildfowers), gardening, camping,
bushwalking, poetry, and classical music. Local interests in the Upper
Yarra Valley include the vineyards, the bush, the church and artists:
see for example the page on ceramics by Alister
Whyte. See
also Pictures
from our caravan trip to the Northern Territory and Western Australia,
2003
Higher Education
Research and Policy
This was my professional field for the
greater part of my academic career. Some papers on basic processes of
learning and career development, and on national policy in higher education
have been posted, including a review of research on higher education in
Australia during the time of my active leadership in research.
Discussion of Public
Affairs
I would like to share some thoughts on
topics of current interest in politics. A few limited topics include the
referendum on a republican constitution for Australia, and newspaper bias
in Melbourne.
Personal and Professional
Background
If people want to know where I am coming
from in discussion of a range of topics which might not always appear
to go together this might help. See also memorial notes on my late wife
Joan. - and
my new beginning in marriage with
Hazel. For
family news see our Christmas
Greeting 2009 See also Home Exchange. Hazel died 10 December 2019 see Hazel Williams Beswick: A personal history; and a brief tribute.