Online joint professional development: a novel approach to multicultural education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noa Shapira ◽  
Meital Amzalag
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Teachers ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
Different Cultures

Purpose The current research presents findings from an innovative online Teachers Professional Development (TPD) program entitled – The Israeli Society is Meeting Online. This study aims to examine to what extent does online contact promote meaningful acquaintance among teachers from different cultures in Israeli society, and how did the online TPD program influence the way teachers perceive their roles in the Israeli education system. Design/methodology/approach This study implemented a qualitative phenomenological approach to learn about the teachers’ experiences (through the TPD program. Findings The findings indicate that teachers who live and study in a diverse and divided society can improve intergroup relations using online contact with teachers from other groups. This contact may lead to a significant acquaintance, which, in turn, prepares teachers as agents of change in the field of multicultural education. Originality/value Israeli society is diverse and divided and these divisions are reflected in the educational system, which is characterized by high degrees of prejudice, stereotyping and racism between groups. The findings highlight the educative potential of online contact in a diverse society and the importance of improving intergroup relations between teachers from different cultures prior to their attempts to promote multicultural education.

Psychotherapy and despair in the prison setting

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Joanna Gee ◽  
Del Loewenthal ◽  
Julia Cayne
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Prison Setting ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Phenomenological Research Method ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline research which aimed to explore psychotherapists’ experience of working with despair, in the UK prison setting, through a qualitative phenomenological approach. Within the forensic psychological literature, despair is considered a pathology, associated with suicide and self-harm, resulting from the prisoners histories and the coercive prison setting. In turn, therapeutic writings outline the importance of therapy in the prison setting with despair in providing coping skills, containment and learning opportunities for the prisoners involved. Design/methodology/approach – Within the study, ten psychotherapists were interviewed as to their experience of working with clients in despair in the prison setting. The data were analysed via the phenomenological research method Empirical Phenomenological Analysis (EPA), and a secondary analysis through reverie. Findings – Through the analysis by EPA, despair emerged in the prison setting as a destabilising phenomenon to which there was no protocol for working with it. Participants also described the prisoners’ despair and the despairing prison setting, touching on their own sense of vulnerability and despair. However, drawing on the secondary analysis by reverie, the researcher also became aware of how the phenomenon of despair emerged not simply through the said, but also through the intersubjective. Originality/value – It was therefore through the secondary analysis by reverie that the importance of the attendance to aspects of intersubjectivity in prison research emerged. This paper contributes to the therapeutic writings on despair in the prison setting, alongside holding implications for qualitative research in the prison setting.

scholarly journals Improving Intergroup Relations Through Online Contact

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-134
Author(s):  
Meital Amzalag ◽  
Noa Shapira
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Program Completion ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Online Program ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Indirect Contact ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Different Cultures

This study examined an online professional development program designed to support meaningful acquaintance and reduce stereotypes and prejudices among teachers from different cultures in Israeli society. The rationale of the online program was based on the premise that indirect online contact might improve intergroup relations in diverse societies. The program was designed to progress gradually, starting from basic and leading to a deeper acquaintance, using a variety of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools. Findings indicated that upon program completion, participants were more respectful towards one another than pre-program. They held a positive view of online learning and were open to multiculturalism (more tolerant and accepting of others than previously) while still maintaining their respective cultural identities. The program participants noticed the gradual progression in task design, expressly noting that this stepwise structure supported forging a connection and then fostering familiarization. This study fills a gap in the research through demonstrating ways that online contact (indirect contact) can be used to promote acquaintance and reduce stereotypes and prejudices among teachers from different groups in Israeli society.  

scholarly journals Non-conventional clinical placements and the experience of the facilitator: a phenomenology study

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee Hall ◽  
Lorna Moxham ◽  
Dana Perlman ◽  
Amy Tapsell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Nursing Student ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Clinical Placement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clinical Placements ◽  
Mental Health Settings ◽  
Facilitation Skills ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological

Purpose The experiences of clinical facilitators working within non-conventional mental health settings have not yet been explored. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of clinical facilitators when facilitating nursing student learning within a non-conventional mental health clinical placement. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative phenomenological approach. The participants in this study were five registered nurses who had facilitated students at a non-conventional mental health clinical placement called Recovery Camp. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted. Findings The facilitators experiences could be understood through two main themes: facilitator skills and opportunities for student learning. Recovery Camp allowed the facilitators to build on their own nursing and facilitation skills, while examining themselves as a mental health nurse. “Being with” students (immersive engagement) enabled opportunistic and rare learning moments. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known study to explore the experiences of clinical facilitators working in a non-conventional mental health placement.

scholarly journals KEBEBASAN BERAGAMA DI SMU SELAMAT PAGI INDONESIA KOTA BATU MALANG

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 359
Author(s):  
Umi Sumbulah
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Religious Observance ◽  
Good Advice ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological

<em>This study attempts to examine the implementation of religious freedom in a multicultural education institution, namely at SMU Selamat Pagi Indonesia (SMU-SPI )in Batu City, East Java. This study focuses on the meaning of religious freedom for the academic community, and the supporting and hindering factors for the implementation of religious freedom in this school which has diverse multicultural backgrounds. This empirical study uses a qualitative- phenomenological approach. It shows some important findings. First, the meaning of religious freedom for the academic community of this school is the freedom for everyone to practice their religion in accordance with the religion and beliefs of each, while respecting the religion and beliefs of others. Second, the application of freedom of religion in this school is expressed through moral conducts amongst the school community such as compassion, good advice, moral support, religious commitment and respect for other religious observance. In addition, the implementation of religious freedom is also evident in the efforts of the school to provide teachers and spiritual guide to students in accordance to their respective religion and in the establishment of places of worship for all religions.</em>

scholarly journals Learning to not belong: entrepreneurial learning experiences of women high-tech entrepreneurs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Kubberød ◽  
Sally Jones ◽  
Inger Beate Pettersen
Keyword(s):  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Prior Learning ◽  
Entrepreneurial Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Sector ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
Experiences Of Women

PurposeThe influence of gender on high-tech entrepreneurship is of growing interest worldwide, as scholars argue that women face gendered barriers specific to this field. Although some gender-focussed research exists on the interplay of context and entrepreneurial learning, these issues have yet to be intensively studied, and the research aims to address this gap.Design/methodology/approachThe research draws upon empirical evidence from the entrepreneurial learning of nine women opportunity entrepreneurs in the high-technology sector in Norway. It employs a qualitative phenomenological approach, with retrospective and in-depth interviews to capture and analyse the entrepreneurs' lived experiences and learning histories.FindingsThe entrepreneurs in this study highlight gendered learning experiences, leading them to make conscious and strategic decisions of both alignment and resistance to negotiate their enterprise in a highly masculine sector. Their prior learning histories of not belonging seem to underpin their preparedness for entrepreneurship in the sector. Counter to prevailing theorizing, not belonging is an enabling condition, allowing women entrepreneurs to subvert and challenge a highly masculinized context. This condition empowers them to mobilize their “otherness” to create change within their own ventures and make the rules on their own terms.Originality/valueThis interdisciplinary research deepens the understanding of the interplay between gender, entrepreneurial learning and context through the concept of belonging and extends theorization of the gendered dynamics in entrepreneurial learning histories. The paper proposes a framework of gendered entrepreneurial learning in a masculinized industry context, which highlights important implications for future gender and entrepreneurial learning research.

Community college minority female administrators as mentors of minority female students

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Maureen Fonts
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Female Administrators ◽  
Mentoring Practices ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological

Purpose Minority female students are increasingly faced with issues such as financial instability, work-family imbalance, and few growth opportunities in their careers. Within the context of community colleges, the presence of minority female administrators may serve as a venue for the empowerment and attainment of academic and professional goals for minority female students through administrators’ mentoring practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experience of community college minority female administrators in their role as informal mentors to community college minority female students. Design/methodology/approach The author used a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore community college minority female administrators’ experiences as mentors of female minority students. Mullen’s (2009) alternative mentoring model guided the study as well as a feminist lens. The purposive sample included six minority female administrators from two Florida community colleges, with individual interviews based on 18 open-ended questions. Data were analyzed with Atlas.ti™ qualitative software. Findings The findings uncovered four common themes and seven subthemes regarding the experience of informal mentoring as a minority female administrator: facilitating empowerment with two subthemes – modeling and coaching; administrator-student relationship with three subthemes – encouragement, life experiences, and past mentors; personal growth; and formalized mentoring with two subthemes – create a support system and access to information. Research limitations/implications In any study, phenomenological or otherwise, the researcher’s biases may cloud the data analysis process, and the researcher may code the data incorrectly or leave out crucial information during the transcription of the interview. It was essential for the author to understand the concept of epochè to bracket the author’s own experiences as a minority female (Bloomberg and Volpe, 2012). The purposeful sample was small and only focused on one region in the US, and the study’s findings may not be transferable to other contexts. Originality/value Minority female administrators’ experiences mentoring minority female students have not been comprehensively explored in the scholarly realm; hence, their mentoring journey is unknown. The study sought to shatter that silence and create a dialogue that will hopefully continue in the field of mentoring.

Barriers and challenges to international interactions of the faculty members in Iran

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 652-668
Author(s):  
Mohsen Nazarzadeh Zare ◽  
Javad Pourkarimi ◽  
Sahba Rezaeian
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Purposeful Sampling ◽  
Research Population ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
International Interactions ◽  
Applied Fields

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers and challenges to international interactions of the faculty members in Iran.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the purpose, a qualitative phenomenological approach was used. The research population was all experts in the field of higher education in Iran, it included 17 experts who were selected through purposeful sampling by snowball method and based on theoretical saturation. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used and for the data analysis, an inductive content analysis was applied.FindingsThe findings showed that the barriers and challenges to faculty members’ international interactions can be defined through three main barriers: inside university barriers, outside university barriers, and individual barriers.Practical implicationsThis research identified the barriers and challenges of faculty members’ international interactions in Iran. The method of this study can be applied in other applied fields as well.Originality/valueThis study adds to the authors’ knowledge about international interactions of the faculty members and also the barriers and challenges of these interactions, so to have more interactions of faculty members at the international level, universities should make an effort to identify barriers and eliminate them, more than ever.

scholarly journals Network well-being from a balanced centricity perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Fabian Groven ◽  
Gaby Odekerken-Schröder ◽  
Sandra Zwakhalen ◽  
Jan Hamers
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Actor Networks ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological

Purpose This paper aims to explore how tensions and alignments between different actors’ needs in a transformative services network affect balanced centricity, which is an indicator of well-being. Balanced centricity describes a situation in which all network actors’ interests and needs are fulfilled simultaneously. In such cases, all actors are better off, which increases both individual actors’ and overall actor-network well-being. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study takes place in nursing homes in which in-bed baths represent co-created service encounters that affect the well-being of focal actors (i.e. patients), frontline service employees (i.e. nurses) and transformative service mediators (i.e. family members), who have potentially competing needs. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, the study inductively explores and deductively categorizes actors’ personal experiences to gain deep, holistic insights into the service network and its complex web of actor interdependencies. Findings The resulting conceptual model of balanced centricity identifies actors’ lower-order needs as different manifestations of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. If actors’ needs are aligned, their psychological needs can be satisfied, which facilitates balanced centricity. If actors exhibit competing needs though, balanced centricity is impeded. Practical implications This study establishes actors’ psychological needs as the origin of tensions/alignments in multi-actor networks that impede/contribute to balanced centricity. Transformative service providers should try to address all actors’ psychological needs when co-creating services to achieve network well-being. Originality/value This study adopts a novel, multi-actor perspective and thereby presents a conceptual model that contributes to the understanding of balanced centricity. Future research could test this model in other transformative service settings.

scholarly journals Skills and knowledge needs assessment of current and future library professionals in the state of Qatar

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 86-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Johnston ◽  
Rupert Williams
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Job Roles ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Needs Assessment Survey ◽  
Library Professionals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and document the skills and knowledge needs of future library professionals in Qatar and to use the outcomes of this research to help develop or refine focused library and information studies course curricula that meet the needs of the local workforce and also guide or improve national or local professional development programmes. Design/methodology/approach – A skills and knowledge needs assessment survey was sent to library professionals, LIS students and library managers in Qatar. A total of 109 respondents completed the survey, a representation of around 25 per cent of the current LIS workforce in Qatar. Findings – Findings indicated that respondents felt that the most needed future job roles included more client focused positions such as research librarians, information services librarians and subject librarians, as well as technical roles such as Arabic cataloguers, electronic resources librarians and system librarians. The largest amount of needed positions was also felt to be in school libraries. Respondents to the survey also felt that there was a lack of opportunities for professional development in Qatar and that the most needed area of skills training was information literacy, followed by copyright training and technical skills including RDA and Arabic cataloguing. One further finding identified from the survey was the concern felt by respondents about the lack of a professional body in Qatar that represented LIS professionals. Practical implications – This paper provides data on future roles, skills and knowledge needed by library professionals working in international and culturally diverse workforces. It also provides findings that can be used to develop LIS curriculum and professional development programmes in international LIS environments. Originality/value – A detailed needs assessment of this kind has not previously been undertaken in Qatar. The library and information sector in Qatar is an emerging field with a largely international workforce. This situation provides a distinct perspective on the needs of an emerging library sector that is a blend of different cultures, workplace practices and differing expectations and understandings of the role and skills needed to be a LIS professional.

A cell-based smoothed point interpolation method (CS-PIM) for 2D thermoelastic problems

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1249-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijun Liu ◽  
Guiyong Zhang ◽  
Huan Lu ◽  
Zhi Zong
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stresses ◽  
Interpolation Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Convergence Results ◽  
Point Interpolation Method ◽  
Point Interpolation ◽  
Thermoelastic Problems ◽  
Gradient Smoothing ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Due to the strong reliance on element quality, there exist some inherent shortcomings of the traditional finite element method (FEM). The model of FEM behaves overly stiff, and the solutions of automated generated linear elements are generally of poor accuracy about especially gradient results. The proposed cell-based smoothed point interpolation method (CS-PIM) aims to improve the results accuracy of the thermoelastic problems via properly softening the overly-stiff stiffness. Design/methodology/approach This novel approach is based on the newly developed G space and weakened weak (w2) formulation, and of which shape functions are created using the point interpolation method and the cell-based gradient smoothing operation is conducted based on the linear triangular background cells. Findings Owing to the property of softened stiffness, the present method can generally achieve better accuracy and higher convergence results (especially for the temperature gradient and thermal stress solutions) than the FEM does by using the simplest linear triangular background cells, which has been examined by extensive numerical studies. Practical implications The CS-PIM is capable of producing more accurate results of temperature gradients as well as thermal stresses with the automated generated and unstructured background cells, which make it a better candidate for solving practical thermoelastic problems. Originality/value It is the first time that the novel CS-PIM was further developed for solving thermoelastic problems, which shows its tremendous potential for practical implications.

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