title
stringlengths 3
82
| text
stringlengths 621
92.1k
| relevans
float64 0.76
0.83
| popularity
float64 0.93
1
| ranking
float64 0.75
0.83
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
Three levels of leadership model | The Three Levels of Leadership is a leadership model formulated in 2011 by James Scouller. Designed as a practical tool for developing a person's leadership presence, knowhow and skill. It aims to summarize what leaders have to do, not only to bring leadership to their group or organization, but also to develop themselves technically and psychologically as leaders. It has been classified as an "integrated psychological" theory of leadership. It is sometimes known as the 3P model of leadership (the three Ps standing for Public, Private and Personal leadership).
The Three Levels of Leadership model attempts to combine the strengths of older leadership theories (i.e. traits, behavioral/styles, situational, functional) while addressing their limitations and, at the same time, offering a foundation for leaders wanting to apply the philosophies of servant leadership and "authentic leadership".
Limitations of older leadership theories
In reviewing the older leadership theories, Scouller highlighted certain limitations in relation to the development of a leader's skill and effectiveness:
Trait theory: As Stogdill (1948) and Buchanan & Huczynski (1997) had previously pointed out, this approach has failed to develop a universally agreed list of leadership qualities and "successful leaders seem to defy classification from the traits perspective". Moreover, because traits theory gave rise to the idea that leaders are born not made, Scouller (2011) argued that its approach is better suited to selecting leaders than developing them.
Behavioral styles theory: Blake and Mouton, in their managerial grid model, proposed five leadership styles based on two axes – concern for the task versus concern for people. They suggested that the ideal is the "team style", which balances concern for the task with concern for people. Scouller (2011) argued that this ideal approach may not suit all circumstances; for example, emergencies or turnarounds.
Situational/contingency theories: Most of these (e.g. Hersey & Blanchard's situational leadership theory, House's path–goal theory, Tannenbaum & Schmidt's leadership continuum) assume that leaders can change their behavior at will to meet differing circumstances, when in practice many find it hard to do so even after training because of unconscious fixed beliefs, fears or ingrained habits. For this reason, leaders need to work on their underlying psychology if they are to attain the flexibility to apply these theories (Scouller, 2011).
Functional theories: Widely used approaches like Kouzes & Posner's Five Leadership Practices model and Adair's Action-Centered Leadership theory assume that once the leader understands – and has been trained in – the required leadership behaviors, he or she will apply them as needed, regardless of their personality. However, as with the situational theories, Scouller noted that many cannot do so because of hidden beliefs and old habits so again he argued that most leaders may need to master their inner psychology if they are to adopt unfamiliar behaviors at will.
Leadership presence: The best leaders usually have something beyond their behavior – something distinctive that commands attention, wins people's trust and enables them to lead successfully, which is often called "leadership presence" (Scouller, 2011). This is possibly why the traits approach became researchers' original line of investigation into the sources of a leader's effectiveness. However, that "something" – that presence – varies from person to person and research has shown it is hard to define in terms of common personality characteristics, so the traits approach failed to capture the elusive phenomenon of presence. The other leading leadership theories do not address the nature and development of presence.
How the three levels model addresses older theories' limitations
The section at the start of this page discussed the older theories' potential limitations. The table below explains how the Three Levels of Leadership model tries to address them.
Levels
The three levels referred to in the model's name are Public, Private and Personal leadership. The model is usually presented in diagram form as three concentric circles and four outwardly directed arrows, with personal leadership in the center.
The first two levels – public and private leadership – are "outer" or "behavioral" levels. Scouller distinguished between the behaviors involved in influencing two or more people simultaneously (what he called "public leadership") from the behavior needed to select and influence individuals one to one (which he called private leadership). He listed 34 distinct "public leadership" behaviors and a further 14 "private leadership" behaviors.
The third level – personal leadership – is an "inner" level and concerns a person's leadership presence, knowhow, skills, beliefs, emotions and unconscious habits. "At its heart is the leader's self-awareness, his progress toward self-mastery and technical competence, and his sense of connection with those around him. It's the inner core, the source, of a leader's outer leadership effectiveness." (Scouller, 2011).
The idea is that if leaders want to be effective they must work on all three levels in parallel.
The two outer levels – public and private leadership – are what the leader must do behaviorally with individuals or groups to address the "four dimensions of leadership" (Scouller 2011). These are:
A shared, motivating group purpose or vision.
Action, progress and results.
Collective unity or team spirit.
Individual selection and motivation.
The inner level – personal leadership – refers to what leaders should do to grow their leadership presence, knowhow and skill. It has three aspects:
Developing one's technical knowhow and skill.
Cultivating the right attitude toward other people.
Working on psychological self-mastery.
Scouller argued that self-mastery is the key to growing one's leadership presence, building trusting relationships with followers and enabling behavioral flexibility as circumstances change, while staying connected to one's core values (that is, while remaining authentic). To support leaders' development, he introduced a new model of the human psyche and outlined the principles and techniques of self-mastery (Scouller 2011).
The assumption in this model is that personal leadership is the most powerful of the three levels. Scouller likened its effect to dropping a pebble in a pond and seeing the ripples spreading out from the center – hence the four arrows pointing outward in the diagram. "The pebble represents inner, personal leadership and the ripples the two outer levels. Helpful inner change and growth will affect outer leadership positively. Negative inner change will cause the opposite." (Scouller, 2011).
Public leadership
Public leadership refers to the actions or behaviors that leaders take to influence two or more people simultaneously – perhaps in a meeting or when addressing a large group. Public leadership is directed towards (1) setting and agreeing a motivating vision or future for the group or organization to ensure unity of purpose; (2) creating positive peer pressure towards shared, high performance standards and an atmosphere of trust and team spirit; and (3) driving successful collective action and results. Public leadership therefore serves the first three dimensions of leadership mentioned in the overview section.
There are 34 distinct public leadership behaviors (Scouller, 2011), which break out as follows:
Setting the vision, staying focused:'briefing, challenging, navigating, and prioritising 4 behaviors.
Organizing, planning, giving power to others:'assigning and organising''' 2 behaviors.
Ideation, problem-solving, decision-making: 10 behaviors.
Executing:'educating, energising, doing, measuring, following up, and tolerating 6 behaviors.
Group building and maintenance: 12 behaviors.
Leaders need to balance their time between the 22 vision/planning/thinking/execution behaviors and the 12 group building/maintenance behaviors.
According to the Three Levels of Leadership model, the key to widening one's repertoire of public leadership behaviors (and the skill with which they are performed) is attention to personal leadership.
Private leadership
Private leadership concerns the leader's one-to-one handling of individuals (which is the fourth of Scouller's four dimensions of leadership). Although leadership involves creating a sense of group unity, groups are composed of individuals and they vary in their ambitions, confidence, experience and psychological make-up. Therefore, they have to be treated as individuals – hence the importance of private leadership. There are 14 private leadership behaviors (Scouller, 2011):
Individual purpose and task (e.g. appraising, selecting, disciplining): 5 behaviors.
Individual building and maintenance (e.g. recognizing rising talent): 9 behaviors.
Some people experience the powerful conversations demanded by private leadership (e.g. performance appraisals) as uncomfortable. Consequently, leaders may avoid some of the private leadership behaviors (Scouller, 2011), which reduces their leadership effectiveness. Scouller argued that the intimacy of private leadership leads to avoidance behavior either because of a lack of skill or because of negative self-image beliefs that give rise to powerful fears of what may happen in such encounters. This is why personal leadership is so important in improving a leader's one-to-one skill and reducing his or her interpersonal fears.
Personal leadership
Personal leadership addresses the leader's technical, psychological and moral development and its impact on his or her leadership presence, skill and behavior. It is, essentially, the key to making the theory of the two outer behavioral levels practical. Scouller went further in suggesting (in the preface of his book, The Three Levels of Leadership), that personal leadership is the answer to what Jim Collins called "the inner development of a person to level 5 leadership" in the book Good to Great – something that Collins admitted he was unable to explain.
Personal leadership has three elements: (1) technical knowhow and skill; (2) the right attitude towards other people; and (3) psychological self-mastery.
The first element, Technical Knowhow and Skill, is about knowing one's technical weaknesses and taking action to update one's knowledge and skills. Scouller (2011) suggested that there are three areas of knowhow that all leaders should learn: time management, individual psychology and group psychology. He also described the six sets of skills that underlie the public and private leadership behaviors: (1) group problem-solving and planning; (2) group decision-making; (3) interpersonal ability, which has a strong overlap with emotional intelligence (4) managing group process; (5) assertiveness; (6) goal-setting.
The second element, Attitude Toward Others, is about developing the right attitude toward colleagues in order to maintain the leader's relationships throughout the group's journey to its shared vision or goal. The right attitude is to believe that other people are as important as oneself and see leadership as an act of service (Scouller, 2011). Although there is a moral aspect to this, there is also a practical side – for a leader's attitude and behavior toward others will largely influence how much they respect and trust that person and want to work with him or her. Scouller outlined the five parts of the right attitude toward others: (1) interdependence (2) appreciation (3) caring (4) service (5) balance. The two keys, he suggested, to developing these five aspects are to ensure that:
There is a demanding, distinctive, shared vision that everyone in the group cares about and wants to achieve.
The leader works on self-mastery to reduce self-esteem issues that make it hard to connect with, appreciate and adopt an attitude of service towards colleagues.
The third element of personal leadership is Self-Mastery. It emphasizes self-awareness and flexible command of one's mind, which allows the leader to let go of previously unconscious limiting beliefs and their associated defensive habits (like avoiding powerful conversations, e.g. appraisal discussions). It also enables leaders to connect more strongly with their values, let their leadership presence flow and act authentically in serving those they lead.
Because self-mastery is a psychological process, Scouller proposed a new model of the human psyche to support its practice. In addition, he outlined the principles of – and obstacles to – personal change and proposed six self-mastery techniques, which include mindfulness meditation.
Leadership presence
The importance and development of leadership presence is a central feature of the Three Levels of Leadership model. Scouller suggested that it takes more than the right knowhow, skills and behaviors to lead well – that it also demands "presence". Presence has been summed up in this way: "What is presence? At its root, it is wholeness – the rare but attainable inner alignment of self-identity, purpose and feelings that eventually leads to freedom from fear. It reveals itself as the magnetic, radiating effect you have on others when you're being the authentic you, giving them your full respect and attention, speaking honestly and letting your unique character traits flow. As leaders, we must be technically competent to gain others' respect, but it's our unique genuine presence that inspires people and prompts them to trust us – in short, to want us as their leader." (Scouller, 2011.)
In the Three Levels of Leadership model, "presence" is not the same as "charisma". Scouller argued that leaders can be charismatic by relying on a job title, fame, skillful acting or by the projection of an aura of "specialness" by followers – whereas presence is something deeper, more authentic, more fundamental and more powerful and does not depend on social status. He contrasted the mental and moral resilience of a person with real presence with the susceptibility to pressure and immoral actions of someone whose charisma rests only on acting skills (and the power their followers give them), not their true inner qualities.
Scouller also suggested that each person's authentic presence is unique and outlined seven qualities of presence: (1) personal power – command over one's thoughts, feelings and actions; (2) high, real self-esteem; (3) the drive to be more, to learn, to grow; (4) a balance of an energetic sense of purpose with a concern for the service of others and respect for their free will; (5) intuition; (6) being in the now; (7) inner peace of mind and a sense of fulfillment.
Presence, according to this model, is developed by practicing personal leadership.
Link with authentic leadership and servant leadership
True leadership presence is, as Scouller defines it, synonymous with authenticity (being genuine and expressing one's highest values) and an attitude of service towards those being led. So in proposing self-mastery and cultivation of the right attitude toward others as a method of developing leadership presence, his model offers a "how to" counterpart to the ideas of "authentic leadership" and servant leadership.
Shared leadership
Most traditional theories of leadership explicitly or implicitly promote the idea of the leader as the admired hero – the person with all the answers that people want to follow. The Three Levels of Leadership model shifts away from this view. It does not reject the possibility of an impressive heroic leader, but it promotes the idea that this is only one way of leading (and, indeed, following) and that shared leadership is more realistic.
This view stems from Scouller's position that leadership is a process, "a series of choices and actions around defining and achieving a goal". Therefore, in his view, "leadership is a practical challenge that's bigger than the leader." He pointed out the danger of confusing "leadership" with the role of "leader". As other authors such as John Adair have pointed out, leadership does not have to rely on one person because anyone in a group can exert leadership. Scouller went further to suggest that "not only can others exert leadership; they must exert it at times if a group is to be successful." In other words, he believed that shared rather than solo leadership is not an idealistic aspiration; it is a matter of practicality. He suggested three reasons for this:
The sheer number of different behaviors required of leaders means they are unlikely to be equally proficient at all of them, so it is sensible for them to draw on their colleagues' strengths (that is, to allow them to lead at times).
It is foolish to make one person responsible for all of the many leadership behaviors as it is likely to overburden them and frustrate any colleagues who are willing and able to lead – indeed, more able to lead – in certain circumstances.
Shared leadership means that more people are involved in the group's big decisions and this promotes joint accountability which, as Katzenbach & Smith found in their research, is a distinct feature of high-performance teams.
Now, potentially, this leaves the leader's role unclear – after all, if anyone in a group can lead, what is the distinct purpose of the leader? Scouller said this of the leader's role: "The purpose of a leader is to make sure there is leadership … to ensure that all four dimensions of leadership are [being addressed]."'' The four dimensions being: (1) a shared, motivating group purpose or vision (2) action, progress and results (3) collective unity or team spirit (4) attention to individuals. For example, the leader has to ensure that there is a motivating vision or goal, but that does not mean he or she has to supply the vision on their own. That is certainly one way of leading, but it is not the only way; another way is to co-create the vision with one's colleagues.
This means that the leader can delegate, or share, part of the responsibility for leadership. However, the final responsibility for making sure that all four dimensions are covered still rests with the leader. So although leaders can let someone else lead in a particular situation, they cannot let go of responsibility to make sure there is leadership; so when the situation changes the leader must decide whether to take charge personally or pass situational responsibility to someone else.
Criticism
One criticism of the Three Levels of Leadership model has been that it may be difficult for some leaders to use it as a guide to self-development without the assistance of a professional coach or psychotherapist at some point as many of its ideas around self-mastery are deeply psychological.
See also
History of contingency theories of leadership
Leadership
Servant leadership
Trait leadership
Transformational leadership
References
Leadership | 0.770103 | 0.971959 | 0.748509 |
Exploratory factor analysis | In multivariate statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is a statistical method used to uncover the underlying structure of a relatively large set of variables. EFA is a technique within factor analysis whose overarching goal is to identify the underlying relationships between measured variables. It is commonly used by researchers when developing a scale (a scale is a collection of questions used to measure a particular research topic) and serves to identify a set of latent constructs underlying a battery of measured variables. It should be used when the researcher has no a priori hypothesis about factors or patterns of measured variables. Measured variables are any one of several attributes of people that may be observed and measured. Examples of measured variables could be the physical height, weight, and pulse rate of a human being. Usually, researchers would have a large number of measured variables, which are assumed to be related to a smaller number of "unobserved" factors. Researchers must carefully consider the number of measured variables to include in the analysis. EFA procedures are more accurate when each factor is represented by multiple measured variables in the analysis.
EFA is based on the common factor model. In this model, manifest variables are expressed as a function of common factors, unique factors, and errors of measurement. Each unique factor influences only one manifest variable, and does not explain correlations between manifest variables. Common factors influence more than one manifest variable and "factor loadings" are measures of the influence of a common factor on a manifest variable. For the EFA procedure, we are more interested in identifying the common factors and the related manifest variables.
EFA assumes that any indicator/measured variable may be associated with any factor. When developing a scale, researchers should use EFA first before moving on to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA is essential to determine underlying factors/constructs for a set of measured variables; while CFA allows the researcher to test the hypothesis that a relationship between the observed variables and their underlying latent exists.
EFA requires the researcher to make a number of important decisions about how to conduct the analysis because there is no one set method.
Fitting procedures
Fitting procedures are used to estimate the factor loadings and unique variances of the model (Factor loadings are the regression coefficients between items and factors and measure the influence of a common factor on a measured variable). There are several factor analysis fitting methods to choose from, however there is little information on all of their strengths and weaknesses and many don't even have an exact name that is used consistently. Principal axis factoring (PAF) and maximum likelihood (ML) are two extraction methods that are generally recommended. In general, ML or PAF give the best results, depending on whether data are normally-distributed or if the assumption of normality has been violated.
Maximum likelihood (ML)
The maximum likelihood method has many advantages in that it allows researchers to compute of a wide range of indexes of the goodness of fit of the model, it allows researchers to test the statistical significance of factor loadings, calculate correlations among factors and compute confidence intervals for these parameters. ML is the best choice when data are normally distributed because “it allows for the computation of a wide range of indexes of the goodness of fit of the model [and] permits statistical significance testing of factor loadings and correlations among factors and the computation of confidence intervals”.
Principal axis factoring (PAF)
Called “principal” axis factoring because the first factor accounts for as much common variance as possible, then the second factor next most variance, and so on. PAF is a descriptive procedure so it is best to use when the focus is just on your sample and you do not plan to generalize the results beyond your sample. A downside of PAF is that it provides a limited range of goodness-of-fit indexes compared to ML and does not allow for the computation of confidence intervals and significance tests.
Selecting the appropriate number of factors
When selecting how many factors to include in a model, researchers must try to balance parsimony (a model with relatively few factors) and plausibility (that there are enough factors to adequately account for correlations among measured variables).
Overfactoring occurs when too many factors are included in a model and may lead researchers to put forward constructs with little theoretical value.
Underfactoring occurs when too few factors are included in a model. If not enough factors are included in a model, there is likely to be substantial error. Measured variables that load onto a factor not included in the model can falsely load on factors that are included, altering true factor loadings. This can result in rotated solutions in which two factors are combined into a single factor, obscuring the true factor structure.
There are a number of procedures designed to determine the optimal number of factors to retain in EFA. These include Kaiser's (1960) eigenvalue-greater-than-one rule (or K1 rule), Cattell's (1966) scree plot, Revelle and Rocklin's (1979) very simple structure criterion, model comparison techniques, Raiche, Roipel, and Blais's (2006) acceleration factor and optimal coordinates, Velicer's (1976) minimum average partial, Horn's (1965) parallel analysis, and Ruscio and Roche's (2012) comparison data. Recent simulation studies assessing the robustness of such techniques suggest that the latter five can better assist practitioners to judiciously model data. These five modern techniques are now easily accessible through integrated use of IBM SPSS Statistics software (SPSS) and R (R Development Core Team, 2011). See Courtney (2013) for guidance on how to carry out these procedures for continuous, ordinal, and heterogenous (continuous and ordinal) data.
With the exception of Revelle and Rocklin's (1979) very simple structure criterion, model comparison techniques, and Velicer's (1976) minimum average partial, all other procedures rely on the analysis of eigenvalues. The eigenvalue of a factor represents the amount of variance of the variables accounted for by that factor. The lower the eigenvalue, the less that factor contributes to explaining the variance of the variables.
A short description of each of the nine procedures mentioned above is provided below.
Kaiser's (1960) eigenvalue-greater-than-one rule (K1 or Kaiser criterion)
Compute the eigenvalues for the correlation matrix and determine how many of these eigenvalues are greater than 1. This number is the number of factors to include in the model. A disadvantage of this procedure is that it is quite arbitrary (e.g., an eigenvalue of 1.01 is included whereas an eigenvalue of .99 is not). This procedure often leads to overfactoring and sometimes underfactoring. Therefore, this procedure should not be used. A variation of the K1 criterion has been created to lessen the severity of the criterion's problems where a researcher calculates confidence intervals for each eigenvalue and retains only factors which have the entire confidence interval greater than 1.0.
Cattell's (1966) scree plot
Compute the eigenvalues for the correlation matrix and plot the values from largest to smallest. Examine the graph to determine the last substantial drop in the magnitude of eigenvalues. The number of plotted points before the last drop is the number of factors to include in the model. This method has been criticized because of its subjective nature (i.e., there is no clear objective definition of what constitutes a substantial drop). As this procedure is subjective, Courtney (2013) does not recommend it.
Revelle and Rocklin (1979) very simple structure
Revelle and Rocklin's (1979) VSS criterion operationalizes this tendency by assessing the extent to which the original correlation matrix is reproduced by a simplified pattern matrix, in which only the highest loading for each item is retained, all other loadings being set to zero. The VSS criterion for assessing the extent of replication can take values between 0 and 1, and is a measure of the goodness-of-fit of the factor solution. The VSS criterion is gathered from factor solutions that involve one factor (k = 1) to a user-specified theoretical maximum number of factors. Thereafter, the factor solution that provides the highest VSS criterion determines the optimal number of interpretable factors in the matrix. In an attempt to accommodate datasets where items covary with more than one factor (i.e., more factorially complex data), the criterion can also be carried out with simplified pattern matrices in which the highest two loadings are retained, with the rest set to zero (Max VSS complexity 2). Courtney also does not recommend VSS because of lack of robust simulation research concerning the performance of the VSS criterion.
Model comparison techniques
Choose the best model from a series of models that differ in complexity. Researchers use goodness-of-fit measures to fit models beginning with a model with zero factors and gradually increase the number of factors. The goal is to ultimately choose a model that explains the data significantly better than simpler models (with fewer factors) and explains the data as well as more complex models (with more factors).
There are different methods that can be used to assess model fit:
Likelihood ratio statistic: Used to test the null hypothesis that a model has perfect model fit. It should be applied to models with an increasing number of factors until the result is nonsignificant, indicating that the model is not rejected as good model fit of the population. This statistic should be used with a large sample size and normally distributed data. There are some drawbacks to the likelihood ratio test. First, when there is a large sample size, even small discrepancies between the model and the data result in model rejection. When there is a small sample size, even large discrepancies between the model and data may not be significant, which leads to underfactoring. Another disadvantage of the likelihood ratio test is that the null hypothesis of perfect fit is an unrealistic standard.
Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) fit index: RMSEA is an estimate of the discrepancy between the model and the data per degree of freedom for the model. Values less that .05 constitute good fit, values between 0.05 and 0.08 constitute acceptable fit, a values between 0.08 and 0.10 constitute marginal fit and values greater than 0.10 indicate poor fit . An advantage of the RMSEA fit index is that it provides confidence intervals which allow researchers to compare a series of models with varying numbers of factors.
Information Criteria: Information criteria such as Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) or the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) can be used to trade-off model fit with model complexity and select an optimal number of factors.
Out-of-sample Prediction Errors: Using the connection between model-implied covariance matrices and standardized regression weights, the number of factors can be selected using out-of-sample prediction errors.
Optimal Coordinate and Acceleration Factor
In an attempt to overcome the subjective weakness of Cattell's (1966) scree test, presented two families of non-graphical solutions. The first method, coined the optimal coordinate (OC), attempts to determine the location of the scree by measuring the gradients associated with eigenvalues and their preceding coordinates. The second method, coined the acceleration factor (AF), pertains to a numerical solution for determining the coordinate where the slope of the curve changes most abruptly. Both of these methods have out-performed the K1 method in simulation. In the Ruscio and Roche study (2012), the OC method was correct 74.03% of the time rivaling the PA technique (76.42%). The AF method was correct 45.91% of the time with a tendency toward under-estimation. Both the OC and AF methods, generated with the use of Pearson correlation coefficients, were reviewed in Ruscio and Roche's (2012) simulation study. Results suggested that both techniques performed quite well under ordinal response categories of two to seven (C = 2-7) and quasi-continuous (C = 10 or 20) data situations. Given the accuracy of these procedures under simulation, they are highly recommended for determining the number of factors to retain in EFA. It is one of Courtney's 5 recommended modern procedures.
Velicer's Minimum Average Partial test (MAP)
Velicer's (1976) MAP test “involves a complete principal components analysis followed by the examination of a series of matrices of partial correlations” (p. 397). The squared correlation for Step “0” (see Figure 4) is the average squared off-diagonal correlation for the unpartialed correlation matrix. On Step 1, the first principal component and its associated items are partialed out. Thereafter, the average squared off-diagonal correlation for the subsequent correlation matrix is computed for Step 1. On Step 2, the first two principal components are partialed out and the resultant average squared off-diagonal correlation is again computed. The computations are carried out for k minus one steps (k representing the total number of variables in the matrix). Finally, the average squared correlations for all steps are lined up and the step number that resulted in the lowest average squared partial correlation determines the number of components or factors to retain (Velicer, 1976). By this method, components are maintained as long as the variance in the correlation matrix represents systematic variance, as opposed to residual or error variance. Although methodologically akin to principal components analysis, the MAP technique has been shown to perform quite well in determining the number of factors to retain in multiple simulation studies. However, in a very small minority of cases MAP may grossly overestimate the number of factors in a dataset for unknown reasons. This procedure is made available through SPSS's user interface. See Courtney (2013) for guidance. This is one of his five recommended modern procedures.
Parallel analysis
To carry out the PA test, users compute the eigenvalues for the correlation matrix and plot the values from largest to smallest and then plot a set of random eigenvalues. The number of eigenvalues before the intersection points indicates how many factors to include in your model. This procedure can be somewhat arbitrary (i.e. a factor just meeting the cutoff will be included and one just below will not). Moreover, the method is very sensitive to sample size, with PA suggesting more factors in datasets with larger sample sizes. Despite its shortcomings, this procedure performs very well in simulation studies and is one of Courtney's recommended procedures. PA has been implemented in a number of commonly used statistics programs such as R and SPSS.
Ruscio and Roche's comparison data
In 2012 Ruscio and Roche introduced the comparative data (CD) procedure in an attempt improve upon the PA method. The authors state that "rather than generating random datasets, which only take into account sampling error, multiple datasets with known factorial structures are analyzed to determine which best reproduces the profile of eigenvalues for the actual data" (p. 258). The strength of the procedure is its ability to not only incorporate sampling error, but also the factorial structure and multivariate distribution of the items. Ruscio and Roche's (2012) simulation study determined that the CD procedure outperformed many other methods aimed at determining the correct number of factors to retain. In that study, the CD technique, making use of Pearson correlations accurately predicted the correct number of factors 87.14% of the time. However, the simulated study never involved more than five factors. Therefore, the applicability of the CD procedure to estimate factorial structures beyond five factors is yet to be tested. Courtney includes this procedure in his recommended list and gives guidelines showing how it can be easily carried out from within SPSS's user interface.
In 2023, Goretzko and Ruscio proposed the Comparison Data Forest as an extension of the CD approach.
Convergence of multiple tests
A review of 60 journal articles by Henson and Roberts (2006) found that none used multiple modern techniques in an attempt to find convergence, such as PA and Velicer's (1976) minimum average partial (MAP) procedures. Ruscio and Roche (2012) simulation study demonstrated the empirical advantage of seeking convergence. When the CD and PA procedures agreed, the accuracy of the estimated number of factors was correct 92.2% of the time. Ruscio and Roche (2012) demonstrated that when further tests were in agreement, the accuracy of the estimation could be increased even further.
Tailoring Courtney's recommended procedures for ordinal and continuous data
Recent simulation studies in the field of psychometrics suggest that the parallel analysis, minimum average partial, and comparative data techniques can be improved for different data situations. For example, in simulation studies, the performance of the minimum average partial test, when ordinal data is concerned, can be improved by utilizing polychoric correlations, as opposed to Pearson correlations. Courtney (2013) details how each of these three procedures can be optimized and carried out simultaneously from within the SPSS interface.
Factor rotation
Factor rotation is a commonly employed step in EFA, used to aide interpretation of factor matrixes. For any solution with two or more factors there are an infinite number of orientations of the factors that will explain the data equally well. Because there is no unique solution, a researcher must select a single solution from the infinite possibilities. The goal of factor rotation is to rotate factors in multidimensional space to arrive at a solution with best simple structure. There are two main types of factor rotation: orthogonal and oblique rotation.
Orthogonal rotation
Orthogonal rotations constrain factors to be perpendicular to each other and hence uncorrelated. An advantage of orthogonal rotation is its simplicity and conceptual clarity, although there are several disadvantages. In the social sciences, there is often a theoretical basis for expecting constructs to be correlated, therefore orthogonal rotations may not be very realistic because they do not allow this. Also, because orthogonal rotations require factors to be uncorrelated, they are less likely to produce solutions with simple structure.
Varimax rotation is an orthogonal rotation of the factor axes to maximize the variance of the squared loadings of a factor (column) on all the variables (rows) in a factor matrix, which has the effect of differentiating the original variables by extracted factor. Each factor will tend to have either large or small loadings of any particular variable. A varimax solution yields results which make it as easy as possible to identify each variable with a single factor. This is the most common orthogonal rotation option.
Quartimax rotation is an orthogonal rotation that maximizes the squared loadings for each variable rather than each factor. This minimizes the number of factors needed to explain each variable. This type of rotation often generates a general factor on which most variables are loaded to a high or medium degree.
Equimax rotation is a compromise between varimax and quartimax criteria.
Oblique rotation
Oblique rotations permit correlations among factors. An advantage of oblique rotation is that it produces solutions with better simple structure when factors are expected to correlate, and it produces estimates of correlations among factors. These rotations may produce solutions similar to orthogonal rotation if the factors do not correlate with each other.
Several oblique rotation procedures are commonly used.
Direct oblimin rotation is the standard oblique rotation method. Promax rotation is often seen in older literature because it is easier to calculate than oblimin. Other oblique methods include direct quartimin rotation and Harris-Kaiser orthoblique rotation.
Unrotated solution
Common factor analysis software is capable of producing an unrotated solution. This refers to the result of a principal axis factoring with no further rotation. The so-called unrotated solution is in fact an orthogonal rotation that maximizes the variance of the first factors. The unrotated solution tends to give a general factor with loadings for most of the variables. This may be useful if many variables are correlated with each other, as revealed by one or a few dominating eigenvalues on a scree plot.
The usefulness of an unrotated solution was emphasized by a meta analysis of studies of cultural differences. This revealed that many published studies of cultural differences have given similar factor analysis results, but rotated differently. Factor rotation has obscured the similarity between the results of different studies and the existence of a strong general factor, while the unrotated solutions were much more similar.
Factor interpretation
Factor loadings are numerical values that indicate the strength and direction of a factor on a measured variable. Factor loadings indicate how strongly the factor influences the measured variable. In order to label the factors in the model, researchers should examine the factor pattern to see which items load highly on which factors and then determine what those items have in common. Whatever the items have in common will indicate the meaning of the factor.
See also
Confirmatory factor analysis
Exploratory factor analysis vs. Principal component analysis
Exploratory factor analysis (Wikiversity)
Factor analysis
References
External links
Best Practices in Exploratory Factor Analysis: Four Recommendations for Getting the Most From Your Analysis. http://pareonline.net/pdf/v10n7.pdf
Wikiversity: Exploratory Factor Analysis. http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Exploratory_factor_analysis
Tucker and MacCallum: Exploratory Factor Analysis. pdf
Factor analysis | 0.760022 | 0.984825 | 0.748489 |
Chickering's theory of identity development | Chickering's Theory of Identity Development, as articulated by Arthur W. Chickering explains the process of identity development. The theory was created specifically to examine the identity development process of students in higher education, but it has been used in other areas as well.
History
During his employment at Goddard College, Chickering started in on the research for his theory. The research, which he began in 1959 and finished in 1969, involved surveying college students. The students were traditional in age, and were enrolled as sophomores through senior. Chickering was involved with the Project on Student Development in Small Colleges, which allowed him to collect additional data from other schools and compile it with the data from his own. In 1969, he published Education and Identity which explained his new theory of student development. His work was revisited and updated in 1972 and again in 1993 in cooperation with Linda Reisser.
Overview
Chickering's theory focuses primarily on identity development. It examines this by means of seven vectors of development which contribute to the development of identity:
Developing competence
Managing emotions
Moving through autonomy toward interdependence
Developing mature interpersonal relationships
Establishing identity
Developing purpose
Developing integrity
These vectors can be thought of as a series of stages or tasks that deal with feeling, thinking, believing, and relating to others. Individuals may progress through the vectors at different rates. The vectors have a tendency to interact with each other, and this can cause reevaluation of issues associated with vectors that had already been worked through. Although the vectors do build on one another, the vectors do not follow a strict sequential order. Developing in multiple vectors allows individuals to function with greater stability and intellectual complexity.
Developing competence
In Education and Identity, Chickering and Reisser use the analogy of the three-tined pitchfork to describe competence. The tines are intellectual competence, physical competence, and interpersonal competence. The handle of the pitchfork represents the sense of competence that comes from the knowledge that the individual is able to achieve goals and cope with adverse circumstances.
Managing emotions
This vector consists of learning to understand, accept, and express emotions. Individuals learn how to appropriately act on feelings that they are experiencing. In his more recent work, Chickering's theory was broad and covered emotions including anxiety, depression, guilt, anger, shame along with positive emotions such as inspiration and optimism. In his original work, he focused primarily on aggression and sexual desires.
Moving through autonomy toward interdependence
The successful achievement of this vector involves learning how to be emotionally independent. This includes becoming free from the consistent need for comfort, affirmation, and approval from others. Individuals also see growth in problem solving abilities, initiative, and self-direction. They begin to understand that they are part of a whole. They are autonomous, but interdependent on others in society.
In Chickering's updated theory, much more emphasis is placed on interdependence.
Developing mature interpersonal relationships
In this vector, individuals learn to appreciate and understand others. Some of the related tasks include cross-cultural tolerance and appreciation for the differences of others. An individual also becomes competent in developing and maintaining long-term intimate relationships. Chickering moved this up to list of vectors in his revised edition in order show the importance of developing relationships.
Establishing identity
This vector builds on each of the ones which comes before it. It involves becoming comfortable with oneself. This includes physical appearance, gender and sexual identity, ethnicity, and social roles. It also includes becoming stable and gaining self-esteem. A person who has a well-developed identity can handle feedback and criticism from others.
Developing purpose
In this vector, an individual develops commitment to the future and becomes more competent at making and following through on decisions, even when they may be contested. It involves developing a sense of life vocation. It may involve the creation of goals, and is influenced by the family and lifestyle of the individual.
Developing integrity
This vector consists of three stages which flow in chronological order, but are able to overlap. These stages are humanizing values, personalizing value, and developing congruence. The process of humanizing values encompasses the shift from a cold, stiff value system to one which is more balanced with the interests of others matched with the interests of the self. After this is established, the individual begins to assemble a core group of personal values which are firmly held, but the beliefs of others are considered and respected. Developing congruence involves bringing actions in line with beliefs.
References
Developmental psychology | 0.775034 | 0.965749 | 0.748488 |
Visual learning | Visual learning is a learning style among the learning styles of Neil Fleming's VARK model in which information is presented to a learner in a visual format. Visual learners can utilize graphs, charts, maps, diagrams, and other forms of visual stimulation to effectively interpret information. The Fleming VARK model also includes Kinesthetic Learning and Auditory learning. There is no evidence that providing visual materials to students identified as having a visual style improves learning.
Techniques
A review study concluded that using graphic organizers improves student performance in the following areas:
Retention
Students remember information better and can better recall it when it is represented and learned both visually and verbally.
Reading comprehension
The use of graphic organizers helps improve reading comprehension of students.
Student achievement
Students with and without learning disabilities improve performance across content areas and grade levels.
Thinking and learning skills; critical thinking
When students develop and use a graphic organizer their higher order thinking and critical thinking skills are enhanced.
Areas of the brain affected
Various areas of the brain work together in a multitude of ways in order to produce the images that we see with our eyes and that are encoded by our brains. The basis of this work takes place in the visual cortex of the brain. The visual cortex is located in the occipital lobe of the brain and harbors many other structures that aid in visual recognition, categorization, and learning. One of the first things the brain must do when acquiring new visual information is to recognize the incoming material. Brain areas involved in recognition are the inferior temporal cortex, the superior parietal cortex, and the cerebellum. During tasks of recognition, there is increased activation in the left inferior temporal cortex and decreased activation in the right superior parietal cortex. Recognition is aided by neural plasticity, or the brain's ability to reshape itself based on new information. Next the brain must categorize the material using the three main areas that are used when categorizing new visual information: the orbitofrontal cortex and two dorsolateral prefrontal regions which begin the process of sorting new information into groups and further assimilating that information into things that you might already know.
After recognizing and categorizing new material entered into the visual field, the brain is ready to begin the encoding process – the process which leads to learning. Multiple brain areas are involved in this process such as the frontal lobe, the right extrastriate cortex, the neocortex, and again, the neostriatum. One area in particular, the limbic-diencephalic region, is essential for transforming perceptions into memories. With the coming together of tasks of recognition, categorization and learning; schemas help make the process of encoding new information and relating it to things you already know much easier. One can remember visual images much better when they can apply it to an already known schema. Schemas actually provide enhancement of visual memory and learning.
Infancy
Where it starts
Between the fetal stage and 18 months, a baby experiences rapid growth of a substance called gray matter. Gray matter is the darker tissue of the brain and spinal cord, consisting mainly of nerve cell bodies and branching dendrites. It is responsible for processing sensory information in the brain such as areas like the primary visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is located within the occipital lobe in the back of infant's brain and is responsible for processing visual information such as static or moving objects and pattern recognition.
The four pathways
Within the primary visual cortex, there are four pathways: the superior colliculus pathway (SC pathway), the middle temporal area pathway (MT pathway), the frontal eye fields pathway (FEF pathway), and the inhibitory pathway. Each pathway is crucial to the development of visual attention in the first few months of life.
The SC pathway is responsible for the generation of eye movements toward simple stimuli. It receives information from the retina and the visual cortex and can direct behavior toward an object. The MT pathway is involved in the smooth tracking of objects and travels between the SC pathway and the primary visual cortex. In conjunction with the SC pathway and the MT pathway, the FEF pathway allows the infant to control eye movements as well as visual attention. It also plays a part in sensory processing in the infant.
Lastly, the inhibitory pathway regulates the activity in the superior colliculus and is later responsible for obligatory attention in the infant. The maturation and functionality of these pathways depends on how well the infant can make distinctions as well as focus on stimuli.
Supporting studies
A study by Haith, Hazan, & Goodman in 1988 showed that babies as young as 3.5 months, are able to create short-term expectations of situations they confront. Expectations in this study refer to the cognitive and perceptual ways in which an infant can forecast a future event. This was tested by showing the infant either a predictable pattern of slides or an irregular pattern of slides and tracking the infant's eye movements.
A later study by Johnson, Posner, & Rothbart in 1991 showed that by 4 months, infants can develop expectations. This was tested through anticipatory looks and disengagement with stimuli. For example, anticipatory looks portray the infant as being able to predict the next part of a pattern which can then be applied to the real world scenario of breast-feeding. Infants are able to predict a mother's movements and expect feeding so they can latch onto the nipple for feeding. Expectations, anticipatory looks, and disengagement all show that infants can learn visually, even if it is only short term.
David Roberts (2016) tested multimedia learning propositions, he found that using certain images dislocates pedagogically harmful excesses of text, reducing cognitive overloading and exploiting under-used visual processing capacities
In early childhood
From the ages 3–8, visual learning improves and begins to take many different forms. At the toddler age of 3–5, children's bodily actions structure the visual learning environment. At this age, toddlers are using their newly developed sensory-motor skills quite often and fusing them with their improved vision to understand the world around them. This is seen by toddlers using their arms to bring objects of interest close to their sensors, such as their eyes and faces, to explore the object further. The act of bringing objects close to their face affects their immediate view by placing their mental and visual attention on that object and just blocking the view of other objects that are around them and out of view.
There is an emphasis placed on objects and things that are directly in front of them and thus proximal vision is the primary perspective of visual learning. This is different from how adults utilize visual learning. This difference in toddler vision and adult vision is attributable to their body sizes, and body movements such that their visual experiences are created by their body movement. An adult's view is broad due to their larger body size, with most objects in view because of the distance between them and objects. Adults tend to scan a room, and see everything rather than focusing on one object only.
The way a child integrates visual learning with motor experiences enhances their perceptual and cognitive development. For elementary school children aged 4–11, intellect is positively related to their level of auditory-visual integrative proficiency. The most significant period for the development of auditory-visual integration occurs between ages 5–7. During this time, the child has mastered visual-kinesthetic integration, and the child's visual learning can be applied to formal learning focused towards books and reading, rather than physical objects, thus impacting their intellect. As reading scores increase, children are able to learn more, and their visual learning has developed to not only focus on physical objects in close proximity to them, but also to interpret words and as such acquire knowledge by reading.
In middle childhood
Here we categorize middle childhood as ages 9 to 14. By this stage in a child's normal development, vision is sharp and learning processes are well underway. Most studies that have focused their efforts on visual learning have found that visual learning styles as opposed to traditional learning styles greatly improve the totality of a student's learning experience. Firstly, visual learning engages students, note that student engagement is one of the most important factors that motivate students to learn. Visuals increase student interest with the use of graphics animation and video. Consequently, it has been found that students pay greater attention to lecture material when visuals are used. With increased attention to lesson material, many positive outcomes have been seen with the use of visual tactics in the classrooms of middle-aged students.
Students organize and process information more thoroughly when they learn visually which helps them to understand the information better and they are more likely to remember information that is learned with a visual aid. Research shows that when teachers used visual tactics to teach middle-aged students they found that students had more positive attitudes about the material they were learning. Students also exemplified higher test performance, higher standard achievement scores, thinking on levels that require higher-order thinking, and more engagement. One study also found that learning about emotional events, such as the Holocaust, with visual aids increase middle- aged children's empathy.
In adolescence
Brain maturation into young adulthood
Gray matter is responsible for generating nerve impulses that process brain information, and white matter is responsible for transmitting that brain information between lobes and out through the spinal cord. Nerve impulses are transmitted by myelin, a fatty material that grows around a cell. White matter has a myelin sheath (a collection of myelin) while gray matter does not which efficiently allows neural impulses to move swiftly along the fiber. The myelin sheath isn't fully formed until around ages 24–26. This means that adolescents and young adults typically learn differently, and subsequently often utilize visual aids in order to help them better comprehend difficult subjects.
Learning preferences can vary across a wide spectrum. Specifically, within the realm of visual learning, they can vary between people who prefer being given learning instructions with text as opposed to those who prefer graphics. College students were tested in general factors like learning preference and spatial ability (being able to be proficient in creating, holding, and manipulating spatial representations). The study determined that college-age individuals report efficient learning styles and learning preferences for themselves individually. These personal assessments have proved accurate, meaning that self-ratings of factors such as spatial ability and learning preference can be effective measures of how well one learns visually.
Gender differences
Studies have indicated that adolescents learn best through 10 various styles: reading, manipulative activity, teacher explanation, auditory stimulation, visual demonstration, visual stimulation (electronic), visual stimulation (just pictures), games, social interaction, and personal experience. According to the study, young adult males demonstrate a preference for learning through activities they are able to manipulate while young adult females show a greater preference for learning through teacher notes visually or by using graphs, and through reading. This suggests that women are more visually stimulated, interested in information that they can have physical direct control over. Men, on the other hand, learn best through reading information and having it explained in an auditory fashion.
Lack of evidence
Although learning styles have "enormous popularity", and both children and adults express personal preferences, there is no evidence that identifying a student's learning style produces better outcomes, and there is significant evidence that the widely touted "meshing hypothesis" (that a student will learn best if taught in a method deemed appropriate for that student's learning style) is invalid. Well-designed studies "flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis". Rather than targeting instruction to the "right" learning style, students appear to benefit most from mixed modality presentations, for instance using both auditory and visual techniques for all students.
See also
Learning styles
Auditory learning
Kinesthetic learning
References
External links
Articles and resources about the visual learning style for students and instructors
More tips for visual learners
Learning methods
Infographics
Information technology management
Neuro-linguistic programming concepts and methods | 0.760212 | 0.984567 | 0.74848 |
Data fusion | Data fusion is the process of integrating multiple data sources to produce more consistent, accurate, and useful information than that provided by any individual data source.
Data fusion processes are often categorized as low, intermediate, or high, depending on the processing stage at which fusion takes place. Low-level data fusion combines several sources of raw data to produce new raw data. The expectation is that fused data is more informative and synthetic than the original inputs.
For example, sensor fusion is also known as (multi-sensor) data fusion and is a subset of information fusion.
The concept of data fusion has origins in the evolved capacity of humans and animals to incorporate information from multiple senses to improve their ability to survive. For example, a combination of sight, touch, smell, and taste may indicate whether a substance is edible.
The JDL/DFIG model
In the mid-1980s, the Joint Directors of Laboratories formed the Data Fusion Subpanel (which later became known as the Data Fusion Group). With the advent of the World Wide Web, data fusion thus included data, sensor, and information fusion. The JDL/DFIG introduced a model of data fusion that divided the various processes. Currently, the six levels with the Data Fusion Information Group (DFIG) model are:
Level 0: Source Preprocessing (or Data Assessment)
Level 1: Object Assessment
Level 2: Situation Assessment
Level 3: Impact Assessment (or Threat Refinement)
Level 4: Process Refinement (or Resource Management)
Level 5: User Refinement (or Cognitive Refinement)
Level 6: Mission Refinement (or Mission Management)
Although the JDL Model (Level 1–4) is still in use today, it is often criticized for its implication that the levels necessarily happen in order and also for its lack of adequate representation of the potential for a human-in-the-loop. The DFIG model (Level 0–5) explored the implications of situation awareness, user refinement, and mission management. Despite these shortcomings, the JDL/DFIG models are useful for visualizing the data fusion process, facilitating discussion and common understanding, and important for systems-level information fusion design.
Geospatial applications
In the geospatial (GIS) domain, data fusion is often synonymous with data integration. In these applications, there is often a need to combine diverse data sets into a unified (fused) data set which includes all of the data points and time steps from the input data sets. The fused data set is different from a simple combined superset in that the points in the fused data set contain attributes and metadata which might not have been included for these points in the original data set.
A simplified example of this process is shown below where data set "α" is fused with data set β to form the fused data set δ. Data points in set "α" have spatial coordinates X and Y and attributes A1 and A2. Data points in set β have spatial coordinates X and Y and attributes B1 and B2. The fused data set contains all points and attributes.
In a simple case where all attributes are uniform across the entire analysis domain, the attributes may be simply assigned: M?, N?, Q?, R? to M, N, Q, R. In a real application, attributes are not uniform and some type of interpolation is usually required to properly assign attributes to the data points in the fused set.
In a much more complicated application, marine animal researchers use data fusion to combine animal tracking data with bathymetric, meteorological, sea surface temperature (SST) and animal habitat data to examine and understand habitat utilization and animal behavior in reaction to external forces such as weather or water temperature. Each of these data sets exhibit a different spatial grid and sampling rate so a simple combination would likely create erroneous assumptions and taint the results of the analysis. But through the use of data fusion, all data and attributes are brought together into a single view in which a more complete picture of the environment is created. This enables scientists to identify key locations and times and form new insights into the interactions between the environment and animal behaviors.
In the figure at right, rock lobsters are studied off the coast of Tasmania. Hugh Pederson of the University of Tasmania used data fusion software to fuse southern rock lobster tracking data (color-coded for in yellow and black for day and night, respectively) with bathymetry and habitat data to create a unique 4D picture of rock lobster behavior.
Data integration
In applications outside of the geospatial domain, differences in the usage of the terms Data integration and Data fusion apply. In areas such as business intelligence, for example, data integration is used to describe the combining of data, whereas data fusion is integration followed by reduction or replacement. Data integration might be viewed as set combination wherein the larger set is retained, whereas fusion is a set reduction technique with improved confidence.
Application areas
Bioinformatics
Biometrics
Business intelligence
Business performance management
Cheminformatics
Quantitative structure-activity relationship
Discovery science
Geospatial information systems
Intelligence services
Intelligent transport systems
Loyalty card
Oceanography
Soil mapping
Wireless sensor networks
From multiple traffic sensing modalities
The data from the different sensing technologies can be combined in intelligent ways to determine the traffic state accurately. A Data fusion based approach that utilizes the road side collected acoustic, image and sensor data has been shown to combine the advantages of the different individual methods.
Decision fusion
In many cases, geographically dispersed sensors are severely energy- and bandwidth-limited. Therefore, the raw data concerning a certain phenomenon are often summarized in a few bits from each sensor. When inferring on a binary event (i.e., or ), in the extreme case only binary decisions are sent from sensors to a Decision Fusion Center (DFC) and combined in order to obtain improved classification performance.
For enhanced contextual awareness
With a multitude of built-in sensors including motion sensor, environmental sensor, position sensor, a modern mobile device typically gives mobile applications access to a number of sensory data which could be leveraged to enhance the contextual awareness. Using signal processing and data fusion techniques such as feature generation, feasibility study and principal component analysis (PCA) such sensory data will greatly improve the positive rate of classifying the motion and contextual relevant status of the device. Many context-enhanced information techniques are provided by Snidaro, et al.
Statistical methods
Bayesian auto-regressive Gaussian processes
Gaussian processes are a popular machine learning model. If an auto-regressive relationship between the data is assumed, and each data source is assumed to be a Gaussian process, this constitutes a non-linear Bayesian regression problem.
Semiparametric estimation
Many data fusion methods assume common conditional distributions across several data sources. Recently, methods have been developed to enable efficient estimation within the resulting semiparametric model.
See also
Data assimilation
Data munging
Image fusion
Information integration
Integrative level
Meta-analysis
Sensor fusion
References
Sources
General references
Bibliography
External links
Discriminant Correlation Analysis (DCA)
Sensordata Fusion, An Introduction
International Society of Information Fusion
Sensor Fusion for Nanopositioning
Data analysis | 0.760244 | 0.984502 | 0.748462 |
Gender empowerment | Gender empowerment is the empowerment of people of any gender. While conventionally, the aspect of it is mentioned for empowerment of women, the concept stresses the distinction between biological sex and gender as a role, also referring to other marginalized genders in a particular political or social context.
Gender empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion in regard to development and economics. Entire nations, businesses, communities, and groups can benefit from the implementation of programs and policies that adopt the notion of women empowerment. Empowerment is one of the main procedural concerns when addressing human rights and development. The Human Development and Capabilities Approach, The Millennium Development Goals, and other credible approaches/goals point to empowerment and participation as a necessary step if a country is to overcome the obstacles associated with poverty and development.
Measuring
Gender empowerment can be measured through the Gender Empowerment Measure, or the GEM. The GEM shows women's participation in a given nation, both politically and economically. Gem is calculated by tracking "the share of seats in parliament held by women; of female legislators, senior officials and managers; and of female profession and technical workers; and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence." It then ranks countries given this information. Other measures that take into account the importance of female participation and equality include: the Gender Parity Index and the Gender Development Index (GDI).
See also
Anti-gender movement
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Diversity (politics)
Diversity training
Gender and politics
Gender diversity
Gender equality
Gender essentialism
Respect
Suicide in LGBT youth
Sociology of gender
Women's empowerment
References
Gender equality
Human rights concepts
Law and economics
Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures
Law by issue
Egalitarianism
Empowerment
Gender and society
Feminism and society
Control (social and political)
Social privilege | 0.765547 | 0.977668 | 0.74845 |
Construct (psychology) | In psychology, a construct, also called a hypothetical construct or psychological construct, is a tool used to facilitate understanding of human behavior. A psychological construct is a label for a domain of behaviors. Behavioral sciences use constructs such as conscientiousness, intelligence, political power, self-esteem, and group culture. For example, if a student sees another sitting in a classroom before an examination biting her nails and fidgeting, the interpretation might be that she is experiencing anxiety. In that case, anxiety is a construct that underlies the behavior that is observed. Cognitive psychologists view constructs as hypothesized causes for certain behaviors, whereas behavioral psychologists view constructs as only descriptors of behaviors. A construct derives its name from the fact that it is a mental construction, derived from a process a observing natural phenomena, inferring the common features of those observations, and constructing a label for the commonality or the underlying cause. A construct derives its value from the shared meaning it represents for different people. If a construct is clearly articulated and the phenomena it encompasses are clearly defined, it becomes a useful conceptual tool that facilitates communication. Once defined, constructs become objects of conceptual scrutiny in their own right. Constructs summarize behavioral domains. Constructs are the building blocks of scientific theories.
See also
Construct validity
Mental image
References
Psychological concepts | 0.761473 | 0.982851 | 0.748414 |
The CIPO-model | The context-input-process-output (CIPO) model is a basic systems model of school functioning, which can be applied to several levels within education, namely system level, school level and classroom level. The model also functions as analytical framework through which the educational quality can be reviewed.
According to his model, education can be seen as a production process, whereby input by means of a process results in output. Input, process and output are all influenced by context. The context gives input, provides resources for the process and sets requirements to the output. In this way all components of the CIPO-model are interconnected to each other.
The CIPO-model is developed by Jaap Scheerens (1990).
Four components
Context
Concerns developments that influence education, like technological, demographic and economic developments. National policies for education also provide an influential context, by determining goals and standards. This has an important potential influence upon quality of education.
Input
Refers to the financial resources and the material infrastructure, like the school buildings and textbooks. In addition to these resources and materials, input refers to the knowledge level of students at commencement, student and teacher characteristics (like gender and ethnicities) and teachers’ qualifications.
Process
Includes initiatives to get (desirable) output, like activities. Other process features are didactical and pedagogical approaches, school culture and school climate, peer-group processes and leadership (style).
Output
Contains the results and revenues. Revenues in short term are student achievements, like acquired knowledge of language and mathematics and social competencies. A revenue on mid long-term is obtaining a diploma and examples on revenues on the long term are getting a (paid) job.
Criticism
Existing criticism on the CIPO-model is that students are being seen as ‘raw materials’ who are ‘created’ through a production process. According to critics there is an exaggerated focus on measurable revenues. ‘Malleability’, however, is a sensitive topic with regard to systems thinking. This from systems theory derived terminology leads to resistance in educational and pedagogical communities.
However, according to others, input can be seen as children who enter school with certain characteristics. When they finish school, some characteristics will have (been) changed, more knowledge will have been acquired and new skills will have been obtained.
Perspectives of quality of education
On the basis of the model’s analytical framework, five important perspectives of quality of education can be distinguished.
Productivity
From the perspective of productivity, quality of education is only assessed on the basis of revenues. The achieved results determine the extent to which education has met the expectations and thus the success of the whole system.
Effectiveness
The effectiveness perspective focuses on context-, input- and process factors that are positively correlated to the output (revenues). The effectiveness is determined by the extent to which an education system is able to achieve predetermined goals. Like productivity, effectiveness is often expressed through student performance.
Efficiency
This perspective seeks to achieve the highest possible effectiveness with the lowest possible of costs. This can be done in two different ways, namely achieving the same yields with fewer resources or by achieving better yields with the same resources.
Educational (in)equality
From this perspective, quality of education is being reviewed by analysing the distribution of input, process and output (results) between different groups in education. The ideal is that all groups, like students from diverse socioeconomically backgrounds, can benefit from education equally. Academic achievement should not be, or as little as possible, the result of background factors.
Adaptivity
The last perspective is the extent to which education adequately responds to specific questions from the broader social-, cultural- and economic context. Adaptivity can be achieved by choosing objectives that meet the expectations from society. Because of the constant changes in society and the flow of new developments this requires flexibility.
References
External links
CIPO, het referentiekader van de onderwijsinspectie
Context Input Process Output-model (CIPO-model)
See also
IPO model
Systems theory | 0.802385 | 0.932688 | 0.748375 |
Practical theology | Practical theology is an academic discipline that examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology enacted in those practices and in order to consider how theological theory and theological practices can be more fully aligned, changed, or improved. Practical theology has often sought to address a perceived disconnection between dogmatics or theology as an academic discipline on the one hand, and the life and practice of the church on the other.
As articulated by Richard Osmer, the four key tasks or questions to be asked by practical theology are:
What is going on? (the descriptive-empirical task)
Why is this going on? (the interpretative task)
What ought to be going on? (the normative task)
How might we respond? (the pragmatic task)
Definition
Gerben Heitink defines practical theology as “the empirically oriented theological theory of the mediation of the Christian faith in the praxis of modern society.” Practical theology consists of several related sub-fields: applied theology (such as missions, evangelism, religious education, pastoral psychology or the psychology of religion), church growth, administration, homiletics, spiritual formation, pastoral theology, spiritual direction, spiritual theology (or ascetical theology), political theology, theology of justice and peace and similar areas.
Ray Anderson writes that the first person to give practical theology a definition, C.I. Nitzch, defined it as the “theory of the church’s practice of Christianity.” Anderson quotes John Swinton as defining practical theology as “critical reflection on the actions of the church in light of the gospel and Christian Tradition.” Swinton cites Don Browning's definition of practical theology as “the reflective process which the church pursues in its efforts to articulate the theological grounds of practical living in a variety of areas such as work, sexuality, marriage, youth, aging, and death.”
History
Practical theology was first introduced by Friedrich Schleiermacher in the early 1800s as an academic discipline encompassing the practice of Church leadership in his Brief Outline of the Study of Theology. Schleiermacher viewed practical theology as one of three theological sciences, along with philosophical theology and historical theology, together making theology whole.
Theologian Elaine Graham posits that practical theology has evolved over time. Originally focused more towards church leaders, she argues that it has become more personal and autobiographical.
Application
Other fields of theology have been influenced by practical theology and benefit from its usage, including applied theology (mission, evangelism, religious education, pastoral psychology or the psychology of religion), church growth, administration, homiletics, spiritual formation, pastoral theology, spiritual direction, spiritual theology (or ascetical theology), political theology, theology of justice and peace and similar areas.
Practical theology also includes advocacy theology, such as the various theologies of liberation (of the oppressed in general, of the disenfranchised, of women, of immigrants, of children, and black theology). A theology of relational care has also been proposed as an approach to practical theology. This approach focuses on ministering to the personal needs of others, primarily individuals going through crises of a temporal nature. This may include individuals and families experiencing poverty, ill health, stigmatization, or ostracization from mainstream society. Such ministry might be facilitated in a church or a parachurch environment.
"Convergent practical theology" has emerged from the combined studies and practice of missiology with organizational development since the publication of Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America.
See also
Duncan B. Forrester
Darrell Guder
Practical charismatic theology
Friedrich Schleiermacher
References
External links
Center for Practical Theology at Boston University
Christian theology | 0.766341 | 0.976542 | 0.748365 |
Democratic transition | A democratic transition describes a phase in a country's political system as a result of an ongoing change from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one. The process is known as democratisation, political changes moving in a democratic direction. Democratization waves have been linked to sudden shifts in the distribution of power among the great powers, which created openings and incentives to introduce sweeping domestic reforms. Although transitional regimes experience more civil unrest, they may be considered stable in a transitional phase for decades at a time. Since the end of the Cold War transitional regimes have become the most common form of government. Scholarly analysis of the decorative nature of democratic institutions concludes that the opposite democratic backsliding (autocratization), a transition to authoritarianism is the most prevalent basis of modern hybrid regimes.
Typology
Autocratization
Democratisation
Factors
Decolonization
Democratic globalization
Democracy promotion
Outcomes
Democratic consolidation
Stalled transition
Hybrid regime
Measurement
See also
Energy transition
Anti-authoritarianism
Types of democracy
Peaceful transition of power
Radical politics
Transition economy
List of freedom indices
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Democracy data: how do researchers measure democracy? -Our World in Data
Democratic Transition publications - Jstor
Mixed government
Political systems
Political terminology
Economic systems | 0.762521 | 0.981419 | 0.748352 |
Critical criminology | Critical criminology applies critical theory to criminology. Critical criminology examines the genesis of crime and the nature of justice in relation to factors such as class and status. Law and the penal system are viewed as founded on social inequality and meant to perpetuate such inequality. Critical criminology also looks for possible biases in criminological research.
Critical criminology sees crime as a product of oppression of workers – in particular, those in greatest poverty – and less-advantaged groups within society, such as women and ethnic minorities, are seen to be the most likely to suffer oppressive social relations based upon class division, sexism and racism. More simply, critical criminology may be defined as any criminological topic area that takes into account the contextual factors of crime or critiques topics covered in mainstream criminology.
Convict criminology
Convict criminology, which is one type of critical criminology, emerged in the United States during the late 1990s. It offers an alternative epistemology on crime, criminality and punishment. Scholarship is conducted by PhD-trained former prisoners, prison workers and others who share a belief that in order to be a fully rounded discipline, mainstream criminology needs to be informed by input from those with personal experience of life in correctional institutions. Contributions from academics who are aware of the day-to-day realities of incarceration, the hidden politics that infuse prison administration, and the details and the nuances of prison language and culture, have the potential significantly to enrich scholarly understanding of the corrections system. In addition, convict criminologists have been active in various aspects of correctional reform advocacy, particularly where prisoner education is concerned.
Socially contingent definitions of crime
It can also rest upon the fundamental assertion that definitions of what constitute crimes are socially and historically contingent, that is, what constitutes a crime varies in different social situations and different periods of history.
For example, homosexuality was illegal in the United Kingdom up to 1967 when it was legalized for men over 21. If the act itself remained the same, how could its 'criminal qualities' change such that it became legal? What this question points out to us is that acts do not, in themselves, possess 'criminal qualities', that is, there is nothing inherent that makes any act a crime other than that it has been designated a crime in the law that has jurisdiction in that time and place.
Whilst there are many variations on the critical theme in criminology, the term critical criminology has become a guiding principle for perspectives that take to be fundamental the understanding that certain acts are crimes because certain people have the power to make them so. The reliance on what has been seen as the oppositional paradigm, administrational criminology, which tends to focus on the criminological categories that governments wish to highlight (mugging and other street crime, violence, burglary, and, as many critical criminologists would contend, predominantly the crimes of the poor) can be questioned.
The gap between what these two paradigms suggest is of legitimate criminological interest, is shown admirably by Stephen Box in his book Power, Crime, and Mystification where he asserts that one is seven times more likely (or was in 1983) to be killed as a result of negligence by one's employer, than one was to be murdered in the conventional sense (when all demographic weighting had been taken into account).
Yet, to this day, no one has ever been prosecuted for corporate manslaughter in the UK. The effect of this, critical criminologists tend to claim, is that conventional criminologies fail to 'lay bare the structural inequalities which underpin the processes through which laws are created and enforced' and that 'deviancy and criminality' are 'shaped by society's larger structure of power and institutions'. Further failing to note that power represents the capacity 'to enforce one's moral claims' permitting the powerful to 'conventionalize their moral defaults' legitimizing the processes of 'normalized repression'. Thus, fundamentally, critical criminologists are critical of state definitions of crime, choosing instead to focus upon notions of social harm or human rights.
Conflict theories
According to criminologists, working in the conflict tradition, crime is the result of conflict within societies that is brought about through the inevitable processes of capitalism. Dispute exists between those who espouse a 'pluralist' view of society and those who do not. Pluralists, following from writers like Mills (1956, 1969 for example) are of the belief that power is exercised in societies by groups of interested individuals (businesses, faith groups, government organizations for example)– vying for influence and power to further their own interests. These criminologists like Vold have been called 'conservative conflict theorists'. They hold that crime may emerge from economic differences, differences of culture, or from struggles concerning status, ideology, morality, religion, race or ethnicity. These writers are of the belief that such groups, by claiming allegiance to mainstream culture, gain control of key resources permitting them to criminalize those who do not conform to their moral codes and cultural values. (Selin 1938; Vold 1979 [1958]; Quinney 1970 inter alia). These theorists, therefore, see crime as having roots in symbolic or instrumental conflict occurring at multiple sites within a fragmented society.
Others are of the belief that such 'interests', particularly symbolic dimensions such as status are epiphenomenological by-products of more fundamental economic conflict (Taylor, Walton & Young 1973; Quinney 1974, for example). For these theorists, societal conflict from which crime emerges is founded on the fundamental economic inequalities that are inherent in the processes of capitalism (see, for example, Wikipedia article on Rusche and Kirchheimer's Punishment and Social Structure, a book that provides a seminal exposition of Marxian analysis applied to the problem of crime and punishment). Drawing on the work of Marx (1990 [1868]); Engels, (1984 [1845]); and Bonger (1969 [1916]) among others, such critical theorists suggest that the conditions in which crime emerges are caused by the appropriation of the benefits others' labor through the generation of what is known as surplus value, concentrating in the hands of the few owners of the means of production, disproportionate wealth and power.
There are two main strands of critical criminological theory following from Marx, divided by differing conceptions of the role of the state in maintenance of capitalist inequalities. On the one hand instrumental Marxists hold that the state is manipulated by the ruling classes to act in their interests. On the other, structuralist Marxists believe that the state plays a more dominant, semi-autonomous role in subjugating those in the (relatively) powerless classes (Sheley 1985; Lynch & Groves 1986). Instrumental Marxists such as Quinney (1975), Chambliss (1975), or Krisberg (1975) are of the belief that capitalist societies are monolithic edifices of inequality, utterly dominated by powerful economic interests. Power and wealth are divided inequitably between the owners of the means of production and those who have only their labor to sell. The wealthy use the state's coercive powers to criminalize those who threaten to undermine that economic order and their position in it. Structural Marxist theory (Spitzer 1975; Greenberg 1993 [1981]; ) on the other hand holds that capitalist societies exhibit a dual power structure in which the state is more autonomous. Through its mediating effect it ameliorates the worst aspects of capitalist inequalities, however, it works to preserve the overall capitalist system of wealth appropriation, criminalizing those who threaten the operation of the system as a whole. As such this means that the state can criminalize not only those powerless who protest the system's injustices but also those excessive capitalists whose conduct threatens to expose the veneer of the legitimacy of capitalist endeavor.
Whereas Marxists have conventionally believed in the replacement of capitalism with socialism in a process that will eventually lead to communism, anarchists are of the view that any hierarchical system is inevitably flawed. Such theorists (Pepinsky 1978; Tift & Sulivan 1980; Ferrell 1994 inter alia) espouse an agenda of defiance of existing hierarchies, encouraging the establishment of systems of decentralised, negotiated community justice in which all members of the local community participate. Recent anarchist theorists like Ferrell attempt to locate crime as resistance both to its social construction through symbolic systems of normative censure and to its more structural constructions as threat to the state and to capitalist production.
In a move diametrically opposed to that of anarchist theorists, Left Realists wish to distance themselves from any conception of the criminal as heroic social warrior. Instead they are keen to privilege the experience of the victim and the real effects of criminal behaviour. In texts such as Young 1979 & 1986, Young and Matthews 1991, Lea and Young 1984 or Lowman & MacLean 1992, the victim, the state, the public, and the offender are all considered as a nexus of parameters within which talk about the nature of specific criminal acts may be located. Whilst left realists tend to accept that crime is a socially and historically contingent category that is defined by those with the power to do so, they are at pains to emphasise the real harms that crime does to victims who are frequently no less disadvantaged than the offenders.
All of the above conflict perspectives see individuals as being inequitably constrained by powerful and largely immutable structures, although they to varying degrees accord to humans a degree of agency. Ultimately, however, the relatively powerless are seen as being repressed by societal structures of governance or economics. Even left realists who have been criticised for being 'conservative' (not least by Cohen 1990), see the victim and the offender as being subject to systems of injustice and deprivation from which victimising behaviour emerges.
It is important to keep in mind that conflict theory while derived from Marxism, is distinct from it. Marxism is an ideology, accordingly it is not empirically tested. Conversely, conflict theory is empirically falsifiable and thus, distinct from Marxism.
Criticism
Conflict Criminologies have come under sustained attack from several quarters, not least from those – left realists – who claim to be within the ranks. Early criminologies, pejoratively referred to as 'left idealist' by Jock Young 1979, were never really popular in the United States, where critical criminology departments at some universities were closed for political reasons (Rock 1997). These early criminologies were called into question by the introduction of mass self-report victim surveys (Hough & Mayhew 1983) that showed that victimisation was intra-class rather than inter-class. Thus notions that crimes like robbery were somehow primitive forms of wealth redistribution were shown to be false. Further attacks emanated from feminists who maintained that the victimisation of women was no mean business and that left idealists' concentration on the crimes of the working classes that could be seen as politically motivated ignored crimes such as rape, domestic violence, or child abuse (Smart 1977). Furthermore, it was claimed, left idealists neglected the comparative aspect of the study of crime, in that they ignored the significant quantities of crime in socialist societies, and ignored the low crime levels in capitalist societies like Switzerland and Japan (Incardi 1980).
Feminist theories
Feminism in criminology is more than the mere insertion of women into masculine perspectives of crime and criminal justice, for this would suggest that conventional criminology was positively gendered in favour of the masculine. Feminists contend that previous perspectives are un-gendered and as such ignore the gendered experiences of women. Feminist theorists are engaged in a project to bring a gendered dimension to criminological theory. They are also engaged in a project to bring to criminological theory insights to be gained from an understanding of taking a particular standpoint, that is, the use of knowledge gained through methods designed to reveal the experience of the real lives of women.
The primary claim of feminists is that social science in general and criminology in particular represents a male perspective upon the world in that it focuses largely upon the crimes of men against men. Moreover, arguably the most significant criminological fact of all, namely that women commit significantly less crime than men, is hardly engaged with either descriptively or explanatory in the literature. In other words, it is assumed that explanatory models developed to explain male crime are taken to be generalizable to women in the face of the extraordinary evidence to the contrary. The conclusion that must be drawn is that not only can those theories not be generalized to women, but that that failure might suggest they may not explain adequately male crime either (Caulfield and Wonders 1994)
A second aspect of feminist critique centers upon the notion that even where women have become criminologists, they have adopted 'malestream' modes of research and understanding, that is they have joined and been assimilated into the modes of working of the masculine paradigm, rendering it simultaneously gender blind and biased (Menzies & Chunn 1991). However, as Menzies and Chunn argue, it is not adequate merely to 'insert' women into 'malestream' criminology, it is necessary to develop a criminology from the standpoint of women. At first glance this may appear to be gender biased against the needs and views of men. However, this claim is based on a position developed by Nancy Hartsock known as standpoint feminism. Based on the work of Marx, Hartsock suggests that the view of the world from womanhood is a 'truer' vision than that from the viewpoint of man. According to Marx (Marx 1964, Lucacs 1971) privilege blinds people to the realities of the world meaning that the powerless have a clearer view of the world – the poor see the wealth of the rich and their own poverty, whilst the rich are inured, shielded from, or in denial about the sufferings of the poor. Hartsock (1983 & 1999) argues that women are in precisely the same position as Marx's poor. From their position of powerlessness they are more capable of revealing the truth about the world than any 'malestream' paradigm ever can. Thus there are two key strands in feminist criminological thought; that criminology can be made gender aware and thus gender neutral; or that that criminology must be gender positive and adopt standpoint feminism.
Cutting across these two distinctions, feminists can be placed largely into four main groupings: liberal, radical, Marxist, and socialist (Jaggar 1983). Liberal feminists are concerned with discrimination on the grounds of gender and its prevalence in society and seek to end such discrimination. Such ends are sought through engagement with existing structures such as governments and legal frameworks, rather than by challenging modes of gender construction or hegemonic patriarchy (Hoffman Bustamante 1973, Adler 1975, Simon 1975, Edwards 1990). Thus liberal feminists are more or less content to work within the system to change it from within using its existing structures.
Critical feminists – radical feminists, Marxists, and socialists – are keen to stress the need to dispense with masculine systems and structures. Radical feminists see the roots of female oppression in patriarchy, perceiving its perpetrators as primarily aggressive in both private and public spheres, violently dominating women by control of their sexuality through pornography, rape (Brownmiller 1975), and other forms of sexual violence, thus imposing upon them masculine definitions of womanhood and women's roles, particularly in the family. Marxist feminists, (Rafter & Natalizia 1981, MacKinnon 1982 & 1983) however, hold that such patriarchal structures are emergent from the class producing inequalities inherent in capitalist means of production. The production of surplus value requires that the man who works in the capitalist's factory, pit, or office, requires a secondary, unpaid worker – the woman – to keep him fit for his labours, by providing the benefits of a home – food, keeping house, raising his children, and other comforts of family. Thus, merely in order to be fit to sell his labour, the proletarian man needs to 'keep' a support worker with the already meagre proceeds of his labour. Hence women are left with virtually no economic resources and are thus seen to exist within an economic trap that is an inevitable outcome of capitalist production. Socialist feminists attempt to steer a path between the radical and the Marxist views, identifying capitalist patriarchy as the source of women's oppression (Danner 1991). Such theorists (Eisenstein 1979, Hartmann 1979 & 1981, Messerschmidt 1986, Currie 1989) accept that a patriarchal society constrains women's roles and their view of themselves but that this patriarchy is the result not of male aggression but of the mode of capitalist production. Thus neither capitalist production nor patriarchy is privileged in the production of women's oppression, powerlessness, and economic marginalization. Socialist feminists believe that gender based oppression can only be overcome by creating a non-patriarchal, non-capitalist society, and that attempting merely to modify the status quo from within perpetuates the very system that generates inequalities.
Of significant importance in understanding the positions of most of the feminists above is that gender is taken to be a social construct. That is, the differences between men and women are not by and large biological (essentialism) but are insociated from an early age and are defined by existing patriarchal categories of womanhood. In the face of this pacifying or passive image of women, feminist criminologists wish to generate a discursive and real (extended) space within which expressions of women's own views of their identity and womanhood may emerge.
There are many forms of criticism leveled at feminist criminology, some 'facile' (Gelsthorpe 1997) such as those of Bottomley & Pease (1986), or Walker (1987) who suggest that feminist thinking is irrelevant to criminology. A major strand of criticism is leveled at what it is argued is its ethnocentrism (Rice 1990, Mama 1989, Ahluwalia 1991), that is, that in its silence on the experience of black women it is as biased as male criminology in its ignorance of the experience of women. Criminology, claim these writers, is sexist and racist and that both errors need to be corrected. A significant number of criticisms are leveled at feminist criminology by Pat Carlen in an important paper from 1992 (Carlen 1992). Among Carlen's criticisms is that of an apparent inability of feminist criminology to reconcile theoretical insight with political reality, exhibiting a "theoreticist, libertarian, separatist and gender-centric tendenc[y]". She suggests that this libertarianism reflects itself in a belief that crime reduction policies can be achieved without some form of 'social engineering'. Further criticizing feminism's libertarian streak, Carlen suggests that feminists injunction to allow women to speak for themselves reveals a separatist tendency, arguing that what feminists call for is merely good social science and should be extended to let all classes of humans speak for themselves. This separatism, claims Carlen, further manifests itself in a refusal to accept developments in mainstream criminology branding them 'malestream' or in other pejorative terms. Perhaps the most damning criticism of feminism and of certain stripes of radical feminism in particular is that, in some aspects of western societies, it has itself become the dominant interest group with powers to criminalize masculinity (see Nathanson & Young 2001).
Postmodern theories
In criminology, the postmodernist school applies postmodernism to the study of crime and criminals, and understands "criminality" as a product of the power to limit the behaviour of those individuals excluded from power, but who try to overcome social inequality and behave in ways which the power structure prohibits. It focuses on the identity of the human subject, multiculturalism, feminism, and human relationships to deal with the concepts of "difference" and "otherness" without essentialism or reductionism, but its contributions are not always appreciated (Carrington: 1998). Postmodernists shift attention from Marxist concerns of economic and social oppression to linguistic production, arguing that criminal law is a language to create dominance relationships. For example, the language of courts (the so-called "legalese") expresses and institutionalises the domination of the individual, whether accused or accuser, criminal or victim, by social institutions. According to postmodernist criminology, the discourse of criminal law is dominant, exclusive and rejecting, less diverse, and culturally not pluralistic, exaggerating narrowly defined rules for the exclusion of others.
References
External links
Critical Criminology Division - American Society of Criminology
Critical Criminology web site
Criminology | 0.772185 | 0.969119 | 0.748339 |
Functional contextualism | Functional contextualism is a modern philosophy of science rooted in philosophical pragmatism and contextualism. It is most actively developed in behavioral science in general and the field of behavior analysis and contextual behavioral science in particular (see the entry for the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science). Functional contextualism serves as the basis of a theory of language known as relational frame theory and its most prominent application, acceptance and commitment therapy. It is an extension and contextualistic interpretation of B.F. Skinner's radical behaviorism first delineated by Steven C. Hayes which emphasizes the importance of predicting and influencing psychological events (including thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) with precision, scope, and depth, by focusing on manipulable variables in their context.
Contextualism
The form of contextualism from which functional contextualism emerged is the one described by the philosopher Stephen C. Pepper in his book World Hypotheses: A Study in Evidence. In this work, Pepper noted that philosophical systems tend to cluster around a few distinct "world hypotheses" or "world views". Each world view is characterized by a distinctive underlying root metaphor and truth criterion. Root metaphors are based on seemingly well-understood, common-sense, everyday objects or ideas, and serve as the basic analogy by which an analyst attempts to understand the world. A world view's root metaphor roughly corresponds to its ontological assumptions, or views about the nature of being or existence (e.g., whether the universe is deterministic or not). Truth criteria are inextricably linked to their root metaphors, and provide the basis for evaluating the validity of analyses. A world view's truth criterion roughly corresponds to its epistemological assumptions, or views about the nature of knowledge and truth (e.g., whether it is discovered or constructed).
The root metaphor of contextualism is the "act in context", whereby any event is interpreted as an ongoing act inseparable from its current and historical context. The truth criterion of contextualism is often dubbed "successful working", whereby the truth and meaning of an idea lies in its function or utility, not in how well it is said to mirror reality. In contextualism, an analysis is said to be true or valid insofar it as it leads to effective action, or achievement of some goal. Contextualism is Pepper's term for the philosophical pragmatism developed by Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and others.
Varieties of contextualism
Analytic goals are vitally important to the contextualistic world view. This is because the analytic tools of contextualism—its root metaphor and truth criterion—both hinge on the purpose of the analysis, and neither can be mounted effectively without a clearly specified analytic goal. The pragmatic truth criterion of "successful working" is rendered meaningless in an analysis without an explicit goal because "success" can only be measured in relation to the achievement of some objective.
Likewise, the root metaphor of the "act-in-context" is rendered meaningless in an analysis without an explicit goal because there would be no basis on which to restrict the analysis to a subset of the infinite expanse of the act's historical and environmental context. Without a clear analytic goal, the contextualist could analyze the endless context of an act in perpetuity, without ever knowing when the analysis was complete or good enough to be deemed "true" or "useful". It is very difficult for a contextualist without an explicit goal to construct or share knowledge.
Contextualists can, and do, adopt different analytic goals, and the many different varieties of contextualism can be distinguished by their goals. Based on their overarching analytic goals, contextualistic theories can be divided into two general categories: "descriptive contextualism" and "functional contextualism".
Descriptive contextualism
Descriptive contextualists seek to understand the complexity and richness of a whole event through a personal and aesthetic appreciation of its participants and features. This approach reveals a strong adherence to the root metaphor of contextualism and can be likened to the enterprise of history, in which stories of the past are constructed in an attempt to understand whole events. The knowledge constructed by the descriptive contextualist is personal, ephemeral, specific, and spatiotemporally restricted. Like a historical narrative, it is knowledge that reflects an in-depth personal understanding of a particular event that occurred (or is occurring) at a particular time and place. Most forms of contextualism, including social constructionism, dramaturgy, hermeneutics, and narrative approaches, are instances of descriptive contextualism.
Functional contextualism
Functional contextualists, on the other hand, seek to predict and influence events using empirically based concepts and rules. This approach reveals a strong adherence to contextualism's extremely practical truth criterion and can be likened to the enterprise of science or engineering, in which general rules and principles are used to predict and control events. Rules or theories that do not contribute to the achievement of one's practical goals are ignored or rejected. Knowledge constructed by the functional contextualist is general, abstract, and spatiotemporally unrestricted. Like a scientific principle, it is knowledge that is likely to be applicable to all (or many) similar such events, regardless of time or place.
References
Behavioural sciences
Epistemological theories
Philosophy of science
Pragmatism
Behaviorism | 0.772731 | 0.968391 | 0.748306 |
Soft systems methodology | Soft systems methodology (SSM) is an organised way of thinking that's applicable to problematic social situations and in the management of change by using action. It was developed in England by academics at the Lancaster Systems Department on the basis of a ten-year action research programme.
Overview
The Soft Systems Methodology was developed primarily by Peter Checkland, through 10 years of research with his colleagues, such as Brian Wilson. The method was derived from numerous earlier systems engineering processes, primarily from the fact traditional 'hard' systems thinking was not able to account for larger organisational issues, with many complex relationships. SSM has a primary use in the analysis of these complex situations, where there are divergent views about the definition of the problem.
These complex situations are known as "soft problems". They are usually real world problems where the goals and purposes of the problem are problematic themselves. Examples of soft problems include: How to improve the delivery of health services? and How to manage homelessness with young people? Soft approaches take as tacit that people's view of the world will change all the time and their preferences of it will also change.
Depending on the current circumstances of a situation, trying to agree on the problem may be difficult as there might be multiple factors to take into consideration, such as all the different kinds of methods used to tackle these problems. Additionally, Peter Checkland had moved away from the idea of 'obvious' problems and started working with situations to make concepts of models to use them as a source of questions to help with the problem, soft systems methodologies then started emerging to be an organised learning system.
Purposeful activity models could be declared using worldviews, meaning they were never models of real-world action. Still, those relevant to disclosure and argument about real-world action led to them being called epistemological devices that could be used for discourse and debate. The distinction between the everyday world and systems thinking was to draw attention to the conscious use of systems language in developing intellectual devices which were used to structure debates or an exploration of the problem situation being addressed.
In its 'classic' form the methodology consists of seven steps, with initial appreciation of the problem situation leading to the modelling of several human activity systems that might be thought relevant to the problem situation. By getting all the relevant people who are the decision-makers in this situation to come together, sit down in discussion and exploration about the definition of the problem. Only then will the decision makers in said situation will more likely arrive at a mutual agreement which will settle any arguments or problems and help get to the solution over exactly what kind of changes could be either systemically desirable and feasible in the situation at hand.
Later explanations of the ideas give a more sophisticated view of this systemic method and give more attention to locating the methodology with respect to its philosophical underpinnings. It is the earlier classical view which is most widely used in practice (created by Peter Checkland). A common criticism of this earlier methodology is that it follows an approach that is too linear. Checkland himself agreed that the earlier methodology is 'rather bald'. Most advanced SSM analysts will agree, though, that the classical view is an easy way for inexperienced analysts to learn the SSM methodology.
SSM has been successfully used as a business analysis methodology in various fields. Real-world examples of SSM's wide range of applicability include research applying SSM in the sugar industry leading to improvements in business partner relationships, successful use as an approach in project management by directly involving stakeholders or aiding in business management by improving communication between stakeholders. It has proven to be a useful analysis approach to teaching and learning processes, as it does not require a specific problem to be identified as its starting point – which has led to "outside of the box" suggestions for improvement. SSM was even used by the UK government as part of the revaluation of their Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) system development methodology.
Even professional researchers who are to take the change for face value structure of thinking, show the same tendency to distort perceptions of the world rather than change the mental structure which we give our bearings with. Failure of classic systems in rich 'management' problem situations during the research programme led to examining the adequacy of the systems thinking.
The methodology has been described in several books and many academic articles.
SSM remains the most widely used and practical application of systems thinking, and other systems approaches such as critical systems thinking have incorporated many of its ideas.
Representation evolution
SSM had a gradual development process of the methodology as a whole from 1972 to 1990. During this period of time, four different representations of SSM were designed, becoming more sophisticated and at the same time less structured and broader in scope.
Blocks and arrows (1972)
The first studies in the research programme were carried out in 1969, and the first account of what became SSM was published in a paper three-years later titled "Towards a systems-based methodology for real-world problem solving" (Checkland 1972). In this paper, soft systems methodology is presented as a sequence of stages with iteration back to previous stages.The sequence was as follows: analysis, root definition of relevant systems, conceptualisation, comparison and definition of changes, selection of change to implement, design of change and implementation and appraisal.
The overall aim to implement change instead of introducing or enhancing a system implies that the thinking was ongoing as a result of these early experiences, even if the straight arrows in the diagrams and the rectangular blocks in some of the models can now be misleading!
Seven stages (1981)
Soft systems methodology (SSM) is a powerful tool that is utilised to analyse very complex organisational and systemic problems, that do not have an obvious solution. The methodology incorporates seven steps to come up with a viable solution for the problem defined. The seven steps are;
Enter situation in which a problem situation(s) have been identified
Address the issue at hand
Formulate root definitions of relevant systems of purposeful activity
Build conceptual models of the systems named in the root definitions : This methodology comes into place from raising concerns/ capturing problems within an organisation and looking into ways how it can be solved. Defining the root definition also describes the root purpose of a system.
The comparison stage: The systems thinker is to compare the perceived conceptual models against an intuitive perception of a real-world situation or scenario. Checkland defines this stage as the comparison of Stage 4 with Stage 2, formally, "Comparison of 4 with 2". Parts of the problem situation analysed in Stage 2 are to be examined alongside the conceptual model(s) created in Stage 4, this helps to achieve a "complete" comparison.
Problems identified should be accompanied now by feasible and desirable changes that will distinctly help the problem situation based in the system given. Human activity systems and other aspects of the system should be considered so that soft systems thinking, and Mumford's needs can be achieved with the potential changes. These potential changes should not be acted on until step 7 but they should be feasible enough to act upon to improve the problem situation.
Take action to improve the problem situation
Two streams (1988)
The two-stream model of SSM recognizes the crucially important role of history in human affairs, and for a given group of people their history determines what will be noticed as significant and how it will be judged. This expression of SSM is presented as an approach embodying not only a logic-based stream of analysis (via activity models) but also a cultural and political stream which enable judgements to be made about the accommodations between conflicting interests which might be reachable by the people concerned and which would enable action to be taken.
This particular expression of SSM removes the dividing line between the world of the problem situation and the systems thinking world.
Four main activities (1990)
The four-activities model is iconic rather than descriptive and subsumes the cultural stream of analysis in the four activities. The four activities are:
The seven stage model gave an approach which applies real world situations, both large and small and public and private sector. The four main activities were created as a way to capture the more flexible use of SSM and it used to include more of the cultural aspect of the workplace into the concept of SSM. The four activities are used to show that SSM does not have to be used rigidly; it's there to show real life and not be constrained. The four main activities should be seen as an individual concept rather than a descriptive which incorporates the cultural stream of analysis.
Finding out about a problem situation, including culturally/politically
Formulating some relevant purposeful activity models: Creating and drawing specific diagrammatic illustrations of activity processes that occur in an organisation, which shows the relevant processes that take place in a structured order, and depicts any problem situation visually by showing the flow of one action to another. An example of this would be a diagram of a Soft Systems Methodology method, which is a 'Conceptual Model', which is a representation of a systems' human actions, or an 'Architecture System Map', which is a visual representation of the implementation of sections of a software system.
Debating the situation, using the models, seeking from that debate both:
changes which would improve the situation and are regarded as both desirable and (culturally) feasible, and
the accommodations between conflicting interests which will enable action
Taking action in the situation to bring about improvement
CATWOE
In 1975, David Smyth, a researcher in Checkland's department, observed that SSM was most successful when the root definition included certain elements. These elements, captured in the mnemonic CATWOE, identified the people, processes and environment that contribute to a situation, issue or problem that required analyzing.
This is used to prompt thinking about what the business is trying to achieve. In further detail, CATWOE helps explore a system by underlining the roots which involve turning the inputs into outputs. CATWOE helps businesses as it analyses a gap between current and useful systems. Business perspectives help the business analyst to consider the impact of any proposed solution on the people involved. This mainly involves stakeholders which allows them to test assumptions they have made as stakeholders will all have different opinions about certain problems and opportunities. CATWOE's method helps gain better and achievable results, as well as avoiding additional problems using six elements.
The six elements of CATWOE are:
Customers – Who are the beneficiaries of the highest level business process and how does the issue affect them?
Actors - The person or people directly involved in the transformation (T) part of CATWOE (Checkland & Scholes, 1999, p. 35). Implementation and involvement by the actors allows for the input to be transformed into an output (Checkland & Scholes, 1999, p. 35). Actors are also stakeholders as their actions can affect the transformation process and the system as a whole. As actors are directly involved, they also have a 'holon' by which they interpret the world outside (Checkland & Scholes, 1999, p. 19) and so how they view the situation would impact their work and success.
Transformation process – Change, in one word, is the centre of the transformation system; the process of the transformation is more important for the business solution system. This is because the change is what the industry 5.0 sustainability system intends. The purpose behind the transformation system where change is applied holds value. For example, when converting grapes into wine the purpose for Change is to supply to grape consumers more value of the grape (product), thus sustaining the product value systemically. What is the transformation that lies at the heart of the system - transforming grapes into wine, transforming unsold goods into sold goods, transforming a societal need into a societal need met? This means change, in one word, is the centre of the transformation system; the process of becoming is more important than the business solution system. This is because the change is what the industry 2.0 systemic sustainability system practice purpose solves. The purpose behind the transformation system where change is provides the change, thus the results. For example when converting grapes into wine the purpose for Change is to supply to members of the public interest or involvement in grapes more value of the product, thus sustaining the product value more systemically.
Weltanschauung (or Worldview) – What is the big picture and what are the wider impacts of the issue? "The word Weltanschauung is a German word that has no real English equivalent. It refers to "all the things that you take for granted" and is related to our values". But the closest translation would be "world view", which is the collective summary of the stakeholders belief that gives meaning to the root definition. Model of the human activity system as a whole.
Owner – Who owns the process or situation being investigated and what role will they play in the solution?
Environmental constraints – What are the constraints and limitations that will impact the solution and its success?
CATWOE can also be related to the holistic multi-benefit analysis due to the multiple perspectives that are taken into consideration. It further understands the perspectives and concerns of different stakeholders involved in the human activity systems adhering to the core values of soft systems thinking allowing multiple perspectives to be appreciated with good knowledge management
Human activity system
A human activity system can be defined as "notional system (i.e. not existing in any tangible form) where human beings are undertaking some activities that achieve some purpose".
Within most systems there will be many human activity systems integrated within it to form the whole system. Human activity systems can be used in SSM to establish worldviews (Weltanschauung) for people involved in problematic situations. The assumption with all human activity systems is that all actors within them will act accordingly with their own worldviews.
See also
Enterprise modelling
Hard systems
Holism
List of thought processes
Problem structuring methods
Rich picture
Structured systems analysis and design method
Systems theory
Systems philosophy
References
Further reading
Books
Avison, D., & Fitzgerald, G. (2006). Information Systems Development. methodologies, techniques & tools (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Wilson, B. and van Haperen, K. (2015) Soft Systems Thinking, Methodology and the Management of Change (including the history of the systems engineering department at Lancaster University), London: Palgrave MacMillan. .
Checkland, P.B. and J. Scholes (2001) Soft Systems Methodology in Action, in J. Rosenhead and J. Mingers (eds), Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. Chichester: Wiley
Checkland, P.B. & Poulter, J. (2006) Learning for Action: A short definitive account of Soft Systems Methodology and its use for Practitioners, teachers and Students, Wiley, Chichester.
Checkland, P.B. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1981, 1998.
Checkland, P.B. and S. Holwell Information, Systems and Information Systems, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1998.
Wilson, B. Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1984, 1990.
Wilson, B. Soft Systems Methodology, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2001.
Articles
Dale Couprie et al. (2007) Soft Systems Methodology Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary.
Mark P. Mobach, Jos J. van der Werf & F.J. Tromp (2000). The art of modelling in SSM, in papers ISSS meeting 2000.
Ian Bailey (2008) MODAF and Soft Systems. white paper.
Ivanov, K. (1991). Critical systems thinking and information technology. - In J. of Applied Systems Analysis, 18, 39-55. (ISSN 0308-9541). A review of soft systems methodology as related to critical systems thinking.
Michael Rada (2015-12-01) . white paper, INDUSTRY 5.0 launch.
Michael Rada (2015-02-03) . white paper, INDUSTRY 5.0 DEFINITION.
External links
Peter Checkland homepage.
Models for Change Soft Systems Methodology . Business Process Transformation, 1996.
Soft systems methodology Action research and evaluation on line, 2007.
Checkland and Smyth's CATWOE and Soft Systems Methodology, Business Open Learning Archive 2007.
Systems theory
Methodology
Enterprise modelling
Problem structuring methods | 0.761524 | 0.982625 | 0.748292 |
Learning organization | In business management, a learning organization is a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. The concept was coined through the work and research of Peter Senge and his colleagues.
Learning organizations may develop as a result of the pressures facing modern organizations; this enables them to remain competitive in the business environment.
Characteristics
There are many definitions of a learning organization as well as typologies of kinds of learning organizations.
Peter Senge stated in an interview that a learning organization is a group of people working together collectively to enhance their capacities to create results they really care about. Senge popularized the concept of the learning organization through his book The Fifth Discipline. In the book, he proposed the following five characteristics:
Systems thinking
The idea of the learning organization developed from a body of work called systems thinking. This is a conceptual framework that allows people to study businesses as bounded objects. Learning organizations use this method of thinking when assessing their company and have information systems that measure the performance of the organization as a whole and of its various components. Systems thinking states that all the characteristics of a learning organization must be apparent at once in an organization for it to be a learning organization. If some of these characteristics are missing then the organization will fall short of its goal. However, O'Keeffe believes that the characteristics of a learning organization are factors that are gradually acquired, rather than developed simultaneously.
Personal mastery
The commitment by an individual to the process of learning is known as personal mastery. There is a competitive advantage for an organization whose workforce can learn more quickly than the workforce of other organizations. Learning is considered to be more than just acquiring information; it is expanding the ability to be more productive by learning how to apply our skills to work in the most valuable way. Personal mastery appears also in a spiritual way as, for example, clarification of focus, personal vision and ability to see and interpret reality objectively. Individual learning is acquired through staff training, development and continuous self-improvement; however, learning cannot be forced upon an individual who is not receptive to learning. Research shows that most learning in the workplace is incidental, rather than the product of formal training, therefore it is important to develop a culture where personal mastery is practiced in daily life. A learning organization has been described as the sum of individual learning, but there must be mechanisms for individual learning to be transferred into organizational learning. Personal mastery makes possible many positive outcomes such as individual performance, self-efficacy, self-motivation, sense of responsibility, commitment, patience and focus on relevant matters as well as work-life balance and well-being.
Mental models
Assumptions and generalizations held by individuals and organizations are called mental models. Personal mental models describe what people can or cannot detect. Due to selective observation, mental models might limit peoples’ observations. To become a learning organization, these models must be identified and challenged. Individuals tend to espouse theories, which are what they intend to follow, and theories-in-use, which are what they actually do. Similarly, organizations tend to have 'memories' which preserve certain behaviours, norms and values. In creating a learning environment it is important to replace confrontational attitudes with an open culture that promotes inquiry and trust. To achieve this, the learning organization needs mechanisms for locating and assessing organizational theories of action. Unwanted values need to be discarded in a process called 'unlearning'. Wang and Ahmed refer to this as 'triple loop learning'. For organizations, problems arise when mental models evolve beneath the level of awareness. Thus it is important to examine business issues and actively question current business practices and new skills before they become integrated into new practices.
Shared vision
The development of a shared vision is important in motivating the staff to learn, as it creates a common identity that provides focus and energy for learning. The most successful visions build on the individual visions of the employees at all levels of the organization, thus the creation of a shared vision can be hindered by traditional structures where the company vision is imposed from above. Therefore, learning organizations tend to have flat, decentralized organizational structures. The shared vision is often to succeed against a competitor; however, Senge states that these are transitory goals and suggests that there should also be long-term goals that are intrinsic within the company. On the other hand, the lack of clearly defined goals can negatively affect the organisation, as it cannot attain its members trust. Applying the practices of a shared vision creates a suitable environment for the development of trust through communication and collaboration within the organization. As a result, the built shared vision encourages the members to share their own experiences and opinions, thus enhancing effects of organizational learning.
Team learning
The accumulation of individual learning constitutes team learning. The benefit of team or shared learning is that staff learn more quickly and the problem solving capacity of the organization is improved through better access to knowledge and expertise. Learning organizations have structures that facilitate team learning with features such as boundary crossing and openness. In team meetings members can learn better from each other by concentrating on listening, avoiding interruption, being interested and responding. In such a learning environment, people don't have to hide or overlook their disagreements, so they make their collective understanding richer. Three dimensions of team learning, according to Senge, are: "the ability to think insightfully about complex issues", "the ability to take innovative, coordinated action", and "the ability to create a network that will allow other teams to take action as well". In a learning organization, teams learn how to think together. Team learning is process of adapting and developing the team capacity to create the results that its members really want. Team learning requires individuals to engage in dialogue and discussion; therefore team members must develop open communication, shared meaning, and shared understanding. Learning organizations typically have excellent knowledge management structures, allowing creation, acquisition, dissemination, and implementation of this knowledge in the organization. Teams use tools such as an action learning cycle and dialogue. Team learning is only one element of the learning cycle. For the cycle to be complete, it has to include all five characteristics which are mentioned above.
Development
Organizations do not organically develop into learning organizations; there are factors prompting their change. As organizations grow, they lose their capacity to learn as company structures and individual thinking becomes rigid. When problems arise, the proposed solutions often turn out to be only short-term (single-loop learning instead of double-loop learning) and re-emerge in the future. To remain competitive, many organizations have restructured, with fewer people in the company. This means those who remain need to work more effectively. To create a competitive advantage, companies need to learn faster than their competitors and to develop a customer responsive culture. Chris Argyris identified that organizations need to maintain knowledge about new products and processes, understand what is happening in the outside environment and produce creative solutions using the knowledge and skills of all within the organization. This requires co-operation between individuals and groups, free and reliable communication, and a culture of trust.
For any learning to take place, also in organizations, there needs to be diffusion of knowledge. Diffusion is not always easy to perform, since it depends on the recipient’s willingness to accept the new knowledge, their need of the new information and the relationship of their existing knowledge to the new information. The most useful knowledge is rarely something that is formed in one’s head and then diffused to others. Useful knowledge generally consists of different pieces of information which are then combined. For the gathering of information, organizations need some sort of a content repository for all the information. These repositories are nowadays usually built with the aid of information technology. With a repository of information and a knowledge infrastructure, that simplifies the creation of knowledge in a practical form, an organization will have all its knowledge available for everyone in the organization, which will further help the learning in the organization. For example, USAID has a number of technical website platforms focused on development topics including Learning Lab, AgriLinks, DRGLinks, Edulinks and ResilienceLinks.
Benefits
One of the main benefits being a learning organization offers is a competitive advantage. This competitive advantage can be founded on different strategies, which can be acquired by organizational learning. One way of gaining a competitive advantage is strategic flexibility. The continuous inflow of new experience and knowledge keeps the organization dynamic and prepared for change. In an ever-changing institutional environment this can be a key factor for an advantage. Better management of an organizations explorative investments and exploitative acting can be a benefit of a learning organization, too. Next, a competitive advantage of a company can be gained by lower prices and better quality of products. Through organizational learning both cost leadership and differentiation strategies are possible. The ability to reconfigure actions based on needs and environment avoids the tradeoff between the two. Overall the customer performance of learning organizations might be better, which is the direct and measurable channel, that establishes a competitive advantage. Another important aspect is innovation. Innovation and learning are closely related. While encouraging people to learn and develop, a more innovative environment is commonly generated, innovative ideas coming from e.g. communities of practice can result in greater overall organizational learning.
Other benefits of a learning organization are:
Maintaining levels of innovation and remaining competitive
Having the knowledge to better link resources to customer needs
Improving quality of outputs at all levels
Improving corporate image by becoming more people oriented
Increasing the pace of change within the organization
Strengthening sense of community in the organization
Improving long term decision making
Improving knowledge sharing
Barriers
Even within or without learning organization, problems can stall the process of learning or cause it to regress. Most of them arise from an organization not fully embracing all the necessary facets. Once these problems can be identified, work can begin on improving them.
Some organizations find it hard to embrace personal mastery because as a concept it is intangible and the benefits cannot be quantified; personal mastery can even be seen as a threat to the organization. This threat can be real, as Senge points out, that 'to empower people in an unaligned organization can be counterproductive'. In other words, if individuals do not engage with a shared vision, personal mastery could be used to advance their own personal visions. In some organizations a lack of a learning culture can be a barrier to learning. An environment must be created where individuals can share learning without it being devalued and ignored, so more people can benefit from their knowledge and the individuals becomes empowered. A learning organization needs to fully accept the removal of traditional hierarchical structures.
Resistance to learning can occur within a learning organization if there is not sufficient buy-in at an individual level. This is often encountered with people who feel threatened by change or believe that they have the most to lose. They are likely to have closed mind sets, and are not willing to engage with mental models. Unless implemented coherently across the organization, learning can be viewed as elitist and restricted to senior levels. In that case, learning will not be viewed as a shared vision. If training and development is compulsory, it can be viewed as a form of control, rather than as personal development. Learning and the pursuit of personal mastery needs to be an individual choice, therefore enforced take-up will not work.
In addition, organizational size may become the barrier to internal knowledge sharing. When the number of employees exceeds 150, internal knowledge sharing dramatically decreases because of higher complexity in the formal organizational structure, weaker inter-employee relationships, lower trust, reduced connective efficacy, and less effective communication. As such, as the size of an organizational unit increases, the effectiveness of internal knowledge flows dramatically diminishes and the degree of intra-organizational knowledge sharing decreases.
Problems with Senge's vision include a failure to fully appreciate and incorporate the imperatives that animate modern organizations; the relative sophistication of the thinking he requires of managers (and whether many in practice are up to it); and questions regarding his treatment of organizational politics. It is certainly difficult to find real-life examples of learning organizations (Kerka 1995). There has also been a lack of critical analysis of the theoretical framework.
Based on their study of attempts to reform the Swiss Postal Service, Matthias Finger and Silvia Bűrgin Brand (1999) provide a useful listing of more important shortcomings of the learning organization concept. They conclude that it is not possible to transform a bureaucratic organization by learning initiatives alone. They believe that by referring to the notion of the learning organization it was possible to make change less threatening and more acceptable to participants. 'However, individual and collective learning, which has undoubtedly taken place, has not really been connected to organizational change and transformation'. Part of the issue, they suggest, has to do with the concept of the learning organization itself. They argue that the concept of the learning organization:
Focuses mainly on the cultural dimension and does not adequately take into account the other dimensions of an organization. To transform an organization, it is necessary to attend to structures and the organization of work as well as the culture and processes. 'Focussing exclusively on training activities in order to foster learning... favours this purely cultural bias'.
Favours individual and collective learning processes at all levels of the organization, but does not connect them properly to the organization's strategic objectives. Popular models of organizational learning (such as Dixon 1994) assume such a link. It is, therefore, imperative 'that the link between individual and collective learning and the organization's strategic objectives is made'. This shortcoming, Finger and Brand argue, makes a case for some form of measurement of organizational learning – so that it is possible to assess the extent to which such learning contributes or not towards strategic objectives.
Challenges in the transformation to a learning organization
The book The Dance of Change states there are many reasons why an organization may have trouble in transforming itself into a learning organization. The first is that an organization does not have enough time. Employees and management may have other issues that take priority over trying to change the culture of their organization. The team may not be able to commit the time if an institution does not have the appropriate help or training. For an organization to be able to change, it needs to know the steps necessary to solve the problems it faces. As a solution, a mentor or coach who is well versed in the learning organization concept may be necessary.
Also, the change may not be relevant to the organization's needs. Time should be spent on the actual issues of the organization and its daily issues. To combat this challenge, a strategy must be built. The organization should determine what its problems are before entering into the transformation. Training should remain linked to business results so that it is easier for employees to connect the training with everyday issues.
A usual challenge with many organizations is the lack of concentration on personal development while focusing mainly on professional development which is more likely to have a direct contribution to organization's performance whereas personal development's positive results appear more in the long run and less visibly.
As for the leader, it may be challenging not to consider one's own personal vision as the organization's shared vision.
Problems organizational learning addresses
Some of the issues that learning organizations were designed to address within institutions is fragmentation, competition and reactiveness. Fragmentation is described as breaking a problem into pieces. For example, each organization has an accounting department, finance, operations, IT and marketing. Competition occurs when employees are trying to do better or 'beat' others in an assignment instead of collaborating. Reactiveness occurs when an organization changes only in reaction to outside forces, rather than proactively initiating change.
Inappropriate habits while organizing team meetings can effect negatively. Meetings should be prepared in time, agenda drawn up and enough time dedicated to focus on the subjects. Because best results in team learning form through discipline, it is essential to have an agenda, make atmosphere open and respect others: avoid interruption, be interested and respond.
See also
Community of practice
Knowledge capture
Knowledge management
Knowledge organization
Lean startup
Learning agenda
Organizational learning
Professional learning community
Reflective practice
References
Further reading
Örtenblad, Anders R. (2020). The Oxford Handbook of the Learning Organization. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cummings, Thomas G. (ed.) (2008). Handbook of Organization Development. Los Angeles: Sage.
Papa, M. J., Daniels, T. D., & Spiker, B. K. (2008). Organizational Communication: Perspectives and Trends. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Garvin, David A. (2000). Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Flood, Robert L. (1999). Rethinking the Fifth Discipline: Learning Within the Unknowable. London; New York: Routledge.
Aubrey, Robert; Cohen, Paul M. (1995). Working Wisdom: Timeless Skills and Vanguard Strategies for Learning Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Chawla, Sarita; Renesch, John (eds.) (1995). Learning Organizations: Developing Cultures for Tomorrow's Workplace. Portland, OR: Productivity Press.
Senge, Peter M.; Kleiner, Art; Roberts, Charlotte; Ross Richard B.; Smith, Bryan J. (eds.) (1994). The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook New York: Currency Doubleday.
Watkins, Karen E.; Marsick, Victoria J. (1993). Sculpting the Learning Organization: Lessons in the Art and Science of Systemic Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Senge, Peter M. (1990/2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (Revised edition). New York: Currency/Doubleday.
Systems thinking
Social information processing
Communication | 0.761045 | 0.983225 | 0.748279 |
Institutional ethnography | Institutional ethnography (IE) is an alternative approach of studying and understanding the social. IE has been described as an alternative philosophical paradigm, sociology, or (qualitative) research method. IE explores the social relations that structure people's everyday lives, specifically by looking at the ways that people interact with one another in the context of social institutions (school, marriage, work, for example) and understanding how those interactions are institutionalized. IE is best understood as an ethnography of interactions which have been institutionalized, rather than an ethnography of specific companies, organizations or employment sectors, which would be considered industrial sociology or the sociology of work. For the institutional ethnographer, ordinary daily activity becomes the site for an investigation of social organization.
IE was first developed by Dorothy E. Smith as a Marxist feminist sociology "for women, for people"; and is now used by researchers in social sciences, education, nursing, human services and policy research as a method for mapping the translocal relations that coordinate people's activities within institutions.
Further reading
Campbell, Marie L. (2004) Mapping Social Relations: An introduction to Institutional Ethnography Altamira Press.
Comber, B. (2012). Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers’ work: federal policy, local effects. Critical Studies in Education, 53(2), 119–136.
Corman, M. K. (2017). Paramedics On and Off the Streets: Emergency Medical Services in the Age of Technological Governance. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Hart, R. J., & McKinnon, A. (2010). Sociological epistemology: Durkheim's Paradox and Dorothy E. Smith's Actuality. Sociology, 44(6), 1038–1054.
Kearney, G. P., Corman, M. K., Hart, N. D., Johnston, J. L., & Gormley, G. J. (2019). Why institutional ethnography? Why now? Institutional ethnography in health professions education. Perspectives on Medical Education, 8(1), 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-019-0499-0
Melon, K. A., White, D., & Rankin, J. (2013). Beat the clock! Wait times and the production of “quality” in emergency departments. Nursing Philosophy, 14(3), 223–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12022
Ng, Roxana (1996). The Politics of Community Services. Fernwood Press.
Rankin, J. (2017). Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography: Analytical Work Prior to Commencing Data Collection. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917734484
Smith, D. E. (2005) Institutional Ethnography: A Sociology for People Lanham: Alta-Mira Press
Smith, D. E. (editor) (2006). Institutional ethnography as practice Rowman and Littlefield
LaFrance, M. (2019). Institutional Ethnography: A Theory of Practice for Writing Studies Researchers. Logan: Utah State University Press.
See also
Dorothy E. Smith
Roxana Ng
External links
What is institutional ethnography?
Institutional Ethnography – Towards a Productive Sociology. An Interview with Dorothy E. Smith by Karin Widerberg (MS Word document)
The Praxis Safety and Accountability Audit: Practicing a "Sociology for the People" by Jane Sadusky, Rhonda Martinson, Kristine Lizdas and Casey McGee
Institutional ethnography in Wikiversity http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Institutional_ethnography
Ethnography | 0.783589 | 0.954933 | 0.748276 |
Gender and religion | Gender, defined as the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity, and religion, a system of beliefs and practices followed by a community, share a multifaceted relationship that influences both individual and collective identities. The manner in which individuals express and experience their religious convictions is profoundly shaped by gender. Experts from diverse disciplines such as theology, sociology, anthropology, and gender studies have delved into the effects of gender on religious politics and societal standards. At times, the interplay between gender and religion can confine gender roles, but in other instances, it can empower and uphold them. Such insights shed light on the ways religious doctrines and rituals can simultaneously uphold specific gender expectations and offer avenues for gender expression.
Investigating the relationship between gender and religion entails evaluating sacred texts as well as religious institutions' practices. This investigation is part of a greater interest in the phenomenon of religion and is strongly tied to the larger study of gender and sexuality. Scholars can better comprehend the complex dynamics of gender within religious contexts by researching how societies and cultures develop gender roles and identities, as well as how gender connects with other societal and cultural categories.
Sex differences in religion can be classified as either "internal" or "external". Internal religious issues are studied from the perspective of a given religion, and might include religious beliefs and practices about the roles and rights of men and women in government, education and worship; beliefs about the sex or gender of deities and religious figures; and beliefs about the origin and meaning of human gender. External religious issues can be broadly defined as an examination of a given religion from an outsider's perspective, including possible clashes between religious leaders and laity; and the influence of, and differences between, religious perspectives on social issues.
Gender of deities
The earliest documented religions, and some contemporary animist religions, involve the deification of characteristics of the natural world. These spirits are typically, but not always, gendered. It has been proposed, since the 19th century, that polytheism arose out of animism, as religious epic provided personalities to autochthonous animist spirits in various parts of the world, notably in the development of ancient near eastern and Indo-European literature. Polytheistic gods are also typically gendered. The earliest evidence of monotheism is the worship of the goddess Eurynome, Aten in Egypt, the teaching of Moses in the Torah and Zoroastrianism in Persia. Aten, Yahweh and Ahura Mazda are all masculine deities, embodied only in metaphor, so masculine rather than reproductively male.
Hinduism
Kali, the Hindu goddess of both the life cycle and destructive war, breaks the gender role of women representing love, sex, fertility, and beauty. This Hindu deity reflects the modern view of feminism through their depiction of female strength.
Christianity
In Christianity, one entity of the Trinity, the Son, is believed to have become incarnate as a human male. Christians have traditionally believed that God the Father has masculine gender rather than male sex because the Father has never been incarnated. By contrast, there is less historical consensus on the gender of the Holy Spirit.
In Christianity the gender of God is referenced several times throughout the KJV Bible. One point of reference for GOD being male is found in the Gospel of John when Jesus Christ says to Mary Magdalene, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
Islam
In Islam, God is not gendered literally or metaphorically. God is referred to with the masculine pronoun in Arabic [Huwa or 'He'], as there is no neuter in the Arabic language. Ascribing natural gender to God is considered heretical because God is described as incomparable to creation. The Quran says: There is nothing like Him, and He ˹alone˺ is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.
In contrast to Christian theology, Jesus is viewed as a prophet rather than a human male incarnation of God, and the primary sources of Islam [the Quran and Sunnah] do not refer to God as the 'Father'.
Creation myths about human gender
In many stories, man and woman are created at the same time, with equal standing. One example is the creation story in Genesis 1: "And God created the man in his image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them." Some commentators interpret the parallelism to be deliberately stressing that mankind is, in some sense, a "unity in diversity" from a divine perspective (compare e pluribus unum),
and that women as well as men are included in God's image. The first man, Adam, has been viewed as a spiritual being or an ideal who can be distinguished as both male and female; an androgynous being with no sex. Pierre Chaunu argues that Genesis' gender-inclusive conception of humanity contrasts sharply with the views of gender found in older literature from surrounding cultures, and suggests a higher status of women in western society due to Judæo-Christian influence, and based on this verse. Some scholars, such as Philo, argue that the "sexes" were developed through an accidental division of the "true self" which existed prior to being assigned with gender.
In other accounts, man is created first, followed by woman. This is the case in the creation account of Genesis 2, where the first woman (Eve) is created from the rib of the first man (Adam), as a companion and helper. This story about Adam and Eve shows that God created two genders, a woman from a man. God also told the woman that she can only desire the man and that he shall rule over her. This is the earliest idea in catholic religion that says women should only be attracted and loyal to men, therefore supporting the claim that there is only a woman for a man. These two gender creation stories imagine the ideal of the unitary self. However, the unitary self is either androgynous or physically male; both of which are masculine in configuration.
In Plato's Symposium, Aristophanes provides an account to explain gender and romantic attraction.
There were originally three sexes: the all-male, the all-female, and the "androgynous", who was half man, half woman. As punishment for attacking the gods, each was split in half. The halves of the androgynous being became heterosexual men and women, while the halves of the all-male and all-female became gays and lesbians, respectively.
Gendered clothing in religion
Among many religions, there are traditional clothing standards unique to each culture. One aspect every religion has in common is modesty among women. There can be many reasons why women specifically are taught to cover up or dress according to a standard, but most reasons are sourced through official religious publications.
God said, in the book of Deuteronomy, “A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God." The book intends to set a specific idea of what a man and women should, and should not wear based on their gender, or they will disappoint the Lord. In religion, this is a way to clearly show a gender divide through the idea of individuals should only wear their gender specific clothing in order to meet the religions standards. Gods response to the idea of his creations cross dressing, influences the negative opinion towards transgendered individuals.
Leadership roles
Some religions restrict leadership to males. The ordination of women has been a controversial issue in some religions where either the rite of ordination, or the role that an ordained person fulfills, has traditionally been restricted to men because of cultural or theological prohibitions.
The journey to religious leadership presents distinct challenges for women across various faith traditions. Historically, many religious institutions have been dominated by male leadership, and this has influenced the roles and opportunities available to women. For instance, women are not permitted to become priests in the Catholic Church, and in Orthodox Judaism, the role of a rabbi is traditionally reserved for men. While Islam does permit women to serve as religious leaders, they are typically not allowed to lead mixed-gender prayers. In Hinduism, some sects or regions allow women to become priests, though this remains a rarity.
While many significant religious organizations in the U.S. ordain women and permit them to hold leadership positions, few women have served at the highest levels. For instance, the Episcopal Church had a woman, Katharine Jefferts Schori, serving as presiding bishop from 2006 to 2015. However, many of the largest denominations in the U.S., such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, do not ordain women or allow them to hold top church leadership roles. Efforts have been made in recent decades to challenge these norms. For example, while roughly six-in-ten American Catholics (59%) in a 2015 Pew Research Center survey expressed support for ordaining women in their church, the official stance remains unchanged.
This underrepresentation underscores the broader societal challenges women face in asserting their leadership in traditionally male-dominated spheres. As the discourse around gender equality continues to evolve, it's crucial to understand and address the systemic barriers that women encounter in religious leadership.
Beginning in the 19th century, some Christian denominations have ordained women. Among those who do not, many believe it is forbidden by . Some of those denominations ordain women to the diaconate, believing this is encouraged by .
Some Islamic communities (mainly outside the Middle East) have recently appointed women as imams, normally with ministries restricted to leading women in prayer and other charitable ministries.
Indian religions
Both masculine and feminine deities feature prominently in Hinduism. The identity of the Vedic writers is not known, but the first hymn of the Rigveda is addressed to the masculine deity Agni, and the pantheon of the Vedas is dominated by masculine gods. The most prominent Avatars of Vishnu are men.
Mostly, the traditional religious leaders of Jainism are men. The 19th tirthankara (traditional leader) Māllīnātha in this half cycle was female.
Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) was a man, but the female Buddha Vajrayogini also plays a role in Buddhism. In some East Asian Buddhist communities, a number of women are ordained as monks as well.
Abrahamic religions
In Abrahamic religions, Abraham himself, Moses, David and Elijah are among the most significant leaders documented according to the traditions of the Hebrew Bible. John the Baptist, Jesus and his apostles, and Saul of Tarsus again give the New Testament an impression of the founders and key figures of Christianity being male dominated. They were followed by a millennium of theologians known as the Church Fathers. Islam was founded by Muhammad, and his successor Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman ibn Affan and Ali, for Sunnis and Ali ibn Abi Talib and The Twelve Imams for those of Shia faith, were also men. On the other hand, The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, is not associated with leadership or teaching, but is nonetheless a key figure in Catholicism. Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, is regarded by Muslims as an exemplar for men and women.
The Baháʼí Faith, a fast growing religion, teaches that men and women are equal. Prominent women celebrated in Baháʼí history include Bahíyyih Khánum, who acted head of the faith for several periods during the ministries of `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and Táhirih, who is also held by Baháʼís as a penultimate leader. Women serve in higher percentages of leadership in appointed and elected national and international institutions of the religion than in the general population. However, only men are allowed to be members of the religion's highest governing body, the Universal House of Justice.
Nakayama Miki was the founder of Tenrikyo, which may be the largest religion to have a woman founder. Ellen G. White was instrumental to the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is officially considered a prophet by Seventh-day Adventists.
Segregation
Many religions have traditionally practiced sex segregation.
In traditional Jewish synagogues, the women's section is separated from the men's section by a wall or curtain called a mechitza. Men are not permitted to pray in the presence of women, to prevent distraction. The mechitza shown in the picture on the right is one in a synagogue affiliated with the 'left wing' (more modern side) of Modern Orthodox Judaism, which requires the mechitza to be of the height shown in the picture. More traditional or 'right wing' Modern Orthodox Judaism, and all forms of Haredi Judaism, require the mechitza to be of a type which absolutely prevents the men from seeing the women.
Enclosed religious orders are usually segregated by gender.
Sex segregation in Islam includes guidelines on interaction between men and women. Men and women also worship in different areas in most mosques. Both men and women cover their awra when in the presence of members of the opposite sex (who are not close relations).
Roles in marriage
Nearly all religions recognize marriage, and many religions also promote views on appropriate gender roles within marriage.
Christianity
Within Christianity, the two notable views on gender roles in a marriage are complementarianism and egalitarianism. The complementarian view of marriage is widely accepted in Christianity, where the husband is viewed as the leader and the wife is viewed as the follower. Essentially, the man is given more of a headship role and the woman is viewed as a supporting partner. In Genesis 3, Adam named his wife Eve ("life") because she "was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20).
In mainstream Christian tradition, the relationship between a husband and wife is believed to mirror the relationship between Christ and the Church. This can be seen in Ephesians 5:25:Husbands love their wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.Christian traditionalists believe that men are meant to be living martyrs for their wives, "giving himself up for her" daily and through acts of unselfish love. The women, on the other hand, are meant to be their helpers.
While complementarianism has been the norm for years, some Christians have moved toward egalitarian views. As the nature of gender roles within societies changes, religious views on gender roles in marriage change as well.
In complementarianism, the relationship between man and woman is compared to the one between Christ and the Church. In the way Christ loved and cared for the Church, a man is expected to do the same for his wife. Brown says that this is what makes a marriage a holy union, rather than a simple contract between the two.
According to Paul, husbands and wives had rights that they could expect from each other. After the death of their husband, women are expected to not marry again because, on the day of resurrection, no one will 'claim' her as their wife.
Marriage, according to Augustine, is a second resort to not being able to remain celibate and a virgin. The role of virginity is one that heavily impacts marriage in general according to Augustine. Virginity and celibacy are extremely important ideals that Christians must carry, but they can marry if they cannot do so. Within a marriage, women were predicted to be more likely to be unfaithful. This left the task of being sure that the wife remained faithful to the husband. Augustine states that although men have dominance over women, they must implement it with compassion and love.
In relation to Augustine's views on marriage and virginity, some women preferred the celibate lifestyle in order to gain freedom from male control. Dennis R. Macdonald estimated that groups of widows and unmarried virgins had an impact on the patriarchal society. Researchers believe that, from a sex and gender view, remaining a virgin was a form of rebellion against male domination. The most direct way for men to dominate women was through marriage, and in remaining celibate, these women did not have that domination over them.
Islam
In Islam, a woman's primary responsibility is usually interpreted as fulfilling her role as a wife and mother, whereas women still have the right and are free to work. A man's role is to work and be able to protect and financially support his wife and family.
In regards to guidelines in marriage, a man is allowed to marry a Muslim, Jewish, Sabaean, or Christian woman whereas a woman is only allowed to marry a Muslim man. Both genders cannot marry nonbelievers or polytheists.
The matter of divorce is discussed in verse 2:228 of the Qu'ran. The Qu'ran instructs women to wait at least three menstrual periods, called Iddah, before committing to a second marriage. The purpose of the Iddah is to ensure that a woman's pregnancy will be linked to the correct biological father. In the case of a Talāq, which is a divorce initiated by the man, the man is supposed to announce the words "I divorce you" aloud three times, each separated by a three-month waiting period. Certain practices of the Talāq divorce allows the "I divorce you" utterance to be completed in one sitting; however, the concept of "Triple Divorce" in one sitting is considered wrong in some branches of Islam such as with the Shia Muslims. During the three-month waiting period, only the man has the right to initiate a marital reunion if both sides desire to reconcile. This yields a gender equality perspective in the sense that women have power over men in regards to finance parallel to how men have power over women in regards to obedience, both of which are only valid to a reasonable extent. While a Ṭalāq can be completed easily, a divorce that is initiated by the woman, called a Khula, is harder to obtain due to a woman's requirement to repay her dowry and give up child custody. More specifically, a woman is to give up custody of her child if the child is over the age of seven. If a woman gains custody of her child who is under the age of seven, she must still forfeit custody upon the child's seventh birthday. Although the Islamic religion requires the woman to repay her dowry, she is also entitled to receive financial support from her former husband if needed. This cycle of financial matters protects the woman's property from being taken advantage of during or after marriage.
Gender and religious expressions
The manner in which individuals express and experience their religious convictions is profoundly shaped by gender. Experts from diverse disciplines such as theology, sociology, anthropology, and gender studies have delved into the effects of gender on religious politics and societal standards. At times, the interplay between gender and religion can confine gender roles, but in other instances, it can empower and uphold them. Such insights shed light on the ways religious doctrines and rituals can simultaneously uphold specific gender expectations and offer avenues for gender expression. Furthermore, gender plays a notable role in patterns of religious conversion. According to the Pew Research Center, an estimated 83.4% of women worldwide identify with a faith group, compared to 79.9% of men. While specific conversion trends, such as women's inclination towards Christianity or men's propensity for conversion in Islam, can vary, it's essential to approach these patterns with an understanding that individual choices are influenced by a myriad of personal, cultural, and societal factors.
Cultural effects on religious practice
Religious worship may vary by individual due to differing cultural experiences of gender.
Greco-Roman Paganism
Both men and women who practiced paganism in ancient civilizations such as Rome and Greece worshiped male and female deities, but goddesses played a much larger role in women's lives. Roman and Greek goddesses' domains often aligned with culturally specific gender expectations at the time which served to perpetrate them in many cases. One such expectation of women was to marry at a relatively young age. The quadrennial Bear Festival, known as Arkteia, was held on the outskirts of Athens in honor of Artemis and involved girls ages seven to fourteen. The girls would compete in public athletic events as Greek men sat as onlookers, observing potential wives.
Demeter, the goddess of fertility, was a prominent deity due to women's ability to relate to her. The myth surrounding Demeter involves her losing her daughter, Persephone, against her will to Hades and the grief she experiences after the event. Mother-daughter relationships were very important to ancient Greeks. The severance of this relationship by fathers and husbands created much strain in young women who were forced to leave their mothers, submit to their husbands, and yield to the patriarchal society. Demeter was honored through female-exclusive ceremonies in various rituals due to her general disdain for the behaviors of men. Aphrodite, too, was honored by similar means. To women during this time period, the thought of Aphrodite's attitude toward males was comforting as she refused to answer to any mortal man, exhibiting the control that mortal women desired to have in their own lives.
Religious teachings on gender-related issues
Abortion
Women choosing to or not choosing to have an abortion is one of many gender related issues among different religions. In many religions, abortion is considered immoral.
The Catholic Church recognizes conception as the beginning of a human life, thus abortion is prohibited under all circumstances. However, according to the Second Vatican Council, women who have had an abortion but are willing to commit to the right of life are ensured forgiveness.
The Catholic Church has thoroughly fought the legalization of abortion and has expressed their thoughts on the issue. They take a pure pro-life stance with the help of protests, presentations, and proposals. They still cannot take a pluralistic stance between the values of life and liberty. Though through media and political delivery, theological problems in the area of one's conscience confuses the rights to religious freedom. Issues of consciousness is only something an individual can possess and yet the Church feels lesser than about the people who choose abortion
Regular church attendance has been shown to correlate with a higher attitude against abortion. This means that most church-goers are pro-life and believe that life begins at conception.
The pastoral message also has to be observed as each member of a church can interpret a message differently. The context of the church has to be considered as well, such as being in an urban or rural environment. The religious messages and how they are exposed in different cultural contexts can determine the effect it has on its listeners. Particularly women, who are more inclined to be religious, are more passionate about the idea of not getting an abortion.
In Hinduism, it is a woman's human duty to produce offspring, thus having an abortion is a violation of that duty. The Vedas, which are age-old sacred Sanskrit texts, suggests that abortion is more sinful than killing a priest or one's own parents. The practice of a woman having an abortion is deemed as unacceptable in the Hindu community, both socially and morally.
On the other hand, some religions recognize that abortion is acceptable only in some circumstances. Mormons believe the act of having an abortion is troublesome and destructive; however, health risks and complications, rape, and closely mating with relatives are the only situations in which abortion is not considered a sin.
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is expressly forbidden in many religions, but typically in casuistic rather than apodictic laws. As such, the rationale for such proscriptions is not clearly evident, though avoidance of procreation and contribution to society via establishing families are sometimes offered as pragmatic considerations.
In general, homosexuality is perceived as sinful in conservative movements, while fully accepted in liberal movements. For example, the Southern Baptist Christian denomination and Islamic community consider homosexuality a sin, whereas the American Baptist denomination perceives homosexuality on an inclusive scale.
Transgender identities
Paganism and Neo-paganism
Many Pagan religions place an emphasis on female divine energy which is manifested as The Goddess. The consensus is unclear on what is considered female and male. During PantheaCon in 2011, a group of Dianic Wiccans performing an all-female ritual turned away trans-women from joining due to their concept of women as capable of experiencing menstruation and childbirth.
Other pagans, however, have embraced a multitude of gender identities by worshiping transgender, intersex, and queer gods from antiquity, such as Greek god, Hermaphroditus.
Religious support for gender equality
Some religions, religious scholars and religious persons have argued that "gender inequality" exists either generally or in certain instances, and have supported a variety of remedies.
Discrimination based on gender and religion is frequently the result of laws and practices that are justified by religious beliefs. Certain religions, for example, forbid women from acting as clergy. The priesthood is reserved for men in the Catholic Church2. While men and women pray separately in Islam, women frequently have restricted room in mosques. Such traditions demonstrate the complicated interplay of prejudice at the intersection of gender and religion.
Sikhs believe in equality of men and women. Gender equality in Sikhism is exemplified by the following quote from Sikh holy scriptures: “From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to a woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad from whom kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all." – Translated into English from Gurmukhi, Siri Guru Nanak Sahib in Raag Aasaa, Siri Guru Granth Sahib pp 473
Pierre Chaunu has argued that the influence of Christianity promotes equality for women.
Priyamvada Gopal, of Churchill College, Cambridge, argues that increased gender equality is indeed a product of Judeo-Christian doctrine, but not exclusive to it. She expresses concern that gender equality is used by western countries as a rationale for "neocolonialism". Jamaine Abidogun argues that Judeo-Christian influence has indeed shaped gender roles in Nigeria (a strongly Christianised country); however, she does not consider feminism to be a product of Judeo-Christian doctrine, but rather a preferable form of "neocolonialism".
Gender patterns in religious observance
In studies pertaining to gender patterns in religions, it has been widely accepted that females are more likely to be religious than males. In 1997, statistics gathered by Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle theorized this phenomenon into three primary causes. The first explanation is that women feel emotions at greater heights than men do, thus women tend to turn to religion more in times of high emotions such as gratitude or guilt. The second explanation is that female socialization is more likely to align with values that are commonly found in religion such as conflict mediation, tenderness, and humility. In contrast, male socialization is more likely to emphasize rebellion, thus making the guideline aspects of religion less appealing. The third explanation, which is also the most recent theory, is that females are more likely to be able to identify with religion as a natural consequence of societal structures. For example, since a majority of religions emphasize women as caretakers of the home, the societal expectation of women to take greater responsibility than men for the upbringing of a child makes religion an appealing commitment. Another example is that traditionally, men tend to work outside the home whereas women tend to work inside the home, which corresponds to studies that have shown that people are more likely to be religious when working inside of their homes.
The Pew Research Center studied the effects of gender on religiosity throughout the world, finding that women are generally more religious than men, yet the gender gap is greater for Christians than Muslims.
Specific religions
More information on the role of gender in specific religions can be found on the following pages:
Baháʼí Faith – Baháʼí Faith and gender equality
Buddhism – Women in Buddhism
Christianity – Women in Christianity
Mormonism – Women and Mormonism
Hinduism – Women in Hinduism
Islam – Women in Islam
Judaism – Gender and Judaism, Women in Judaism
Sikhism – Women in Sikhism
See also
Thealogy aka Feminine divine
Religion and sexuality
Sex segregation
Transgender people and religion
Anti-gender movement
References
External links
Is Christianity an Inherently Feminine Religion? Brett and Kate McKay
Women in the Bible by the Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc.
Feminism and spirituality | 0.761545 | 0.982565 | 0.748268 |
Philosophical theory | A philosophical theory or philosophical position is a view that attempts to explain or account for a particular problem in philosophy. The use of the term "theory" is a statement of colloquial English and not a technical term. While any sort of thesis or opinion may be termed a position, in analytic philosophy it is thought best to reserve the word "theory" for systematic, comprehensive attempts to solve problems.
Overview
The elements that comprise a philosophical position consist of statements which are believed to be true by the thinkers who accept them, and which may or may not be empirical. The sciences have a very clear idea of what a theory is; however in the arts such as philosophy, the definition is more hazy. Philosophical positions are not necessarily scientific theories, although they may consist of both empirical and non-empirical statements.
The collective statements of all philosophical movements, schools of thought, and belief systems consist of philosophical positions. Also included among philosophical positions are many principles, dogmas, doctrines, hypotheses, rules, paradoxes, laws, as well as 'ologies, 'isms, 'sis's, and effects.
Some examples of philosophical positions include:
Metatheory; positions about the formation and content of theorems, such as Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorem.
Political theory; positions that underlie a political philosophy, such as John Rawls' theory of justice.
Ethical theory and meta-ethics; positions about the nature and purpose of ethical statements, such as the ethical theory of Immanuel Kant.
Critical theory; in its narrow sense, a Western European body of Frankfurt School Marxist thought that aims at criticizing and transforming, rather than merely explaining, social structures. In a broader sense, "critical theory" relates to a wide variety of political, literary, and philosophical positions that take at least some of their inspiration from the Frankfurt School and its dialectic, and that typically contest the possibility of objectivity or aloofness from political positions and privileges.
Philosophical positions may also take the form of a religion, philosophy of life, ideology, world view, or life stance.
See also
Glossary of philosophy
List of philosophies
Metaphilosophy
References
Theories
fi:Uskomusjärjestelmä
sv:Trosuppfattning | 0.766387 | 0.976331 | 0.748247 |
Solidarity economy | Solidarity economy or Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) refers to a wide range of economic activities that aim to prioritize social profitability instead of purely financial profits. A key feature that distinguishes solidarity economy entities from private and public enterprises is the participatory and democratic nature of governance in decision-making processes as one of the main principles of the SSE sector. Active participation of all people involved in decision-making procedures contributes to their empowerment as active political subjects. However, different SSE organizational structures reflect variations in democratic governance and inclusive participation. Ultimately, SSE represents a crucial tool in guaranteeing that social justice ideals are upheld and that the wellbeing of the most vulnerable populations is paid attention to during the planning processes.
Overview
Some refer to solidarity economy as a method for naming and conceptualizing transformative monetary qualities, practices, and foundations that exist throughout the world. These incorporate, yet are not constrained to, egalitarian and participatory monetary conduct by people, laborers, and makers, for example, by a person who is a moral shopper, specialist, and additionally financial specialist, or by a specialist co-op, reasonable exchange business, or dynamic association. It is an economic formation which seeks to improve the quality of life of a region or community on the basis of solidarity, often through local business and not-for-profit endeavors. It mainly consists of activities organized to address and transform exploitation under capitalist economics and the large-corporation, large-shareholder-dominated economy and can include diverse activities. For some, it refers to a set of strategies and a struggle aimed at the abolition of capitalism and the social relations that it supports and encourages; for others, it names strategies for "humanizing" the capitalist economy—seeking to supplement capitalist globalization with community-based "social safety nets".
Historically, classical utilitarians argued that individuals should adopt a system which maximizes the total of all individuals' utility. When the utilities of people are summed, the personal utilities become equivalent. In other words, one's personal utility is equivalent to the utility of others. Individuals can then comprehend how other people feel, forming the foundation of the solidarity economy. Solidarity might be more effective than alienated individuality in certain instances. Game theory can explain greater productivity via solidarity. Sometimes in game theory contexts, cooperative instances might lead to a larger benefit, however game theory fundamentally presupposes the selfish nature of individual individuals. A major distinction between solidarity and game theory is that solidarity economy places and recognizes the selfless component of humans above their egotistical features.
History
"Solidarity economy" was used as an economic organizing concept as early as 1937, when Felipe Alaiz advocated for the development of economic solidarity among worker collectives in urban and rural areas during the Spanish Civil War It emerged more widely as a term in Latin America over the past twenty years in response to community and worker demands to expand forms of social inclusion and unity. Different conceptions of Solidarity Economy originated among movements seeking to create grassroots economies during the military dictatorships that dominated Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s and subsequently, flourished as of the emergence of financial neoliberal democracies in the 1990s up to the present.
The term "Social Solidarity Economy" started to be used in the late 90s. The first meeting of what would thereafter become the RIPESS (Intercontinental network for the promotion of social solidarity economy) network, took place in Lima, Peru on July 4, 1997 and the participants from more than 30 countries agreed that there needed to be a strong integration between the more traditional social economy structures (collective enterprises – a sector of the solidarity economy) and the more holistic and alternative approaches of solidarity economy practices and communities. The notion of solidarity economy has gained popularity, particularly since the early 2000s. In fact, while in most francophone and hispanophone countries the expression used is "Social AND Solidarity Economy", when the RIPESS network was formally announced in December 2002, it chose to eliminate the "AND" in its official name, in order to stress solidarity economy's aim of transformative system change, which includes going beyond the social economy. Another global network with the same aims, the Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World, produced an enhanced
definition: "Production, distribution and consumption activities which contribute to the democratisation of the economy via citizen engagement at the local and global level. Many networks continue to use the term Solidarity Economy and institutions usually refer to SSE as Social and Solidarity Economy.
According to previous revolutionary trends, we could be in the midst of a historical shift away from marketism and towards solidarity.
Solidarity-based economic approaches
One SSE approach focuses primarily on making the current economic system sustainable. Its objective is the creation of enterprises that serve its members or the community, instead of simply striving for financial profit by prioritising people and work over capital in the distribution of revenue and
surplus. Human, financial, and environmental assets are just a few instances of the variables that influence a company's sustainability. This notion, which is relevant to SSE enterprises, is integrated into social systems like social accountability and social balance.United Nations Research Institute for Social Development has concluded that "social and solidarity economy, a science-in-the-making, cannot go very far in framing discourses and in engaging with the bigger picture, as an alternative to the crisesridden "dominant economic paradigm"" and calls for further developing SSE into a new scientific theory with its own foundations which would offer an alternative to the homo economicus. Environmental development, furthermore known as sustainable development, is a type of economic and social advancement that ensures living standards within the ecosystem and therefore is tailored to the needs of each sustained region in order to become both humanistic and sustainable throughout time.
Another approach in this regard could be the "Bill on the Hook" project of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The initiative primarily aimed to provide much-needed financial support for the citizens of Istanbul during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform anonymously matches the donors with households that have outstanding utility bills. In just 31 hours, the campaign generated over 1 million USD (18,600,000 TL) and helped 57,423 people in Istanbul pay their water and gas bills. "Bill on the Hook" is still keeping its popularity, mainly because a large number of households are still unable to pay their utility bills on time due to the current hyperinflation environment in Turkey.
Specialized literature includes the following variables as contributing elements to the sustainability of entrepreneurship in the SSE:
Social factors. It is vital to acknowledge that belief systems should have solid grounds and also acknowledge the possible risk that particular designations may cause as to understand how social psychology contributes to the sociological growth and organizational strength.
Politics, religion, and culture. Within each historical and cultural heritage, it is important to ensure factors such as cultural legacy, ancient traditions, as well as the implementation of awareness, while also keeping a sense of community and identity.
Associativity. Associativity is a component of competition which enables the implementation of organisational structures that enable decision-making procedures centered on sustainability through time.
Education. Consequently, functionality of SSE will rely on the input of the involved stakeholders, on the learning programs that are tailored to the experience, literacy, and educational backgrounds of their staff.
Models of intervention in sustainable development. Models should not be uniform processes; rather, these should be created and implemented as part of collaborative initiatives under participatory operations.
Core values and principles
The RIPESS Charter of the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy sets out eleven core values to promote the ethical and value-based economic model:
Humanism – putting human beings, their dignity, culture and full development at the centre
Democracy – promoting democratic values
Solidarity – mobilizing resources and establishing relations with other social collectives
Inclusiveness – establishing dialogue based on the respect for ideological differences
Subsidiarity – promoting grassroots development to overcome common problems
Diversity – encouraging representation of players of all sectors of society
Creativity – promoting innovation that contribute to social change
Sustainable Development – respecting the balance of the ecosystem by protecting the environment and biodiversity
Equality, equity and justice for all - fighting against all forms of discrimination and oppression
Respecting the integration of countries and people - opposing economic, political, and cultural domination of the North over the South
A plural and solidarity-based economy - providing an alternative to the neoliberal economic model by taking actions towards a plural and solidarity-based economy
Also, sharing some of the above-mentioned points, six principles have been described in the REAS Charter for Solidarity Economy:
Principle of equity. Introduces an ethical or justice principle in equality. It is a value that recognizes all people as subjects of equal dignity and protects their right not to be subjected to relationships based on domination regardless of their social condition, gender, age, ethnicity, origin, ability, etc. Society must satisfy, in an equitable manner, the respective interests of all people.
Principle of work. Work is a key element in the quality of life of people, community and economic relations between citizens and states. Importance of recovering the human, social, political, economic and cultural dimension of work that allows the development of people's capacities. Work is much more than a job or an occupation.
Principle of environmental sustainability. All productive and economic activity is related to nature. The good relationship with nature is a source of economic wealth and health. Therefore, environmental sustainability must be integrated into all activities, evaluating the environmental impact (ecological footprint).
Principle of cooperation. Cooperation instead of competition. Model of society based on harmonious local development and fair commercial relationships. Solidarity Economy is based on participatory and democratic ethics, which wants to promote learning and cooperative work between people and organizations.
Principle of non-profit-making. The economic model to be pursued is aimed at the integral, collective and individual development of people, and as a means, the efficient management of economically viable, sustainable and profitable projects, whose benefits are reinvested and redistributed. This "non-profit-making" is closely linked to the way of measuring results, which take into account not only the economic aspects, but also the human, social, environmental, cultural and participatory aspects; and the final result is the comprehensive benefit.
Principle of territorial responsibility. Participation in the sustainable local and community development of the territory. Organizations fully integrated into the territory and social environment in which they carry out their activities, which requires involvement in networks and cooperation with other organizations of the nearby social and economic fabric, within the same geographical area. This collaboration is a way for concrete positive and solidary experiences to transform the structures that generate inequality, domination and exclusion.
Challenges of a solidarity economy
Market relation pressures – As Solidarity Economy enterprises expand, it often becomes more immersed in market relations and global value chains, making it confront new pressures that force large SSE organizations to adopt practices that are characteristic of for-profit enterprise and dilute core SSE principles. An example of such a case could be the growing criticism of microcredit practices.
Informal economy vulnerability – Solidarity Economy interacts with the informal economy of atomized workers and producers a complex web of social relations. The challenge lies in transitioning out of this informality, transforming a wide array of informal social relations with multiple actors into governance and adopting necessary regulations.
Internal dynamics – Solidarity Economy organizations can be prone to elite capture and social exclusion. This might be because of the types of producers that integrate organizations such as cooperatives and/or due to the fact that those with better education and skills end up dominating governance structures.
Balancing multiple objectives – Solidarity Economy enterprises are required to balance a variety of potential objectives related to efficiency and equity, or economic, environmental, social and emancipatory dimensions. This could be made additionally difficult by the organization's membership homogeneity, misalignment of incentives between managers and members, increased reliance on external support etc.
These initiatives' variety and fragmentation – For the social economy stakeholders/ institutions and their associated monetary sponsors, this is regarded as a regular difficulty. Certain strategies appear to be appropriate, whereas others seem to be less effective for the social economy, due to its increased heterogeneity of initiatives.
Social economy businesses
Social economy businesses (SEB) are situated at the overlap of the social economy and the private sector. This kind of hybrid organisations earn all or some part of their income from the marketplace and they may be in competition with private sector organisations. As many businesses that are primarily viewed as part of a private sector have modified their business imperatives and taken on social business models, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between private sector and social economy businesses. The main difference with private sector organisations is that SEB are guided by social objectives that are reflected in their business mission and strategies and built into their structure. In other words, in case of SEB the prerogatives of capital do not dominate over the social objectives in the organization's decision making.
Examples of organizations
The term social and solidarity economy alludes to a wide scope of organizations that are recognized from ordinary revenue driven venture, business and casual economy by two center highlights. To start with, they have unequivocal monetary and social (and frequently ecological) goals. Second, they include differing types of co-employable, affiliated and solidarity relations. They include the following examples:
Fair trade organizations form part of the solidarity economy, as their aim is to express practical solidarity with farmers in the developing world by paying them fair prices for their produce.
Self-help organizations also form part of the solidarity economy as members support each other in dealing with their problems as a practical form of solidarity.
Co-operatives and especially worker cooperatives form part of the solidarity economy if their aims include a commitment to solidarity in some form.
Trade unions are often considered a key part of the solidarity economy as they are based on the principle of solidarity between workers.
Free software movement, open-source development, and other forms of commons-based peer production
Social center
Give-away shops and other forms of gift economy
Global Social Economy Forum
Local exchange trading systems (LETS) as a way of replacing money.
Solidarity lending
Ethical purchasing
Economy for the Common Good
Trade School, a Participatory art project co-founded by Caroline Woolard, where participants barter materials, ideas, and services for knowledge.
Solidarity Economy Networks, such as the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (USSEN), co-founded by Julie Matthaei (professor of economics with a focus on feminist economics and the political economy of gender, race and class at Wellesley College)
See also
Criticism of capitalism
Gift economy
History of the Co-operative Movement
Mutual aid (organization theory)
Socialist economics
References
External links
RIPESS - Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy
Haverford College Solidarity Economy Resources
"Feminism and Revolution: Looking Back, Looking Ahead"
Why we need solidarity economy?
The Law on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), France
Global Action to promote Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems | 0.764251 | 0.978961 | 0.748172 |
Task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership | The task-relationship model is defined by Donelson Forsyth as "a descriptive model of leadership which maintains that most leadership behaviors can be classified as performance maintenance or relationship maintenances". Task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership are two models which are often compared, as they are known to produce varying outcomes under different circumstances. Task-oriented (or task-focused) leadership is a behavioral approach in which the leader focuses on the tasks that need to be performed in order to meet certain goals, or to achieve a certain performance standard. Relationship-oriented (or relationship-focused) leadership is a behavioral approach in which the leader focuses on the satisfaction, motivation and the general well-being of the team members.
Qualities of task-oriented leadership
Task-oriented leaders focus on getting the necessary task, or series of tasks, in hand in order to achieve a goal. These leaders are typically less concerned with the idea of catering to employees and more concerned with finding the step-by-step solution required to meet specific goals. They will often actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, and plan, organize, and monitor progress within the team.
The advantage of task-oriented leadership is that it ensures that deadlines are met and jobs are completed, and it is especially useful for team members who do not manage their time well. Additionally, these types of leaders tend to exemplify a strong understanding of how to get the job done, focusing on the necessary workplace procedures and delegating work accordingly to ensure that everything is completed in a timely and productive manner.
However, because task-oriented leaders do not tend to focus on their team's well-being, this approach can suffer many of the flaws of autocratic leadership, including causing motivation and retention problems.
Qualities of relationship-oriented leadership
Relationship-oriented leaders are focused on supporting, motivating and developing the people on their teams and the relationships within. This style of leadership encourages good teamwork and collaboration, through fostering positive relationships and good communication. Relationship-oriented leaders prioritize the welfare of everyone in the group, and will place time and effort in meeting the individual needs of everyone involved. This may involve offering incentives like bonuses, providing mediation to deal with workplace or classroom conflicts, having more casual interactions with team members to learn about their strengths and weaknesses, creating a non-competitive and transparent work environment, or just leading in a personable or encouraging manner.
The benefits of relationship-oriented leadership is that team members are in a setting where the leader cares about their well-being. Relationship-oriented leaders understand that building positive productivity requires a positive environment where individuals feel driven. Personal conflicts, dissatisfaction with a job, resentment and even boredom can severely drive down productivity, so these types of leaders put people first to ensure that such problems stay at a minimum. Additionally, team members may be more willing to take risks, because they know that the leader will provide the support if needed.
The downside of relationship-oriented leadership is that, if taken too far, the development of team chemistry may detract from the actual tasks and goals at hand.
The term "people-oriented" is used synonymously, whilst in a business setting, this approach may also be referred to as "employee-oriented".
Task-oriented vs. Relationship-oriented Leadership
In the 1940s, research in leadership began straying away from identifying individual leadership traits, to analyzing the effects of certain leadership behaviors – predominantly task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership.
The table below compares task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership styles side-by-side:
Mixed conclusions have risen from studies that try to determine the effects of task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership: some show that task-oriented leadership produces greater productivity, while some show that relation-oriented leaders create greater group efficacy.
However, a common finding is that relationship-oriented leadership will generate greater cohesion within groups, as well as greater team learning. It is also supported that relationship-oriented leadership has stronger individual impact, and a positive effect on self-efficacy.
Fiedler emphasized the strengths of consideration in the context of these two leadership styles in his 1993 publication on the contingency model. Fiedler pointed out that a task oriented leader can be most considerate when things are certain, there are limited unknowns, and their influence and power are high. Additionally task oriented individuals will place primary emphasis on task completion and secondary focus on relationships amongst the team. A more relationship oriented leader will be considerate "when some uncertainty is present" (p. 334). In fact, relationship oriented individuals are likely to reach out to team members in times of uncertainty.
A meta-analysis (Burke et al., 2006) conducted in 2006 integrated a wide spectrum of theoretical and empirical studies, and looked at the effects of leadership behaviors through multiple dimensions, including breaking down the specifics of task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership into subgroups such as "initiating structure", "consideration", and "empowerment". Its main set of analyses investigated the relationship between task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership behaviors on the following outcomes: perceived team effectiveness, team productivity, and team learning/growth. Results concluded that task-oriented leadership and relationship-oriented leadership produce a relatively similar perceived team effectiveness, however actual team productivity was higher for relationship-oriented led teams than for task-oriented teams (measured increase of 8% and 4% respectively).
It has also been theorized that groups who perceive their leaders as more task-oriented achieve higher levels of task accomplishment.
Leadership substitution theory
In Forsyth, the leadership substitute theory is defined as "a conceptual analysis of the factors that combine to reduce or eliminate the need for a leader." A leader may find that behaviors focusing on nurturing interpersonal relationships, or coordinating tasks and initiating structure, are not required in every situation. A study by Kerr and Jermier found that some contextual factors may negate the need for either task oriented or relationship oriented leadership behaviors, such as specific characteristics of group members, the task, or the organization.
Groups composed of members who have a "professional" orientation or members who do not necessarily value group rewards, can neutralize or negate both task and relationship oriented leadership. Also, individuals who are highly trained and capable, or those who have a need for independence, may not require that their leader focus on task coordination.
When the task is clear and routine, "methodologically invariant," or involves automatic feedback about accomplishment, task oriented leadership may be unnecessary. Furthermore, a task that is intrinsically satisfying can remove the need for relationship oriented leadership behaviors.
Finally, task oriented leadership can be neutralized/negated by several organizational characteristics; a formal environment, inflexible structure, specific staff functions, cohesive work groups, organized rewards outside of the leaders control, and physical distance between the leader and members. The characteristics of organized rewards, cohesive work groups, and physical distance have also been shown to negate the need for relationship oriented leadership styles.
Fiedler contingency model
The Fiedler contingency model argues that three situational components can determine whether task-oriented or relationship-oriented leadership is the better fit for the situation:
Leader-Member Relations, referring to the degree of mutual trust, respect and confidence between the leader and the subordinates.
Task Structure, referring to the extent to which group tasks are clear and structured.
Leader Position Power, referring to the power inherent in the leader's position itself.
When there is a good leader-member relation, a highly structured task, and high leader position power, the situation is considered a "favorable situation." Fiedler found that low-LPC leaders are more effective in extremely favourable or unfavourable situations, whereas high-LPC leaders perform best in situations with intermediate favourability.
The table below shows a breakdown of the theory:
Relevant studies
An experiment was conducted in 1972 with a total of 128 United States Military cadets in 4-man groups, to test the predictive validity of Fiedler's contingency model of leadership effectiveness. The experiment, which involved strong manipulation and specification of variables affecting situational favorableness, produced strong support for the contingency model.
A study was conducted that determined if basketball athletes of different age groups (lower high school to university level) preferred training and instruction (task-oriented) behavior or social support (relationship-oriented) behavior. Analyses and results revealed a quadratic trend for preference in task-oriented behavior that progressively decreased lower high school through junior to senior levels, and increased at the university level. A linear trend was seen for preference in relationship-oriented behavior, which progressively increased as age went up.
Situational leadership theory
In the 1950s, management theorists from Ohio State University and the University of Michigan published a series of studies to determine whether leaders should be more task- or relationship-oriented. The research concluded that there is no single "best" style of leadership, and thus led to the creation of the situational leadership theory, which essentially argues that leaders should engage in a healthy dose of both task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership fit for the situation, and the people being led.
The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid, also known as managerial grid model, serves as a framework to determine how one can balance task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership. It plots the degree of task-centeredness versus relationship-centeredness and identifies five combinations as distinct leadership styles.
See also
Leadership
Trait leadership
Transactional leadership
Transformational leadership
Leadership styles
Situational leadership theory
References
Strategic management
Leadership | 0.760134 | 0.984215 | 0.748135 |
Participatory development | Participatory development (PD) seeks to engage local populations in development projects. Participatory development has taken a variety of forms since it emerged in the 1970s, when it was introduced as an important part of the "basic needs approach" to development. Most manifestations of public participation in development seek "to give the poor a part in initiatives designed for their benefit" in the hopes that development projects will be more sustainable and successful if local populations are engaged in the development process. PD has become an increasingly accepted method of development practice and is employed by a variety of organizations. It is often presented as an alternative to mainstream "top-down" development. There is some question about the proper definition of PD as it varies depending on the perspective applied.
Perspectives
Two perspectives that can define PD are the "Social Movement Perspective" and the "Institutional Perspective":
The "Social Movement Perspective" defines participation as the mobilization of people to eliminate unjust hierarchies of knowledge, power, and economic distribution. This perspective identifies the goal of participation as an empowering process for people to handle challenges and influence the direction of their own lives. Empowerment participation is when primary stakeholders are capable and willing to initiate the process and take part in the analysis. This leads to joint decision making about what should be achieved and how. While outsiders are equal partners in the development effort, the primary stakeholders are primus inter pares, i.e., they are equal partners with a significant say in decisions concerning their lives. Dialogue identifies and analyzes critical issues, and an exchange of knowledge and experiences leads to solutions. Ownership and control of the process rest in the hands of the primary stakeholders.
The "Institutional Perspective" defines participation as the reach and inclusion of inputs by relevant groups in the design and implementation of a development project. The "Institutional Perspective" uses the inputs and opinions of relevant groups, or stakeholders in a community, as a tool to achieve a pre-established goal defined by someone external to the community involved. The development project, initiated by an activist external to the community involved, is a process by which problem issues in a community can be divided into stages, and this division facilitates assessment of when and to what degree a participatory approach is relevant. From an institutional perspective, there are four key stages of a development project: Research Stage, Design Stage, Implementation Stage, Evaluation Stage that are defined in later sections of this article. The institutional perspective can also be referred to as a "Project-Based Perspective".
Advocates of PD emphasize a difference between participation as "an end in itself", and participatory development as a "process of empowerment" for marginalized populations. This has also been described as the contrast between valuing participation for intrinsic rather than purely instrumental reasons.<ref name="Osmani, Siddiqur 2008 p 3">Osmani, Siddiqur (2008) "Participatory governance: An overview of issues and evidence" in United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Participatory governance and the millennium development goals (MDGs)', United Nations p. 3.</ref> In the former manifestation, participants may be asked to give opinions without any assurance that these opinions will have an effect or may be informed of decisions after they have been made. In the latter form, proponents assert that PD tries to "foster and enhance people's capability to have a role in their society's development".See also Sen, Amartya (2002) Rationality and Freedom, Harvard, Harvard Belknap Press; and Sen, Amartya (1999) Development as freedom, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Participatory development employed in particular initiatives often involves the process of content creation. For example, UNESCO's Finding a Voice Project'' employs ICT for development initiatives. Local content creation and distribution contributes to the formation of local information networks. This is a bottom-up approach that involves extensive discussions, conversations, and decision-making with the target community. Community group members create content according to their capacities and interests. This process facilitates engagement with information and communication technology (ICT) with the goal of strengthening individual and social development. This participatory content creation is an important tool for poverty reduction strategies and creating a digitally inclusive knowledge society.
Stages of a participatory development project from an institutional perspective
Each project issue in participatory development can be divided into stages, and this division facilitates assessment of when and to what degree a participatory approach is relevant. From an institutional perspective, there are four key stages of a development project:
Research Stage is where the development problem is accurately defined. All relevant stakeholders can be involved in this process. The research around the development problem can include studying previous experiences, individual and community knowledge and attitudes, existing policies and other relevant contextual information related to socio-economic conditions, culture, spirituality, gender, etc.
Design Stage defines the actual activities. A participatory approach helps to secure the ownership and commitment of the communities involved. Active participation by local citizens and other stakeholders aims to enhance both the quality and relevance of the suggested interventions.
Implementation Stage is when the planned intervention is implemented. Participation at this stage increases commitment, relevance and sustainability.
Evaluation Stage participation ensures that the most significant changes are voiced, brought to common attention and assessed. For a meaningful evaluation, indicators and measurements should be defined in a participatory process at the very beginning of the initiative involving all relevant stakeholders.
Features of participatory development
Passive participation is the least participatory of the four approaches. Primary stakeholders of a project participate by being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened. People’s feedback is minimal or non- existent, and their participation is assessed through methods like head counting and contribution to the discussion (sometimes referred to as participation by information).
Participation by consultation is an extractive process, whereby stakeholders provide answers to questions posed by outside researchers or experts. Input is not limited to meetings but can be provided at different points in time. In the final analysis, however, this consultative process keeps all the decision- making power in the hands of external professionals who are under no obligation to incorporate stakeholders' input.
Participation by collaboration forms groups of primary stakeholders to participate in the discussion and analysis of predetermined objectives set by the project. This level of participation does not usually result in dramatic changes in what should be accomplished, which is often already determined. It does, however, require an active involvement in the decision-making process about how to achieve it. This incorporates a component of horizontal communication and capacity building among all stakeholders—a joint collaborative effort. Even if initially dependent on outside facilitators and experts, with time collaborative participation has the potential to evolve into an independent form of participation.
Empowerment participation is where primary stakeholders are capable and willing to initiate the process and take part in the analysis. This leads to joint decision making about what should be achieved and how. While outsiders are equal partners in the development effort, the primary stakeholders are primus inter pares, i.e., they are equal partners with a significant say in decisions concerning their lives. Dialogue identifies and analyzes critical issues, and an exchange of knowledge and experiences leads to solutions. Ownership and control of the process rest in the hands of the primary stakeholders.
Variations of participatory development
Manifestations
There are many different manifestations of Participatory Development. PD has been promoted as a way to improve the "efficiency and effectiveness" of "formal" development programs. This method usually involves external and local actors working together on a particular project. GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), a German development agency, describes participation as "co-determination and power sharing throughout the program cycle". By involving those who will benefit from the programs in their development and having local and international groups work together, it is hoped that development projects will be made more sustainable and successful.
Enabling "mutual learning" is another way that PD is conceptualized. The goal is to enhance "communication, respect, listening and learning between development workers and those they serve" in order to achieve more applicable, "useful outcomes". Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is one example of mutual learning, a form of research which acknowledges that "illiterate, poor, marginalized people [can] represent their own lives and livelihoods ... do their own analysis and come up with their own solutions".
Some hope that PD will be able to cause a shift in power relations by "valorizing ... voices" that usually go unheard by political and development groups. This speaks to the idea that PD has the potential to increase a population's ability to be self-determining. Those who promote this view of PD would like to see local communities making, rather than only contributing to, important decisions. These activists hope that PD will lead to better civil engagement, whereby people are able determine the ways their own communities function. In these cases, international organizations can support and draw attention to the efforts of groups working for self-determination.
Implementation
Some theorists have highlighted a difference between "invited" and "claimed" spaces for PD. Invited spaces are usually formal events where local communities are asked by development agencies to share their thoughts. There is often a goal of coming to an agreement. Conversely, claimed spaces are created when marginalized individuals step in and "[take] control of political processes". The Zapatista Army of National Liberation movement can be viewed as an example of local people "claiming" space to advocate for political change.
Benefits
Research conducted by several development agencies (World Bank, CIDA, USAID, IRDP) suggests that there are many benefits to be gained through the use of PD. These studies suggest that while PD projects may have high start up costs, they will be less expensive and more sustainable in the long run. These studies also found that PD projects are better at addressing local needs and are generally more relevant to local populations than traditional development projects.
Community participation is also thought to increase the efficiency of development projects. Participation can also contribute towards more equitable outcomes so long as elite capture of participatory mechanisms is avoided.
Criticisms
When compared with traditional forms of development, PD is sometimes criticized for being costly and slow. A project may take longer if one has to engage, work and come to a consensus with local communities, than if one did not have to do these things. PD may also have higher start-up costs than traditional development. In addition, PD is criticized for reaching a smaller population than traditional development. Community dialogue and augmentation may initially involve only a few individuals, whereas dropped food aid reaches hundreds of people.
See also
Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action (PCHP)
Participatory action research
Participatory technology development
Participation (decision making)
Farmer Field School
Community-led total sanitation
Community-based participatory research (CBPR)
Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)
Praxis intervention
Public participation
Orality
Millennium Development Goals
Wikipedia:WikiProject International development
Notes
Community development
Articles containing video clips
Citizen science models | 0.762901 | 0.98061 | 0.748108 |
Leadership studies | Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, anthropology, psychology), in humanities (e.g., history and philosophy), as well as in professional and applied fields of study (e.g., management and education). The field of leadership studies is closely linked to the field of organizational studies.
As an academic area of inquiry, the study of leadership has been of interest to scholars from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Today, there are numerous academic programs (spanning several academic colleges and departments) related to the study of leadership. Leadership degree programs generally relate to: aspects of leadership, leadership studies, and organizational leadership (although there are a number of leadership-oriented concentrations in other academic areas).
Leadership in higher education
Leadership has become one of the fastest-growing academic fields in higher education At all levels, undergraduate through doctoral, an increasing number of colleges and universities have begun developing not only individual courses, but entire degree programs specifically devoted to the study of leadership.
Even among some of the more established and traditional academic disciplines such as engineering, education, and medicine, specialization and concentration areas have developed around the study of leadership. Most of these academic programs have aimed to be multidisciplinary in nature, drawing upon theories and applications from related fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and management. Such an approach, Rost (1991) has argued "allows scholars and practitioners to think radically new thoughts about leadership that are not possible from a unidisciplinary approach" (p. 2).
Outside of the classroom, there are formal leadership education and development opportunities led by many institutions' Student Affairs departments. For example, Canadian institutions such as Sheridan College have large Peer Mentor student staff programs which allow students to gain work experience while building their leadership skill development, self-confidence, and connections to their campus community. Other Leadership opportunities may include: student leadership conferences, student staff roles, volunteer opportunities, co-curricular opportunities, and leadership workshops. Leadership education in higher education is important not only because it increases student retention rates, but it is also viewed as an important job skill. The National Association of Colleges and Employers in the United States surveyed employers and found that leadership was an attribute that 67.4% of the respondents look for in a successful candidate's resume.
History of leadership as a field of study
The study of leadership can be dated back to Plato, Sun Tzu and Machiavelli. However, leadership has only become the focus of contemporary academic studies in the last 60 years, and particularly more so in the last two decades. Contemporary leadership scholars and researchers have often been questioned about the nature of their work, and its place within the academy, but much of the confusion surrounding leadership as a field of study may be attributed to a lack of understanding regarding transdisciplinary, inter-, and multi- disciplinary academic fields of study in general.
The discipline – which encompasses a host of sub-fields – is filled with definitions, theories, styles, functions, competencies, and historical examples of successful and diverse leaders. Collectively, the research findings on leadership provide a far more sophisticated and complex view of the phenomenon than most of the simplistic views presented in the popular press.
Some of the earliest studies on leadership include:
The Ohio State Leadership Studies which began in the 1940s and focused on how leaders could satisfy common group needs. The findings indicated that the two most important dimensions in leadership included: "initiating structure", and "consideration". These characteristics could be either high or low and were independent of one another. The research was based on questionnaires to leaders and subordinates. These questionnaires are known as the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) and the Supervisor Behavior Description Questionnaire (SBDQ). By 1962, the LBDQ was on version XII.
The Michigan Studies of Leadership which began in the 1950s and indicated that leaders could be classified as either "employee centered", or "job centered". These studies identified three critical characteristics of effective leaders: task oriented behavior, relationship-oriented behavior, and participative leadership.
Theory X and theory Y – developed by Douglas McGregor in the 1960s at MIT Sloan School of Management. These theories described employee motivation in the workforce. Both theories begin with the premise that the role of management is to assemble the factors of production, including people, for the economic benefit of the firm. Beyond this point, the two theories of management diverge.
Managerial grid model (1964), updated in 1991 to the Blake and McCanse leadership grid – developed the orientation of "task orientation" and "people orientation" in leader behavior. They developed the leadership grid which focused on concern for results (on the one axis) and concern for people (on the other axis).
In addition to these studies, leadership has been examined from an academic perspective through several theoretical lenses:
Trait and behavioral theories of leadership: Attempt to describe the types of behavior and personality tendencies associated with effective leadership.
Situational and contingency theories of leadership: Incorporate environmental and situational considerations into leader behavior.
Functional leadership theory: Suggests that a leader's primary responsibility is to see that whatever is necessary in relation to group needs is taken care of.
Information-processing leadership theory: Focuses on the role of social perception in identifying leadership abilities.
Self-leadership theory: Although behaviorally oriented, the essence of self leadership theory is that behaviors are directed toward the attainment of super-ordinate goals.
Transactional and transformational theories of leadership: The transactional leader focuses on managerial reward and contingent valuation. The transformational leader focuses on motivation and goal attainment.
The first doctoral program in Leadership Studies was established at the University of San Diego in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences in 1979. The first undergraduate school of Leadership Studies was established at the University of Richmond Jepson School of Leadership Studies in 1992.
Research on different types of leadership
Empirical, meta-analytic, and theoretical studies have been conducted on various types of leadership. Some of the styles of leadership studied include:
Ambidextrous leadership
Democratic leadership
Innovation leadership
Transactional leadership
Transformational leadership
Notable leadership scholars
John Antonakis: Swiss social scientist and former editor in chief of The Leadership Quarterly, is a pioneer in promoting causal identification in leadership (and management studies), in promoting consequential experimental designs and natural experiments, and in making fundamental contributions to the science of leadership (e.g., charismatic leadership, individual differences, social cognition). He is professor at HEC Lausanne at the University of Lausanne.
Warren Bennis: American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership Studies. Bennis is University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.
Stephen R. Covey: An international respected leadership authority, author of Principle Centered Leadership, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and The 8th Habit. Founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey Company.
James MacGregor Burns: Presidential biographer, founder of leadership studies with his 1978 book Leadership, Woodrow Wilson Professor (emeritus) of Political Science at Williams College, and scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1971 for his Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom 1940–1945.
Peter Drucker: Writer, management consultant, and self-described "social ecologist". Widely considered to be the father of "modern management", his 39 books and countless scholarly and popular articles explored how humans are organized across all sectors of society—in business, government and the nonprofit world.
Ronald Heifetz: Co-founder of the Center for Public Leadership and King Hussein bin Talal Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Barry Z. Posner: Dean of the Leavey School of Business as well as a Professor of Leadership at Santa Clara University.
Victor Vroom: Business school professor at the Yale School of Management. Vroom's primary research was on the expectancy theory of motivation, which attempts to explain why individuals choose to follow certain courses of action in organizations, particularly in decision-making and leadership. His most well-known books are Work and Motivation, Leadership and Decision Making, and The New Leadership. Vroom has also been a consultant to a number of corporations such as GE and American Express.
Research methods in the study of leadership
Leadership has been studied using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (a combination of quantitative and qualitative) research methodologies. From a quantitative psychology orientation, statistical and mathematical modeling has been used in the development of leadership scales, in testing established leader evaluation tools, and in examining perceptions of leaders. Quantitative analysis may also take an experimental approach, incorporating methods from the field of experimental economics. Survey methodology has also been widely used in leadership research. As such, traditional methods of analysis in survey research have also extended to the analysis of survey research within the study of leadership (e.g., cross-tabulations, ANOVAs, regression analysis, log-linear analysis, factor analysis, etc.). From a qualitative orientation, leadership research has included a host of research techniques: phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, interviews, case studies, historiography, literary criticism, etc.
"Coaches and coaching psychologists are increasingly using the lessons and
tools of positive psychology in their practice (Biswas-Diener, 2010)." An example of leadership research done was by P. Alex Linley and Gurpal Minhas researching the strengths that may be found in more effective strengthspotters; the people who are skilled in the identification and development of strengths in others. The study consisted of an online survey used to collect data on the Strengthspotting Scale, together with an assessment of 60 different strengths using the Realise2 model (www.realise2.com). There were 528 respondents to retrieve data from and the results showed that the four strengths connector, enabler, esteem builder and feedback were found across the Strengthspotting Scale. "The strengths of Connector, Enabler and Feedback were significant predictors for each strengthspotting domain, suggesting that these may be the essence of the personal characteristics of an effective strengthspotter" (Linley and Minhas, 2011).
Academic programs
There are a considerable number of doctoral, masters, and undergraduate degree programs related to the study of leadership. Given that the study of leadership is interdisciplinary, leadership-related degree programs are often situated within various colleges, schools, and departments across different university campuses (e.g., Schools of Education at some universities, Business Schools at other universities, and Graduate and Professional Schools at still other universities). As such, at the doctoral level leadership related degree programs primarily include: Ph.D., Ed.D., and executive doctoral degrees (depending on the situation of the program within the university). At the masters level leadership related degree programs primarily include: Master of Science, Master of Arts, and executive master's degrees. At the undergraduate level leadership related degree programs primarily include: Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees as well as leadership certificate and minor programs. For example, Old Dominion University offers an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies – Leadership]. Old Dominion University also offers a LeADERS program for undergraduates that help students foster leadership skills and values to ultimately be competitive in a student's career.
See also
Industrial and organizational psychology
Leadership
Leadership (journal)
National School of Leadership
Organizational studies
References | 0.763985 | 0.979211 | 0.748102 |
Social learning tools | Social learning tools are tools used for pedagogical and andragogical purposes that utilize social software and/or social media in order to facilitate learning through interactions between individuals and systems. The idea of setting up "social learning tools" is to make education more convenient and widespread. It also allows an interaction between users and/or the software which can bring a different aspect to learning. People can acquire knowledge by distance learning tools, for instance, Facebook, Twitter, Khan Academy and so on. Social learning tools may mediate in formal or informal learning environments to help create connections between learners, instructors and information. These connections form dynamic knowledge networks. Social learning tools are used in schools for teaching/learning and in businesses for training. Within a school environment, the use of social learning tools can affect not only the user (student) but his/her caretaker as well as his/her instructor. It brings a different approach to the traditional way of learning which affects the student and his/her support circle. Companies also use social learning tools. They used them to improve knowledge transfer within departments and across teams. Businesses use a variety of these tools to create a social learning environment. They are also used in company settings to help improve team work, problem solving, and performance in stressful situations.
Social learning tools are used for people who are willing to share their good ideas/thoughts with someone else. The ideas can be related to either the academic studies or any other daily skills that we want to share with others. Social learning tools connect learning to our daily lives. It creates a learning environment more truthful to today's society. There are a couple of common elements that should be present in a social learning tool. Technology should be involved to allow physical and cognitive learning. There should be interactions between the people who use the tool and interactions with the software. Another element is trust. Users should trust the software and what other people have created.
Frequently Used Social Learning Tools
Blogger
Blogger is a site in which users can create their own blog. Blogger can be used in an educational context. A teacher could create a blog in which students could interact on. This would allow students to improve their writing and planning skills. Students would have to think about how they would write out their information on the blog in order to convey their message properly. Blogger provides opportunities for students to share what they wrote with their peers and with their caretakers. The blogs could also be a form of electronic portfolios that could show what the students created during the school year. Blogger has settings in which only people with permission can see or write on the blogs themselves.
Facebook
Facebook is an online communication tool that allows individuals to interact with each other within a virtual community. It has become the most popular social networking site since its beginnings in 2004. Facebook was co-founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his roommates and colleagues from Harvard University. Zuckerberg is presently the CEO of Facebook. This online communication tool can be used for personal and for professional purposes. Technology plays an integral part of students' daily lives and teachers will need to find ways of implementing these technologies into their classrooms. Research is currently being conducted on the benefits of implementing Facebook in educational settings and how it could potentially be used as a tool for teaching and learning, even if it is known for social networking in the first place. For example, Facebook can be used to create discussion groups for group projects to divide the work and stay up to date with each other. It can also be used to share articles. Educators can also create professional Facebook accounts for their classrooms, which could be potentially used as a dashboard to upload course material and assignments. It can also be used to create polls to get some feedback and suggestions on the course that the teacher would like to implement. The objective is to improve the methods of teaching as well as the learning experience of students. With the use of technologies, students are more engaged in their learning.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a communication software platform that was created by Google. Some features of this social learning tool include starting a chat conversation or video call, phone calls through WI-FI or data and sending messages. All you need is a Google Account. Google Hangouts has become an increasingly popular tool to participate and communicate with people around the world. It can be seen as a better version of Skype in the sense that it has the potential to record or have a group chat without the occasional availability issues that may be seen in the free version of Skype. This makes it easily accessible and efficient in many ways. There are also many other useful tools from Google like Google Drive that allow users to take part in editing and sharing different content, assignments, and sources even when not together. It only takes an Internet connection and everything is saved in your own personal drive.
Instagram
Instagram, founded in 2010, is a social networking app that was created for sharing photos and videos. Used very frequently in today's society, Instagram can be seen as a great social learning tool through reaching the majority of the populations that have access to the Internet. It has become one of the most popular apps in the social networking world and is now used as a way to campaign companies or organizations. It may be used for educational purposes by posting photos or 1-minute videos of information or subject content. It may also be used for photo essays or creating an organization or lesson.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy, founded in 2006 by Salman “Sal” Khan, is a non-profit organization providing free online educational resources used by millions of people worldwide. It is best known for its strong mathematics content provided through video tutorials. The mathematics content is designed to help students from kindergarten to grade 12. In 2009, Khan Academy began expanding its educational learning platform to include other subjects, including art history and computer science. The mathematics section is also much more accessible since its recent translation into French. Khan Academy has also diverged to offering other means of learning beyond the online videos, including self-paced training exercises, quizzes, and dashboards for teachers to keep track of student progress. There is also the coach resource section which provides guidelines to parents or teachers for example, who want to learn how to use Khan Academy.
Khan Academy is used in majority by individuals outside of school for study purposes. However, in recent years, its use in educational settings has been increasing. Some teachers have implemented the use of Khan Academy in their classrooms, believing it would simply be an adjunct to their instruction. However, it became more important than this. Some teachers are now thinking of “flipping” the normal functioning of classroom settings and including video tutorials from Khan Academy in their teaching. The idea is to have students watch the videos or read the lectures provided by the teacher at home and to do the problem sets during class time. It has been shown that students are having the most difficulty when they are doing their homework.
Pinterest
Pinterest is a web-based software platform that allows its users to share and discover new information through the use of pictures, descriptions, and short videos. It can also be seen as an online pin board where users can post on their board, collect from other boards, and privately share posted pins. This can be useful in the classroom through having students post their works on their own board or a class board and to share (re-pin) information between their peers. It is easily accessible and is popular for its application that can be used on any mobile or smart device.
Skype
Skype is a free telecommunications tool that gives its users the opportunity to voice chat or video call between various devices such as laptops and cellphones. Although this application requires the Internet, it has grown to be one of the world's most popular communication tools. Skype is an excellent resource to use when collaborating with participants who are in remote areas because discussions and communication can still occur. Skype can be applied to classrooms in many ways. For example, it can be used as a way to include students who are at home due to illness into collaborative discussions held in class.
Twitter
Twitter is an established micro-blogging service available to individuals with Internet access world-wide and provides unlimited access to social networks for its users, to send and receive messages. In 2006, it was funded by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. One of the common site users is media outlets to broadcast current news updates. For this reason, people use Twitter as a daily source of information to inform themselves on local and world news. Another way that Twitter is utilized, is in the classroom, when a teacher builds a classroom account which can be viewed by their students. This account would allow teachers to post reminders for test revisions, assignment due dates, upcoming field trips and conferences, and review post lessons and answer homework questions. For future lesson plans, teachers could have students tweet what they learned from the previous class and reflect on the content and then engage in classroom discussions on Twitter.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website founded in 2005 that was created for users to share, like, upload, and comment on videos. Nowadays, YouTube can be used on many devices through applications like its YouTube app. Although it is mainly used for music, videos on reviewing items or how to do something, it may also be used for educational purposes. There are many accounts just for specific educational subjects like Crash Course, an account that focuses on subjects like anatomy, biology, chemistry and physics. YouTube can be a great social learning tool in education in many different ways: showing videos on different subjects in class or having students research how something works to answer questions, for homework or even to seek further knowledge. There are many platforms of YouTube that lead to other useful social learning tools for educational purposes. TED Talks created its account on YouTube, which provides videos of the best ideas from trusted voices discussing different issues, sharing knowledge or facts and opinions, sharing poetry and spoken word. For education, TED has created its own platform called TED-Ed, which is essentially short TED Talks videos that may be used for information or insight purposes on many different school subjects. There is even such thing as TeacherTube, which is another type of social learning tool similar to YouTube though initially created for education teachers. It may be used for teachers, students or parents through the use of published educational videos with a library of different content filled with videos, audio and pictures.
Types of Environments
The different environments in which social learning tools can be used may influence the connections between learners, educators and the knowledge or information being acquired. These environments can be formal, non-formal, informal or virtual.
Formal learning, is the planned process of acquiring knowledge that happens within a structured educational or institute setting. Lecturers in the university setting may use Moodle to post class lectures and the latest information to students, e.g. courseware used during lectures, coursework, quizzes, and forums. Students can both prepare and review for lectures based on what professors have posted at any given time.
Non-formal learning, is the planned process learning that is voluntary and not in a structured environment. Most of planned learning that is not directly associated with school or the education system is done in a non-formal learning environment. For example, taking swimming lessons at the town pool. The swimming lessons take place in an unstructured environment though are planned, organized, and taught by an instructor of prior knowledge on the subject. Social learning tools can be used in this particular environment to facilitate learning like showing a video on YouTube on how to swim.
Informal learning, is when information is gained inadvertently or unstructured, which usually happens on a day-to-day basis. Informal learning happens outside of the formal classroom during conversations among people, through exploration and personal experiences. Many circumstances can be considered to be part of an informal learning environment, e.g. the casual watching of videos on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube feed.
Virtual learning, is when learning is done via the use of web-based platforms in and out of school. This learning environment is almost always used for any social learning tool. The virtual learning environment (VLE) encourages students to explore, discover and exchange information quickly, creatively and independently.
There are many social learning tools created for the sole purpose of education. The education system has adopted technology as a way to educate students in school and outside of school settings, where students have shown to work well in the VLE. Social learning tools including Moodle, Khan Academy, TED-Ed and TeacherTube can all be used both in school and at home through the use of the Internet. This goes to show that social learning tools can be both used within all learning environments while being used for educational purposes. However, it is important for these social learning tools to first be introduced in the formal learning environment, e.g. in the classroom, in order to be established as first an educational tool and second a social media platform that may be accessible outside of school.
The majority of informal learning environments are directly related to the use of social media, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Television Channels and so on. For instance, there are many Food TV or YouTube Channels that allow people to self-teach themselves how to cook. This is done through the informal and VLE where a person can simply learn from the comfort of their own home and according to their own pace. Not only does social software or media allow society to gain new knowledge or information; it is easily accessible and can even happen without the desire or intent of learning.
Effectiveness: Education and Business
The student/employee learning experience is expanded and advanced through the usage of technology.
Convenience
Social learning tools are convenient because through the various platforms that are now available, communication between students and teachers is fluid and the exchange of knowledge and ideas can be achieved remotely. This means that both parties are no longer required to travel in order to attend school and to study content based subjects. Students can communicate with their teachers over the Internet and attend and actively participate in lectures. Social learning tools provide both students and teachers with a media platform that enables distance education.
Cost-Efficient
Social learning tools give access, as a hub, to sources of information and resources online, either for free or at low costs through the use of the Internet. Most of these tools can easily be downloaded and used on a smartphone, tablet or computer. For example, there are online applications (apps) like EasyBib, which generates bibliographic citations in the necessary styles as needed for research, essays and other assignments and does this at no cost.
School-Wide Application
Social learning tools are applicable to elementary, high school, CEGEP, and university level learning. The social media platforms such as Facebook, Skype or Twitter could enhance the communication and interaction between students and their teachers. For example, teachers could post assignments, schedules, lesson summaries or notices regarding class updates for the students to view. For professional development, it provides teachers with the networking to connect with other professionals, share lesson plans, and receive up to date research regarding how education is taught.
Additionally, students could post their questions online for the teacher to answer in the group section, have class discussions and exchange ideas, and incorporate other forms of communication. As well, enable students to find real world applications and associate it with their topic. The platforms mentioned above, allow students to look beyond the classroom for answers to questions and to obtain outside input.
Learning Tools
Social networking permits students to research and gather information on topics beyond the classroom setting. For example, Twitter is one of the social learning tools implemented into classrooms for language learning. Tweets are a method of improving short essays and supports grammatically correct writing and reading skills of a language. It is a form of active learning which further engages the students. After posting a tweet, students would get feedback from other site users and have a second opinion on their writing piece. Another advantage would be to use Twitter in large lecture halls, so students could engage in the topic of discussion and share their interests and thoughts with their colleagues and professors in an ongoing basis.
Commercial Advantages
There are several advantages to the field of commerce, when it comes to implementing social learning tools in the workplace. If businesses create a forum for customers to write their feedbacks, they could have more ideas about how to improve their products, which enables the company to create better marketing strategies. Furthermore, employees could use the Internet or other program systems, in order to work from home. They could be informed about the current issues and concerns of the workplace. It allows people to concentrate without any distractions at the office, it offers the flexibility of scheduling, time engagement and committing.
Employment Opportunities
Social media platforms has made searching for job employment and connecting with potential employers more available for students entering the workforce for both part-time and full-time work. For example, Facebook and Twitter can be utilized to follow the companies’ postings and what is going on in the field.
LinkedIn is a website designed for students or other individuals to create professional profiles, post their curriculum vitae, receive current notifications on available employment and network with companies, businesses, school boards and industries to apply for a wider variety of job offers.
Drawbacks in a Classroom Setting
Inappropriate or Offensive Use
A major concern among educators regarding social learning tools is the lack of control and monitoring. When students are given access to the Internet, they may post inappropriate content or use these sites in a way that can be disrespectful or damaging to others. Educators do not always have the means to be able to monitor every student's usage of these social learning tools, therefore students may be able to take advantage of this privilege for their own personal benefit and amusement. Posting pornography or using foul language are just a few examples that highlight the offensive and inappropriate behaviour that can be exhibited by students through social learning tools in classrooms.
Distraction From Learning
Social learning tools give students access to the Internet, where they can take advantage of other irrelevant websites and interfaces. It is very easy for students to get distracted by other social platforms that can divert their attention away from information being presented in class. This ultimately results in a disruption to the student's learning process which is a common concern for the majority of faculty members. Some research has shown that disruption to the learning process can significantly affect a student's ability to retain information into their long-term memory. Educators should be made aware of the potential risk for technology to be a distraction and set clear guidelines for their students to follow.
Cyberbullying
As the use of technology increases, cyberbullying is becoming more prevalent among students. Although social learning tools give students the ability to interact with teachers and peers, it also provides them with the opportunity to bully others online. This type of malicious behaviour can be seen at every level of education, including college campuses. Educators should plan to intervene on any incidents of cyberbullying that they witness in order to prevent more serious offences. They should also encourage respectful and positive behaviours towards peers when in the classroom and online.
Lack of Face-to-Face Communication
There is much speculation about whether or not social learning tools can provide enough opportunity for the development of real-life social skills. Some educators are concerned that students will not fully develop the ability to communicate effectively or command attention if they are constantly learning through a screen. Although social learning tools create opportunities for students to interact with others via web interfaces, it does not offer them authentic real-life interactions where students are forced to express themselves verbally or connect with others face-to-face.
Protection of Students’ Privacy
Social learning tools such as Facebook and Twitter are online networking websites that are public and can be accessed by anyone. Parents and educators alike have expressed their concerns about students using these platforms, as they could expose students’ identities. Protecting students’ personal privacy should be a top priority for educators, however this can be a challenge when using social learning tools. To prevent these issues from arising, schools should develop a system which ensures that students stay anonymous when posting content online.
Stress for Teachers
Social learning tools give students the ability to communicate efficiently with teachers outside of regular classroom hours. Although this may be a benefit to student learning, excessive stress is placed on teachers to respond quickly and provide feedback. Many faculty members have expressed that technology has harmed their work environment, as digital communication increases their stress levels. Furthermore, they have reported that digital communication has increased the number of hours they work in a day. Educators can also experience added pressure to learn how to teach with social learning tools. Many teachers are skilled with using technology, however they do not possess the knowledge on how to implement social learning tools in teaching. Educators need to be taught how and when to use technology, so they can effectively implement it within their curriculum.
Plagiarism and Student Integrity
Academic integrity is an important part of learning in all educational settings. Plagiarism is a concern for teachers that can be amplified when students are using social learning tools. The Internet is a database that holds a multitude of resources available to online users. Unfortunately, direct access to all of this information when using social learning tools makes it easy for students to copy the work of others and use it as their own.
Cost of Equipment
Social learning tools would not exist without the technological devices that harbor them. In order to implement social learning tools into the classroom, the school or school board must invest a large sum of money in order to purchase technological devices for its students. Depending on the budget available, there may not be enough money to buy devices for every student to use. Furthermore, personal cell phones are a popular device that can be used as a vehicle for teaching using social learning tools. However, not every student has the money to buy a cell phone.
See also
Learning Tools Interoperability
Social Learning (Social Pedagogy)
Social Learning Theory
Social Networking Site (SNS)
References
Picuki tool guide Picuki – Guide about the Ultimate Instagram Editor and Viewer newsuptimes.com
Educational technology | 0.778138 | 0.961383 | 0.748089 |
Technology–organization–environment framework | The technology-organization-environment framework, also known as the TOE framework, is a theoretical framework that explains technology adoption in organizations and describes how the process of adopting and implementing technological innovations are influenced by the technological context, organizational context, and environmental context. Louis G. Tornatzky and Mitchell Fleischer published the model in 1990.
Numerous application examples of the TOE framework have been summarized by Olivera and Martins (2011).
As Awa, Ojiabo & Orokor (2017) reiterated, the TOE framework is for organizational level analysis. The framework focuses on higher level attributes (i.e. the technological, organizational, and environmental contexts) instead of detailed behaviors of individuals in the organization. To understand technology adoption at individual level, behavioral models such as the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behavior, and the technology acceptance model should be applied. While this classification of organization level theory and individual level theory is generally accepted, it also leads to the difficulty of how to investigate the higher level attributes. Information can only be obtained from individuals in the target organization and hence inevitably biased by individuals' viewpoints. Li (2020) has demonstrated a rough equivalence of behavioral models and TOE framework when individual perception has been taken into account.
Despite the TOE framework having been widely used, it has undergone limited theoretical development since its introduction. According to Zhu and Kraemer (2005), the reason for the lack of development is that the TOE framework is "too generic" and offers a high degree of freedom to vary factors and measures so there is little need to change the theory itself. Another important reason, according to Baker (2012), is the theory aligns "too well" with other technology adoption theories and does not offer competitive explanations. Thus, there is very limited tension to modify the framework.
References
Information systems
Management frameworks
Organizational studies | 0.766157 | 0.976347 | 0.748035 |
Civility | Civility may denote orderly behavior and politeness. Historically, civility also meant training in the humanities.
Etymology
Late Middle English: from Old French , from Latin , from "relating to citizens" (see civil). In early use, the term denoted the state of being a citizen and hence good citizenship or orderly behavior. The sense "politeness" arose in the mid-16th century.
Developmental model
Adolf G. Gundersen and Suzanne Goodney Lea developed a civility model grounded in empirical data that "stresses the notion that civility is a sequence, not a single thing or set of things". The model conceives of civility as a continuum or scale consisting of increasingly demanding traits ranging from "indifference" to "commentary", "conversation", "co-exploration" and, from there, to "habituation". According to the authors, such a developmental model has several advantages, not least of which is that it allows civility to be viewed as something everyone can get better at.
Empathy in civility
Many experts say civility goes beyond good manners and listening attentively, but includes sharing our own beliefs and values with others through some type of engagement with the intent of sincere respect towards one another. This also requires a willingness and open mindedness to having our opinions and biases challenged by others who share different and perhaps unique points of view.
Experts say that our ability to act with civility is connected with our ability to understand our own emotions. Understanding our feelings helps us to recognize how we are feeling in real-time and give us a greater ability to have empathy for others. Furthermore, discerning and recognizing our feelings can help us to evaluate the things that trigger us emotionally and therefore become more aware of how we will possibly react and feel in certain situations. By taking the time to understand our thoughts and emotions in these situations, this practice can lead to self-recognition and acceptance of how similar situations may affect others, including those that may share a unique perspective.
Sharon Styles-Anderson established Emotional Civility Day, March 6. Emotional Civility, a concept developed by Anderson, helps the world recognize that there is a connection between the way people feel and the way they interact with others.
Lack of civility
Incivility is the opposite of civility—a lack of civility. Verbal or physical attacks on others, cyber bullying, rudeness, religious intolerance, discrimination, and vandalism are some of the acts that are generally considered uncivil. Incivility is an issue on the global stage. Social media and the web give people the ability to freely exchange ideas, but this has not come without consequences.
Politicians in the U.S. frequently say that they encounter a lack of civility in their workplace, and have disregarded it as unfortunate aspect of politics. But polls indicate that "going negative" can help candidates win elections. During the 2016 presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump regularly called his rivals "stupid, incompetent, and losers".
Recognizing that people harassing others online has become a problem and can have negative consequences for businesses, many companies stepped up to create more awareness and initiatives to help. Intel in collaboration with organizations such as the Born This Way Foundation and Vox Media initiated "Hack Harassment" aimed to increase awareness of online harassment and anti-harassment technologies. the Data & Society/CiPHR Measuring Cyberabuse poll indicated that nearly 70% of people between the ages of 15 and 29 are harassed or abused online. Although there are tactics to block cyber-bullying, such as censorship and banning users from accessing a site, it does not correct the underlying issues on what causes it. 75% of technology professionals believe a universal code of online conduct would also help curb online harassment.
On April 22, 2016, The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago released a report citing that 74 percent of Americans think manners and behavior have declined in the United States. In this study they discovered that people in most cases can agree with what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. They found that 8 out of 10 Americans find jokes made based on race, gender, or sexuality are considered inappropriate, but only a small number of people own up to making these types of jokes. The report suggests that nearly half of all Americans aged 18–29 find it acceptable to use their cell phones in a restaurant, while fewer than 22 percent of people over the age of 60 agree.
Movements to foster civility
Worldwide
In October 2019, the United Nations announced that the World Civility Index would be a part of their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new Sustainable Development Goals initiative serves as the updated global targets that were set forth initially in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of 2000 to 2015. Under the Sustainable Development Goals initiatives, the United Nations identified seventeen core challenges that have an interconnected part in achieving a more sustainable future for all. The World Civility Index is designed to be implemented as a tool for employers and organizations around the world to create a system of consistent measurements of soft skills that are related to civility. Other global organizations, like the Worldwide Civility Council, also aim to centralize civility resources and tools, such as the Civility Scorecard and Masonic Family Civility Project, in order to help promote civility and assist various civility organizations around the world. One of the core ideas promoted by the United Nation's goal on achieving worldwide civility is having a universal system for measuring civility, because setting a standard of measurement helps to more accurately measure levels of civility. Furthermore, having meaningful measurements will help in creating more effective and efficient training to assist people in acquiring the soft skills needed, like civility, in the modern workplace and foreseeable future.
In 2020, the Worldwide Civility Council launched the Certified Civil initiative to recognize the commitment to civil behavior and communication by individuals, organizations, and groups around the world, which also includes but is not limited to businesses, publications, websites, and social media sites. A Certified Civil designation can only be awarded based on a demonstrated ability to act and foster civility. At the core of the civility certification process are several commitments, including advocating for dignity and respect in all dealings, listening to create constructive dialogues, speaking in a manner that reflects respect, ensuring all public content is within bounds defined by the Certified Civil standards, displaying the Certified Civil logo, and maintaining good standing through continuous certification.
In the United States
Opinion polls
A 2010 Allegheny College poll found that nearly all Americans (95 percent) believe civility is important in politics.
In a 2012 poll conducted by Weber Shandwick, 65% of Americans reported an increase in incivility due to a weakened U.S. economy during the Great Recession. Almost 50% of those Americans indicated they have removed themselves from participating in politics because of fear of incivility or bullying. Of the 1000 people surveyed, a follow-up study revealed that 86% of those people reported being subjected to incivility. In this report, part of an annual follow-up research report in January 2016 sharing findings on attitudes and sentiment about civility, 95% of Americans believe that incivility is a very visible issue, while 74% recognized that civility in general had declined during the past few years. Over 90% of voters claimed that the presidential candidates' attitudes and civil behavior would play a significant role in their voting decision in the upcoming 2016 election.
In poll conducted by Georgetown University in 2019, 88% of Americans polled expressed concern and frustration about uncivil and rude behavior of many politicians. 87% said they are tired of leaders compromising their values and ideals, while 80% of those same Americans want both "compromise and common ground" as well as leaders who "will stand up for the other side".
In the legal profession
Penn State University conducted a study on perceptions of the legal profession and its relation to civility. They found that general opinion pointed to a drop in civility within the legal profession. To counteract demeaning and unprofessional behavior, there have been several initiatives put in place by state bar associations. However, the legal profession is not the only industry that has adopted civility standards. Many other companies and organizations across several industries have adopted civility standards that also help to increase workplace civility.
In schools
Numerous universities in the U.S., such as the University of Colorado, the University of Missouri, University of California Davis, Johns Hopkins University, University of Wisconsin, Rutgers University, American University, and California State University San Marcos have created programs designed to foster and define what civility means on their campuses. The Center on Civility & Democratic Engagement at University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy recognizes that public dialogue often lacks civility and focuses on preparing leaders to successfully engage people of diverse perspectives in finding solutions for pressing public policy issues. Some colleges, such as the Arizona State University, offer an undergraduate certificate in Civil Communication. Other universities, such as Kansas State University, developed programs in dialogue and deliberation which involve codes of behavior that foster constructive, civil discourse. Although many colleges have adopted programs to foster civility efforts, there are still many colleges and universities, including many of the Ivy League schools, that do not have or list no visible place online about any civility initiatives, codes or standards.
In the community
Numerous community groups have formed in the U.S. to restore constructive civility in the public space. The Civility Toolkit with approximately 300 civility tools aggregated by the Civility Center provides access to resources regarding civility to help restore civility in society. Many of these groups are members of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation.
Arnett and Arneson define civility as "a metaphor that points to the importance of public respect in interpersonal interaction." The difference between tolerating someone and respecting them is that toleration does not imply respect, but respect requires understanding of another person's perspective. Having social intelligence or "Social IQ" impacts our ability to empathize with people, and realize all people are human and that if respect or common ground cannot be met that we strive for at least toleration in order to be civil.
In Psychology Today, Price-Mitchell describes civility as a personal attitude that acknowledges other humans' rights to live and coexist together in a manner that does not harm others. The psychology of civility indicates awareness, ability to control one's passions, as well as have a deeper understanding of others. This may suggest that civility goes beyond mere toleration, but may imply a mutual co-existence and respect for humankind.
In the academic journal Philosophy & Public Affairs, Calhoun delineates civility as an element of dialogue that sheds light on "basic moral attitudes of respect, tolerance, and considerateness". Calhoun considers civility to be one of the moral virtues that can differ from what is socially acceptable, since what is socially acceptable is not always morally correct.
In the Washington Post, Peter Wehner, author and former deputy director of speechwriting for President George W. Bush, expressed three central points on how civility makes society function and noble. The first of these points illustrates that civility is what holds our families, communities, conversations, and establishments together. Civility enables civic cohesion and eliminates excuses for invective conversations or conflict. Wehner's second point suggests that civility is also an expression of a work of divine art and respect for all human beings. In some ways this mirrors the words written in the United States Declaration of Independence on Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness in that all people are worthy of the inherent and unalienable respect of human dignity. The third point made by Wehner is that civility is an expression of epistemological humility where truth is not relative, but suggests that truth can cover a more widely spread understanding than what is preconceived or imagined.
The Smithsonian coordinated with Olúfémi O. Táíwò, assistant professor of political philosophy and ethics at Georgetown University, to discuss the important role that civility has played in the pursuit of social justice. The presentation outlined that civility seemed to have declined in recent years by increasing political and social polarization coupled with simplistic mass communication systems. Additionally, Táíwò examines social norms, like the formal female adult address of calling a woman "Ms.", as well as emerging norms of social etiquette that could encourage people to think and ask others about their pronouns. Hosting community events around civility can lead to interesting conversations and can broaden perspectives, and as Táíwò points out, civility will continue to play an important role in how justice for all will be shaped in the future.
Masons and civility
The Freemasons and members of the Masonic family have had a long history of fostering civil dialogue and building civil societies. Masonic Lodges represent a peaceful assembly of people that are of different places of origin, languages, backgrounds, and beliefs. The principles and tenets of Freemasonry aim to promote and restore civility in the United States and around the globe. In 2015, Grand Master Charvonia of the Grand Lodge of California declared May 25, 2015 to be the "Champion Civility Month", which encouraged Freemasons throughout California to make an effort to bring more civility into their local lodges and community. Additionally, Freemasons from around the world have been working to repair civility through the Masonic Family Civility Project. This Civility Project was built to help raise awareness of civility, by providing social conversations, civility resources, multimedia education, and information for anyone to access.
From April 30 to May 1 of 2019, an Urgency of Civility Conference was hosted in Washington D.C. at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. Civility experts convened to discuss civility in arenas of government, education, media, community, and the workplace. During the conference, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II made a presentation in recognition of Virginia Forni and her late husband, P.M. Forni, for their efforts on the Johns Hopkins Civility Initiative. Advocates of civility shared their thoughts, ideas, and efforts to promote civility in various sectors. Attendees worked together to form action items required to help further civility initiatives, including innovative thinking, engaging the community, and maintaining steadfast persistence.
In the workplace
Studies and polls from 2014 indicate that Americans find workplace incivility to be a growing problem that has a negative impact on them and their duties at work. One study suggests 60% of employees think that their co-workers' irritating habits have negatively affected them at their job. In the same study, 40% reported that they are looking for another job opportunity because of a negative co-worker. These studies suggest that incivility in the workplace dampens productivity and has an adverse effect on an organization's bottom line. This data does not account for how many people encounter workplace incivility and are not sure what they can do about it. Furthermore, it does not take into consideration how many of these workplaces have civility tools or initiatives.
Various organizations, including the United States government, have taken steps to prevent incivility at work. One strategy is addressing sexual harassment cases, which the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines as unlawful in all states. This involves preventing gender-based mistreatment during employment or hiring. Harassment encompasses "sexual harassment" as well as workplace bullying, cyberbullying, and threats. Although sexual harassment's illegality is widely accepted, it gained significant attention in the U.S. starting in 1964. In the past, unclear legal boundaries resulted in more people experiencing unwanted behavior due to legal ambiguity. The term's clearer definition has enhanced workplace protection, but individuals need to actively contribute by speaking up and reporting incidents.
Organizational behavior
Human resource managers are aware of the effects of social behavior in the workplace. Inappropriate workplace behavior has led HR personnel to pay more attention to problems arising from incivility, bullying, and abusive supervision within organizations. Research concluded that incivility can have a negative impact of organizational behavior, including: decreased satisfaction, reduced job performance, increased perceptions of injustice, increased depression, and can lead to employees to experience psychological withdrawal.
Organizations are improving their workplaces by reducing incident rates and limiting liability. Some companies offer employees civility training specifically geared to foster civility by facilitating conversations about it. Research indicates that civility training shows a positive increase in respect, job satisfaction, and overall trust, while effects of incivility, cynicism, and employee absenteeism decreased. The results suggest civility training can improve the workplace climate, foster a culture of positive behaviors, and minimize workplace issues.
In Canada
In July 2012, the President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada addressed civility at the 5th Biennial International Legal Ethics Conference. In 2012, the Law Society of Upper Canada decided that Joe Groia was guilty of incivility to opposing counsel during his successful defense of John Felderhof on Insider trading and securities charges. On the same case, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed the decision of Bar of Quebec that Giles Dore was guilty of professional misconduct because of an uncivil letter he wrote to a judge. This high-profile case brought a lot of attention to the legal definition of the word civility, and what it means to be civil in the legal profession. It has since defined a broader set of rules of what is legally considered civil in the court of law in Canada.
Since the Groia case, The Law Society of Upper Canada launched several initiatives to guard against incivility in the Canadian legal profession. To enforce its stance on civility in the Canadian legal system, they issued verbal warnings to lawyers who are not civil with judges and other lawyers. The counter argument against civility measures is that the new guidelines may inhibit their ability to defend their clients. Since laws and rules are often open to interpretation, some lawyers consider it a conflict of interest to be civil with their opponents as they do not believe there is any way to accomplish their goals while remaining civil.
In January 2017, the B.C. & Yukon Freemasons in Canada stated civility was like The Golden Rule: "treating others as you would want them to treat you". This statement was in part to a recent civility initiative.
In New Zealand
At a recent address with Gisborne's top businesswomen in early 2016, Lara Meyer, an adviser to the Australian Government, cited incivility in the workplace has cost New Zealand approximately a year. Noting that Australia is also losing out about a year due to a lack of workplace civility. There could potentially be more loss that is unaccounted for in New Zealand businesses, as the cost of rudeness could be holding them back from working together more politely and agreeably.
In Hungary
Civil Összefogás Fórum (Civil Cooperation Forum), founded on April 5, 2009, is a kind of umbrella organisation for numerous community groups throughout Hungary.
Famous quotes on civility
"So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." ―John F. Kennedy
"Civility does not here mean the mere outward gentleness of speech cultivated for the occasion, but an inborn gentleness and desire to do the opponent good." ―Mohandas K. Gandhi
"Civility costs nothing and buys you everything" ―Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
"If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble, and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power." ―Theodore Roosevelt
"Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable... surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith." ―Barack Obama
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Etiquette
Habits
Popular culture | 0.765722 | 0.97687 | 0.748011 |
Machiavellianism in the workplace | Machiavellianism in the workplace is a concept studied by many organizational psychologists. Conceptualized originally by Richard Christie and Florence Geis, Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait construct where individuals behave in a cold and duplicitous manner. It has been adapted and applied to the context of the workplace and organizations by psychology academics.
Oliver James wrote on the effects of Machiavellianism and other dark triad personality traits in the workplace, the others being narcissism and psychopathy.
Characteristics
A new model of Machiavellianism based in organizational settings consists of three factors:
maintaining authority in the workplace
harsh management tactics
manipulative behaviors.
Examples of behaviors that individuals high in Machiavellianism may do include:
Theft
Lying/Deceit
Sabotage
Cheating
High Machs can exhibit high levels of charisma, and their leadership can be beneficial in some areas. The presence of Machiavellianism in an organization's employees has been positively correlated with counterproductive workplace behaviour and workplace deviance. The origin of exploitative tactics entering the workplace can be tied to multiple factors, such as distrust towards others, pessimism, survival/self-protection tactics, or even the gender of involved parties.
Leadership
The leadership of High Machs tends to be more unethical and destructive than other types of leadership.
Unconstructive behaviors may appear in the workplace due to signals being sent from leaders to their employees. According to the findings of a study conducted in 2016, there was a particular relationship between low-ethical leadership behaviors and higher levels of manipulative behaviors from their followers. However, the followers do not have to have high levels of Machiavellianism. This suggests that these negative behaviors could be unintentional and are a result of employees trying to fulfill their workplace responsibilities.
High levels of Machiavellianism among leaders have been positively associated with higher ratings of abusive supervision among regular workers, contributing to low job satisfaction, which results in a negative impact on the workers' well-being. It has also been documented that employees who are high in Machiavellianism may participate in knowledge hiding, a technique of withholding or hiding knowledge from co-workers. This could then lead to damage in co-worker relations and distrust in the workplace. Furthermore, employees high in Machiavellianism may not only target their co-workers but also their supervisors. According to previous study findings, employees high in Machiavellianism may engage in emotionally manipulative behaviors toward their supervisors, especially those low on ethical leadership.
Impact on employee satisfaction and well being
Being under the leadership of those high on Machiavellianism can negatively impact the performance or productivity inside an organization. A study showed a link between job satisfaction and level of Machiavellianism, in which the higher the level of MACH orientation by upper management and leaders, the higher the chance of employees experiencing lower job satisfaction. In the same study, it was found that managers with high levels of Machiavellianism also reported higher job strain, less job satisfaction, and fewer perceived opportunities for formal control in the work environment.
Research has shown that high levels of Machiavellianism, both exuding the traits and witnessing the traits in the workplace, correlate with higher levels of job strain, lower levels of job satisfaction, and lower levels of overall career satisfaction.
Perceived actions of Machiavellianism can cause significant stress and lead to distrust among employees and leaders. This can be due to the manipulative behaviors, low empathy, and self-focused motives that individuals high in Machiavellianism may exude in their workplaces. As a result of being potential victims of these behaviors, employees may experience a lack of trust, higher levels of stress, and a lower sense of commitment to the workplace.
Bullying in the workplace is another problem that can arise from Machiavellianism and that can contribute to stress levels among workers. A study shows a correlation between workplace bullying experiences and Machiavellianism levels, which usually results in lower job satisfaction among those workers being a victim of workplace bullying.
Job interviews
Individuals who are high in Machiavellianism may be more willing and more skilled in deceiving and less likely to give honest answers during interviews. Additionally, those higher on machiavellianism have stronger intentions to use deception in interviews compared to psychopaths or narcissists and are also more likely to perceive the use of lying in interviews as fair. Furthermore, men and women high in Machiavellianism may use different tactics to influence interviewers. According to a study, which examined how much applicants allowed the interviewers to direct the topics covered during the interview stated that women high in Machiavellianism tended to allow interviewers more freedom to direct the content of the interview, whereas men high in Machiavellianism gave interviewers the least amount of freedom in directing the content of the interview. Men high in Machiavellianism were also more likely to make up information about themselves or their experiences during job interviews. On the other hand, an interviewer or human resource person high in Machiavellianism is likely to manipulate or lie or change his or her words during an interview or job hiring process.
Workplace bullying overlap
According to Gary Namie, High Machs manipulate and exploit others to advance their perceived personal agendas and to maintain dominance over others.
High Machiavellians may be expected to do the following:
Neglect to share important information.
Find subtle ways of making another person look bad to management.
Fail to meet their obligations.
Spread false rumors about another person.
According to previous studies there was a positive correlation between Machiavellianism and increased involvement in workplace bullying. Furthermore, the groups of bullies and bully-victims had a higher Machiavellianism level compared to the groups of victims and persons non-involved in bullying. The results showed that being bullied was negatively related to the perceptions of clan and adhocracy cultures and positively related to the perceptions of hierarchy culture. Apart from these, another research showed that Machiavellianism was positively associated with subordinate perceptions of abusive supervision (an overlapping concept with workplace bullying).
See also
References
Further reading
Industrial and organizational psychology
Positions of authority
Machiavellianism
Workplace harassment and bullying
Mach | 0.766039 | 0.976445 | 0.747995 |
Social media and the effects on American adolescents | Introduction
Social media has grown in popularity, and many people around the world now use it. People use social media to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Around 95% of young people between the ages of 13–17 use at least one social media platform, making it a major influence on young adolescents.
Research
Social media may positively affect adolescents by promoting a feeling of inclusion, providing greater access to more friends, and enhancing romantic relationships. Social media allows people to communicate with other people using social media, no matter the distance between them. Some adolescents with social and emotional issues feel more included with social media and online activities. Social media can give people a sense of belonging which can lead to an increase in identity development. Adolescents that post pictures on social media can look back on their memories, and their positive emotions can be related to a sense of their true identity. Additionally, social media can provide a way to communicate with friends and family when alone.
Adolescents who use social media tend to be more outgoing and interact more with others online and in person. According to Newport Academy, teens who spend more time on non-screen activities, such as sports, exercise, in-person social interaction, or any other in-person activities are less likely to report any mental issues, such as anxiety or depression. Social media provide adolescents within the United States the ability to connect with people from other countries. Being involved in social media typically improves communication skills, social connections, and technical skills. Furthermore, adolescents who are students can use social media to seek academic help. The appropriate usage of social media has developed favorable academic environments for both, the students and the teaching faculty, offering the potential benefits in the process of learning information.
According to research conducted by Dr. John Gilmour and his coauthors, social media exposure, specifically Facebook, has allowed the general population to have positive interactions and gain social support from their family and friends, which in turn benefits their overall well-being. Social support is defined as the extent to which an individual feels a sense of value and belongingness to a social group. Although several studies have found that general Facebook use has a negative impact on mental health, Facebook use has a variety of positive mental health outcomes when used to seek and provide social support. Gilmour and his research team used academic databases and located 27 articles related to individuals’ use of Facebook as a mechanism for social support. The articles did not consider adolescents and adults separately, but rather focused on the general population of Facebook users.
After analyzing all 27 articles, the researchers concluded that the more active a person is on Facebook, the greater the opportunities for receiving social support. Furthermore, higher levels of Facebook-based social support predicted greater positive mental health outcomes. These outcomes include, but are not limited to, a decrease in depression, anxiety, and loneliness, as well as an increase in general psychological well-being.
Focusing on adolescents, J. Pouwels and her coauthors conducted a 3-week study to determine whether social media has a positive impact on adolescents’ close friendships, characterized by supportiveness, responsiveness, and accessibility. A total of 387 adolescents who were active on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat completed a 2-minute survey six times per day. They reported the amount of time they spent on these three social media platforms, as well as their momentary experiences of friendship closeness. Findings suggested that the more time spent on Instagram and WhatsApp, the higher degree of friendship closeness as reported on the surveys.
Similar results were found in a study conducted by Dr. Lauren Shapiro and Dr. Gayla Margolin. Their study found that social media has a positive impact on the development of adolescents’ social relationships. The researchers administered self-report questionnaires to gather these findings. Their results suggest that social networking sites make it easier for adolescents to communicate and share feelings and experiences because it is less threatening than face-to-face interactions. In addition, online communications were found to lead to closer, high-quality friendships among adolescents.
As discovered by this study, social networking sites can also foster identity development for adolescents. Specifically, social media provides many opportunities for self-disclosure, which researchers believe plays a role in identity development. Adolescents that participated in the study reported being able to learn more about themselves through using social media.
Although social media offers positives to teenagers, there are also negatives that come with it. These types of content may be even more risky for teens who already have a mental health condition. Being exposed to discrimination, hate or cyberbullying on social media also can raise the risk of anxiety or depression. What teens share about themselves on social media also matters. With the teenage brain, it's common to make a choice before thinking it through. So, teens might post something when they're angry or upset, and regret it later. That's known as stress posting.
How the addiction to technology begins
According to Living Skills in Schools,
Addiction is based on dopamine dependence. Dopamine is the brain's chemical signal for pleasure, excitement, and motivation. The addiction process begins through the hacking of the dopamine system by an outside source. The dopamine becomes spiked, dysregulated, and the brain is flooded with this chemical.
This outside source of technology addiction can impact dopamine receptors long term affecting attention span, critical thinking and problem solving.
In the article, "Unveiling the Dark Side of Social Networking Sites: Personal and Work-related Consequences of Social Networking Site Addiction" by Murad Moqbel and Ned Kock, they expand on Social Networking Sites (SNS), and the negative effects it causes among people have excessive use. Moqbel; et al. say that: "Although SNS addiction is not formally recognized as a diagnosis, it can be broadly defined as a psychological dependence on the use of SNSs that interferes with other important activities and yields negative consequences". The article discusses how excessive use of SNS causes people to perform poorly at work and how it causes distractions, like not doing their jobs correctly. This article is based on a survey of 276 corporate employees. The authors explain that: "However, excessive use of these SNSs may also promote negative outcomes, such as addiction, distraction, reduced positive emotions, low performance, and poor health". SNS can have positive effects on work such as communication, but excessive use makes it affect you at work and may cause different mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Also, in this article, it is discussed who is more likely to suffer from SNS addiction and the reason. Anyone can suffer from SNS addiction, however, there is a specific group that is more vulnerable to suffering from SNS. The authors explain that: "One of the earliest studies on SNS addiction reported that young people are more vulnerable to falling into SNS addiction". Young people use SNS more because they want to see what other friends are doing in addition to following the public lives of celebrities, for example. The problem gets worse when they become obsessed and it becomes a competition to show "who has a better life". That is when depression begins and young people compare themselves to other people's lives. This is called social cognition, and that is when a person wants to imitate or follow what they learn from seeing another person. The study concludes by showing that, of the 276 people who participated in the survey, the majority suffer from depression and mental disorders due to excessive use of SNS since they were young, and that it affects them in their daily life and work. SNS causes them to have distractions and perform poorly. If they had positive emotions, they could have better performances and better health. Sadly, the results of this survey show negative effects such as bad performances at work due to distractions and depression.
Researches about Negative Impacts on the Excessive use of Social media by Adolescents
Many research studies have also analyzed the negative effects of social media on adolescents’ mental health, however. In the same study conducted by Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Margolin, they discovered that social networking sites, such as Facebook, make it easier for adolescents to compare themselves to their peers. Based on the results of this research study, social comparison can have a strong negative impact on adolescents’ self-esteem. Self-report surveys revealed that the more time adolescents spent on Facebook, the more they believed others were better off or happier than themselves.
Along with accomplishments and happiness, physical attractiveness is also a significant aspect of social comparison. Preadolescence is a period when children start to become exposed to social media and is also a period when they start to develop body image concerns and depression. Since individuals posting on social media tend to only present the best version of themselves online, research has shown that this can cause adolescents to perceive others as more attractive than themselves. In the study administered by Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Margolin, female adolescents reported having a more negative body image after looking at beautiful photos of other women versus looking at less attractive photos on social media. While online, teens can be exposed to content revolving around self-harm, body shaming, bullying, unrealistic beauty standards and eating disorders.
Young adults also seem to experience higher symptoms of anxiety because of attempting to keep up with social media's warped beauty standards. Hawes et al. (2020) found that increased social media usage, along with trying to stay up-to-date with beauty and fashion trends, could be damaging to those who already struggle with body image issues. This study researched the relationship between social media use and maladjustment, focusing on appearance-related content and symptoms of anxiety. They had two hypotheses, one being that appearance-related (AR) social media preoccupation would correlate with more symptoms of depression and social anxiety, and the other being that AR social media preoccupation use intensifies the use of social media with appearance anxiety. They used 763 adolescents of mixed genders from ages 12–17. They also tested college students from ages 16–25. The participants completed surveys that inquired about social media use, symptoms of general anxiety, appearance anxiety, and depression. They found that social media use can be associated with worse emotional adjustment in adolescents and young adults as well as that appearance-related social media preoccupation elevated symptoms of appearance anxiety.
Further investigation has suggested that spending an excessive amount of time on social media can lead to depressive symptoms, which in turn may increase the risk for social isolation or even suicidal ideation. In a recent survey of teens, it was discovered that 35% of teens use at least one of five social media platforms multiple times throughout the day. Many policymakers have expressed concerns regarding the potential negative impact of social media on mental health because of its relation to suicidal thoughts and ideation. A study conducted by Dr. Chloe Berryman and her coauthors looked into the phenomenon called "vague booking," which refers to individuals intentionally wording their social media posts in a way that they believe will obtain concern from others. These posts may even function as a cry for help. This study found that young adults who partook in vague booking and relied on social media as their emotional outlet reported greater loneliness and suicidal thoughts than those who were not vague booking.
Social comparison theory examines how people establish their personal value by comparing themselves to others. These social comparisons and related feelings of jealousy, when made on social media platforms, can lead to the development of symptoms of depression in users. Depression is common also for children and adolescents who have been cyberbullied. According to Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2015, nationwide, 15.5% of students had been electronically bullied, counting being bullied through e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites, or texting, during the 12 months before the survey. Using 7 or more social media platforms has been correlated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression in adolescents.
One important aspect that is a huge factor in how teens react to media is the social learning theory. In Banduras experiment, "Bobo Dolls experiment on Social Learning," demonstrates how kids learn from social environments. In his experiment he has kids observe adults being exceedingly kind to the bobo dolls, when left in the room with just the kid and the bobo doll, the kids treated it nicely just as the adult did. In contrast that when the kids observed the adults punching and hurting the bobo doll, children did the same when alone with the bobo doll. As teens learn from their peers or idols online, they tend to duplicate that behavior just like the kids did with the bobo dolls in Bandura's experiment. If teens are viewing people with a social media platform online demonstrating certain inappropriate behaviors, they may learn from this and recreate the behavior.
Social media can significantly influence body image concerns in female adolescents. Young women who are easily influenced by the images of others on social media may hold themselves to an unrealistic standard for their bodies because of the prevalence of digital image alteration. Social media can be a gateway to Body dysmorphic disorder. Dana Johns, MD, a plastic surgeon at the University of Utah Health says, "Selfie' or 'Snapchat' dysmorphia is essentially the new age social media upgrade to a long-standing disorder." According to the APA, these unrealistic beauty standards are detrimental to the developing mind and can cause serious mental health issues.
Engaging with social media platforms two hours before falling asleep can affect sleep quality, and a longer duration of digital media use is associated with reduced total sleep time. The phenomena of "Facebook depression" is a condition which comes to surface when young adults have a higher usage of Facebook and tend to manifest the actual symptoms of depression. Youths who frequently use social media increase their risk of depression by 27 percent, while those who dedicate themselves to outdoor activities don't have that much risk. Sleep deprivation may also be another common factor in teens. According to the Mayo Clinic, a 2016 study that was conducted on more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use, and emotional investment in social media, such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on, were each linked with worse sleep quality that could increase the levels of anxiety and depression.
In the article, "Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health from Adolescent and Parent Perspectives" by Christopher T. Barry, Chloe L. Sidoti, Shanelle M. Briggs, Shari R. Reiter, and Rebecca A. Lindsey, there is a sample survey conducted with 226 participants (113 parent-adolescent days) from throughout the United States, with adolescents (55 males, 51 females, 7 unreported) ranging from ages 14 to 17. In this study, both adolescents and parents provide social media use of adolescents' social networks. The hypothesis question of this survey is: "Are parent-reported symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, conduct problems (i.e. symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder [ODD] and Conduct Disorder [CD]), depression, and anxiety related to the reported number of adolescents' social media accounts and the frequency with which adolescents report checking their social media accounts?" Something very important that the authors of this survey say is that: "The present study represents an area of ever-growing importance, as approximately 24% of U.S. teens report being online ‘almost constantly’ with much of that time being spent on social media applications". Nowadays, young people spend a large part of their day on social networks in different applications. The study concluded by saying that due to young people's excessive use of social media, they have high levels of anxiety, stress, fear of missing out, and hyperactivity. The more time they spend on social media, the higher the levels. Furthermore, due to time on social media, teenagers tend to feel more lonely and sad. This may be due to comparing themselves with other people on social networks, or cyberbullying. The authors explain that: "These latter findings are particularly noteworthy in that they cannot be explained by shared source variance, as adolescent-reported social media activity was associated with externalizing and internalizing symptoms as reported by parents" The results show that these mental problems are individual, not hereditary. The authors conclude that there should be more limitations to protect young people from the excessive use of social media since, due to its excessive use, the levels of mental problems or depressive symptoms increase. Parents should guide young people on this complicated topic, and have limitations on the use of social media to prevent young people from having high levels of depression or other mental problems.
In the article, "Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth" by Kira E. Riehm, Kenneth A. Feder, Kayla N. Tormohlen, et al., they report the results of a cohort study of 6,595 US adolescents on the use of social networks. They divided the study into 3 waves; waves 1 (September 12, 2013, to December 14, 2014), 2 (October 23, 2014, to October 30, 2015), and 3 (October 18, 2015, to October 23, 2016). Young people today are using social networks intensely and much more frequently, causing depression and anxiety among them. The question for the Self-reported time spent on social media during a typical day was divided by (none, ≤30 minutes, >30 minutes to ≤3 hours, >3 hours to ≤6 hours, and >6 hours) during the waves. The study shows that “Adolescents who spend more than 3 hours per day on social media may be at heightened risk for mental health problems, including internalizing problems”. By using social media excessively they begin to compare themselves and create complexities and insecurities. Adolescents who use social media for more than 3 hours a day could suffer from insomnia or other mental disorders such as low self-esteem. The study shows that young people aged 12–15 tend to use their phones between 3 and 6 hours a day, although many of them spend the entire 6 hours. The authors believe that the use of social media could be limited and there could be more guidance to young people on this topic, as well as more research should be done on limiting social media.
Policymaking
Although a large aspect of policymaking is creating or changing laws, this is not always the case. Policymaking can also include other types of established standards, for example, parents’ rules or policies restricting their child's social media exposure. Since social media is easily accessible to nearly everyone, there are few laws regarding adolescents’ exposure to social media. However, there is substantial evidence that parents’ policies regarding the time their child spends on social media has an impact on their child's mental health.
One particular study, conducted by Dr. Jasmine Fardouly and her coauthors, involved a sample of 528 preadolescent social media users between the ages of 10 and 12 and one of their parents. Both children and their parents completed online surveys. Some of the parents involved in the study enforced social media policies for their children, such as setting rules that limit the amount of time their child spent on social media. Results from this study showed that preadolescents with parents who had greater control over their child's time on social media reported better overall mental health. The researchers found that parents who reduced the amount of time their child spent on social media resulted in their child being less exposed to content harmful to their emotional health. More parental control over time spent on social media was also found to be associated with preadolescents making fewer appearance comparisons online. The authors of this study concluded that fewer social media appearance comparisons were associated with higher adolescent appearance satisfaction and life satisfaction, as well as lower depressive symptoms.
The article, "No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression" by Melissa G. Hunt, Rachel Marx, Courtney Lipson, and Jordyn Young, reports a research study of 143 undegraded students at the University of Pennsylvania who were randomly assigned to limit Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat use to 10 minutes a day per app. The results are incredibly positive. The authors explain that: "As of March 2018, 68% of adults in the United States had a Facebook account, and 75% of these people reported using Facebook on a daily basis. Furthermore, 78% of young adults (ages 18– 24) used Snapchat, while 71% of young adults used Instagram" Here we can see a large number of young people between 18 and 24 years old use social networks. The survey also served to see the levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness of the participants. The authors explain that: "Both loneliness and depressive symptoms declined in the experimental group". Studies show that participants lowered their levels of depression and anxiety due to limiting their time on social media. One of the excuses that young people use is that they use social media to connect and talk to their family or friends, but the authors explain that: "It is ironic, but perhaps not surprising, that reducing social media, which promised to help us connect with others, actually helps people feel less lonely and depressed" The authors conclude by saying that this survey was a success by limiting social media use to only 30 minutes a day. The level of depression and loneliness in the participants decreased and they were able to communicate better in person, something they had not done at all before. This article because it proves my argument that if there were a social media limit, people's self-esteem would improve.
In June 2024, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for social media platforms to contain a warning about the impact they have on the mental health of young people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is a social problem with social networks and their excessive use. This social problem affects everyone, but it affects young Americans the most. If there are no measures or laws, this problem will continue to grow. Something that would help combat this problem is to create limits on the time spent on social media, and this is something as individuals we could do. Little by little, we will help this problem reach the ears of our governments and new measures or laws may be passed that limit time on social media. Due to the excessive use of social media, young people create different mental problems and high levels of depression, loneliness, anxiety, and stress. This affects them in their daily lives, limits them to doing things they normally do, and affects their academic or work performance. It is in our hands to educate our young people and raise awareness about this social problem so that they are not affected and have strengthened mental health. The purpose of this wiki post was to show information about the effects caused by excessive use of social media on young people and to demonstrate possible solutions to it.
See also
Instagram's impact on people
References
External links
Social media | 0.765678 | 0.976854 | 0.747955 |
Disruptive selection | In evolutionary biology, disruptive selection, also called diversifying selection, describes changes in population genetics in which extreme values for a trait are favored over intermediate values. In this case, the variance of the trait increases and the population is divided into two distinct groups. In this more individuals acquire peripheral character value at both ends of the distribution curve.
Overview
Natural selection is known to be one of the most important biological processes behind evolution. There are many variations of traits, and some cause greater or lesser reproductive success of the individual. The effect of selection is to promote certain alleles, traits, and individuals that have a higher chance to survive and reproduce in their specific environment. Since the environment has a carrying capacity, nature acts on this mode of selection on individuals to let only the most fit offspring survive and reproduce to their full potential. The more advantageous the trait is the more common it will become in the population. Disruptive selection is a specific type of natural selection that actively selects against the intermediate in a population, favoring both extremes of the spectrum.
Disruptive selection is inferred to oftentimes lead to sympatric speciation through a phyletic gradualism mode of evolution. Disruptive selection can be caused or influenced by multiple factors and also have multiple outcomes, in addition to speciation. Individuals within the same environment can develop a preference for extremes of a trait, against the intermediate. Selection can act on having divergent body morphologies in accessing food, such as beak and dental structure. It is seen that often this is more prevalent in environments where there is not a wide clinal range of resources, causing heterozygote disadvantage or selection favoring homozygotes.
Niche partitioning allows for selection of differential patterns of resource usage, which can drive speciation. To the contrast, niche conservation pulls individuals toward ancestral ecological traits in an evolutionary tug-of-war. Also, nature tends to have a 'jump on the band wagon' perspective when something beneficial is found. This can lead to the opposite occurring with disruptive selection eventually selecting against the average; when everyone starts taking advantage of that resource it will become depleted and the extremes will be favored. Furthermore, gradualism is a more realistic view when looking at speciation as compared to punctuated equilibrium.
Disruptive selection can initially rapidly intensify divergence; this is because it is only manipulating alleles that already exist. Often it is not creating new ones by mutation which takes a long time. Usually complete reproductive isolation does not occur until many generations, but behavioral or morphological differences separate the species from reproducing generally. Furthermore, generally hybrids have reduced fitness which promotes reproductive isolation.
Example
Suppose there is a population of rabbits. The colour of the rabbits is governed by two incompletely dominant traits: black fur, represented by "B", and white fur, represented by "b". A rabbit in this population with a genotype of "BB" would have a phenotype of black fur, a genotype of "Bb" would have grey fur (a display of both black and white), and a genotype of "bb" would have white fur.
If this population of rabbits occurred in an environment that had areas of black rocks as well as areas of white rocks, the rabbits with black fur would be able to hide from predators amongst the black rocks, and the rabbits with white fur likewise amongst the white rocks. The rabbits with grey fur, however, would stand out in all areas of the habitat, and would thereby suffer greater predation.
As a consequence of this type of selective pressure, our hypothetical rabbit population would be disruptively selected for extreme values of the fur colour trait: white or black, but not grey. This is an example of underdominance (heterozygote disadvantage) leading to disruptive selection.
Sympatric speciation
It is believed that disruptive selection is one of the main forces that drive sympatric speciation in natural populations. The pathways that lead from disruptive selection to sympatric speciation seldom are prone to deviation; such speciation is a domino effect that depends on the consistency of each distinct variable. These pathways are the result of disruptive selection in intraspecific competition; it may cause reproductive isolation, and finally culminate in sympatric speciation.
It is important to keep in mind that disruptive selection does not always have to be based on intraspecific competition. It is also important to know that this type of natural selection is similar to the other ones. Where it is not the major factor, intraspecific competition can be discounted in assessing the operative aspects of the course of adaptation. For example, what may drive disruptive selection instead of intraspecific competition might be polymorphisms that lead to reproductive isolation, and thence to speciation.
When disruptive selection is based on intraspecific competition, the resulting selection in turn promotes ecological niche diversification and polymorphisms. If multiple morphs (phenotypic forms) occupy different niches, such separation could be expected to promote reduced competition for resources. Disruptive selection is seen more often in high density populations rather than in low density populations because intraspecific competition tends to be more intense within higher density populations. This is because higher density populations often imply more competition for resources. The resulting competition drives polymorphisms to exploit different niches or changes in niches in order to avoid competition. If one morph has no need for resources used by another morph, then it is likely that neither would experience pressure to compete or interact, thereby supporting the persistence and possibly the intensification of the distinctness of the two morphs within the population. This theory does not necessarily have a lot of supporting evidence in natural populations, but it has been seen many times in experimental situations using existing populations. These experiments further support that, under the right situations (as described above), this theory could prove to be true in nature.
When intraspecific competition is not at work disruptive selection can still lead to sympatric speciation and it does this through maintaining polymorphisms. Once the polymorphisms are maintained in the population, if assortative mating is taking place, then this is one way that disruptive selection can lead in the direction of sympatric speciation. If different morphs have different mating preferences then assortative mating can occur, especially if the polymorphic trait is a "magic trait", meaning a trait that is under ecological selection and in turn has a side effect on reproductive behavior. In a situation where the polymorphic trait is not a magic trait then there has to be some kind of fitness penalty for those individuals who do not mate assortatively and a mechanism that causes assortative mating has to evolve in the population. For example, if a species of butterflies develops two kinds of wing patterns, crucial to mimicry purposes in their preferred habitat, then mating between two butterflies of different wing patterns leads to an unfavorable heterozygote. Therefore, butterflies will tend to mate with others of the same wing pattern promoting increased fitness, eventually eliminating the heterozygote altogether. This unfavorable heterozygote generates pressure for a mechanism that cause assortative mating which will then lead to reproductive isolation due to the production of post-mating barriers. It is actually fairly common to see sympatric speciation when disruptive selection is supporting two morphs, specifically when the phenotypic trait affects fitness rather than mate choice.
In both situations, one where intraspecific competition is at work and the other where it is not, if all these factors are in place, they will lead to reproductive isolation, which can lead to sympatric speciation.
Other outcomes
polymorphism
sexual dimorphism
phenotypic plasticity
Significance
Disruptive selection is of particular significance in the history of evolutionary study, as it is involved in one of evolution's "cardinal cases", namely the finch populations observed by Darwin in the Galápagos.
He observed that the species of finches were similar enough to ostensibly have been descended from a single species. However, they exhibited disruptive variation in beak size. This variation appeared to be adaptively related to the seed size available on the respective islands (big beaks for big seeds, small beaks for small seeds). Medium beaks had difficulty retrieving small seeds and were also not tough enough for the bigger seeds, and were hence maladaptive.
While it is true that disruptive selection can lead to speciation, this is not as quick or straightforward of a process as other types of speciation or evolutionary change. This introduces the topic of gradualism, which is a slow but continuous accumulation of changes over long periods of time. This is largely because the results of disruptive selection are less stable than the results of directional selection (directional selection favors individuals at only one end of the spectrum).
For example, let us take the mathematically straightforward yet biologically improbable case of the rabbits: Suppose directional selection were taking place. The field only has dark rocks in it, so the darker the rabbit, the more effectively it can hide from predators. Eventually there will be a lot of black rabbits in the population (hence many "B" alleles) and a lesser amount of grey rabbits (who contribute 50% chromosomes with "B" allele and 50% chromosomes with "b" allele to the population). There will be few white rabbits (not very many contributors of chromosomes with "b" allele to the population). This could eventually lead to a situation in which chromosomes with "b" allele die out, making black the only possible color for all subsequent rabbits. The reason for this is that there is nothing "boosting" the level of "b" chromosomes in the population. They can only go down, and eventually die out.
Consider now the case of disruptive selection. The result is equal numbers of black and white rabbits, and hence equal numbers of chromosomes with "B" or "b" allele, still floating around in that population. Every time a white rabbit mates with a black one, only gray rabbits results. So, in order for the results to "click", there needs to be a force causing white rabbits to choose other white rabbits, and black rabbits to choose other black ones. In the case of the finches, this "force" was geographic/niche isolation. This leads one to think that disruptive selection cannot happen and is normally because of species being geographically isolated, directional selection or by stabilising selection.
See also
Character displacement
Balancing selection
Directional selection
Negative selection (natural selection)
Stabilizing selection
Sympatric speciation
Fluctuating selection
Selection
References
Selection | 0.761827 | 0.981764 | 0.747935 |
Foundational Model of Anatomy | The Foundational Model of Anatomy Ontology (FMA) is a reference ontology for the domain of human anatomy. It is a symbolic representation of the canonical, phenotypic structure of an organism; a spatial-structural ontology of anatomical entities and relations which form the physical organization of an organism at all salient levels of granularity.
FMA is developed and maintained by the Structural Informatics Group at the University of Washington.
Description
FMA ontology contains approximately 75,000 classes and over 120,000 terms, over 2.1 million relationship instances from over 168 relationship types.
See also
Terminologia Anatomica
Anatomography
References
External links
The Foundational Model of Anatomy Ontology
The Foundational Model of Anatomy Browser
FMA Ontology Browser
Bioinformatics
Ontology (information science)
Anatomical terminology | 0.762045 | 0.981447 | 0.747906 |
Hyperlocal | Hyperlocal is information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community. The term can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term (e.g. news). When used in isolation it refers to the emergent ecology of data (including textual content), aggregators, publication mechanism and user interactions and behaviors which centre on a resident of a location and the business of being a resident. More recently, the term hyperlocal has become synonymous with the combined use of applications on mobile devices and GPS technology. Use of the term originated in 1991, in reference to local television news content.
Definition
A working definition of hyperlocal was published in a 2012 Nesta report, describing it as "online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other small, geographically defined community".
Content
Hyperlocal content has two major dimensions: geography and time. The dimensions are measures of the relevance or value perceived by the content consumer in time and space. The higher the content scores on these dimensions the more relevant the content becomes to the individual and the less it becomes to the masses. Hyperlocal content is targeted at or consumed by people or entities that are located within a well defined area, generally on the scale of a street, neighborhood, community or city. Hyperlocal content must also be relevant in time. The nature of the evolution of hyperlocal content follows these two dimensions. By combining the two dimensions we can identify types of hyperlocal content throughout history. In the distant past, hyperlocal content was low on the geographic dimension, meaning that the content met only broad needs of larger populations across bigger areas, and also low on the time dimension: relevance was perceived over long timescales. Examples include almanacs, town criers and written postings or other similar forms of infrequent content delivery mechanisms. More recent hyperlocal content scores higher on the geographic and time dimensions because it delivers more diverse content that targets geographic areas and remains relevant at much smaller time scales such as days and weeks not months and years. Recent examples of hyperlocal delivery mechanisms include neighborhood focused news sources, neighborhood voucher packs and neighborhood websites. More recently, hyperlocal content has evolved to include GPS enabled internet integrated mobile applications which score highly on both the geographic and the time dimensions. They are capable of delivering content that is relevant not just in a community but relevant right down to the individual within a geographic area that can be measured in meters and blocks not towns and neighborhoods. They are also capable of delivering content relevant at very short timescales such as seconds or minutes not just days or weeks.
Websites
Hyperlocal websites can focus on very specialized topics—i.e., stories and issues of interest only to people in a very limited area. So, for example, school board meetings, restaurant, community group meeting, and garage sales can receive prominent coverage. For example, Forumhome.org focuses on issues likely of interest only to the few thousand residents of the small New Hampshire towns it serves. Another example is Rheebo, a hyperlocal website that build communities around things people are passionate about. Hyperlocal sites may also focus on particular issues. For example, NewWest.net focus on issues relating to balancing economic development and environmental concerns in quickly growing towns in the Rocky Mountain West such as Boulder, Colorado, and Bozeman, Montana (see Exhibit 4.3). "Our core mission is to serve the Rockies with innovative, particularly journalism and to promote conversation that help us understand and make the most of the dramatic changes sweeping our region," the site notes. Much of the content on NewWest.net comes from freelancers and citizen contributors.
In recent years hyperlocal websites have been created to enable the concepts of the Sharing economy or Collaborative consumption. These websites allow peer communities to share human or physical assets. Examples include Yelp, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, eBay, Craigslist and Krrb. Many of the best-known hyperlocal news sites have sprung up independently, with the battle cry "local doesn't scale," but larger media companies have been interested in the concept as well. Formerly a much-vaunted subsidiary of AOL, Patch Media runs a large US based hyperlocal network of sites. According to a March 2015 article in CIO magazine, "Legions of underserved local advertisers were supposed to flock to Patch sites, leaving national publishers in the collective dust. ... Of course, this wasn't how it played out. Scores of Patch sites were left inactive as the a company reexamined its strategy. Sure, hyperlocal content sounded great – everyone wants to know what's happening around them – but the flawed business model couldn't sustain it. Not enough big advertisers were targeting local markets."
Another model for a national company running hyperlocal sites is franchising, such as was being done by 2010 startup Main Street Connect.
The Washington Post Company also made a commitment to developing hyperlocal sites. Rob Curley, who has been called the "hyperlocal guru" for his previous work in Lawrence, Kansas, and Naples, Florida, joined washingtonpost.com in part to develop hyperlocal sites for that paper. The first Curley-led washingtonpost.com effort focused on Loudoun County, a fast-growing suburb in Northern Virginia. The site loudounextra.washingtonpost.com underwent a branding change to loudenextra.com, but that now redirects to a section of the parent paper, www.washingtonpost.com.
Some hyperlocal sites included detailed searchable community events calendars and restaurant information, a complete listing of churches (including 360-degree inside views and recordings of sermons) and police blotter information updated every day. "Knocked down mailboxes will be newsworthy", Curley promised. "What we're doing is taking the local and treating it like it's the superstar". Others at washingtonpost.com have high hopes for the hyperlocal sites. "It's a big effort", says managing editor Jim Brady. "When you take our daily traffic and combine it with Rob Curley's expertise—if it can't work here, it can't work anywhere".
Some journalists, not surprisingly, are skeptical of the hyperlocal movement's focus on the often mundane information of daily life. Hyperlocal "has the potential to trivialize a media organization's brand and further saturate news sites with myopic local (and frequently unedited) content, perhaps at the expense of foreign and national reporting", said an article in the American Journalism Review. Still, media companies are searching for new ways to reach audiences with content that interest them, and hyperlocal definitely holds that potential. BBC's Van Klaveren says journalistic organizations need to embrace both the so-called "big-J" journalism and the hyperlocal: "We need to move beyond news to information".
Social media
Social networking sites originally did not host hyperlocal content but were the largest distributors of such content hosted on other sites. This is because of the contemporary nature of sharing and the predominantly local composition of user's network in which content is shared. This type of distribution is secondary (done by users) in contrast to the primary distribution done by the content hosting site itself (e.g. Craigslist). In recent years there has been a shift in user behavior to use Social Networking sites for both creating as well as sharing hyperlocal content. Prime examples exist in the phenomenon that WhatsApp is being increasingly used for community organization and eCommerce despite having no feature support for these activities. Facebook also hosts 60x more events than eVite (the leading site which specializes in events only). This user behavior suggests that an effective hyperlocal distribution is a more important consideration for users than the superior quality of the content itself. Since 2010, evidence shows that Social Networking sites have been mobilizing to aid and leverage this user behavior. Google acquired Zagat in 2011. Since 2012 Facebook has been adding new features to create varied hyperlocal content e.g. Blogs, Events. In early 2015 Facebook announced the feature to mark a post as sold and later in 2015 it introduced a C2C payment system. Many believe these steps as precursors to an imminent launch of Facebook Classifieds and Marketplace, most likely rolled into one.
Magazines and newspapers
While many traditional print publications are shutting down or publish exclusively online, local newspapers in small towns can still make a profit. In the United States, national companies that mail full-color glossy hyperlocal magazines to targeted neighborhoods include N2 Publishing and Best Version Media. Comparing themselves to Facebook, they publish mostly user-generated content written by local residents and homeowners associations.
GPS-based mobile apps
The most recent incarnation of hyperlocal content grew out the combination of satellite based location services and advanced wireless data built into mobile devices. Satellite-based location services allow a high degree of physical location precision. When combined with a mobile device's access to the vast set of Internet data and services, hyperlocal takes on new dimensions. Realtime internet awareness of an individual's precise location in time allows people and entities to consume or deliver hyperlocal content that is relevant to specific individuals at very small time scales.
Hyperlocal GPS mobile apps, in particular, change the nature of human interaction with their environment by providing a much faster, richer and relevant source of information. The mobile Internet data connection available to hyperlocal apps allows GPS location data to be fused with Internet data to improve the decision process of the user. Examples of these types of hyperlocal content providers are Google Maps, Foursquare and LaunchLawyer. In contrast to printed maps, the mobile Google Maps app allows users to identify places and interests around their current GPS location. In contrast to rating services or directories, the mobile Foursquare app uses GPS location data to enable users to make more informed choices and receive better deals. In contrast to printed or online lawyer directories, the GPS-enabled LaunchLawyer mobile app combines GPS awareness with the ability to almost instantly get a lawyer. In each case the combination of mobile device, GPS and the Internet changed the manner in which consumption of information, services or goods took place.
Other manifestations
There are other types of data which have local or hyperlocal relevance, or be of interest to residents – e.g. a government statistic on crime rates in one's neighborhood. Such data, while relevant to residents are of a qualitatively different type.
Market penetration
For large corporations, successfully targeting local populations can involve either shedding or leveraging corporate identity:
Shedding corporate identity Starbucks' 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea cafe in Seattle was not branded with its corporate owner until January 2011. Starbucks continued Roy Street Coffee as a separate brand. By shedding the corporate identity, Starbucks hoped to better cater to the local culture through various events and unique offerings. Coffee tastings from experts and open mic night are examples of programs the national coffee chain offered without having it associated with the Starbucks brand.
Leveraging corporate identity The New York Times is tapping into the hyperlocal market online, through "mentor" programs. Essentially, the NY Times wants to have a hand in the editorial process of hundreds of local media outlets. By polishing online news content with their expertise, they seek to gain small portions of advertising revenue from those digital publications with whom they own a stake.
Media structure
While there are various ways in which hyperlocal content is being created and published, blogs have become a key part of the hyperlocal ecology. Their basic roles evident in the space include individual blogs, blog networks, and aggregators.
Some others initiatives are made for this purpose in the US by the company Marchex, and in France by the network ProXiti. They are developing networks of thousands hyperlocal news sites like www.10282.net (Manhattan 212) or www.75016.info (paris 16eme arrondissement).
In response to the burgeoning number of hyperlocal news sites in New Jersey, The Citizens Campaign founded the Hyperlocal News Association (HNA). The HNA works to foster and encourage growth of new hyperlocal sites across the state.
Hyperlocal marketing
Hyperlocal marketing is marketing for businesses in certain geographic areas. These are usually focused on geographies such as neighborhoods, towns, streets, and spots located near well-known landmarks. For example, a hyperlocal search targets 'near me' searches like 'coffee shop near me'. This type of search can also be phrased as 'coffee shop' in London.
See also
Location-based service
References
External links
Online Neighbourhood Networks Study – UK-based research published in November 2010 exploring the ways in which people communicate online using local citizen-run websites, the impact of that communication, and the implications for local service providers.
Journalism terminology
1991 neologisms | 0.761955 | 0.981559 | 0.747903 |
Interaction hypothesis | The interaction hypothesis is a theory of second-language acquisition which states that the development of language proficiency is promoted by face-to-face interaction and communication. Its main focus is on the role of input, interaction, and output in second language acquisition. It posits that the level of language that a learner is exposed to must be such that the learner is able to comprehend it, and that a learner modifying their speech so as to make it comprehensible facilitates their ability to acquire the language in question. The idea existed in the 1980s, and has been reviewed and expanded upon by a number of other scholars but is usually credited to Michael Long.
Outline
The interaction hypothesis states that (1) Comprehensible input is a requirement for second language acquisition, and (2) Input is made comprehensible to the learner via negotiations for meaning in conversations. Later responses, i.e. from Teresa Pica, also include a third pillar stating that (3) participation in tasks in which communication is necessary and in which participants share a symmetrical role relationship promote more opportunities for meaning negotiation.
Similar to Krashen's input hypothesis, the interaction hypothesis claims that comprehensible input, which is characterized as a variety of language that can be understood by a learner, is important for language learning. There are a number of ways in which input may be modified for the benefit of the learner. For example, a native speaker of a language may use foreigner talk when addressing a non-native speaker: this kind of modified input entails slowed speech, greater articulation, and simplified vocabulary. In addition, it claims that the effectiveness of comprehensible input is greatly increased when learners have to negotiate for meaning. This occurs when there is a breakdown in communication which interlocutors attempt to overcome. One of the participants in a conversation will say something that the other does not understand; the participants will then use various communicative strategies to help the interaction progress. Many different strategies may be employed by interlocutors: for example, they may request for clarification (e.g. "What do you mean?") or provide a comprehension check (e.g. "Do you know what I mean?"). Negotiation strategies such as clarification requests, confirmation checks, recasts (rephrasing an incorrect sentence with the correct structure), and comprehension checks are considered implicit feedback, while corrections and metalinguistic explanations are explicit feedback. The difference between modified interaction and modified input is that in the latter, participants may engage with one another and their communication is dynamic, whereas in the former the information given to the learner is static and is not open for interaction. As a result, the interactional structure of a two-way conversation or task then elicits the most modifications since the dynamic aspect forces the participants to negotiate for meaning.
Interactions provide a context for learners to receive feedback on the correctness or incorrectness of their language use. Interactions often result in learners receiving negative evidence. That is, if learners say something that their interlocutors do not understand or that is ungrammatical, after negotiation the interlocutors may model the correct language form. Conversely, positive evidence is confirmation that what a learner has said is grammatical. In doing this, learners can receive feedback on their production and on grammar that they have not yet mastered. Individual differences may also affect negative feedback and its effectiveness when each learner has their own preferences for types of negative feedback. The process of interaction may also result in learners receiving more input from their interlocutors than they would otherwise. Furthermore, if learners stop to clarify things that they do not understand, they may have more time to process the input they receive. This can lead to better understanding and possibly the acquisition of new language forms. Finally, interactions may serve as a way of focusing learners' attention on a difference between their knowledge of the target language and the reality of what they are hearing; it may also focus their attention on a part of the target language of which they are not yet aware. A drawback is that in simplifying the input to make it comprehensible, modification takes away from the acquisition of complex structures.
Primacy of interaction
Although there are several studies that link interaction with language acquisition, not all researchers subscribe to the idea that interaction is the primary means by which language proficiency develops. In a survey of the literature on the subject, Larsen-Freeman and Long say that interaction is not necessary for language acquisition; they do say, however, that it helps in certain circumstances. Gass and Selinker claim that as well as interaction facilitating learning, it may also function as a priming device, "setting the stage" for learning rather than being the means by which learning takes place. In addition, Ellis notes that interaction is not always positive. He says that sometimes it can make the input more complicated, or produce amounts of input which overwhelm learners. According to Ellis, this can happen if interlocutors use lengthy paraphrases or give complex definitions of a word that was not understood, and he comes to the conclusion that the role of interaction in language acquisition is a complex one. This conclusion is mirrored in Stephen Krashen's work, in his description of the affective filter. This phenomenon occurs when learners are given information too far beyond their own level of comprehension which then causes them to disengage with the L2 producing an inhibitory "filter" of information.
Historical development
Stephen Krashen
In his 1980 work The Input Hypothesis, Stephen Krashen proposes that second language acquisition only occurs when the learner is exposed to comprehensible input that is just beyond their current level of understanding. This input hypothesis is characterized as i + 1, in which i represents the learner's current language level and + 1 represents the following level of language acquisition. Evidence to support this claim comes in the form of speech that is modified for a learner's benefit, such as foreigner talk and teacher talk, in which speech is slowed or simplified for ease of listener comprehension. This hypothesis provided the groundwork that would later be further developed by Michael Long, to whom the interaction hypothesis is most closely associated.
Michael Long
Michael Long first developed the interaction hypothesis in his 1981 work titled "Input, interaction, and second-language acquisition". In this paper, based on indirect evidence, he proposes that modified input and modified interaction when combined facilitate second language acquisition more efficiently than other alternatives (e.g. modified input but unmodified interaction). In this work, similar to Krashen, Long believes comprehensible input to be a crucial factor in second language acquisition and that a lack of it will lead to little or no language acquisition at all. His views on comprehensible input later changed in his 1989 work titled "Task, group, and task-group interactions" in that comprehensible input may not be sufficient.
In his 1996 work most closely associated with the formal interaction hypothesis, "The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition", Long describes the kind of positive and negative evidence supplied by interlocutors during negotiations of meaning that can facilitate second language acquisition. Indirect evidence from past studies concerning L1 acquisition and sociolinguistic characteristics of non-native speakers are used to support the theory. Along with the influence of Krashen's work concerning the input hypothesis, Long's interaction hypothesis was partly influenced by Evelyn Marcussen Hatch's 1978 work on interaction and discourse analysis. Like Hatch, he notes that interaction can develop acquisition by guiding their production.
This idea that negotiating for meaning when there is a breakdown in communication is beneficial to language development is also tied to Merrill Swain's 1985 comprehensible output hypothesis which argues that the demands of negotiating ways to express output in a comprehensible manner for the interlocutor aids learners in their second language development. The revised version of the interaction hypothesis that is shown in Long's 1996 paper places more emphasis on noticing and corrective feedback. Negotiation of meaning is shown to encourage the process of noticing.
Interaction is beneficial for second language acquisition because it also gives the learner opportunities to use production through conversations.
Teresa Pica
In her 1987 work in collaboration with Richard Young and Catherine Doughty titled "The Impact of Interaction on Comprehension" Teresa Pica describes two kinds of linguistic environments in to which the interaction hypothesis applies: in which input is modified for the learner's comprehension, as found in instructional settings; and in which both conversation participants modify their own output so as to make themselves understood (i.e. when they both negotiate meaning) as found in naturalistic settings. According to the interaction hypothesis, the second environment leads to greater engagement with the language and thus leads to greater learner acquisition.
In her 1987 work "Second-language acquisition, social interaction, and the classroom" Teresa Pica also posits that interactions including negotiations of meaning between a teacher and a student may not be as effective for the acquisition of a second language due to the imbalance of the teacher-student relationship. An example of this imbalance is students refraining from making clarification requests in effort to avoid their being perceived as challenging the teacher's knowledge. Rather, interactions between students are thought to be more effective since their relationship to one another is equal. Thus, she submits that an additional third pillar of the core hypothesis must be added: that in addition to the requirement for (1) comprehensible input and (2) negotiation of meaning, (3) interlocutor relationship balance and shared communicative goals is also required for more effective second language acquisition.
Pica also explains that negotiations of meaning do not always elicit the modification result that is expected or intended from the learner. Some modifications in negotiation do not prompt the same kinds of modifications. A confirmation check is less likely to cause a learner to modify their sentence than a clarification request because they only have to confirm with a simple answer instead of elaborate and restructure their response for clarity.
Rod Ellis
In his 1991 work titled "The Interaction Hypothesis: A Critical Evaluation", Rod Ellis discusses Long's version of the interaction hypothesis and proposed some revisions based on studies and other academic interpretations of the hypothesis that were available at the time. Notably, he introduces a revised version of the hypothesis, which is characterized as: (1) Comprehensible input is useful for learners but is neither necessary nor sufficient for L2 acquisition; (2) Acquisition is made possible via input modifications (i.e. negotiation of meaning) but only if the learners both comprehend the input and are able to adopt differences into their own output; (3) Interaction situations that force learners to modify their output promotes their L2 learning. This revision is based on the lack of direct evidence supporting the original hypothesis, but that indirect evidence is nonetheless adequate to maintain some level of the theory. Additionally, this revision would allow the theory to be tested empirically, since it more clearly defines the relationship between acquisition, comprehension, and input.
Ellis's later 2008 work titled The study of second language acquisition relates the newer version of the interaction hypothesis to Focus-on-Form instruction which uses a communicative task with a focus on meaning to bring attention to form.
Limitations and criticisms
Earlier versions of the interaction hypothesis, particularly those of Krashen and Long, argue that comprehensible input is both necessary and sufficient for language development, but further research has provided evidence that comprehensible input is in fact not sufficient for second language acquisition by itself. Comprehensible input may in some cases hinder learning because learners may be able to understand the meaning of a sentence without realizing that they do not understand all of the individual components such as lexical or grammatical items.
If input is simplified too much in order to become comprehensible, there may no longer be new complex features for the learner to notice. The learner may also focus too much on the meaning of the sentence that they have no leftover mental resources to pay attention to the linguistic features. The reasoning of when and how interactional modifications facilitate comprehension is not yet fully understood and requires more research. Rather than complete abandonment, revision of the hypothesis is proposed.
Negotiation may not be as effective for beginner learners as it is for intermediate learners because beginners may not have the language knowledge needed for negotiation.
See also
Dynamic approach to second language development
References
Language acquisition | 0.765836 | 0.976542 | 0.747871 |
Normalization process theory | Normalization process theory (NPT) is a sociological theory, generally used in the fields of science and technology studies (STS), implementation research, and healthcare system research. The theory deals with the adoption of technological and organizational innovations into systems, recent studies have utilized this theory in evaluating new practices in social care and education settings. It was developed out of the normalization process model.
Origins
Normalization process theory, dealing with the adoption, implementation, embedding, integration, and sustainment of new technologies and organizational innovations, was developed by Carl R. May, Tracy Finch, and colleagues between 2003 and 2009. It was developed through ESRC funded research on Telehealth and through an ESRC fellowship to May. Its application to randomised controlled trials was led by Professor Elizabeth Murray of University College London, and chararacterised normalization process theory as a trial killer.
Through three iterations, the theory has built upon the normalization process model previously developed by May et al. to explain the social processes that lead to the routine embedding of innovative health technologies.
Content
Normalization process theory focuses attention on agentic contributions – the things that individuals and groups do to operationalize new or modified modes of practice as they interact with dynamic elements of their environments. It defines the implementation, embedding, and integration as a process that occurs when participants deliberately initiate and seek to sustain a sequence of events that bring it into operation. The dynamics of implementation processes are complex, but normalization process theory facilitates understanding by focusing attention on the mechanisms through which participants invest and contribute to them. It reveals "the work that actors do as they engage with some ensemble of activities (that may include new or changed ways of thinking, acting, and organizing) and by which means it becomes routinely embedded in the matrices of already existing, socially patterned, knowledge and practices". These have explored objects, agents, and contexts. In a paper published under a creative commons license, May and colleagues describe how, since 2006, NPT has undergone three iterations.
Objects
The first iteration of the theory focused attention on the relationship between the properties of a complex healthcare intervention and the collective action of its users. Here, agents' contributions are made in reciprocal relationship with the emergent capability that they find in the objects – the ensembles of behavioural and cognitive practices – that they enact. These socio-material capabilities are governed by the possibilities and constraints presented by objects, and the extent to which they can be made workable and integrated in practice as they are mobilized.
Agents
The second iteration of the theory built on the analysis of collective action, and showed how this was linked to the mechanisms through which people make their activities meaningful and build commitments to them. Here, investments of social structural and social cognitive resources are expressed as emergent contributions to social action through a set of generative mechanisms: coherence (what people do to make sense of objects, agency, and contexts); cognitive participation (what people do to initiate and be enrolled into delivering an ensemble of practices); collective action (what people do to enact those practices); and reflexive monitoring (what people do to appraise the consequences of their contributions). These constructs are the core of the theory, and provide the foundation of its analytic purchase on practice.
Contexts
The third iteration of the theory developed the analysis of agentic contributions by offering an account of centrally important structural and cognitive resources on which agents draw as they take action. Here, dynamic elements of social contexts are experienced by agents as capacity (the social structural resources, that they possess, including informational and material resources, and social norms and roles) and potential (the social cognitive resources that they possess, including knowledge and beliefs, and individual intentions and shared commitments). These resources are mobilized by agents when they invest in the ensembles of practices that are the objects of implementation.
Location within sociological theory
Normalization process theory is regarded as a middle range theory that is located within the 'turn to materiality' in STS. It therefore fits well with the case-study oriented approach to empirical investigation used in STS. It also appears to be a straightforward alternative to actor–network theory in that it does not insist on the agency of non-human actors, and seeks to be explanatory rather than descriptive. However, because normalization process theory specifies a set of generative mechanisms that empirical investigation has shown to be relevant to implementation and integration of new technologies, it can also be used in larger scale structured and comparative studies. Although it fits well with the interpretive approach of ethnography and other qualitative research methods, it also lends itself to systematic review and survey research methods. As a middle range theory, it can be federated with other theories to explain empirical phenomena. It is compatible with theories of the transmission and organization of innovations, especially diffusion of innovations theory, labor process theory, and psychological theories including the theory of planned behavior and social learning theory.
References
Sociological theories
Technological change
Science and technology studies | 0.781323 | 0.957147 | 0.747842 |
Context effect | A context effect is an aspect of cognitive psychology that describes the influence of environmental factors on one's perception of a stimulus. The impact of context effects is considered to be part of top-down design. The concept is supported by the theoretical approach to perception known as constructive perception. Context effects can impact our daily lives in many ways such as word recognition, learning abilities, memory, and object recognition. It can have an extensive effect on marketing and consumer decisions. For example, research has shown that the comfort level of the floor that shoppers are standing on while reviewing products can affect their assessments of product's quality, leading to higher assessments if the floor is comfortable and lower ratings if it is uncomfortable. Because of effects such as this, context effects are currently studied predominantly in marketing.
Cognitive principles of context effects
Context effects employ top-down design when analyzing information. Top down design fuels understanding of an image by using prior experiences and knowledge to interpret a stimulus. This process helps us analyze familiar scenes and objects when encountering them. During perception of any kind, people generally use either sensory data (bottom-up design) or prior knowledge of the stimulus (top-down design) when analyzing the stimulus. Individuals generally use both types of processing to examine stimuli. The use of both sensory data and prior knowledge to reach a conclusion is a feature of optimal probabilistic reasoning, known as Bayesian inference; cognitive scientists have shown mathematically how context effects can emerge from the Bayesian inference process. When context effects occur, individuals are using environmental cues perceived while examining the stimuli in order to help analyze it. In other words, individuals often make relative decisions that are influenced by the environment or previous exposure to objects.
These decisions may be greatly influenced by these external forces and alter the way individuals view an object. For example, research has shown that people rank television commercials as either good or bad in relation to their enjoyment levels of the show during which the commercials are presented. The more they like or dislike the show the more likely they are to rate the commercials shown during the show more positively or negatively (respectively). Another example shows during sound recognition a context effect can use other sounds in the environment to change the way we categorize a sound.
Context effects can come in several forms, including configural superiority effect which demonstrates varying degrees of spatial recognition depending on if stimuli are present in an organized configuration or present in isolation. For example, one may recognize a fully composed object faster than its individual parts (object-superiority effect).
Impact
Context effects can have a wide range of impacts in daily life. In reading difficult handwriting context effects are used to determine what letters make up a word. This helps us analyze potentially ambiguous messages and decipher them correctly. It can also affect our perception of unknown sounds based on the noise in the environment. For example, we may fill in a word we cannot make out in a sentence based on the other words we could understand. Context can prime our attitudes and beliefs about certain topics based on current environmental factors and our previous experiences with them.
Context effects can be nullified if we are made consciously aware of the outside stimulus or past history that may influence our decision. For example, a study conducted by Norbert Schwarz and Gerald Clore showed that when asked to rate their overall life satisfaction on either sunny or rainy days, people expressed greater satisfaction on sunny days and less satisfaction on rainy days. However, when people were reminded of the weather their satisfaction rating returned to an almost even distribution. This study demonstrates the effect the environment can have on perception, and that when pointed out, context effects can be nullified.
Context effects also affect memory. We are often better able to recall information in the location in which we learned it or studied it. For example, while studying for a test it is better to study in the environment that the test will be taken in (i.e. classroom) than in a location where the information was not learned and will not need to be recalled. This phenomenon is called transfer-appropriate processing.
Marketing
Perhaps the greatest amount of research concerning context effects comes from marketing research. Context effects can influence consumers' choice behavior. There are three main context effects that are researched in marketing. The first, the compromise effect, states that objects that are priced in the middle of choice sets are looked on more favorably. The middle choice seems like a good compromise between choices that may be viewed as too extreme. For example, if there are bikes on sale at the local store ranging from $50 to $75; the average shopper, not looking for a luxury bicycle, would normally opt to choose the $60 bike because it is average and matches their level of expertise. However, when adding a $100 bike to the sale, most average shoppers would opt to select the higher $75 bike. This demonstrates the compromise effect of choosing a bike to match their expectations regarding middle prices.
The attractiveness effect, the second contextual effect on consumer behavior, maintains that one item will increase the attractiveness of another item that is similar, but superior to it. By showing that an item is superior to a similar one the likability and possible purchasing power of the superior item increases.
The similarity effect, the third contextual effect on consumers' behavior, states that an item will hurt a similar item more in sales than it will a dissimilar item. With two or more similar items competing for attention they will only detract from each other in the marketplace.
Firms looking to increase product resale can use these context effects to construct more profitable marketing strategies. The idea of these context effects in the marketing industry is to allow for more profitable items a boost in optional sharing; a productivity boost based on contextual effects for and against certain items.
Context Effect on Consumer Behavior
In a study conducted on 55 undergraduate marketing students at a university in Korea, researchers set up a mixed design to test if a visual framing promoting a greater use of alternative-based processing would reduce the perceived attractiveness of compromise options. They also hypothesized that the decision process would have minimal influence on the choice of asymmetrically dominating options.
Researchers split the participants into three conditions: attribute based processing treatment, alternative based processing treatment, and the control. In order to perpetuate attribute and alternative based processing in their participants, researchers used different visual tactics to present each product. In the attribute processing group, horizontal lines were drawn in between each attribute of a product option, highlighting the various attributes of the different products within the same choice set. Conversely, in the alternative treatment group, vertical lines were drawn in between individual product options to visually separate them from one another. The control group had no visual framing treatment. Further, researchers simultaneously assessed how the attractiveness and compromise effect impacts the probability of the consumer to choose a target brand by listing two attributes for each of the three products in the choice set. Depending on the extremity in differences between each product attribute, options were either placed in the compromise or asymmetrically dominant subgroup.
The findings of this study proved their hypothesis, as the frequency of how often the compromise option was chosen depends heavily on the difference in visual framing of the attribute and alternative based processing treatments. The study found that when the alternative treatment was not promoted, the compromise effect took precedence over the participants’ decision making. Furthermore, the study showed that there was no significant difference between the attribute and control treatments, as the probability of choosing an asymmetrically dominant option was equally high across all three framing conditions.
Perception of Artwork
Context also affects the perception of artwork. Artworks presented in a classical museum context were liked more and rated more interesting than when presented in a sterile laboratory context. While specific results depend heavily on the style of the presented artwork, overall, the effect of context proved to be more important for the perception of artwork then the effect of genuineness (whether the artwork was being presented as original or as a facsimile/copy).
References
Cognitive psychology | 0.77038 | 0.970742 | 0.74784 |
Scenario (computing) | In computing, a scenario (, ; loaned , ) is a narrative of foreseeable interactions of user roles (known in the Unified Modeling Language as 'actors') and the technical system, which usually includes computer hardware and software.
A scenario has a goal, which is usually functional. A scenario describes one way that a system is used, or is envisaged to be used, in the context of an activity in a defined time-frame. The time-frame for a scenario could be (for example) a single transaction; a business operation; a day or other period; or the whole operational life of a system. Similarly the scope of a scenario could be (for example) a single system or a piece of equipment; an equipped team or a department; or an entire organization.
Scenarios are frequently used as part of the system development process. They are typically produced by usability or marketing specialists, often working in concert with end users and developers. Scenarios are written in plain language, with minimal technical details, so that stakeholders (designers, usability specialists, programmers, engineers, managers, marketing specialists, etc.) can have a common ground to focus their discussions.
Increasingly, scenarios are used directly to define the wanted behaviour of software: replacing or supplementing traditional functional requirements. Scenarios are often defined in use cases, which document alternative and overlapping ways of reaching a goal.
Types of scenario in system development
Many types of scenario are in use in system development. Alexander and Maiden list the following types:
Story: "a narrated description of a causally connected sequence of events, or of actions taken". Brief User stories are written in the Agile style of software development.
Situation, Alternative World: "a projected future situation or snapshot". This meaning is common in planning, but less usual in software development.
Simulation: use of models to explore and animate 'Stories' or 'Situations', to "give precise answers about whether such a scenario could be realized with any plausible design" or "to evaluate the implications of alternative possible worlds or situations".
Storyboard: a drawing, or a sequence of drawings, used to describe a user interface or to tell a story. This meaning is common in Human–computer interaction to define what a user will see on a screen.
Sequence: a list of interactive steps taken by human or machine agents playing system roles. The many forms of scenario written as sequences of steps include Operational Scenarios, Concepts of Operations, and Test Cases.
Structure: any more elaborately-structured representation of a scenario, including Flowcharts, UML/ITU 'Sequence Charts', and especially in software development Use cases.
Negative scenarios or misuse cases may be written to indicate likely threats which should be countered to ensure that systems have sufficient security, safety, and reliability. These help to discover non-functional requirements.
Uses in system development
Scenarios have numerous possible applications in system development. Carroll (1995) lists 10 different "roles of scenarios in the system development lifecycle":
Requirements analysis: scenarios describe the "state-of-the-art" (often called "as-is"); acted scenarios help to discover requirements as analysts "stage a simulated work situation".
User-designer communication: users contribute scenarios important to them, or situations they want to experience or avoid.
Design rationale: rationale can explain design "with respect to particular scenarios of user interaction".
Envisionment: scenarios "can be a medium for working out what a system being designed should look like and do." In this role, scenarios can be "graphical mockups such as storyboards or video-based simulations", and may form early prototypes of the system under design.
Software design: "scenarios can be analyzed to identify the central problem domain objects" needed; the same scenarios can be developed to describe the objects' state, behavior and interactions.
Implementation: software can be built one scenario at a time, helping "to keep developers focused" and "producing code that is more generally useful".
Documentation and Training: "scenarios of interaction that are meaningful to the users" can bridge the gap between the system as built "and the tasks that users want to accomplish using it".
Evaluation and testing: since "a system must be evaluated against the specific user tasks it is intended to support", scenarios are ideal for evaluation.
Abstraction: general rules that apply across different tasks (or systems) can be identified by comparing scenarios.
Team building: "a set of touchstone stories is an important cohesive element in any social system".
In differing styles of system development
The choice of scenario representation varies widely with style of development, which is related to the industrial context.
See also
Happy path
Scenario testing
Strategic assumptions
Computer supported brainstorming
References
Bibliography
Alexander, Ian and Beus-Dukic, Ljerka. Discovering Requirements: How to Specify Products and Services. Wiley, 2009.
Alexander, Ian F. and Maiden, Neil. Scenarios, Stories, Use Cases. Wiley, 2004.
Carroll, John M. (ed) Making Use: Scenario-based Design of Human-Computer Interactions. MIT Press, 2000.
Carroll, John M. (ed) Scenario-Based Design: Envisioning Work and Technology in System Development. Wiley, 1995.
Cockburn, Alistair. Writing Effective Use Cases. Addison-Wesley, 2001.
Cohn, Mike. User Stories Applied: for Agile Software Development. Addison-Wesley, 2004.
Fowler, Martin. UML Distilled. 3rd Edition. Addison-Wesley, 2004.
External links
Notes on Design Practice: Stories and Prototypes as Catalysts for Communication. by Thomas Erickson, in Carroll, 1995.
Software requirements
Software design
Usability | 0.777276 | 0.962107 | 0.747823 |
Todorov's narrative theory of equilibrium | The narrative theory of equilibrium was proposed by Bulgarian narratologist Tzvetan Todorov in 1971. Todorov delineated this theory in an essay entitled The Two Principles of Narrative. The essay claims that all narratives contain the same five formal elements: equilibrium, disruption, recognition, resolution, and new equilibrium.
Narratology
The narrative theory of equilibrium derives from narratology. This discipline examines story construction and its effect on human consciousness. Narratology perceives stories as sense-making mechanisms, which allow citizens to understand history, morality, and contemporary social structures. Narratives appear in artistic media, like novels and films, and discursive exchanges between citizens. They often reflect societal values and are thus capable of influencing individual identity formation.
Todorov’s conception of narrative references Russian formalism. This mode of literary criticism construes narrative as a series of events, which should be analysed independently of their progenitorial medium. It was pioneered throughout the 1920s by Vladimir Propp. Propp identified 31 narrative elements repeated throughout European folktales. This formalistic practice inspired Todorov’s narratological pursuits.
The narrative model also borrows from French structuralism. Structuralism inspects narrative’s properties, functions and formal elements. Claude Levi-Strauss assessed narrative grammar in anthropological circles. Roland Barthes, Todorov’s professor at L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, combined structuralism with semiotics. In works such as 1957’s Mythologies, Barthes appraised the sign systems that ascribe meaning to popular culture.
Structural Analysis of Narrative (1969)
Todorov’s Structural Analysis of Narrative anticipated his equilibratory model. Citing Boccaccio’s The Decameron, this essay espouses a structural analysis of plot. Boccaccio’s narratives move from one state of equilibrium, or ecological balance, to another. This plot type comprises “the imaginary universe of [a] book”, Todorov argues, wherein culture, nature, society and subjectivity intersect. Structural analysis acknowledges these factors, which indicate the social norms and literary conventions that influenced The Decameron’s publication.
Description
The Two Principles of Narrative (1971) extends Todorov’s structural analysis of Boccaccio. Todorov posited that all narratives contain equilibrium, disequilibrium, recognition, resolution, and new equilibrium. "Logical and artistic necessity" mandates these formal similarities. Narrative, Todorov suggests, is a language that humans are conditioned to speak. This communicative device marries description with temporal transformation. Audiences cannot recognise a narrative unless it contains the sequential developments that typify the genre.
Todorov uses The Swan-geese to clarify these developments. The Swan-geese, a traditional Russian fairy-tale, invokes narrative conventions to promote empathy and obedience amongst children. These conventions include:
1. Equilibrium
The Swan-geese commences in a state of normality. Readers are familiarised with setting and character, as they observe a peasant girl's everyday life. The protagonist is entrusted with the care of her infant brother, but prioritises playing outdoors above familial obligation.
2. Disruption
An unforeseen event disturbs this equilibrium. Villainous birds abduct a baby in The Swan-geese’s inciting incident. Chronology is upheld, as his sister’s abdication of responsibility makes the kidnapping possible.
3. Recognition
The narrative acknowledges the aforementioned disruption. The Swan-geese’s heroine, an audience surrogate, embodies this recognition. When the girl returns from the woods, she and the audience discover that her brother is missing.
4. Resolution
A character, driven by the psychological need for uncertainty resolution, aims to restore equilibrium. The Swan-geese’s protagonist endeavours to rescue her brother from the Baba Yaga who ordered his capture. She encounters numerous challenges in a quest that strengthens her moral fibre.
5. New equilibrium
The character and plot development culminate in a new equilibrium. The Swan-geese’s antagonists are defeated; the girl and her brother return home. The conclusion sates a desire for resolution, whilst reaffirming the tale’s morality.
Todorov states that The Decameron, Arthurian legend, Les Liaisons dangereuses, and Henry James’s In the Cage also exemplify the narrative model.
Examples
The narrative structure of Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel, Fight Club, utilises elements of Todorov’s narrative theory. The text begins with equilibrium and descends into disequilibrium as it progresses.
1Q84, a Japanese novel written by Haruki Murakami, employs the narrative theories of Todorov, Gerard Genette, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan and William Nelles. Its paradoxical discussion of narrative strategies and structures creates a “complex novel world”.
One Thousand and One Nights, a compilation of Middle Eastern folktales, reflects Todorov’s notion that “narrating equals living”. It does so by presenting the “therapeutic value of storytelling” as a motivation for equilibrium.
Criticisms
While Todorov’s theory has gained widespread acceptance, theorists have noted several limitations.
Yoseph Taum discusses Todorov’s narrative theory in relation to Panji stories, a UNESCO-recognised cycle of Javanese legends. He finds that, while Todorov’s five narrative units accommodate Panji stories superficially, it struggles to explain cultural particularities and the transformation from physical reality to spiritual reality. Keanu Adepati also challenges the universality of Todorov’s theory, noting that the model is not applicable to every story.
James Phelan observes that it is difficult to expand the theory’s scope beyond literary narrative and the paradigm of literary history. Regardless, he posits that narrative theory should be more central to the study of the humanities as a way of organising knowledge. Phelan deems it important to distinguish between narrative and other representations, including those of cultural artifacts.
Raphael Baroni argues that narrative theory’s excess formalism is a “toolbox” for literary study. Baroni accuses Todorov of confining commentary to an objective overview of narrative structure, instead of analysing functions, meanings and sociohistorical contexts. He concludes that narrative theory falls short of discussing the ethical and immersive experiences of the narrated world.
Further applications
Helder Prior’s The Political Scandal as Narrative Experience addresses the relationship between complex narratives that develop in the press and their presentation as ‘stories’. Helder inspects the media and narrativity, arguing that scandals acquire a narrative framework indebted to Todorov’s theory. This framework considers the textual organisation of events, including their fragmentation into major and minor episodes, the individualisation of character identification, and the construction of plot. Prior characterises the mass media as a narrative device, with narratology applicable to celebrity culture and its communication to the public. Elements of Todorov’s theory, like equilibrium and disequilibrium, are believed to align with real-life phenomena.
See also
Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index
Binary opposition
Comparative mythology
French structuralism
Hero’s journey
Morphology
Myth
Narratology
Russian formalism
Semiotics
References
Narratology | 0.76196 | 0.981447 | 0.747823 |
SuperFreakonomics | SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance is the second non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and The New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner, released in early October 2009 in Europe and on October 20, 2009 in the United States. It is a sequel to Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.
Synopsis
The explanatory note states that the theme of the book explores the concept that we all work for a particular reward. The introduction states we should look at problems economically. The examples given include the preference for sons in India and the hardships Indian women face, as well as the horse manure issue at the turn of the 20th century.
The first chapter explores prostitution and pimps in South Chicago, one high class escort, and real estate brokers. The pimps and brokers are compared based on the idea that they are helping to sell one's services to the larger market. Inequalities in pay grades for men and women are also covered in the chapter.
The second chapter is about patterns and details. Patterns in the ages of soccer players, health issues of children in the womb during Ramadan, and the upbringings of terrorists are observed. Next, the book discusses the skills of hospital doctors and how Azyxxi was created, and draws parallels to how terrorists in the UK were tracked down by banks.
Altruism is discussed in the third chapter, and uses examples of the murder of Kitty Genovese, crime rates as affected by television, and economic experimental games such as prisoner's dilemma, ultimatum, and the work of John A. List.
The fourth chapter is about unintended consequences and simple fixes. It goes into detail about Ignaz Semmelweis' work in hospitals, use of seatbelts and child seats, and the possibility of reducing hurricanes.
The fifth chapter discusses externalities and global warming. It discusses how economics does not necessarily take environmental issues into account. While interviewing Nathan Myhrvold and Ken Caldeira from Intellectual Ventures, the authors posit an alternative way of solving global warming by stratospheric aerosol injection.
The epilogue is about microeconomics, and discusses a study by Laurie Santos and Keith Chen as to whether capuchin monkeys can be trained to use money.
Reception
SuperFreakonomics has been praised for its entertainment value, but has drawn criticism for taking unconventional approaches to its subject matter, particularly global warming.
In the Financial Times, Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist, said that SuperFreakonomics "is a lot like Freakonomics, but better." BusinessWeek gave the book three and a half stars out of five, saying that the book is "[a]n inventive and even useful application of economics to unusual subjects".
Global warming section
In the book's fifth chapter, the author proposes that the climate system can be intentionally regulated by construction of a stratoshield or a fleet of marine cloud seeders.
The chapter has been criticized by economists and climate science experts who say it contains numerous misleading statements and discredited arguments. Among the critics are Paul Krugman, Brad DeLong, Raymond Pierrehumbert, The Guardian, Bloomberg News, and The Economist. Elizabeth Kolbert, a science writer for The New Yorker who has written extensively on global warming, contends that "just about everything they [Levitt and Dubner] have to say on the topic is, factually speaking, wrong."
Joseph Romm said that SuperFreakonomics had seriously misrepresented the position of climate scientist Ken Caldeira; the book says among other things, that Caldeira's research tells him is "not the right villain", an assertion Caldeira strongly disputes.
Caldeira has commented
Dubner responded that with hindsight the line describing Ken Caldeira overstated his position, but noted that Caldeira had been sent a preview of the text and had approved it.
Caldeira has acknowledged that he did receive the preview, but disagreed that the errors were his responsibility: "I feel no need to read, fact check, or make detailed comments on documents that arrive in my in-box. I have lots of other things to do, like trying to get my science out the door."
As it transpired, Dubner had been apprised of Caldeira's objection to the "right villain" assertion, but did not delete the line as Caldeira expected, although Caldeira believes this was due to a good faith misunderstanding.
Regarding their own views on global warming, Levitt and Dubner have stated on their Freakonomics blog that global warming is "a man-made phenomenon" and "an important issue to solve". They go on to explain that where they differ with the establishment view is in what the most effective solutions to that problem are.
For an establishment review of how Levitt and Dubner use arithmetic in their dismissal of the solar photovoltaic option to mitigate global warming, see Raymond Pierrehumbert's open letter to Steven Levitt at Realclimate.org.
Illustrated edition
In 2010, Levitt and Dubner released an illustrated edition of SuperFreakonomics.
See also
Global warming controversy
Scientific opinion on climate change
References
External links
Official web site
Book page at Harper Collins
SuperFreakonomics at SourceWatch
SuperFreakonomics webcast – Levitt & Dubner on The Ultimatum Game
Washington Post review of SuperFreakonomics, November 15, 2009
After Words interview with Levitt and Dubner on SuperFreakonomics, October 26, 2009
2009 non-fiction books
Economics books
Popular science books
American non-fiction books
William Morrow and Company books
Collaborative non-fiction books | 0.765577 | 0.976634 | 0.747689 |
Life skills-based education | Life skills-based education (LSBE) is a form of education that focuses on cultivating personal life skills such as self-reflection, critical thinking, problem solving and interpersonal skills.
In 1986, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion recognized life skills in terms of making better health choices. The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by stating that education should be directed towards the development of the child’s fullest potential. The 1990 Jomtien Declaration on Education for All took this vision further and included life skills among essential learning tools for survival, capacity development and quality of life. The 2000 Dakar World Education Conference took a position that all young people and adults have the human right to benefit from "an education that includes learning to know, to do, to live together and to be", and included life skills in two out of the six EFA Goals.
Life skills-based education is now recognized as a methodology to address a variety of issues of child and youth development and thematic responses including as expressed in UNGASS on HIV/AIDS (2001), UNGASS on Children (2002), World Youth Report (2003), World Program for Human Rights Education (2004), UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (2005), UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children (2006), 51st Commission on the Status of Women (2007), and the World Development Report (2007).
See also
People skills
References
WHO (1999), Partners in Life Skills Training: Conclusions from a United Nations Inter-Agency Meeting, Geneva
WHO (2004), Skills for health : An important entry-point for health promoting/child-friendly schools, Geneva.
Educational programs
Life skills | 0.765345 | 0.97693 | 0.747688 |
Consensus theory | Consensus theory is a social theory that holds a particular political or economic system as a fair system, and that social change should take place within the social institutions provided by it. Consensus theory contrasts sharply with conflict theory, which holds that social change is only achieved through conflict.
Under consensus theory the absence of conflict is seen as the equilibrium state of society and that there is a general or widespread agreement among all members of a particular society about norms, values, rules and regulations. Consensus theory is concerned with the maintenance or continuation of social order in society.
Consensus theory serves as a sociological argument for the furtherance and preservation of the status quo. It is antagonistic to conflict theory, which serves as a sociological argument for modifying the status quo or for its total reversal. In consensus theory, the rules are seen as integrative, and whoever doesn't respect them is a deviant person. Under conflict theory, the rules are seen as coercive, and who transgresses them is considered an agent of change.
See also
Émile Durkheim
Talcott Parsons
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Antonio Gramsci
Robert Merton
Louis Althusser
Ralf Dahrendorf
George Herbert Mead
Herbert Blumer
Structural functionalism
Conservatism
Consensus reality
References
Social change
Social theories | 0.77046 | 0.970432 | 0.747679 |
Sophistication | Sophistication refers to the qualities of refinement, good taste, and wisdom. By contrast, its original use was as a pejorative, derived from sophist, and included the idea of admixture or adulteration. Today, as researched by Faye Hammill, it is common as a measure of refinement—displaying good taste, wisdom and subtlety rather than crudeness, stupidity and vulgarity. In the perception of social class, sophistication can be linked with concepts such as status, privilege and superiority.
Scope of sophistication
In social terms, the connotations of sophistication depends on whether one is an insider or an outsider of the sophisticated class. Sophistication can be seen as "a form of snobbery," or as "among the most desirable of human qualities."
A study of style conveys an idea of the range of possible elements through which one can demonstrate sophistication in elegance and fashion, covering the art of "[...] the shoemaker, the hairdresser, the cosmetologist, the cookbook writers, the chef, the diamond merchant, the couturieres, and the fashion queens, the inventors of the folding umbrella ... and of champagne."
History
In Ancient Greece, sophia was the special insight of poets and prophets. This then became the wisdom of philosophers such as sophists. But their use of rhetoric to win arguments gave sophistication a derogatory quality. Sophistry was then the art of misleading.
The system of modern Western sophistication has its roots in France, arguably helped along its way by the policies of King Louis XIV (reigned 1643–1715).
The English regarded sophistication as decadent and deceptive until the aristocratic sensibilities and refined elegance of Regency dandies such as Beau Brummell (1778–1840) became fashionable and admired.
Types of sophistication
Recognised varieties of sophistication include:
cultural sophistication(or culturedness)
intellectual sophistication
In the analysis of humor, Victor Raskin distinguishes "two types of sophistication: limited access or allusive knowledge, and complex processing".
Acquiring sophistication
Methods of acquiring the appearance of personal sophistication include:
educational travel – note the function of the traditional Grand Tour for European aesthetes
Finishing school
On a societal level commentators can associate various forms of sophistication with civilization.
References
Alecia Watterson
Further reading
Aesthetics
Culture
Pejorative terms | 0.762061 | 0.981116 | 0.74767 |
Ba no kuuki wo yomu | A common phrase “”(場の空気を読む), “understanding the situation without words” or “sensing someone’s feelings”, is a very important concept for understanding Japanese culture. The literal meaning is “reading air”. Because of this cultural trait, many foreign visitors feel that Japanese are very kind and thoughtful towards them during their short stay in Japan.
Sensing and practicing “” is considered social manners or social intelligence in Japan. Unlike the individualistic and expressive cultures in Western countries, people in Japan are expected to think collectively, understand situations without need for explanation and behave based on their position accordingly. If you do not “read air” in business, you are not only unable to become a successful business person, but you will also find it hard to function as an employee in an organization.
Collective team work in rice farming and the islands’ geographical location may have developed “” culture in Japan. The ability of “Sensing someone’s feelings” generates thoughtfulness in Japanese culture and “understanding the situation without words” can contribute to build strong organizations in business.
See also
Kuukiyomi: Consider It, a series of game based on this concept.
Abilene paradox
References
Culture of Japan | 0.772736 | 0.967499 | 0.747621 |
Rocket science (finance) | "Rocket science" in finance is a metaphor for activity carried out by specialised quantitative staff to provide detailed output from mathematical modeling and computational simulations to support investment decisions. Their work depends on use of complex mathematical models implemented in sophisticated IT environments.
For instance, a firm that invests its money in funds of investment is thought to have a result that depends on a mix of scientific questions and hazards. Different decisions in how to divide the financial resources into the funds lead to different sets of probabilities of return. Advising the investor about the consequences of each possible decision in the risk-return context is one of the typical roles of a rocket scientist.
Core activities
Although the financial rocket science is found mostly in banks and financial enterprises, this area is emerging in firms with other kinds of core activities. The reasons why firms may have to hire these professionals vary and may be related to the core itself, or to auxiliary areas. An example of the first case is the one of an insurance firm that needs to calculate sets of probabilities of expenses, from probabilities of accident of its customers. The other one is advising about what the need every organization, or even every individual, has for properly deciding what to do with the money.
Goals
The goal of a financial rocket scientist is to survey the high administration of a firm with the most precise scenario possible of the result probabilities in choosing decisions like investing, trading and borrowing. It means that not only how to invest money is a problem to rocket scientists, but also matters like pricing assets, creating new products or managing debts.
Skills
The skills required of a financial rocket scientist are broadly based. These include knowledge of microeconomics, macroeconomics, pure mathematics, statistics, information technologies and financial market practice.
The microeconomics knowledge is necessary because the firm itself is an entity subject to microeconomics laws. Macroeconomics are needed to evaluate the response of groups of entities to a wide range of external factors and influences. Pure mathematics and statistics are required to solve the problems arising from questions submitted to the tech workers. Finally, financial market practice is needed to determine the possible decisions built into the financial models. Also, skill with Information Technology is required to prepare effective data-entry into complex computer systems.
Some concepts and tools found in this area are the Pareto optimum, the Value at Risk, and the Monte Carlo simulation.
It's not rocket science
Although this phrase, very often found in sources of every kind, seems to deny the ontological existence of the theme here in approach, it actually means context-dependently that some matter is not difficult to understand in certain level of depth. The term Rocket Science was originally derived from WWII rocket developments by Warner Von Braun and later by the NASA aerospace engineering program in the 1960s with the objective of reaching the Moon. It was later coined in 1995 by the child of comedian Davis Mathews
Similar activities
Some professions or activities are similar but not identified with rocket science, and they are lied by common issues and relations mean-goal, these areas are basically the financial engineering and risk analysis, according to some sources. Nonetheless, a second and smaller set of sources found in this research identifies them as a unique matter.
See also
Computational finance
Mathematical finance
Financial modeling
Securities
Trading
Derivatives
Investment management
References
Mathematical finance
Business intelligence terms | 0.771391 | 0.969149 | 0.747593 |
Mobilities | Mobilities is a contemporary paradigm in the social sciences that explores the movement of people (human migration, individual mobility, travel, transport), ideas (see e.g. meme) and things (transport), as well as the broader social implications of those movements. Mobility can also be thought as the movement of people through social classes, social mobility or income, income mobility.
A mobility "turn" (or transformation) in the social sciences began in the 1990s in response to the increasing realization of the historic and contemporary importance of movement on individuals and society. This turn has been driven by generally increased levels of mobility and new forms of mobility where bodies combine with information and different patterns of mobility. The mobilities paradigm incorporates new ways of theorizing about how these mobilities lie "at the center of constellations of power, the creation of identities and the microgeographies of everyday life." (Cresswell, 2011, 551)
The mobility turn arose as a response to the way in which the social sciences had traditionally been static, seeing movement as a black box and ignoring or trivializing "the importance of the systematic movements of people for work and family life, for leisure and pleasure, and for politics and protest" (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 208). Mobilities emerged as a critique of contradictory orientations toward both sedentarism and deterritorialisation in social science. People had often been seen as static entities tied to specific places, or as nomadic and placeless in a frenetic and globalized existence. Mobilities looks at movements and the forces that drive, constrain and are produced by those movements.
Several typologies have been formulated to clarify the wide variety of mobilities. Most notably, John Urry divides mobilities into five types: mobility of objects, corporeal mobility, imaginative mobility, virtual mobility and communicative mobility. Later, Leopoldina Fortunati and Sakari Taipale proposed an alternative typology taking the individual and the human body as a point of reference. They differentiate between ‘macro-mobilities’ (consistent physical displacements), ‘micro-mobilities’ (small-scale displacements), ‘media mobility’ (mobility added to the traditionally fixed forms of media) and ‘disembodied mobility’ (the transformation in the social order). The categories are typically considered interrelated, and therefore they are not exclusive.
Scope
While mobilities is commonly associated with sociology, contributions to the mobilities literature have come from scholars in anthropology, cultural studies, economics, geography, migration studies, science and technology studies, and tourism and transport studies. (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 207)
The eponymous journal Mobilities provides a list of typical subjects which have been explored in the mobilities paradigm (Taylor and Francis, 2011):
Mobile spatiality and temporality
Sustainable and alternative mobilities
Mobile rights and risks
New social networks and mobile media
Immobilities and social exclusions
Tourism and travel mobilities
Migration and diasporas
Transportation and communication technologies
Transitions in complex systems
Origins
Sheller and Urry (2006, 215) place mobilities in the sociological tradition by defining the primordial theorist of mobilities as Georg Simmel (1858–1918). Simmel's essays, "Bridge and Door" (Simmel, 1909 / 1994) and "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (Simmel, 1903 / 2001) identify a uniquely human will to connection, as well as the urban demands of tempo and precision that are satisfied with mobility.
The more immediate precursors of contemporary mobilities research emerged in the 1990s (Cresswell 2011, 551). Historian James Clifford (1997) advocated for a shift from deep analysis of particular places to the routes connecting them. Marc Augé (1995) considered the philosophical potential of an anthropology of "non-places" like airports and motorways that are characterized by constant transition and temporality. Sociologist Manuel Castells outlined a "network society" and suggested that the "space of places" is being surpassed by a "space of flows." Feminist scholar Caren Kaplan (1996) explored questions about the gendering of metaphors of travel in social and cultural theory.
The contemporary paradigm under the moniker "mobilities" appears to originate with the work of sociologist John Urry. In his book, Sociology Beyond Societies: Mobilities for the Twenty-First Century, Urry (2000, 1) presents a "manifesto for a sociology that examines the diverse mobilities of peoples, objects, images, information and wastes; and of the complex interdependencies between, and social consequences of, these diverse mobilities."
This is consistent with the aims and scope of the eponymous journal Mobilities, which "examines both the large-scale movements of people, objects, capital, and information across the world, as well as more local processes of daily transportation, movement through public and private spaces, and the travel of material things in everyday life" (Taylor and Francis, 2011).
In 2006, Mimi Sheller and John Urry published an oft-cited paper that examined the mobilities paradigm as it was just emerging, exploring its motivations, theoretical underpinnings, and methodologies. Sheller and Urry specifically focused on automobility as a powerful socio-technical system that "impacts not only on local public spaces and opportunities for coming together, but also on the formation of gendered subjectivities, familial and social networks, spatially segregated urban neighborhoods, national images and aspirations to modernity, and global relations ranging from transnational migration to terrorism and oil wars" (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 209). This was further developed by the journal Mobilities (Hannam, Sheller and Urry, 2006).
Mobilities can be viewed as an extension of the "spatial turn" in the arts and sciences in the 1980s, in which scholars began "to interpret space and the spatiality of human life with the same critical insight and interpretive power as have traditionally been given to time and history (the historicality of human life) on one hand, and to social relations and society (the sociality of human life) on the other" (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 216; Engel and Nugent, 2010, 1; Soja, 1999 / 2005, 261).
Engel and Nugent (2010) trace the conceptual roots of the spatial turn to Ernst Cassirer and Henri Lefebvre (1974), although Fredric Jameson appears to have coined the epochal usage of the term for the 1980s paradigm shift. Jameson (1988 / 2003, 154) notes that the concept of the spatial turn "has often seemed to offer one of the more productive ways of distinguishing postmodernism from modernism proper, whose experience of temporality -- existential time, along with deep memory -- it is henceforth conventional to see as dominant of the high modern."
For Oswin & Yeoh (2010) mobility seems to be inextricably intertwined with late-modernity and the end of the nation-state. The sense of mobility makes us to think in migratory and tourist fluxes as well as the necessary infrastructure for that displacement takes place.
P. Vannini (2012) opted to see mobility as a projection of existent cultural values, expectancies and structures that denotes styles of life. Mobility after all would not only generate effects on people's behaviour but also specific styles of life. Vannini explains convincingly that on Canada's coast, the values of islanders defy the hierarchal order in populated cities from many perspectives. Islanders prioritize the social cohesion and trust of their communities before the alienation of mega-cities. There is a clear physical isolation that marks the boundaries between urbanity and rurality. From another view, nonetheless, this ideological dichotomy between authenticity and alienation leads residents to commercialize their spaces to outsiders. Although the tourism industry is adopted in these communities as a form of activity, many locals have historically migrated from urban populated cities.
Mobilities and transportation geography
The intellectual roots of mobilities in sociology distinguish it from traditional transportation studies and transportation geography, which have firmer roots in mid 20th century positivist spatial science.
Cresswell (2011, 551) presents six characteristics distinguishing mobilities from prior approaches to the study of migration or transport:
Mobilities often links science and social science to the humanities.
Mobilities often links across different scales of movement, while traditional transportation geography tends to focus on particular forms of movement at only one scale (such as local traffic studies or household travel surveys).
Mobilities encompasses the movement of people, objects, and ideas, rather than narrowly focusing on areas like passenger modal shift or freight logistics.
Mobilities considers both motion and "stopping, stillness and relative immobility."
Mobilities incorporates mobile theorization and methodologies to avoid the privileging of "notions of boundedness and the sedentary."
Mobilities often embraces the political and differential politics of mobility, as opposed to the apolitical, "objective" stance often sought by researchers associated with engineering disciplines
Mobilities can be seen as a postmodern descendant of modernist transportation studies, with the influence of the spatial turn corresponding to a "post-structuralist agnosticism about both naturalistic and universal explanations and about single-voiced historical narratives, and to the concomitant recognition that position and context are centrally and inescapably implicated in all constructions of knowledge" (Cosgrove, 1999, 7; Warf and Arias, 2009).
Despite these ontological and epistemological differences, Shaw and Hesse (2010, 207) have argued that mobilities and transport geography represent points on a continuum rather than incompatible extremes. Indeed, traditional transport geography has not been wholly quantitative any more than mobilities is wholly qualitative. Sociological explorations of mobility can incorporate empirical techniques, while model-based inquiries can be tempered with richer understandings of the meanings, representations and assumptions inherently embedded in models.
Shaw and Sidaway (2010, 505) argue that even as research in the mobilities paradigm has attempted to reengage transportation and the social sciences, mobilities shares a fate similar to traditional transportation geography in still remaining outside the mainstream of the broader academic geographic community.
Theoretical underpinnings of mobilities
Sheller and Urry (2006, 215-217) presented six bodies of theory underpinning the mobilities paradigm:
The prime theoretical foundation of mobilities is the work of early 20th-century sociologist Georg Simmel, who identified a uniquely human "will to connection," and provided a theoretical connection between mobility and materiality. Simmel focused on the increased tempo of urban life, that "drives not only its social, economic, and infrastructural formations, but also the psychic forms of the urban dweller." Along with this tempo comes a need for precision in timing and location in order to prevent chaos, which results in complex and novel systems of relationships.
A second body of theory comes from the science and technology studies which look at mobile sociotechnical systems that incorporate hybrid geographies of human and nonhuman components. Automobile, rail or air transport systems involve complex transport networks that affect society and are affected by society. These networks can have dynamic and enduring parts. Non-transport information networks can also have unpredictable effects on encouraging or suppressing physical mobility (Pellegrino 2012).
A third body of theory comes from the postmodern conception of spatiality, with the substance of places being constantly in motion and subject to constant reassembly and reconfiguration (Thrift 1996).
A fourth body of theory is a "recentring of the corporeal body as an affective vehicle through which we sense place and movement, and construct emotional geographies". For example, the car is "experienced through a combination of senses and sensed through multiple registers of motion and emotion″ (Sheller and Urry 2006, 216).
A fifth body of theory incorporates how topologies of social networks relate to how complex patterns form and change. Contemporary information technologies and ways of life often create broad but weak social ties across time and space, with social life incorporating fewer chance meetings and more networked connections.
Finally, the last body of theory is the analysis of complex transportation systems that are "neither perfectly ordered nor anarchic." For example, the rigid spatial coupling, operational timings, and historical bindings of rail contrast with unpredictable environmental conditions and ever-shifting political winds. And, yet, "change through the accumulation of small repetitions...could conceivably tip the car system into the postcar system."
Mobilities methodologies
Mimi Sheller and John Urry (2006, 217-219) presented seven methodological areas often covered in mobilities research:
Analysis of the patterning, timing and causation of face-to-face co-presence
Mobile ethnography - participation in patterns of movement while conducting ethnographic research
Time-space diaries - subjects record what they are doing, at what times and in what places
Cyber-research - exploration of virtual mobilities through various forms of electronic connectivity
Study of experiences and feelings
Study of memory and private worlds via photographs, letters, images and souvenirs
Study of in-between places and transfer points like lounges, waiting rooms, cafes, amusement arcades, parks, hotels, airports, stations, motels, harbors
See also
Bicycle
Congestion
Home care
Hypermobility (travel)
Pedestrian
Public transport
Private transport
Transportation engineering
References
Social sciences
Space
Motion (physics) | 0.767497 | 0.974003 | 0.747545 |
Global leadership | Global leadership is the interdisciplinary study of the key elements that future leaders in all realms of the personal experience should acquire to effectively familiarize themselves with the psychological, physiological, geographical, geopolitical, anthropological and sociological effects of globalization. Global leadership occurs when an individual or individuals navigate collaborative efforts of different stakeholders through environmental complexity towards a vision by leveraging a global mindset. Today, global leaders must be capable of connecting "people across countries and engage them to global team collaboration in order to facilitate complex processes of knowledge sharing across the globe" Personality characteristics, as well as a cross-cultural experience, appear to influence effectiveness in global leaders.
As a result of trends, starting with colonialism and perpetuated by the increase in mass media, innovation, (brought about by the Internet and other forms of human interaction based on the speed of computer-mediation) and a host of meaningful new concerns face mankind; consisting of but not limited to: human enterprises toward peace, international business design, and significant shifts in geopolitical paradigms. The talent and insight it will take leaders to successfully navigate humanity through these developments have been collectively focused on the phenomenon of globalization in order to embrace and effectively guide the evolution of mankind through the continued blurring and integration of national, economic and social strategies.
Cross-cultural competence (3C)
Daniel P. McDonald, executive director of Research, Development and Strategic Initiatives at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute and his team established for the U.S. Department of Defense a set of 40 general cross-cultural learning statements (knowledge, skills, and personal characteristics) were recommended by a DoD focus group in order to foster the career development of cross-cultural competence in military and civilian personnel. The roles of aptitude and appropriate training components in the development of global leadership were reviewed by Caligiuri in 2006.
Willingness to engage
Cognitive flexibility & openness
Emotional regulation
Tolerance of uncertainty
Self-efficacy
Ethnocultural empathy
Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede has performed research for several decades that continues to impact research in global and international arenas of global leadership. Hofstede's research is primarily focused on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. According to him, all behaviours are determined by culture. In his definition; culture is ‘the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others.’ To conduct his research, he analyzed a large database of employee value scores collected within IBM between the years 1967 and 1973. There are over 70 countries in the data. Hofstede's primary tenants of culture differentiation are summed up through his research more elaborately but primarily consist of In his model, he identified six dimensions of national culture based on his research. Those dimensions are also used to differentiate countries from each other, based on how countries score on the six dimensions. The scale of scores ranges from 0 to 100. If a score is below 50 it is considered Low and if it is higher than 50 it is considered High in that dimension. Here, although countries are represented with a score, the scores are relative and cannot represent unique individuals. In other words, ‘culture can be only used meaningfully by comparison.’ The relevant scores are proven to be stable over time. Forces that cause cultures to shift are global and therefore there is something affecting the culture in a country, it actually affects many countries at the same time in the world. The model consists of six dimensions; which are Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity vs Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation vs Short Term Normative Orientation and Indulgence vs Restraint. Furthermore, he has published several books and academic articles on the subject in order to light the way for global business leaders as well as academic researchers.
Hofstede's cultural dimensions
Power Distance Index (PDI), an index which measures the less powerful members of organizations and institutions and how they accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. Power distance indicates how society handles inequalities among people. Countries that have high power distance accept the hierarchical order in which people are in different levels/places and there is no further justification. Therefore, inequalities of power and wealth distribution are allowed in society. On the other hand, countries having low power distance support equality and demand justification for inequalities of power. In these societies, equality and opportunity for everyone is highly reinforced.
Individualism (ADV) as is juxtaposed to its opposite, collectivism, which is the measure to which individuals are comfortably integrated into groups. The society's point of view on this dimension is reflected in whether people's self-image is defined in terms of ‘I’ or ‘We’. Or similarly, it is the difference between the individual above the society vs society above the individual. In individualistic countries, there is a high valuation of people's time, their need for independence and their privacy. On the other hand, collectivist countries are more supportive of harmony in society.
Masculinity (MAS) versus femininity. Masculinity refers to the degree that which a society values achievement, being the best, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success. In contrast, femininity refers to the values of cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. In a business context, Masculinity versus Femininity may identify “tough versus tender” cultures.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. Countries having high uncertainty avoidance have very strict rules of belief and behaviour and they are intolerant of ideas or behaviour otherwise. Countries having low uncertainty avoidance have more relaxed attitudes.
Long-Term Orientation (LTO) values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with Short Term Orientation are respected for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's 'face'. This dimension is created to understand the long term orientation of mainly Asian cultures and their respect for tradition. In the business world, long-term orientation and short term orientation are referred to as being pragmatic and normative.
Indulgence (IVR) versus restraint refers to the extent to which members of a society try to control their desires and impulses. Whereas indulgent societies have a tendency to allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun, restrained societies have a conviction that such gratification needs to be curbed and regulated by strict norms.
Project GLOBE
The GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) research project took Hofstede's original 1980 research findings (Hofstede, 1980) and dedicated an entire academic effort to exploring the differences between cultures (Hofstede, 1980). “Conceived in 1991 by Robert J. House of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and led by Professor House, the GLOBE Project directly involved 170 “country co-investigators” based in 62 of the world's cultures as well as a 14-member group of coordinators and research associates. This international team collected data from 17,300 middle managers in 951 organizations. They used qualitative methods to assist their development of quantitative instruments.” The research identified nine cultural competencies and grouped the 62 countries into ten convenient societal clusters (Javidan & Dastmalchian, 2009).
Globe cultural clusters
The GLOBE researchers used acquired data to put nations into cultural clusters that are grouped based upon cultural similarities due to shared geography and climate conditions, which all influence perceptions and behavior:
Anglo Cultures
England, Australia, South Africa (white sample), Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, United States
Arab Cultures
Algeria, Qatar, Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman
Confucian Asia
Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam
Eastern Europe
Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Albania, Russia
Germanic Europe
Dutch-speaking (Netherlands, Belgium and Dutch-speaking France)
German-speaking (Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Germany, South Tyrol, Liechtenstein)
Latin America
Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina
Latin Europe
Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland (French and Italian speaking)
Nordic Europe
Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
Southern Asia
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, Philippines, Turkey
Sub-Sahara Africa
Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa (Black Sample), Nigeria
GLOBE cultural competencies
The nine GLOBE cultural competencies are:
Performance orientation - refers to the extent to which an organization or society encourages and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence.
Assertiveness orientation - is the degree to which individuals in organizations or societies are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in social relationships.
Future orientation - is the degree to which individuals in organizations or societies engage in future-oriented behaviours such as planning, investing in the future, and delaying gratification.
Humane orientation - is the degree to which individuals in organizations or societies encourage and reward individuals for being fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, and kind to others.
Bureaucratic collectivism I: Institutional collectivism - reflects the degree to which organizational and societal institutional practices encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and collective action.
Collectivism II: In-group collectivism - reflects the degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty and cohesiveness in their organizations or families.
Gender egalitarianism - is the extent to which an organization or a society minimizes gender role differences and gender discrimination.
Power distance - is defined as the degree to which members of an organization or society expect and agree that power should be unequally shared.
Uncertainty avoidance - is defined as the extent to which members of an organization or society strive to avoid uncertainty by reliance on social norms, rituals, and bureaucratic practices to alleviate the unpredictability of future events.
After an extensive review of the research, the GLOBE strategically grouped over 21 primary leadership dimensions into six encompassing dimensions of global leadership and made a recommendation about how the dimensions of culture and leadership could distinguish the influences of one country from another.
Culturally endorsed implicit leadership (CLT)
The six Globe dimensions of culturally endorsed implicit leadership (CLT) are:
Charismatic/value-based – characterized by demonstrating integrity, decisiveness, and performance-oriented by appearing visionary, inspirational and self-sacrificing, but can also be toxic and allow for autocratic commanding.
Team-oriented – characterized by diplomatic, administratively competent, team collaboration and integration. A toxic leader would be malevolent alienating the team, but driving cohesion
Self-protective – characterized by self-centred, face-saving, procedural behaviour capable of inducing conflict when necessary while being conscious of status
Participative – characterized by (non-autocratic) participative behaviour that is supportive of those who are being led.
Human orientation – characterized by modesty and compassion for others in an altruistic fashion
Autonomous – being able to function without constant consultations.
Globalization continues to thrive and change, and the concept of global leadership will adapt to serve the best interest of a world being made incrementally smaller.
References
Notes
Bibliography
Chhokar, Jagdeep S., Brodbeck, Felix C., House, Robert J. (eds.). (2008). Culture and Leadership across the World: The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Studies of 25 Societies. New York: Taylor & Francis. 1,200 pp.
Grove, C. (2005). Introduction to the GLOBE Research Project on Leadership Worldwide from http://www.grovewell.com/pub-GLOBE-intro.html
Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, leadership, and organization: do American theories apply abroad? Organizational Dynamics, Summer, 42–63.
Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (1967–2009). itim international Retrieved November 3, 2010, from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/
House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., & Gupta, V. (eds.). (2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 880 pp.
Javidan, M., & Dastmalchian, A. (2009). Managerial implications of the GLOBE project: A study of 62 societies. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 47(1), 41.
McDonald, D. P., McGuire, G., Johnston, J., Selmeski, B., & Abbe, A. (2008). Developing and managing cross-cultural competence within the department of defense: Recommendations for learning and assessment (C.-C. F. T. R. W. S. 2, Trans.) (pp. 44): Department of Equal Opportunity Management Institute.
External links
Geert-hofstede.com
Leadership Dimensions: Culture and Leadership
Cultural Clusters
Cultural Cluster diagram
In the Eye of the Beholder: A Global Leader’s Complex Reality
Leadership studies | 0.779382 | 0.959114 | 0.747516 |
Integrated assessment modelling | Integrated assessment modelling (IAM) or integrated modelling (IM) is a term used for a type of scientific modelling that tries to link main features of society and economy with the biosphere and atmosphere into one modelling framework. The goal of integrated assessment modelling is to accommodate informed policy-making, usually in the context of climate change though also in other areas of human and social development. While the detail and extent of integrated disciplines varies strongly per model, all climatic integrated assessment modelling includes economic processes as well as processes producing greenhouse gases. Other integrated assessment models also integrate other aspects of human development such as education, health, infrastructure, and governance.
These models are integrated because they span multiple academic disciplines, including economics and climate science and for more comprehensive models also energy systems, land-use change, agriculture, infrastructure, conflict, governance, technology, education, and health. The word assessment comes from the use of these models to provide information for answering policy questions. To quantify these integrated assessment studies, numerical models are used. Integrated assessment modelling does not provide predictions for the future but rather estimates what possible scenarios look like.
There are different types of integrated assessment models. One classification distinguishes between firstly models that quantify future developmental pathways or scenarios and provide detailed, sectoral information on the complex processes modelled. Here they are called process-based models. Secondly, there are models that aggregate the costs of climate change and climate change mitigation to find estimates of the total costs of climate change. A second classification makes a distinction between models that extrapolate verified patterns (via econometrics equations), or models that determine (globally) optimal economic solutions from the perspective of a social planner, assuming (partial) equilibrium of the economy.
Process-based models
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has relied on process-based integrated assessment models to quantify mitigation scenarios. They have been used to explore different pathways for staying within climate policy targets such as the 1.5 °C target agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. Moreover, these models have underpinned research including energy policy assessment and simulate the Shared socioeconomic pathways. Notable modelling frameworks include IMAGE, MESSAGEix, AIM/GCE, GCAM, REMIND-MAgPIE, and WITCH-GLOBIOM. While these scenarios are highly policy-relevant, interpretation of the scenarios should be done with care.
Non-equilibrium models include those based on econometric equations and evolutionary economics (such as E3ME), and agent-based models (such as the agent-based DSK-model). These models typically do not assume rational and representative agents, nor market equilibrium in the long term.
Aggregate cost-benefit models
Cost-benefit integrated assessment models are the main tools for calculating the social cost of carbon, or the marginal social cost of emitting one more tonne of carbon (as carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere at any point in time. For instance, the DICE, PAGE, and FUND models have been used by the US Interagency Working Group to calculate the social cost of carbon and its results have been used for regulatory impact analysis.
This type of modelling is carried out to find the total cost of climate impacts, which are generally considered a negative externality not captured by conventional markets. In order to correct such a market failure, for instance by using a carbon tax, the cost of emissions is required. However, the estimates of the social cost of carbon are highly uncertain and will remain so for the foreseeable future. It has been argued that "IAM-based analyses of climate policy create a perception of knowledge and precision that is illusory, and can fool policy-makers into thinking that the forecasts the models generate have some kind of scientific legitimacy". Still, it has been argued that attempting to calculate the social cost of carbon is useful to gain insight into the effect of certain processes on climate impacts, as well as to better understand one of the determinants international cooperation in the governance of climate agreements.
Integrated assessment models have not been used solely to assess environmental or climate change-related fields. They have also been used to analyze patterns of conflict, the Sustainable Development Goals, trends across issue area in Africa, and food security.
Shortcomings
All numerical models have shortcomings. Integrated Assessment Models for climate change, in particular, have been severely criticized for problematic assumptions that led to greatly overestimating the cost/benefit ratio for mitigating climate change while relying on economic models inappropriate to the problem. In 2021, the integrated assessment modeling community examined gaps in what was termed the "possibility space" and how these might best be consolidated and addressed. In an October2021 working paper, Nicholas Stern argues that existing IAMs are inherently unable to capture the economic realities of the climate crisis under its current state of rapid progress.
Models undertaking optimisation methodologies have received numerous different critiques, a prominent one however, draws on the ideas of dynamical systems theory which understands systems as changing with no deterministic pathway or end-state.
This implies a very large, or even infinite, number of possible states of the system in the future with aspects and dynamics that cannot be known to observers of the current state of the system.
This type of uncertainty around future states of an evolutionary system has been referred to as ‘radical’ or ‘fundamental’ uncertainty.
This has led some researchers to call for more work on the broader array of possible futures and calling for modelling research on those alternative scenarios that have yet to receive substantial attention, for example post-growth scenarios.
Notes
References
External links
Integrated Assessment Society
Integrated Assessment Journal
Climate change policy
Environmental science
Environmental social science
Scientific modelling
Management cybernetics | 0.766401 | 0.975352 | 0.74751 |
Cognitive apprenticeship | Cognitive apprenticeship is a theory that emphasizes the importance of the process in which a master of a skill teaches that skill to an apprentice.
Constructivist approaches to human learning have led to the development of the theory of cognitive apprenticeship. This theory accounts for the problem that masters of a skill often fail to take into account the implicit processes involved in carrying out complex skills when they are teaching novices. To combat these tendencies, cognitive apprenticeships "…are designed, among other things, to bring these tacit processes into the open, where students can observe, enact, and practice them with help from the teacher…". This model is supported by Jhon Brix Kistadio's (1997) theory of modeling, which posits that in order for modeling to be successful, the learner must be attentive, access and retain the information presented, be motivated to learn, and be able to accurately reproduce the desired skill.
Overview
Part of the effectiveness of the cognitive apprenticeship model comes from learning in context and is based on theories of situated cognition. Cognitive scientists maintain that the context in which learning takes place is critical (e.g., Godden & Baddeley, 1975). Based on findings such as these, Collins, Duguid, and Brown (1989) argue that cognitive apprenticeships are less effective when skills and concepts are taught independently of their real-world context and situation. As they state, "Situations might be said to co-produce knowledge through activity. Learning and cognition, it is now possible to argue, are fundamentally situated". In cognitive apprenticeships, teachers model their skills in real-world situations.
By modelling and coaching, masters in cognitive apprenticeships also support the three stages of skill acquisition described in the expertise literature: the cognitive stage, the associative stage, and the autonomous stage. In the cognitive stage, learners develop a declarative understanding of the skill. In the associative stage, mistakes and misinterpretations learned in the cognitive stage are detected and eliminated, while associations between the critical elements involved in the skill are strengthened. Finally, in the autonomous stage, the learner's skill becomes honed and perfected until it is executed at an expert level.
Like traditional apprenticeships, in which the apprentice learns a trade such as tailoring or woodworking by working under a master teacher, cognitive apprenticeships allow masters to model behaviors in a real-world context with cognitive modeling. After listening to the master explain exactly what they are doing and thinking as they model the skill, the apprentice identifies relevant behaviors and develops a conceptual model of the processes involved. The apprentice then attempts to imitate those behaviors as the master observes and coaches. Coaching provides assistance at the most critical level– the skill level just beyond what the learner/apprentice could accomplish by themself. Vygotsky (1978) referred to this as the Zone of Proximal Development and believed that fostering development within this zone would lead to the most rapid development. The coaching process includes providing additional modeling as necessary, giving corrective feedback, and giving reminders, which all intend to bring the apprentice's performance closer to that of the master's. As the apprentice becomes more skilled through the repetition of this process, the feedback and instruction provided by the master "fades" until the apprentice is, ideally, performing the skill at a close approximation of the master level.
Teaching methods
Collins, Brown, and Newman developed six teaching methods rooted in cognitive apprenticeship theory and claim these methods help students attain cognitive and metacognitive strategies for "using, managing, and discovering knowledge". The first three, modeling, coaching, scaffolding, are at the core of cognitive apprenticeship and help with cognitive and metacognitive development. The next two, articulation and reflection, are designed to help novices with awareness of problem-solving strategies and execution similar to that of an expert. The final step, exploration, intends to guide the novice towards independence and the ability to solve and identify problems within the domain on their own. The authors note, however, that this is not an exhaustive list of methods and that the successful execution of these methods is highly dependent on the domain.
Modeling
Modeling is when an expert, usually a teacher, within the cognitive domain or subject area demonstrates a task explicitly so that novices, usually a student, can experience and build a conceptual model of the task at hand. For example, a math teacher might write out explicit steps and work through a problem aloud, demonstrating their heuristics and procedural knowledge. Modeling includes demonstrating expert performances or processes in the world.
Coaching
Coaching involves observing a novice's task performance and offering feedback and hints to sculpt the novice's performance to that of an expert's. The expert oversees the novice's tasks and may structure the task accordingly to assist the novice's development.
Scaffolding
Instructional scaffolding is the act of applying strategies and methods to support the student's learning. These supports could be teaching manipulatives, activities, or group work. The teacher may have to execute parts of the task that the student is not yet able to do. This requires the teacher to have the skill to analyze and assess students' abilities in the moment.
Articulation
Articulation includes "any method of getting students to articulate their knowledge, reasoning, or problem-solving process in a domain" (p. 482). Three types of articulation are inquiry teaching, thinking aloud, and critical student role. Through inquiry teaching (Collins & Stevens, 1982), teachers ask students a series of questions that allow them to refine and restate their learned knowledge and form explicit conceptual models. Thinking aloud requires students to articulate their thoughts while solving problems. Students assuming a critical role monitor others in cooperative activities and draw conclusions based on the problem-solving activities. Articulation is described by McLellan as consisting of two aspects: separating component knowledge from skills to learn more effectively, and more commonly verbalizing or demonstrating knowledge and thinking processes in order to expose and clarify ideas.
Reflection
Reflection allows students to "compare their own problem-solving processes with those of an expert, another student, and ultimately, an internal cognitive model of expertise" (p. 483). A technique for reflection would be examining the past performances of both an expert and a novice, and highlighting similarities and differences. The goal of reflection is for students to look back and analyze their performances with desire to understand and improve the behavior of an expert.
Exploration
Exploration involves giving students room to problem solve on their own and teaching students exploration strategies. The former requires the teacher to slowly withdraw the use of supports and scaffolds not only in problem solving methods, but problem setting methods as well. The latter requires the teacher to show students how to explore, research, and develop hypotheses. Exploration allows the student to frame interesting problems within the domain for themselves and then take the initiative to solve these problems.
Success
In a technologically rich learning environment
Online
For clinical skills
See also
Constructivism (philosophy of education)
Educational psychology
Legitimate peripheral participation
Situated learning
Citations
References
Aziz Ghefaili. (2003). Cognitive Apprenticeship, Technology, and the Contextualization of Learning Environments. Journal of Educational Computing, Design& Online Learning, Vol. 4, Fall, 2003. A copy on apan.org
Anderson, J.R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Anderson, J.R. (2000). Cognitive psychology and its implications. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Bandura, A. (1997). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18, 32-42.
Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1987). Cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching the craft of reading, writing and mathematics (Technical Report No. 403). BBN Laboratories, Cambridge, MA. Centre for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois. January, 1987.
Fitts, P.M., & Posner, M.I. (1967). Human performance. Belmont, CA: Brooks Cole.
Johnson, S.D. (1992). A framework for technology education curricula which emphasizes intellectual processes. Journal of Technology Education, 3; 1-11.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Further reading
External links
Cognitive Apprenticeship, Technology, and the Contextualization of Learning Environments. Article by Ghefaili.
Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. Article by Brown, Collins, and Duguid.
Project thereNow. Federally funded cognitive apprenticeship research project.
Education theory
Apprenticeship | 0.770802 | 0.969778 | 0.747507 |
Games and learning | Games and learning is a field of education research that studies what is learned by playing video games, and how the design principles, data and communities of video game play can be used to develop new learning environments. Video games create new social and cultural worlds – worlds that help people learn by integrating thinking, social interaction, and technology, all in service of doing things they care about. Computers and other technologies have already changed the way students learn. Integrating games into education has the potential to create new and more powerful ways to learn in schools, communities and workplaces. Games and learning researchers study how the social and collaborative aspects of video gameplay can create new kinds of learning communities. Researchers also study how the data generated by gameplay can be used to design the next generation of learning assessments.
Research
The games and learning research world studies how new digital media tools shift the topic of education research from recalling and repeating information to being able to find it, evaluate it and use it compellingly at the right time and in the right context. Games and learning research explores how games and game communities can lead to 21st-century educational skills such as higher order thinking, the ability to solve complex problems, think independently, collaborate, communicate and apply digital tools to effectively gather information.
Research shows the educational and social benefits of digital games. Games do not need to be specifically geared towards education to be educational tools. Games can bring together ways of knowing, ways of doing, ways of being, and ways of caring. As John Dewey argued, schools are built on an obsession with facts. Students need to learn by doing, and with gaming, students can learn by doing something as a part of a larger community of people who share common goals and ways of achieving those common goals, making gaming a benefit for social reasons as well. Gaming has also changed the look of content-driven curriculum in schools. In content-driven media, people learn by being told and reflecting on what they are told. In gaming, game designers create digital environments and game levels that shape, facilitate and even teach problem solving.
Games also teach students that failure is inevitable, but not irrevocable. In school, failure is a big deal. In games, players can just start over from the last save. A low cost failure ensures that players will take risks, explore and try new things.
Much of the debate about digital games for education was based on whether or not games are good for education. But that question is overly simplistic. The National Research Council's report on laboratory activities and simulations makes clear that the design and not merely the medium of a physical or virtual learning activity determines its efficacy. Digital games are a medium with certain affordances and constraints, just as physical labs and virtual simulations are media with certain affordances and constraints. Simulations and digital games actually share many similarities in this regard. Although there are multiple definitions for games, the key characteristics differentiating games from simulations involve the explicit inclusion of (a) rules for engaging with the simulation, (b) goals for players to pursue, and (c) means for indicating players' progress toward those goals. Properly designed, features of games can provide powerful affordances for motivation and learning. Individual studies have shown, for example, that well designed games can promote conceptual understanding and process skills, can foster a deeper epistemological understanding of the nature and processes through which science knowledge is developed and can produce gains in players' willingness and ability to engage in scientific practices and discourse.
In his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, James Paul Gee talks about the application and principles of digital learning. Gee has focused on the learning principles in video games and how these learning principles can be applied to the K-12 classroom. Successful video games are good at challenging players. They motivate players to persevere and teach players how to play. Gee's video game learning theory includes his identification of thirty-six learning principles, including: 1) Active Control, 2) Design Principle, 3) Semiotic Principle, 4) Semiotic Domain, 5) Meta-level Thinking, 6) Psychosocial Moratorium Principle, 7) Committed Learning Principle 8) Identity Principle, 9) Self-knowledge Principle, 10) Amplification of Input Principle, 11) Achievement Principle, 12) Practice Principle, 13) Ongoing Learning Principle, and 14) Regime of Competence Principle and more. Within these learning principles Gee shows the reader the various ways in which games and learning are linked and how each principle supports learning through gaming. One example would be Learning Principle 6: "Psychosocial Moratorium" Principle, where Gee explains that in games, learners can take risks in a space where real-world consequences are lowered. Another of Gee's principles, #8, that shows the importance of games and learning states that learning involves taking on and playing with identities in such a way that the learner has real choices (in developing the virtual identity) and ample opportunity to mediate on the relationship between new identities and old ones. There is tripartite play of identities as learners relate, and reflect on, their multiple real-world identities, a virtual identity, and a projective identity.
Other research takes the position that these standards and testing methods are not conducive to teaching methods that incorporate video games. Games alone will not make schools more efficient, cannot replace teachers or serve as an educational resource that can reach an infinite number of students. The extent of the roles games will play in learning remains to be seen. More research in this area is needed to determine impact of games and learning.
Peter Gray, who has conducted research on early childhood learning, states that gaming is purely a beneficial activity in young children. He states that children are able to choose how to most effectively use their time and that extensive use of a particular medium of learning shows they are taking something valuable from it. He goes on to state the significance of the computer in the modern age and that not utilizing it as a learning tool is simply foolish. Video gaming has shown positive levels of improvement in areas of cognitive function. In their study "Improving Multi-Tasking Ability through Action Videogames". Chiappe and colleagues determined that 50 hours of gaming significantly improved results on a performance test modeled after skills used when piloting an aircraft. Aside from this, areas of attention and vigilance, as well as basic visual processes have shown to improve with allotted video game time.
Application
Digital learning tools have the potential of being customized to fit the abilities of individual students and can engage them with interactive tasks and simulate real-life situations. Games can create new social and cultural worlds that may not have been available to everyone in the past. These worlds can help people learn by integrating thinking, social interaction, and technology, all in service of doing things they care about.
Video games are important because they let people participate in and experience new worlds. They let players think, talk, and act in new ways. Indeed, players inhabit roles that are otherwise inaccessible to them. One example of a game where players are learning while playing would be The Sims, a real-time strategy game where players need to make decisions that alter their character's life. They can manipulate the scenario to create digital lives where they can experience the struggles of single parenthood or poverty. Players in this game are not allowed to modify a previous decision to alter the outcome, even if the outcome is unpleasant. The goal is to survive to the best of their abilities. The game is complicated and difficult, just as it would be to live a real life. Regarding a more traditional approach to education, The Sims has been used as a platform for students to learn a language and explore world history while developing skills such as reading, math, logic and collaboration.
While not all researchers agree, some recent studies have shown the positive effects of using games for learning. A study carried out by professor Traci Sitzmann at the University Oregon among 6,476 students states that "trainees in the game group had 11 percent higher factual knowledge levels, 14 percent higher skill-based knowledge levels, and 9 percent higher retention levels than trainees in the comparison group". Some other aggregated studies also show an increase in learning performance thanks to the use of videogames.
Controversy
Critics suggest that lessons people learn from playing video games are not always desirable. Douglas Gentile, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University found that children who repeatedly play violent video games are learning thought patterns that will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older. Researchers from this study found that over time children started to think more aggressively, and when provoked at home, school or in other situations, children reacted much like they did when playing a violent video game. But even the harshest critics agree that people can learn something from playing video games. While research on the behavioral and cognitive impacts of video games with violence have shown mixed outcomes, games with little or no violence have shown promising results. Elizabeth Zelinski, a professor of gerontology and psychology at the University of Southern California states that some digital games have been shown to improve the function of the brain, while others have the potential to reverse cognitive loss associated with aging. Some games require players to make decisions ranging from simple to quite complex to drive its progress.
Some researchers question whether a greater reliance on video games is in students' best interests, indicating there is little proof that skillful game play translates into better test scores or broader cognitive development. Emma Blakey notes very few studies have examined whether video games improve classroom performance and academic achievement.
Others, like Emma Blakey, a PhD researcher in developmental psychology at the University of Sheffield in England, question whether a greater reliance on video games is in students' best interests, indicating there is little proof that skillful game play translates into better test scores or broader cognitive development.
See also
Educational game
Educational video game
Entertainment in education
Gamification of learning
Serious game
Video games in education
Notes
References
Bergland, C. (2013) Video Gaming Can Increase Brain Size and Connectivity: Neuroscientists find that video gaming can have therapeutic cognitive benefits. Athlete's Way.
Clark, D, Tanner-Smith, E., Killingsworth, S., & Bellamy, S. (2013) Digital Games for Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, (Executive Summary). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International. http://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/digital-games-for-learning-exec-summ_0.pdf
Gee, J. P. (2010). Video Games: What They Can Teach Us About Audience Engagement. Nieman Reports, 52–54.
Ketelhut, D. J., Dede, C., Clarke J., & Nelson, B. (2006). A multi-user virtual environment for building higher order inquiry skills in science. Paper presented at the 2006 AERA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Available at http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/documents/rivercitysympinq1.pdf
Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., & Salen, K. (2009). Moving Learning Games Forward. Cambridge, MA: The Education Arcade.
Koster, R. (2004). A theory of fun for game design (1st ed.). Phoenix, AZ: Paraglyph Press.
McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. New York, NY: Penguin Press.
McQuiggan, S., Rowe, J., & Lester, J. (2008). The effects of empathetic virtual characters on presence in narrative centered learning environments. In Proceedings of the 2008 SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1511–1520), Florence, Italy.
National Research Council (Singer, S., Hilton, M. L., & Schweingruber, H. A., Eds.). (2005). America's lab report: Investigations in high school science. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of play: game design fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Squire, K. (2006). From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience. Educational Researcher, 35(8), 19–29.
International Society for Technology in Education: https://web.archive.org/web/20150507085114/http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-students
External links
International Society for Technology in Education
New Media - Games and Learning
Video game studies
Learning
Educational video games | 0.786091 | 0.950913 | 0.747504 |
Children's rights education | Children's rights education is the teaching and practice of children's rights in schools, educational programmes or institutions, as informed by and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. When fully implemented, a children's rights education program consists of both a curriculum to teach children their human rights, and framework to operate the school in a manner that respects children's rights. Articles 29 and 42 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child require children to be educated about their rights.
In addition to meeting legal obligations of the Convention to spread awareness of children’s rights to children and to adults, teaching children about their rights has the benefits of improving their awareness of rights in general, making them more respectful of other people's rights, and empowering them to take action in support of other people's rights. Early programs to teach children about their rights, in Belgium, Canada, England and New Zealand have provided evidence of this. Children's rights in schools were taught and practiced as an ethos of 'liberating the child' well before the UN Convention was written, and that this practice helped to inform the values and philosophy of the Convention, the IBE and UNESCO, though sadly these practices, and this history are not really acknowledged or built-upon by the UN. This is one reasons that children's rights have not become a foundation of schools despite 100 years of struggle.
Meaning of children’s human rights education
Children’s human rights education refers to education and educational practices in schools and educational institutions that are consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a form of education that takes seriously the view that children are bearers of human rights, that children are citizens in their own right, that schools and educational institutions are learning communities where children learn (or fail to learn) the values and practices of human rights and citizenship, and that educating children about their own basic human rights is a legal obligation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children's rights education is education where the rights of the child, as described in the Convention, is taught and practiced in individual classrooms. But in its most developed form, children’s rights are taught and practiced in a systematic and comprehensive way across grade levels, across the school, and across school districts. With full-blown children’s rights education, children’s rights are not simply an addition to a particular subject or classroom. Rather, the rights of the child are incorporated into the school curricula, teaching practices, and teaching materials across subjects and grade levels and are the centerpiece of school mission statements, behavior codes, and school policies and practices.
Fully developed children’s rights education means that all members of the school community receive education on the rights of the child. The Convention serves as a values framework for the life and functioning of the school or educational institution and for efforts to promote a more positive school climate and school culture for learning.
A core belief in children’s rights education is that when children learn about their own basic human rights, this learning serves as an important foundation for their understanding and support of human rights more broadly.
Education and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The Convention on the Rights of the child has important implications for the education of children. Approved by the United Nations in 1989, the Convention is the most widely ratified and most quickly ratified country in world history. Only two countries – the United States and South Sudan – have yet to ratify the treaty. By ratifying the Convention, countries commit themselves to the principle that children have fundamental rights as persons and that state authorities have obligations to provide for those rights. Under the terms of the Convention, a legally binding treaty, states parties have the obligation to make their laws, policies, and practices consistent with the provisions of the Convention, if not immediately, then over time.
In the Convention are numerous articles that deal with education and with children’s rights education. Eugeen Verhellen has divided the Convention’s provisions on education along three tracks. First is the child’s right to education on the basis equal opportunity (article 28). This includes the right to free primary education and to accessible secondary and higher education. Second are the child’s rights in education (articles 2, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 19). This includes the right to non-discrimination, participation, protection from abuse and violence, and freedom of thought, expression, and religion. Third are the child’s rights through education (article 29 and 42). This refers to education where children are able to know and understand their rights and to develop respect for human rights, including their own human rights.
This third track of education spells an obligation by countries and education authorities to provide for children’s human rights education. Article 29 of the Convention requires that 'the education of the child shall be directed to the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.' This presumes knowledge and understanding of rights. Article 42 requires that countries 'undertake to make the principles of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike.'
Mindful of this duty of disseminating knowledge and recognizing its importance, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention, has repeatedly urged countries to incorporate children’s rights into the school curricula and ensure that children know and understand their rights on a systematic and comprehensive basis.
Value of children’s human rights education
Children’s rights education in schools has value because it fulfills the obligations of countries to respect the rights of the child and implement the provisions of the Convention. But beyond the fulfillment of a legal obligation, children’s rights education has value for children. Felisa Tibbitts has suggested that child rights education can be expected to affect learners in three ways. First is in the providing of basic information and knowledge on the nature of rights and the specific rights that children are to enjoy. Children can be expected to have a more accurate and deeper understanding of rights. Second is in attitudes, values, and behaviors consistent with the understanding of rights. Children can be expected to have greater respect for the rights of others as shown in their attitudes and behaviors. Third is in empowering children to take action in support of the rights of others. Tibbitts refers to this as the 'transformational model' of rights education. Children here are more likely to take a stand in preventing or redressing human rights abuses. An example would be to support a victim of bullying and stand up against a bully in the school playground.
Research by Katherine Covell and R. Brian Howe (see the section on evaluations of children’s human rights education) shows evidence of the above effects. Compared to children who have not received children’s rights education, children who have received children's rights education are more likely to have an accurate and adult-like understanding of rights, to understand that rights and responsibilities are related, and to display socially responsible behaviors in support of the rights of others.
Implementation of children’s human rights education
Early initiatives
Including Janusz Korczak and his rights based Warsaw orphanage, Homer Lane and his Little Commonwealth (1913) of delinquent 'prisoners', A.S. Neill's Summerhill School (1921) there have been many schools and children's communities around the world that have been founded on the rights of children. Indeed, inspired by Montessori, Homer Lane and Harriet Finley Johnson, a community of teachers, educationalists, suffragists, politicians, inspectors and cultural contributors formed a community called the New Ideals in Education Conferences (1914–37) Their founding value was 'the liberation of the child' and they sought, shared and celebrated examples of practice in schools, prisons and child communities. They contributed to the 'child centred' primary school. This has been an overlooked history of the culture of the rights of the child, one that needs to be shared and celebrated to help empower children and those adults who work with them.
Since the approval by the United Nations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, various efforts have been made to provide children's rights education in schools.
Initiatives have been undertaken mainly at the level of individual classrooms and schools. Among the earliest initiatives was one in a primary school in Bruges, Belgium. This was a comprehensive child rights education project that was introduced in the early 1990s at De Vrijdagmarkt Primary School. It involved children ages 3 to 12 with the objective of educating them about the contents of the Convention, using democratic pedagogy and ensuring child participation in the learning process. Children were taught about their rights under the Convention through a variety of media including art and poetry. Art activities included newspaper collages representing examples of rights violations. Allowance was made for child-initiated and small group activities, role-play, and group discussion. Activities that were selected were ones of relevance and interest to the children. Younger children, for example, learned about the right to food by creating a very large doll with illustrations of food. Older children engaged in discussions and role-play regarding rights to adoption, education, and family.
Further examples of early initiatives were in classrooms in Cape Breton, Canada, in the late 1990s. Curriculum materials based on the Convention were developed in collaboration with children and their teachers for three grade levels. At the grade 6 level (children aged 11 to 13 years), education focused on introducing child rights in terms of their relevance to the individual child. Issues included healthy living, personal safety, families and family life, drug use, and decision-making. For example, to learn about their right to protection from narcotics, students role-played children and drug dealers and examined ways of dealing with pressure to try or sell drugs. At the grade 8 level (ages 13 to 15 years), the focus was on relationships of relevance to the child. The curriculum included units on sexuality, youth justice, child abuse, and exploitation. For example, students analyzed popular song lyrics to discuss how rights in sexuality are represented in music, and they completed cartoons that involved the competing considerations of freedom of speech and rights against discrimination. The grade 12 curriculum (for ages 17 to 19) expanded the sphere of children’s rights knowledge with application to global issues. These issues included war-affected children and child labour. At this level, activities included holding a mock UN Conference on war-affected children where small groups had responsibility for representing the players at the conference, and a sweatshop talk show in which groups researched child labor and then held a talk show to discuss their findings.
Hampshire, England
Writings about the initiative in Cape Breton schools inspired a major initiative in Hampshire County, England, called Rights, Respect and Responsibility or the RRR initiative. It is among the best known and most promising models of children’s human rights education to date. It is an initiative that features not only individual classrooms and schools but a whole school district. The RRR initiative was impelled by the recognition among senior education administrators in Hampshire of the need for a shared values framework and positive school climate for improved learning and educational outcomes. They also were motivated by their reading of the success of the rights education project in Cape Breton.
After study leave in Cape Breton, a group of Hampshire administrators and teachers decided to pilot test and then launch their own version of child rights education in Hampshire. After successful pilot testing in 2002, they officially launched RRR in 2004. To put the objectives of RRR into effect, Hampshire authorities—with funding from the Ministry of Education—devised a three-year strategic plan of implementation. This included provisions for teacher training, development of resources, and monitoring of developments. The plan was that the initiative would first be introduced in infant, primary, and junior schools and then over time, as children went into higher grades, it would be introduced in secondary schools. By 2012, in varying degrees of implementation, the majority of Hampshire schools were participating in RRR.
The overall objective of RRR was to improve educational outcomes for children by transforming school cultures, building a shared values framework based on the Convention, and promoting educational practices consistent with the Convention. Knowledge and understanding of rights, respect, and social responsibility were to provide the values framework for all school policies, classroom practices, codes of conduct, mission statements, school regulations, and school curricula. The framework was to be put into effect across the whole school – across classrooms, across grade levels, across curricula, and across school practices. Of particular importance, consistent with children’s participation rights as described in article 12 of the Convention, behavior codes, rules, and regulations were to be developed in collaboration with the children, classroom teaching was to be democratic, and children were to be provided with numerous meaningful opportunities to participate in all aspects of school functioning.
New Zealand
Initiatives in Cape Breton and Hampshire have influenced developments in other schools, school districts, and even countries. Among the more ambitious developments have been seen in New Zealand where efforts are underway to make children’s human rights education a nationwide initiative. The context for the initiative is favorable. A strong human rights theme runs through New Zealand’s Education Act, national education goals, and national administrative guidelines. In the early 2000s, initial discussions about incorporating children’s rights education into the New Zealand curriculum were given momentum by the evidence provided from the Cape Breton and Hampshire County initiatives.
Like elsewhere, educators and human rights advocates in New Zealand had been concerned with poor achievement levels, bullying, and violent behaviors that are observed among a significant minority of children in schools. And also like elsewhere, teachers and administrators have been frustrated by the range of difficult demands in schools, the fragmentation of efforts to address common problems, and the disappointing results of those efforts. Learning about successes in the Cape Breton and Hampshire initiatives, the collaborative initiative Human Rights in Education/Mana Tika Tangata (HRiE) was formed. Its aim was to develop positive school cultures on the basis of the rights of the child and to improve achievement for all children through having schools and early childhood education centers become learning communities that know, promote, and live human rights and responsibilities.
To achieve this goal, HRiE has been following the Hampshire model in using children’s rights as an overarching and integrating values framework for teaching, learning, and school management and organization. All members of the school community – school leadership, teachers and other staff, students, boards of trustees, and parents – learn about children’s rights and the responsibilities that go with them. They recognize that every member of the school community has the right to be treated with dignity and to participate in effective education. Students are formally recognized as citizens of the school and country with explicit rights and responsibilities. They participate in decision-making across the school, and rights are embedded across the curriculum, school practices, and policies.
Initiatives with preschool
Children's rights education initiatives also have occurred at the preschool level. For example, Canadian educators Pamela Wallberg and Maria Kahn introduced rights education to an early childhood program group of 3 and 4 year-old children in British Columbia over a three-month period. The introduction of "The Rights Project" was motivated in large part by observations of the children’s self-focus and disregard for the feelings of their peers. Using a coloring book designed to teach very young children about their rights, the teachers hoped to shift the children’s focus from individual wants to community needs – to increase levels of cooperation, altruism, and empathy.
Evaluations of children’s human rights education
The earliest reported evaluation of a child rights education project was that of the initiative in Bruges. Involving children ages 3 to 12, the primary focus of the evaluation was on the students’ social behavior. Gains in social understanding, respectful behaviors, concern for others, and pro-social action were the key observed changes. For example, the children became more interested in social justice and rights-related issues such as peace, war, injustice, and hunger. And they wanted to discuss the rights of marginalized children – those living with disabilities, in institutions, and of ethnic minority status.
Similar outcomes were found in evaluations of the effects of children’s rights education in Cape Breton schools. Evaluations conducted on students in grades 6 and 8 (ages 12 and 14 years) showed improved classroom climate, engagement, and behavior. At the grade 6 level differences were found in children’s understanding of rights, their acceptance of minority children, and their perceived levels of peer and teacher support. Teachers reported improved behavior and more positive classroom climate. In addition at the grade 8 level, children in rights-based classes showed increases in their self-esteem. Similar child-initiated projects to those reported from Bruges were seen also. For example, at one school upon realizing that not every child in the area was assured their right to nutritious food, the students initiated a breakfast program by obtaining cooperation and donations from the local community. In a different school, the class decided to work at a local food bank to help children whose families were unable to provide sufficient nutritious food.
Anecdotal data from the teachers who used the grade 12 curriculum described how engaged their students were in the activities, and noted improvements in their students’ appreciation of global problems, and of the complexity and importance of respecting human rights. Students who had participated in the project completed a survey. The results showed them to be three times more likely than their peers to understand humanitarian assistance for children in difficult circumstances as a fundamental human right.
The most comprehensive evaluation data are of the Hampshire RRR initiative. Annual assessments over six years were conducted to assess the effects of the RRR. Included were children ages 4 – 14. Children and teachers in schools where RRR had been fully implemented were compared with those in demographically equivalent schools without RRR. These comparisons showed the following effects of RRR. Across ages, children showed a greater understanding of rights and their relation to responsibilities, increased levels of self-regulation, confidence, effort and motivation, participation and engagement in school, and achievement. These cognitive and attitudinal changes were reflected in significant improvements in behaviors. Children were reported by both their classroom teachers and the school principal to be more respectful, cooperative, inclusive and sensitive to the needs of other children. Incidents of bullying were reduced dramatically with disagreements being resolved using the discourse of rights rather than through physical or verbal aggression.
Teaching in RRR schools also led to changes in the teachers. School administrators noted significant changes in teachers use of democratic teaching and positive classroom management, and in less confrontational dealings with their students. Teachers were listening to children and taking their views into account. And the greater the level of student engagement and participation, the more teachers showed gains in a sense of personal achievement and significant decreases in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.
Among all the positive findings of the evaluation of the RRR, the most intriguing was that at each time of measure the most disadvantaged school showed the greatest positive changes. Improvements in engagement, behavior and academic achievement were remarkable, and have been attributed to how the RRR transformed the culture of the school. The evidence suggests that schools that are fully consistent with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child can mediate the effects of a challenging environment of rearing and help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.
Other evaluations
Although no formal evaluation has yet been published on the New Zealand initiative, anecdotal evidence suggests the outcomes are comparable to those reported from Hampshire. Teachers report improved learning environments and decreased stress. "Makes me think critically about some of the things I do in my classroom", a teacher reported, "especially some of the aspects of my behavior management." Another stressed that she has "had fabulous response from the children."
Evaluation data from Pamela Wallberg and Maria Kahn show that their preschool rights project was highly successful. They found that teaching young children about their Convention rights in an age-appropriate way transformed the learning environment. As classroom rules were replaced with rights, less adult control was needed and group conversations changed from chaotic chatter to the respectful exchange of ideas. The children’s behavior toward each other changed markedly. Their interactions reflected an understanding of the universality of rights and the importance of protecting the rights of others. And even at this very young age, rights discourse replaced arguing; for example, "you are hurting my right to play" became an effective problem solver that replaced tears and fighting. Wallberg and Kahn conclude that the children’s recognition of the relationship between rights and responsibilities shifted their focus "from 'me' to 'we'."
See also
Children's rights
Children’s rights movement
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Human rights education
Right to education
References
External links
Convention on the Rights of the Child (full text)
Hampshire Education Authority
Human Rights Friendly Schools Project - Amnesty International
Human Rights in Education (New Zealand)
Society for Children and Youth of British Columbia
Children's rights
Education by subject | 0.772982 | 0.967029 | 0.747497 |
Technocentrism | Technocentrism is a value system that is centered on technology and its ability to control and protect the environment. Technocentrics argue that technology can address ecological problems through its problem-solving ability, efficiency, and its managerial means. Specifically, these capabilities allow humans control over nature, allowing them to correct or negotiate environmental risks or problems. Although technocentrics may accept that environmental problems exist, they do not see them as problems to be solved by a reduction in industry. Rather, environmental problems are seen as problems to be solved using rational, scientific and technological means. They also believe in scientific research. Indeed, technocentrics see the way forward for both developed and developing countries, and the solutions to environmental problems, as lying in scientific and technological advancement (sometimes referred to as sustainopreneurship).
Origin of term
The term was claimed to have been coined by Seymour Papert in 1987 as a combination of techno- and egocentrism:
I coined the word technocentrism from Piaget's use of the word egocentrism. This does not imply that children are selfish, but simply means that when a child thinks, all questions are referred to the self, to the ego. Technocentrism is the fallacy of referring all questions to the technology.
However, references to technocentrism date back well before this (see, for example and).
Among the earliest references cited by O'Riordan in his book "Environmentalism" (which includes extensive discussion of ecocentric and technocentric modes of thought) is that of Hays in 1959 where technocentrism is characterised as: The application of rational and 'value-free' scientific and managerial techniques by a professional elite, who regarded the natural environment as 'neutral stuff' from which man could profitably shape his destiny.
Technocentrism vs ecocentrism
Technocentrism is often contrasted with ecocentrism. Ecocentrics, including deep ecologists, see themselves as being subject to nature, rather than in control of it. They lack faith in modern technology and the bureaucracy attached to it so they maintain responsibility for the environment. Ecocentrics will argue that the natural world should be respected for its processes and products and that low-impact technology and self-sufficiency is more desirable than technological control of nature. Fundamentally, ecocentrism maintains that concerns for the natural environment should dominate the needs of humankind, pitting it against the anthropocentric position of technocentrism, which pushes the needs of humans at the forefront even at the expense of everything else.
There are theorists who claim that despite their incompatibilities, technocentrism and ecocentrism can be integrated into one framework because they share several similarities. For instance, it is proposed that technocentrism can facilitate ecocentrism, particularly in the area of policy-making, through shared goals and shared recycled resources. There is also the case of the so-called sustaincentric worldview, which was developed as a product of ecocentric and technocentric views.
See also
Biocentrism
Deep ecology
Earth liberation
Ecocentrism
Ishmael (Quinn novel)
Ecofeminism
Ecological humanities
Environmentalism
Gaia hypothesis
High modernism
neo-Luddism
Sentiocentrism
Technogaianism
Fordism
High modernism
New Frontier
Post-scarcity economy
Scientism
Technological utopianism
Techno-progressivism
Progress
References
External links
Green politics
Environmentalism
Ideologies | 0.77075 | 0.969805 | 0.747477 |
Feminization (sociology) | In sociology, feminization is the shift in gender roles and sex roles in a society, group, or organization towards a focus upon the feminine. It can also mean the incorporation of women into a group or a profession that was once dominated by men.
Examples of feminization in society
Feminization of education – Majority female teachers, a female majority of students in higher education and a curriculum which is better suited to the learning process of women.
Feminization of the workplace – Lower paying female-dominated occupations such as (1) food preparation, food-serving and other food-related occupations, and (2) personal care and service.
Feminization of smoking – The phrase torches of freedom is emblematic of the phenomenon of tobacco shifting from being seen as a male activity to also a feminine one. See women and smoking for a comprehensive treatment of this topic.
Definition of feminization
Feminization has two basic meanings. The first concerns a person who was not initially feminine but becomes feminine later in their life through the perceptions of both the individual and those around them. According to gender theorist Judith Butler, a person's gender is not solely an act of will or self-description, as it is also shaped by the people who describe, categorize, and treat the person according to their own perceptions of their gender. The second meaning of the term feminization describes when a person who originally had feminine qualities begins to incorporate more feminine attributes into their personality in some way, shape, or form. The term has often been used to describe females, however over time it shifted to where the term can be used to describe the process of someone or something becoming more feminine by adopting feminine qualities.
Feminization of poverty
Women are more likely than men to live below the poverty line, a phenomenon known as the feminization of poverty. The 2015 poverty rates for men and women in the U.S. were 10% and 15% respectively. Women are less likely to pursue advanced degrees and tend to have low paying jobs. There is a gender pay gap: even with the same level of education and occupational role, women earn much less than men, though research suggests this is largely due to women working fewer hours than men overall for reasons such as caring for children or lifestyle factors, rather than direct discrimination.
Feminization of the labor force
Feminization of the labor force in present-day associations is inescapable in that females make up half of the labor force and the revelation of them as a potential profitable asset. Post-war, there have been considerable advances in balancing the workforce when comparing women and men's job status and pay rates in the North America and Europe economies.
References
Gender roles
Sociology of culture
Cultural trends
Sociological terminology
Femininity | 0.765524 | 0.976364 | 0.74743 |
Ethogram | An ethogram is a catalogue or inventory of behaviours or actions exhibited by an animal used in ethology.
The behaviours in an ethogram are usually defined to be mutually exclusive and objective, avoiding subjectivity and functional inference as to their possible purpose. For example, a species may use a putative threat display, which in the ethogram is given a descriptive name such as "head forward" or "chest-beating display", and not "head forward threat" or "chest-beating threat". This degree of objectivity is required because what looks like "courtship" might have a completely different function, and in addition, the same motor patterns in different species can have very different functions (e.g. tail wagging in cats and dogs). Objectivity and clarity in the definitions of behaviours also improve inter-observer reliability.
Often, ethograms are hierarchical in presentation. The defined behaviours are recorded under broader categories of behaviour which may allow functional inference such that "head forward" is recorded under "Aggression". In ethograms of social behaviour, the ethogram may also indicate the "Giver" and "Receiver" of activities.
Sometimes, the definition of a behaviour in an ethogram may have arbitrary components. For example, "Stereotyped licking" might be defined as "licking the bars of the cage more than 5 times in 30 seconds". The definition may be arguable, but if it is stated clearly, it fulfils the requirements of scientific repeatability and clarity of reporting and data recording.
Some ethograms are given in pictorial form and not only catalogue the behaviours but indicate the frequency of their occurrence and the probability that one behaviour follows another. This probability can be indicated numerically or by the thickness of an arrow connecting the two behaviours. Sometimes the proportion of time that each behaviour occupies can be represented in a pie chart or bar chart.
Animal welfare science
Ethograms are used extensively in the study of welfare science. Ethograms can be used to detect the occurrence or prevalence of abnormal behaviours (e.g. stereotypies, feather pecking, tail-biting), normal behaviours (e.g. comfort behaviours), departures from the ethogram of ancestral species and the behaviour of captive animals upon release into a natural environment.
Reactions of animals to human presence
Ethograms have also been applied to research concerning the behavioural response of animals to the presence of humans. For example, it has been used to analyze the reactions of black bears and baboons to humans.
References
External links
A sample ethogram of general behaviour:
Ethology
Behavioral concepts | 0.765711 | 0.976101 | 0.747411 |
Anagenesis | Anagenesis is the gradual evolution of a species that continues to exist as an interbreeding population. This contrasts with cladogenesis, which occurs when there is branching or splitting, leading to two or more lineages and resulting in separate species. Anagenesis does not always lead to the formation of a new species from an ancestral species. When speciation does occur as different lineages branch off and cease to interbreed, a core group may continue to be defined as the original species. The evolution of this group, without extinction or species selection, is anagenesis.
Hypotheses
One hypothesis is that during the speciation event in anagenetic evolution, the original populations will increase quickly, and then rack up genetic variation over long periods of time by mutation and recombination in a stable environment. Other factors such as selection or genetic drift will have such a significant effect on genetic material and physical traits that a species can be acknowledged as being different from the previous.
Development
An alternative definition offered for anagenesis involves progeny relationships between designated taxa with one or more denominated taxa in line with a branch from the evolutionary tree. Taxa must be within the species or genus and will help identify possible ancestors. When looking at evolutionary descent, there are two mechanisms at play. The first process is when genetic information changes. This means that over time there is enough of a difference in their genomes, and in the way that species' genes interact with each other during the developmental stage, that anagenesis can thereby be viewed as the processes of sexual and natural selection, and genetic drift's effect on an evolving species over time. The second process, speciation, is closely associated with cladogenesis. Speciation includes the actual separation of lineages, into two or more new species, from one specified species of origin. Cladogenesis can be seen as a similar hypothesis to anagenesis, with the addition of speciation to its mechanisms. Diversity on a species-level is able to be achieved through anagenesis.
Anagenesis suggests that evolutionary changes can occur in a species over time to a sufficient degree that later organisms may be considered a different species, especially in the absence of fossils documenting the gradual transition from one to another. This is in contrast to cladogenesis—or speciation in a sense—in which a population is split into two or more reproductively isolated groups and these groups accumulate sufficient differences to become distinct species. The punctuated equilibria hypothesis suggests that anagenesis is rare and that the rate of evolution is most rapid immediately after a split which will lead to cladogenesis, but does not completely rule out anagenesis. Distinguishing between anagenesis and cladogenesis is particularly relevant in the fossil record, where limited fossil preservation in time and space makes it difficult to distinguish between anagenesis, cladogenesis where one species replaces the other, or simple migration patterns.
Recent evolutionary studies are looking at anagenesis and cladogenesis for possible answers in developing the hominin phylogenetic tree to understand morphological diversity and the origins of Australopithecus anamensis, and this case could possibly show anagenesis in the fossil record.
When enough mutations have occurred and become stable in a population so that it is significantly differentiated from an ancestral population, a new species name may be assigned. A series of such species is collectively known as an evolutionary lineage. The various species along an evolutionary lineage are chronospecies. If the ancestral population of a chronospecies does not go extinct, then this is cladogenesis, and the ancestral population represents a paraphyletic species or paraspecies, being an evolutionary grade.
In humans
The modern human origins debate caused researchers to look further for answers. Researchers were curious to know if present day humans originated from Africa, or if they somehow, through anagenesis, were able to evolve from a single archaic species that lived in Afro-Eurasia. Milford H. Wolpoff is a paleoanthropologist whose work, studying human fossil records, explored anagenesis as a hypothesis for hominin evolution. When looking at anagenesis in hominids, M. H. Wolpoff describes in terms of the 'single-species hypothesis,' which is characterized by thinking of the impact that culture has on a species, as an adaptive system, and as an explanation for the conditions humans tend to live in, based on the environmental conditions, or the ecological niche. When judging the effect that culture has as an Adaptive System, scientists must first look at modern Homo Sapiens. Wolpoff contended that the ecological niche of past, extinct hominidae is distinct within the line of origin. Examining early Pliocene and late Miocenes findings helps to determine the corresponding importance of Anagenesis vs. Cladogenesis during the period of morphological differences. These findings propose that branches of the human and chimpanzee once diverged from each other. The hominin fossils go as far as 5 to 7 million years ago (Mya). Diversity on a species-level is able to be achieved through anagenesis. With collected data, only one or two early hominin were found to be relatively close to the Plio-Pleistocene range. Once more research was done, specifically with the fossils of A. anamensis and A. afarensis, researchers were able to justify that these two hominin species were linked ancestrally. However, looking at data collected by William H. Kimbel and other researchers, they viewed the history of early hominin fossils and concluded that actual macroevolution change via anagenesis was scarce.
Phylogeny
DEM (or Dynamic Evolutionary Map) is a different way to track ancestors and relationships between organisms. The pattern of branching in phylogenetic trees and how far the branch grows after a species lineage has split and evolved, correlates with anagenesis and cladogenesis. However, in DEM dots depict the movement of these different species. Anagenesis is viewed by observing the dot movement across the DEM, whereas cladogenesis is viewed by observing the separation and movement of the dots across the map.
Criticism
Controversy arises among taxonomists as to when the differences are significant enough to warrant a new species classification: Anagenesis may also be referred to as gradual evolution. The distinction of speciation and lineage evolution as anagenesis or cladogenesis can be controversial, and some academics question the necessity of the terms altogether.
The philosopher of science Marc Ereshefsky argues that paraphyletic taxa are the result of anagenesis. The lineage leading to birds has diverged significantly from lizards and crocodiles, allowing evolutionary taxonomists to classify birds separately from lizards and crocodiles, which are grouped as reptiles.
Applications
Regarding social evolution, it has been suggested that social anagenesis/aromorphosis be viewed as universal or widely diffused social innovation that raises social systems' complexity, adaptability, integrity, and interconnectedness.
See also
Multigenomic organism
References
External links
Diagram contrasting Anagenesis and Cladogenesis from the University of Newfoundland
Evolutionary biology concepts
Evolutionary biology terminology
Rate of evolution
Speciation | 0.764423 | 0.977668 | 0.747352 |
Community building | Community building is a field of practices directed toward the creation or enhancement of community among individuals within a regional area (such as a neighborhood) or with a common need or interest. It is often encompassed under the fields of community organizing, community organization, community work, and community development.
A wide variety of practices can be utilized for community building, ranging from simple events like potlucks and small book clubs, to larger–scale efforts such as mass festivals and building construction projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors.
Activists and community workers engaged in community building efforts in industrialized nations see the apparent loss of community in these societies as a key cause of social disintegration and the emergence of many harmful behaviors. They may see building community as a means to address perceived social inequality and injustice, individual and collective well-being, and the negative impacts of otherwise disconnected and/or marginalized individuals.
Re-Building
Leadership, geography, history, socio-economic status all are traditionally used to explain success of community and its well-being. Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone finds that a community's well-being is dependent on the quality of relationships among the citizens of that community. He refers to this as social capital. Social capital creates a sense of belonging thus enhancing the overall health of a community. Putnam goes on to identify and examine the decline of social capital in America. Pressures of time and money, suburbanization, the effect of electronic entertainment, and perhaps most importantly the generational change appear to have all been contributing factors in the decline of social capital.
"We must learn to view the world through a social capital lens," said Lew Feldstein of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and co-chair of the Saguaro Seminar. "We need to look at front porches as crime fighting tools, treat picnics as public health efforts and see choral groups as occasions of democracy. We will become a better place when assessing social capital impact becomes a standard part of decision-making."...
Peter Block in the book Community: The Structure of Belonging (pg. 29) states "The context that restores community is one of possibility, generosity, and gifts, rather than one of problem solving, fear, and retribution." This context allows a new conversation to take place. It requires its citizens to act authentic by choosing to own and exercise their power rather than delegating to others what is in the best interest of that community. Focus must be inclusive for all, not just the leaders but each and every citizen of that community.
While building a community, beliefs are at the base of that community. Some foundational beliefs are functional, ethical, value-laden, social, cultural, spiritual, economic, political, rights-oriented, and valuing of diversity.
Sense of Community
"Community is something we do together. It's not just a container," said sociologist David Brain. Infrastructure, roads, water, sewer, electricity and housing provides the shell within which people live. It is within this shell that people do the things together that allow them to sustain livelihoods. These include but are not limited to education, health care, business, recreation, and spiritual celebration. People working together with shared understandings and expectations are what provide a place of strong community.
Defining Community
There are several ways that people may form a community, which subsequently influence the way a community may be strengthened:
Locus, a sense of place, referred to a geographic entity ranging from neighborhood to city size, or a particular milieu around which people gathered (such as a church or recreation center).
Sharing common interests and perspectives, referred to common interests and values that could cross-geographic boundaries.
Joint action, a sense of coherence and identity, included informal common activities such as sharing tasks and helping neighbors, but these were not necessarily intentionally designed to create community cohesion.
Social ties involved relationships that created the ongoing sense of cohesion.
Diversity referring not primarily to ethnic groupings, but to the social complexity within communities in which a multiplicity of communities co-exist.
For more information see Community. Regardless of the type of community that’s formed, it’s possible to perform community-building and make a difference. The way that community-building takes place varies and depends on the factors listed above. There are many activities that communities use to strengthen themselves.
Community Building Activities
Community Gardening
Community gardening helps to improve neighborhood, build a sense of community, and connect to the environment by planting and harvesting fresh produce and plants.
Community Technology Centers
Community Technology Centers (CTCs), such as those modeled under the Free Geek franchise activist model, have proven to be loci of support and organization for communities. Much like community gardens and other functional communities, CTCs have been found to promote individual and collective efficacy, community empowerment and community organization; community health and well-being, a sense of belonging and community; racial, ethnic, and class consciousness development; and an alleviation of the digital divide, community disempowerment, and poverty.
CTCs have also fostered connections between glocalized ecosocial issues such as environmental destruction and public health and welfare through the re-use of technology and ethical electronic waste (e-waste) stewardship.
Sharing of Gifts
Music, dance, gardening, craftsmanship, mechanics, any skills or knowledge shared provide excellent opportunities for community-building. Service oriented activities invite individuals to strengthen relationships and build rapport as they help one another. The sharing of gifts strengthens the community as a whole and lays a foundation for future successes in the community’s endeavors due to the overall well-being and unity produced.
Activism
Activism (different from community organizing) is taking action to produce social change. The uniting of communities with an activist perspective may produce a social movement.
Community Organizing
Organizing is a major way that communities unite. When the term “organizing” is used, it usually means that a group of less powerful people is banding together to solve a problem. There are several means by which communities are organizing. The most recent is through social media. Community organizing is distinguishable from activism if activists engage in social protest without a strategy for building power or for making specific social changes. According to Phil Brown, community organizing is the vehicle that brings the social cohesion and broad coherence to neighborhoods and municipalities, which in turn produces successful environmental justice actions.
Community-Building and the Environment
Community building efforts may lay the groundwork for larger organizing efforts around issues, such as the negative environmental and health effects of toxic waste pollution, ecosocial justice, ecological justice, environmental justice, and the unequal burden and impacts of such effects on oppressed and marginalized communities. Prior emphases on conservation, preservation, endangered species, rainforest destruction, ozone layer depletion, acid rain—as well as other national global concerns—often had no perceived relevance to individuals and communities with privileged immunity to such effects. These emphases kept the environmental movement a largely middle class and upper middle class movement.
However, due to the spread of negative ecosocial problems and burdens to privileged areas within the Global North, glocalized perspectives have emerged, as well as organizing practices in line with these ideas (see alter-globalization). Groups may be as influential as the United Nations or as small and local as neighborhoods. The Natural Resources Defense Council lists many publicly organized community-building groups created to decrease the ecological footprint and reduce the environmental impact of humans.
See also
Civic engagement
Community economic development
Community organizing
Community organization
Community practice
Community of practice
Community Engagement
Community Mobilization
Community gardening
Community technology centers
New urbanism
Alter-globalization
References
Community organizing | 0.763906 | 0.978316 | 0.747342 |
Interdisciplinary teaching | Interdisciplinary teaching is a method, or set of methods, used to teach across curricular disciplines or "the bringing together of separate disciplines around common themes, issues, or problems.” Often interdisciplinary instruction is associated with or a component of several other instructional approaches. For example, in a review of literature on the subject published in 1994, Kathy Lake identified seven elements common to integrated curriculum models: a combination of subjects; an emphasis on projects; the use of a wide variety of source material, not just textbooks; highlighting relationships among concepts; thematic units; flexible schedules; and flexible student grouping.
Types
There are many different types, or levels, of interdisciplinary teaching. On one end, schools might employ an interdisciplinary team approach, in which teachers of different content areas assigned to one group of students who are encouraged to correlate some of their teaching. The most common method of implementing integrated, interdisciplinary instruction is the thematic unit, in which a common theme is studied in more than one content area.
The example given above about rivers would be considered multidisciplinary or parallel design, which is defined as lessons or units developed across many disciplines with a common organizing topic.
One of the foremost scholars of interdisciplinary teaching techniques is James Beane, who advocates for curriculum integration, which is curriculum that is collaboratively designed around important issues. It has four major components: the integration of experiences, social integration, the integration of knowledge, and integration as a curriculum design. It differs from other types of interdisciplinary teaching in that it begins with a central theme that emerges from questions or social concerns students have, without regard to subject delineations.
In 1989, the seminal work, Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation, edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs was published by ASCD (Alexandria, Va). In this work, she presented a continuum of options for design spanning focused disciplined work to parallel to multidisciplinary to full integration.
Examples
Travel and vacation can serve as a theme for cross-curricular interdisciplinary instruction. In social studies, student might study the geography of popular travel destinations, the history of tourist sites in the local community, and how travel changed dramatically during the 19th century Industrial Revolution. Analysis of travel promotion and advertising are relevant to media literacy education. Thousands of travel accounts have been published over the centuries that could be read and discussed in English classes. The impact of tourism on the environment relevant to science curriculum. In business education, students might examine the impact of tourism on the local, regional, or world economy.
An interdisciplinary unit on rivers is appropriate for elementary or middle school Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. The local river system would be the unifying idea, but the English teacher would link it to Language Arts by studying river vocabulary and teaching students how to do a research report. The science teacher might teach children about the life systems that exist in the river, while the Social Studies teacher might help students research the local history and peoples who used the river for food and transport.
Food is studied in every discipline and can serve as a theme for interdisciplinary instruction. Psychologists and sociologists explore how individuals and cultures decide what to eat, how to prepare it, and how to consume it. Anthropologists explore the meaning and symbolism of food in a culture or how food relates to social class, sex, gender, or ethnicity. Economists study the production, distribution, marketing, sales, trade, and prices of food. Political scientists examine the government food policies such as taxation, regulation and debate the government’s role in feeding its citizens. Scientists from the fields of nutrition, medicine, chemistry, biology, and agriculture study every aspect of food, from diet, health, and nutrition to chemical composition, production, and preservation. Food historians use interdisciplinary approaches to study food and its place in social class, religious practice, immigration, urbanization, technological change, the growth of the food industry, counterculture movements, and government policy.
Implementation
Heidi Hayes Jacobs presents a four-phase approach to curriculum integration planning. First, she suggests that a school conduct action research to learn more about how to implement curriculum integration. This should be done six months to a year ahead of when the school is going to attempt curriculum integration. Next, phase two calls for the development of a proposal. Phase three consists of implementing and monitoring the pilot unit; this should take place in the second year of the curriculum integration plan. Phase four takes place in the third year of the plan, and calls for staff adoption of the program based on the findings from phase three.
Choosing a theme to focus interdisciplinary instruction is a key step in implementing this approach. Themes should be of interest to students and relevant to the required curriculum. In some situations, students might choose the thematic topic. Themes should also be topics of interest to the teacher(s) because successful thematic instructions often requires additional research and preparation. Interdisciplinary themes related to multiple academic disciplines can be reinforced in lessons throughout the school day.
Essential questions are helpful in focusing the theme of interdisciplinary curriculum units. Essential questions are open-ended, intellectually engaging questions that demand higher-order thinking. Essential questions help teachers chose the most important facts and concepts relative to the theme and serve to focus planning efforts. For students, essential questions highlight key facts and concepts related to the interdisciplinary theme. They also serve as a focus for analysis and evaluation. Good essential questions can not be answered with a simple yes/no or true/false; students must discuss, defend, and debate issues related to the theme. Designing interdisciplinary instruction around essential questions require students to learn both content and develop critical analysis skills.
Benefits
A school district in Michigan created integration plans for thematic units, based on the ideas of Howard Gardner about multiple intelligences, in a yearlong pilot program. The results of the program included “sustained enthusiasm” from the staff, parents, and students, increased attendance rates, and improvement in standardized test scores, “especially from students with the poorest test results”.
Flowers, Mertens, & Mulhall identify five important outcomes and findings of their experiences with interdisciplinary teaching and planning: common planning time is vital, schools that team have a more positive work climate, parental contact is more frequent, teachers report a higher job satisfaction, and student achievement scores in schools that team are higher than those that do not team.
Additionally, Pumerantz & Galanto find that interdisciplinary teaching allows for students to, “Proceed at a pace commensurate with their interests, skills, and experiences”.
Integrated instruction helps teachers better utilize instructional time and look deeper into subjects through a variety of content-specific lens. Another benefit of integrated instruction is that teachers can better differentiate instruction to individual student needs. Integrated instruction also allows for authentic assessment. A final benefit of interdisciplinary teaching is that students have a chance to work with multiple sources of information, thus ensuring they are receiving a more inclusive perspective than they would from consulting one textbook.
Criticism
Scholars that advocate for curriculum integration argue that the topics studied should originate with students and their teachers, and not from district-imposed curriculum packages. This raises the important issue of accountability. As school districts often have decision-making panels that consist of stakeholders such as teachers, parents, and students, curriculum integration may take away their agency to make curricular choices. In addition to issues of local control, truly integrated curricula may or may not prepare students for the high-stakes tests that have become a reality for most high schools around the world, depending on whether they cover the same material. Finally, there is also concern that integrated teaching discounts the value of deep subject-specific knowledge, which is essential for specialization in areas such as medicine, law, and engineering.
Thematic units can also fall short of teaching in-depth content to students. Often a theme, such as apples, is used to link unrelated subjects, with little deference to students’ prior knowledge or interests. This superficial coverage of a topic can give students the wrong idea about school, perhaps missing the idea of curriculum integration in the first place.
Thematic units can contain pointless busywork and activities created solely to create a link to a theme; for example, the alphabetizing of state capitals in a social studies unit, attempting to integrate it with language arts.
Research has also suggested that some students may have less capacity to cope with broad interdicisplinary curricula that spans diverse combination of subjects from different fields.
See also
Interdisciplinarity
Phenomenon-based learning
Thematic learning
Notes
References
Barton, K.C. & Smith, L.A. (September 2000). Themes or motifs? Aiming for coherence through interdisciplinary outlines. The Reading Teacher, 54(1), 54 – 63.
Beane, J. (1997). Curriculum Integration. Teachers College Press: New York.
Bolak, K., Bialach, D., & Dunphy, M. (May 2005). Standards-based, thematic units integrate the arts and energize students and teachers. Middle School Journal, 31(2), 57 - 60.
Brophy, J. & Alleman, J. (October 1991). A caveat: Curriculum integration isn’t always a good idea. Educational Leadership, 49(2), 66.
Flowers, N., Mertens, S.B., & Mulhall, P.F. (November 1999). The impact of teaming: Five research-based outcomes. Middle School Journal, 36(5), 9 - 19.
Gatewood, T. (March 1998). How valid is integrated curriculum in today’s middle school? Middle School Journal, 29(4), 38 - 41.
Jackson, A.W. & Davis, G.A. (2000). Turning Points 2000: Educating adolescents in the 21st century. New York: Teachers College Press.
Jacobs, H.H. (1989). Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation. ASCD, Alexandria, Va.
Jacobs, H.H. (October 1991). Planning for curriculum integration. Educational Leadership, 49(2), 27 – 28.
Pumerantz, P. & Galano, R.W. (1972). Establishing interdisciplinary programs in the middle school. West Nyack, N.Y.: Parker Publishing Company, Inc.
Stevenson, C. (March 1998). Finding our priorities for middle level curriculum. Middle School Journal, 29(4), 55 - 57.
Vars, G.F. (October 1991). Integrated curriculum in historical perspective. Educational Leadership, 49(2), 14 – 15.
Wood, K. (1997). Interdisciplinary instruction: A practical guide for elementary and middle school teachers. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill.
Teaching
Learning methods | 0.777874 | 0.960726 | 0.747324 |
Robinson Crusoe economy | A Robinson Crusoe economy is a simple framework used to study some fundamental issues in economics. It assumes an economy with one consumer, one producer and two goods. The title "Robinson Crusoe" is a reference to the 1719 novel of the same name authored by Daniel Defoe.
As a thought experiment in economics, many international trade economists have found this simplified and idealized version of the story important due to its ability to simplify the complexities of the real world. The implicit assumption is that the study of a one agent economy will provide useful insights into the functioning of a real world economy with many economic agents. This article pertains to the study of consumer behaviour, producer behaviour and equilibrium as a part of microeconomics. In other fields of economics, the Robinson Crusoe economy framework is used for essentially the same thing. For example, in public finance the Robinson Crusoe economy is used to study the various types of public goods and certain aspects of collective benefits. It is used in growth economics to develop growth models for underdeveloped or developing countries to embark upon a steady growth path using techniques of savings and investment.
Framework
Robinson Crusoe is assumed to be shipwrecked on a deserted island.
The basic assumptions are as follows:
The island is cut off from the rest of the world (and hence cannot trade)
There is only a single economic agent (Crusoe himself)
All commodities on the island have to be produced or found from existing stocks
There is only one individual – Robinson Crusoe himself. He acts both as a producer to maximise profits, as well as consumer to maximise his utility. The possibility of trade can be introduced by adding another person to the economy. This person is Crusoe's friend, Man Friday. Although in the novel he plays the role of Crusoe's servant, in the Robinson Crusoe economy he is considered as another actor with equal decision-making abilities as Crusoe. Along with this, conditions of Pareto efficiency can be analysed by bringing in the concept of the Edgeworth box.
Similar to the choices that households (suppliers of labour) face, Crusoe has only two activities to participate in – earn income or pass his time in leisure.
The income generating activity in this case is gathering coconuts. As usual, the more time he spends in leisure, the less food he has to eat, and conversely, the more time he spends gathering coconuts, the less time he has for leisure. This is depicted in figure 1.
Production function and indifference curves
Crusoe's indifference curves depict his preferences for leisure and coconuts while the production function depicts the technological relationship between how much he works and how many coconuts he gathers. If the axes depicting coconut collection and leisure are reversed and plotted with Crusoe's indifference map and production function, figure 2 can be drawn:
The production function is concave in two dimensions and quasi-convex in three dimensions. This means that the longer Robinson works, the more coconuts he will be able to gather. But due to diminishing marginal returns of labour, the additional number of coconuts he gets from every additional hour of labour is declining.
The point at which Crusoe will reach an equilibrium between the number of hours he works and relaxes can be found out when the highest indifference curve is tangent to the production function. This will be Crusoe's most preferred point provided the technology constraint is given and cannot be changed. At this equilibrium point, the slope of the highest indifference curve must equal the slope of the production function.
Recall that the marginal rate of substitution is the rate at which a consumer is ready to give up one good in exchange for another good while maintaining the same level of utility. Additionally, an input's marginal product is the extra output that can be produced by using one more unit of the input, assuming that the quantities of no other inputs to production change. Then,
MPL = MRSLeisure, Coconuts
where
MPL = marginal product of labour, and
MRSLeisure, Coconuts = marginal rate of substitution between leisure and coconuts
Crusoe's multifaceted role
Suppose Crusoe decides to stop being a producer and consumer simultaneously. He decides he will produce one day and consume the next. His two roles of consumer and producer are being split up and studied separately to understand the elementary form of consumer theory and producer theory in microeconomics. For dividing his time between being a consumer and producer, he must set up two collectively exhaustive markets, the coconut market and the labour market. He also sets up a firm, of which he becomes the sole shareholder. The firm will want to maximise profits by deciding how much labour to hire and how many coconuts to produce according to their prices. As a worker of the firm, Crusoe will collect wages, as a shareholder, he will collect profits and as a consumer, he will decide how much of the firm's output to purchase according to his income and the prevailing market prices. Let's assume that a currency called "Dollars" has been created by Robinson to manage his finances. For simplicity, assume that PriceCoconuts = $1.00. This assumption is made to make the calculations in the numerical example easy because the inclusion of prices will not alter the result of the analysis. For more details, refer to numéraire commodities.
Producer
Assume that when the firm produces C amount of total coconuts, represents its profit level. Also assume that when the wage rate at which the firm employs labour is w, L is the amount of labour that will be employed. Then,
The above function describes iso-profit lines (the locus of combinations between labour and coconuts that produce a constant profit of Π). Profits can be maximised when the marginal product of labour equals the wage rate (marginal cost of production). Symbolically,
MPL = w
Graphically, the iso-profit line must be tangent to the production function.
The vertical intercept of the iso-profit line measures the level of profit that Robinson Crusoe's firm will make. This level of profit, Π, has the ability to purchase Π dollars worth of coconuts. Since PriceCoconuts is $1.00, Π number of coconuts can be purchased. Also, the firm will declare a dividend of Π dollars. This will be given to the firm's sole shareholder, Crusoe himself.
Consumer
As a consumer, Crusoe will have to decide how much to work (or indulge in leisure) and hence consume. He can choose to not work at all, since he has an endowment of Π dollars from being a shareholder. Let us instead consider the more realistic case of him deciding to work for a few hours. His labour consumption choice can be illustrated in figure 4:
Note that labour is assumed to be a 'bad', i.e., a commodity that a consumer doesn't like. Its presence in his consumption basket lowers the utility he derives. On the other hand, coconuts are goods. This is why the indifference curves are positively sloped. The maximum amount of labour is indicated by L'. The distance from L' to the chosen supply of labour (L*) gives Crusoe's demand for leisure.
Notice Crusoe's budget line. It has a slope of w and passes through the point (0,Π). This point is his endowment level i.e., even when he supplies 0 amount of labour, he has Π amount of coconuts (dollars) to consume. Given the wage rate, Crusoe will choose how much to work and how much to consume at that point where,
MRSLeisure, Coconuts = w
Equilibrium
At equilibrium, the demand for coconuts will equal the supply of coconuts and the demand for labour will equal the supply of labour.
Graphically this occurs when the diagrams under consumer and producer are superimposed. Notice that,
MRSLeisure, Coconuts = w
MPL = w
=> MRSLeisure, Coconuts = MPL
This ensures that the slopes of the indifference curves and the production set are the same.
As a result, Crusoe ends up consuming at the same point he would have if he made all the above decisions together. In other words, using the market system has the same outcome as choosing the individual utility maximisation and cost minimisation plans. This is an important result when put into a macro level perspective because it implies that there exists a set of prices for inputs and outputs in the economy such that the profit-maximising behaviour of firms along with the utility-maximizing actions of individuals results in the demand for each good equaling the supply in all markets. This means that a
competitive equilibrium can exist. The merit of a competitive equilibrium is that an efficient allocation of resources is achievable. In other words, no economic agent can be made better off without making another economic agent worse off.
Production possibilities with two goods
Let's assume that there is another commodity that Crusoe can produce apart from coconuts, for example, fish. Now, Robinson has to decide how much time to spare for both activities, i.e. how many coconuts to gather and how many fish to hunt. The locus of the various combinations of fish and coconuts that he can produce from devoting different amounts of time to each activity is known as the production possibilities set. This is depicted in the figure 6:
The boundary of the production possibilities set is known as the production-possibility frontier (PPF). This curve measures the feasible outputs that Crusoe can produce, with a fixed technological constraint and given amount of resources. In this case, the resources and technological constraints are Robinson Crusoe's labour.
The shape of the PPF depends on the nature of the technology in use. Here, technology refers to the type of returns to scale prevalent. In figure 6, the underlying assumption is the usual decreasing returns to scale, due to which the PPF is concave to the origin. In case we assumed increasing returns to scale, say if Crusoe embarked upon a mass production movement and hence faced decreasing costs, the PPF would be convex to the origin. The PPF is linear with a downward slope in two circumstances:
If the technology for gathering coconuts and hunting fish exhibits constant returns to scale
If there is only one input in production
So in the Robinson Crusoe economy, the PPF will be linear due to the presence of only one input.
Marginal rate of transformation
Suppose that Crusoe can produce 4 pounds of fish or 8 pounds of coconuts per hour. If he devotes Lf hours to fish gathering and Lc hours to gathering coconuts, he will produce 4Lf pounds of fish and 8Lc pounds of coconuts. Suppose that he decides to work for 12 hours a day. Then the production possibilities set will consist of all combinations of fish, F, and coconuts, C, such that
Solve the first two equations and substitute in the third to get
This equation represents Crusoe's PPF. The slope of this PPF measures the Marginal rate of transformation (MRT), i.e., how much of the first good must be given up in order to increase the production of the second good by one unit. If Crusoe works one hour less on hunting fish, he will have 4 less fish. If he devotes this extra hour to collecting coconuts, he will have 8 extra coconuts. The MRT is thus,
MRT Coconuts, Fish
Comparative advantage
Under this section, the possibility of trade is introduced by adding another person to the economy. Suppose that the new worker who is added to the Robinson Crusoe economy has different skills in gathering coconuts and hunting fish. The second person is called "Friday".
Friday can produce 8 pounds of fish or 4 pounds of coconuts per hour. If he too decides to work for 12 hours, his production possibilities set will be determined by the following relations:
Thus, MRT Coconuts, Fish
This means that for every pound of coconuts Friday gives up, he can produce 2 more pounds of fish.
So, we can say that Friday has a comparative advantage in hunting fish while Crusoe has a comparative advantage in gathering coconuts. Their respective PPFs can be shown in the following diagram:
The joint production possibilities set at the extreme right shows the total amount of both commodities that can be produced by Crusoe and Friday together. It combines the best of both workers. If both of them work to gather coconuts only, the economy will have 144 coconuts in all, 96 from Crusoe and 48 from Friday. (This can be obtained by setting F = 0 in their respective PPF equations and summing them up). Here the slope of the joint PPF is −1/2.
If we want more fish, we should shift that person who has a comparative advantage in fish hunting (i.e. Friday) out of coconut gathering and into fish hunting. When Friday is producing 96 pounds of fish, he is fully occupied. If fish production is to be increased beyond this point, Crusoe will have to start hunting fish. Here onward, the slope of the joint PPF is −2. If we want to produce only fish, then the economy will have 144 pounds of fish, 48 from Crusoe and 96 from Friday. Thus the joint PPF is kinked because Crusoe and Friday have comparative advantages in different commodities. As the economy gets more and more ways of producing output and different comparative advantages, the PPF becomes concave.
Pareto efficiency
Assume that there are c units of coconut and f units of fish available for consumption in the Crusoe Friday economy. Given this endowment bundle (c,f), the Pareto efficient bundle can be determined at the mutual tangency of Crusoe's and Friday's indifference curves in the Edgeworth box along the Pareto Set (contract curve). These are the bundles at which Crusoe's and Friday's marginal rate of substitution are equal.
In a simple exchange economy, the contract curve describes the set of bundles that exhaust the gains from trade. But in a Robinson Crusoe/Friday economy, there is another way to exchange goods – to produce less of one good and more of the other.
From the figure 8, it is clear that an economy operating at a position where the MRS of either Crusoe or Friday is not equal to the MRT between coconuts and fish cannot be Pareto efficient. This is because the rate at which, say Friday is willing to trade coconuts for fish is different from the rate at which coconuts can be transformed into fish. Thus, there is a way to make Friday better off by rearranging the production pattern.
Thus for Pareto efficiency,
MRT Coconuts, Fish = MRSCoconuts, Fish
(for both Crusoe and Friday)
This can be achieved in a competitive market by decentralising production and consumption decisions, i.e. Crusoe and Friday will both solve their own problems of how much to consume and produce independently.
See also
Autarky
Fundamental theorems of welfare economics
Robinson Crusoe § Economic — Economic interpretation of Robinson Crusoe
Welfare economics § Efficiency — Efficiency between production and consumption
References
External links
University courses
Jeffrey Miron's course at Harvard
Daniel McFadden's course at Harvard
Yossi Spiegel's course at Tel Aviv University
Thomas M. Steger's course at Center of Economic Research
Joseph Tao-yi Wang's course at Walden University
Larry Blume's course at Santa Fe Institute
Teng Wah Leo's course at St.Francis Xavier University
Articles
Stimulus works on absorbability
The unfortunate uselessness of most 'state of the art' academic monetary economics
Economic growth
Microeconomics
Self-sustainability
Economics catchphrases
Production economics
Robinson Crusoe
Consumer theory
Thought experiments
Eponymous economic ideologies | 0.766617 | 0.97476 | 0.747268 |
Translingualism | Translingual phenomena are words and other aspects of language that are relevant in more than one language. Thus "translingual" may mean "existing in multiple languages" or "having the same meaning in many languages"; and sometimes "containing words of multiple languages" or "operating between different languages". Translingualism is the phenomenon of translingually relevant aspects of language; a translingualism is an instance thereof. The word comes from trans-, meaning "across", and lingual, meaning "having to do with languages (tongues)"; thus, it means "across tongues", that is, "across languages". Internationalisms offer many examples of translingual vocabulary. For example, international scientific vocabulary comprises thousands of translingual words and combining forms.
The term also refers to a pedagogical movement and line of research inquiry in composition studies and second-language learning that seek to normalize the simultaneous presence of multiple languages and communicative codes as well as characterize all language use as a matter of mixing and changing these languages and codes. For these teachers and language researchers, the prefix trans in translanguaging "indexes a way of looking at communicative practices as transcending autonomous languages". This prefix provides a different lens of looking at languages and the relationships among them. Rather than considering each language as fixed and closed, a translanguaging perspective considers languages as flexible resources that speakers and writers use to communicate across cultural, linguistic, or contextual boundaries.
History
Steven G. Kellman was among the first scholars to use the term translingualism in his 2000 book "The Translingual Imagination."[1996 collection Switching Languages: Translingual Writers Reflect on Their Craft.that book was 2003] This work presented that translingual writers are authors who write in more than one language or in a language other than their primary one in a way that emphasized freedom from cultural and monolingual restraint. The translingual writer is an author who has the ability to cross over into a new linguistic identity. While Kellman is simply among the first to use the term, the phenomena of translingualism may have emerged as a response to the Sapir-Whorf thesis of linguistic relativity.
In the early 21st century, TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) began to use translingualism as a method of teaching a second language that focuses on unifying language use in defiance of monolingual approaches that treat languages as separate avenues of thought. Supporters of this use of translingualism focus on the liminality of language systems over concepts like "Standard Written English" and unaccented speech. The past decade, in fact, has seen a gradual increase in the number of second language scholars theorizing about translingualism. This suggests that a paradigm shift may be occurring in the way we think about language study, language teaching, and language use.
With respect to second-language teaching and research, translingual scholar Suresh Canagarajah has advocated approaches that merge the mother language with the target language. His argument is that the intimation behind speech and words is often more important that the words themselves and that tranlingualism's exploration of the liminal space between languages enables better comprehension and communication between parties.
Throughout history, there has often been a European and monolingual bias in regards to language. According to Wei, the attention given to linguistic innovation has primarily been given to languages such as English, Spanish, and French. Linguistic innovation in English can be accomplished by non native and native speakers alike. Over the years the English language has borrowed and mixed with other languages and these deviations created from non native speakers are often seen as “mistakes”. The monolinguistic perspective views English as the “host” language and the other language as the “guest language” rather than treating them equally.
Critical debates
The term translingualism presents the notion of fluidity between languages, rather than adhering to the static categorizations of bilingualism, multilingualism, ambilingualism, and plurilingualism. According to Tung-Chiou Huang, "Translingualism is a term from Steven G. Kellman (2000) and David Schwarzer et al. (2006), who see teaching an L2 as bridge building between languages that allow one to retain a unified mind and not be cloven into two for the sake of being multilingual." Supporters of this use of translingualism focus on the fluidity of language systems, thoroughly eschewing concepts such as "Standard Written English" and unaccented speech. The past decade, in fact, has seen a gradual increase in the number of second language scholars theorizing about translingualism toward a rhetoric of translingual writing. The paradigm of translingualism utilized in a classroom setting has not had much focus placed upon it, primarily due to its recent immergence into the SLA and ESL community. However, scholars such as Nathanael John Rudolph, are making the effort to research the adaptation of translingualism into pedagogical practices through the lens of ELT, particularly how translingual experiences can aid in the debates regarding native and non-native speaking roles and identities.
Dichotomy between native and non-native speakers
It is common for translinguals scholars to criticize a monolingual orientation to communication since it assumes that speakers should use a common language with shared norms in order to communicate effectively and successfully. Translanguaging and code meshing/switching contradict the discrete way of languages, but it also achieves less difficulties with communication.These standards originate from the native speaker's utilization of the language. Proponents of monolingual orientation believe that interlocutors should avoid mixing their own languages with other languages. However, Canagarajah states, "talk doesn't have to be in a single language; the interlocutors can use the respective languages they are proficient in." As of recently, there has been discussions among researchers of the idea of translingualism as a communicative competence. It states that learning the language used in a multilingual situation is not as important as creating clear communication. In today's global context, most scenarios involve speakers of various languages communicating primarily in English. These speakers will all have different cultural values which will affect their production and interpretation of speech and therefore the speakers will not adjust to any one language or culture but rather to the "common communicative arena". Canagarajah (2013), for instance, identifies translinguals as speakers who demonstrate the ability to use their language(s) successfully across diverse norms and codes in response to specific contexts purposes.
The "translingual fluency" of a writer is determined by their literary works' ability to engage and stimulate a geographically and demographically varied audience. Readers, on the other hand, demonstrate their translingual fluency by being attuned and perceptive to a work's linguistic heterogeneity.
Translingual Education
Translingual education encompasses classes as a whole learning a new language together and speaking multiple languages, or a monolingual student adjusting and learning their second language in a new classroom. This can mean the instruction of English in European schools to prepare students to adjust to the globalization of the world or accommodating a Spanish speaking student in an American classroom. According to Wlosowicz it is the “planned and systematic use of two languages inside the same lesson”, but can also apply to more than two languages which are spoken dynamically.
Multilingual education can be beneficial for students in bringing language awareness and valuing diverse languages. According to Cenoz and Gorter, there has been a worry for people in Europe learning english that their national language would not be used in a scientific and technical standpoint. Although, many classes are taught translingual in Europe for students’ future to increase international mobility/communication and learn to respect others’ cultures/identities. Education is growing in schools that have originally been monolingual and more often students are speaking multiple languages at home.
According to several scholars, language teaching and testing practices can strive for improvement so that multilingualism is better represented over the usual dominance of the native speaker model (of English). There is room for innovation and creativity among translingual students that can be acted on. As stated by Campbell, strategies that help students with their proficiency in both languages include reading instructions in one language and producing work in the other, or summarizing texts from one language into the other. Indicators of proficiency in language include accuracy as well as dexterity and resourcefulness. In the realm of translingual creativity Campbell also advocates for spaces of linguistic negotiation and a multimodal process (using several ways to communicate a message such as text, images, audio, etc.).
Teaching translingual can be difficult in that it needs to be very personalized and requires an instructor with multilingual proficiency. Although, a multilingual learner’s language awareness can be helpful in learning the new language by understanding the key differences between L1 (student’s first language) and L2 (student’s second language). Translingualism is important in that it views language differences as resources rather than deficits, otherwise known as code meshing which blends codes into the same environments.
See also
Interlingual homograph
Interlinguistics
Translanguaging
References
Translation
Multilingualism
Second language writing
Writing
Composition (language) | 0.773234 | 0.96641 | 0.747261 |
John Ralston Saul | John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-led societies; the confusion between leadership and managerialism; military strategy, in particular irregular warfare; the role of freedom of speech and culture; and critiques of the prevailing economic paradigm. He is a champion of freedom of expression and was the International President of PEN International, an association of writers. Saul is the co-founder and co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, a national charity promoting the inclusion of new citizens. He is also the co-founder and co-chair of 6 Degrees, the global forum for inclusion. Saul is also the husband to the former governor general Adrienne Clarkson, making him the Viceregal consort of Canada during most of her service (1999–2005).
His work is known for being thought-provoking and ahead of its time, leading him to be called a "prophet" by Time and to be included in Utne Reader'''s list of the world's leading thinkers and visionaries. His works have been translated into 25 languages in 36 countries.
Early life and education
Saul is the son of William Saul, an army officer, and a British mother whose family had a long tradition of military service. He was born in Ottawa, but raised in Alberta and Manitoba before graduating from Oakville Trafalgar High School in Oakville, Ontario. At a young age, he became fluent in both national languages, French and English. By the time he started university at McGill University, Montreal, his father was in Paris and Brussels, working as a military adviser to the Canadian ambassador to NATO.
Career
After completing his undergraduate degree, Saul was accepted into the foreign service, but the death of his father in 1968 changed Saul's career plans. He left the foreign service to attend King's College London, where he wrote his thesis on the modernization of France under Charles de Gaulle, and earned his PhD in 1972. His doctoral thesis, The Evolution of Civil–Military Relations in France after the Algerian War, led him to France for research. There he began to write his first novel, Mort d'un général, a romanticized version of his thesis on de Gaulle's chief of staff. He supported himself by running the French subsidiary of a British investment company.
After helping to set up the national oil company Petro-Canada in 1976, as assistant to its first chair, Maurice F. Strong, Saul published his first novel, The Birds of Prey, in 1977. Strong described Saul as "an invaluable, though unconventional, member of my personal staff."
Through the late 1970s into the 1980s, Saul travelled extensively and regularly spent time with guerrilla armies, spending a great deal of time in North Africa and South East Asia. Out of this time came his novels, The Field Trilogy. It was during those extended periods in Northwest Africa and Southeast Asia where he witnessed fellow writers there suffering government suppression of freedom of expression, which caused him to become interested in the work of PEN International. Between the years of 1990 and 1992, Saul acted as the president of the Canadian centre of PEN International. In 2009, he was elected president of PEN and re-elected for a second and last term in 2012, remaining International President until October 2015.
Saul is co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, which encourages new Canadians to become active citizens. He is patron and former president of the Canadian Centre of PEN International and of the Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars. He is also founder and honorary chair of French for the Future, which encourages bilingual French-English education, chair of the advisory board for the LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium lecture series, and a patron of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network. From 1999 until 2006, his wife Adrienne Clarkson was Governor General of Canada, making him Canada's viceregal consort. During this period he devoted much of his time to issues of freedom of expression, poverty, public education and bilingualism.
PEN International
Saul was elected as the international president of PEN International for a three-year term at its Annual Congress in Linz, Austria in October 2009. He was the first Canadian to be elected to that position, which had previously been held by John Galsworthy, Arthur Miller, Heinrich Böll, Mario Vargas Llosa and Homero Aridjis. He campaigned on the need to pay attention to smaller and endangered languages and cultures, arguing that the ultimate removal of freedom of expression was the loss of a language. He put a specific emphasis on endangered indigenous languages. He called for a further decentralization of PEN, which has 144 centres in 102 countries. He argues that literature and freedom of expression are the same thing; that you cannot have one without the other. Saul has testified before the European Parliament Human Rights Commission on the loss of freedom of expression in Tunisia, has spoken before European Council on Refugees in Exile, and has published an essay on writers in exile, which has been translated into several languages.
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship
Saul founded, and currently co-chairs, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) with Adrienne Clarkson. The ICC is a national, non-profit charity that helps accelerate new citizens' integration into Canadian life through original programs, collaborations and unique volunteer opportunities. While its focus is on encouraging new citizens to take their rightful place in Canada, the ICC aims to encourage all citizens – new or not – to embrace active citizenship in their daily life.
Speaking
In addition to his selection as the 1995 Massey lecturer, Saul has delivered other notable lectures. He gave the Harold Innis Lecture in 1994. In 2000 he gave the inaugural LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium
Lecture. Saul delivered the J.D. Young Memorial Lecture "A New Era of Irregular Warfare?" at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario on February 4, 2004. He gave the 2005 IDEAS lecture in Brisbane, Australia, the 2007 Captive Mind Lecture in Kraków, Poland, and in 2008 gave the 33rd Sir Winston Scott Memorial Lecture in Barbados. He also delivered the 2009 McGill Law Journal's Annual Lecture at the McGill Faculty of Law in Montreal on February 3, 2009. Saul also spoke at the Sydney Opera House on August 26, 2012, on the subject "It's Broke: How do we fix it?"
Fiction writing The Birds of Prey (1977) is a political novel based in Gaullist France. Between 1983 and 1988 Saul then published The Field Trilogy, which deals with the crisis of modern power and its clash with the individual. It includes Baraka, or The Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor of Anthony Smith (1983), The Next Best Thing (1986), and The Paradise Eater (1988), which won the Premio Letterario Internazionale in Italy.De si bons Américains (1994) is a picaresque novel in which he observes the lives of America's nouveaux riches. A vastly reworked and expanded version was published in 2012 as Dark Diversions, Saul's first novel in over fifteen years.
Other fiction writing Baraka (1983)The Next Best Thing (1986)The Paradise Eater (1988)Dark Diversions (2012)
Non-fiction writing
Voltaire's Bastards, The Doubter's Companion and The Unconscious Civilization
Saul's non-fiction began with the trilogy comprising the bestseller Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West (1992), the polemic philosophical dictionary The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense (1994), and the book that grew out of his 1995 Massey Lectures, The Unconscious Civilization (1995). The last won the 1996 Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction Literature.
These books deal with themes such as the dictatorship of reason unbalanced by other human qualities, how it can be used for any ends especially in a directionless state that rewards the pursuit of power for power's sake. He argues that this leads to deformations of thought such as ideology promoted as truth; the rational but anti-democratic structures of corporatism, by which he means the worship of small groups; and the use of language and expertise to mask a practical understanding of the harm caused by this, and what else our society might do. He argues that the rise of individualism with no regard for the role of society has not created greater individual autonomy and self-determination, as was once hoped, but isolation and alienation. He calls for a pursuit of a more humanist ideal in which reason is balanced with other human mental capacities such as common sense, ethics, intuition, creativity, and memory, for the sake of the common good, and he discusses the importance of unfettered language and practical democracy. These attributes are elaborated upon in his 2001 book On Equilibrium.
Reflections of a Siamese Twin
He expanded on these themes as they relate to Canada and its history and culture in Reflections of a Siamese Twin (1998). In this book, he proposed the idea of Canada being a "soft" country, meaning not that the nation is weak, but that it has a flexible and complex identity, as opposed to the unyielding or monolithic identities of other states.
He argues that Canada's complex national identity is made up of the "triangular reality" of the three nations that compose it: First Peoples, francophones, and anglophones. He emphasizes the willingness of these Canadian nations to compromise with one another, as opposed to resorting to open confrontations. In the same vein, he criticizes both those in the Quebec separatist Montreal School for emphasizing the conflicts in Canadian history and the Orange Order and the Clear Grits traditionally seeking clear definitions of Canadian-ness and loyalty.
On Equilibrium
Saul's next book, On Equilibrium (2001), is effectively a fourth, concluding volume to his philosophical quartet. He identifies six qualities as common to all people: common sense, ethics, imagination, intuition, memory, and reason. He describes how these inner forces can be used to balance each other, and what happens when they are unbalanced, for example in the case of a "Dictatorship of Reason".
The Collapse of Globalism
In an article written for Harper's magazine's March 2004 issue, titled The Collapse of Globalism and the Rebirth of Nationalism, he argued that the globalist ideology was under attack by counter-movements. Saul rethought and developed this argument in The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World (2005). Far from being an inevitable force, Saul argued that globalization is already breaking down in the face of widespread public opposition and that the world was seeing a rise in nationalism. Following the Great Recession he had predicted, The Collapse of Globalism was re-issued in 2009 with a new epilogue that addressed the economic crisis.
A Fair Country A Fair Country (2008) is Saul's second major work on Canada. It is organized into four subsections.
"A Métis Civilization" This section picks up on the argument that Saul makes in Reflections of a Siamese Twin about the 'triangular reality of Canada'. Drawing on the work of scholars like Harold Innis and Gerald Friesen, Saul argues that contemporary Canada has been deeply influenced and shaped by Aboriginal ideas and the experience of both Francophone and Anglophone immigrants over the 250 years, from 1600 on, during which Aboriginals were either the dominant force in Canada, or equal partners. He argues that Aboriginals are making a rapid "comeback", and that their fundamental influence needs to be recognized in order for non-Aboriginal Canadians to understand themselves.
"Peace, Fairness, and Good Government" In this section Saul argues that instead of the phrase "peace, order, and good government", which appears in and has become a touchstone of the 1867 Canadian Constitution, the phrase that dominated previous Canadian documents was "peace, welfare, and good government". Saul suggests that the ensuing emphasis on "order" has not truly represented Canadian origins.
"The Castrati" This sections echoes Saul's more general critiques of technocratic and bureaucratic regimes. He also suggests that while current Canadian elites reflect a "disturbing mediocrity" this was not always the case.
"An Intentional Civilization" Saul uses the final section of the book to argue for a return to an understanding of Canada as a unique response to particular historical circumstances.
Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin
Saul's contribution to Penguin Canada's Extraordinary Canadians series, of which he serves as general editor, is a double biography of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin. In it, he argues that Canada did not begin in 1867, but that in fact its foundations were laid by LaFontaine and Baldwin much earlier. The two leaders of Lower and Upper Canada, respectively, worked together after the 1841 Union to lead a reformist movement for responsible government run by elected citizens instead of a colonial governor. But it was during the "Great Ministry" of 1848–51 that the two politicians implemented laws that Saul argues created a more equitable country. They revamped judicial institutions, created a public education system, made bilingualism official, designed a network of public roads, began a public postal system, and reformed municipal governance. Faced with opposition, and even violence, Saul contends that the two men united behind a set of principles and programs that formed modern Canada.
The Comeback
His most recent work, The Comeback: How Aboriginals Are Reclaiming Power and Influence (2014) was a shortlisted nominee for the 2015 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. The "comeback" that Saul identifies in this new book emphasizes the strides that Aboriginal people have made in reversing years of population decline and "cultural oppression". As recently as seventy years ago it was widely assumed that Indians were disappearing, the victims of disease, starvation and their own ineptitude for modern civilization. Canada's Aboriginal population is growing in numbers and its cultural and political self-confidence seems boundless. In Saul's view, this observation, while obvious to anyone who studies the history, nonetheless needs hammering home. We are far more used to hearing about the dismal lives of Aboriginal people—their family dysfunction, their crime rates, their impoverished communities—than we are to being told they are a success story. Today's Aboriginal population, for all the problems that afflict it, has overcome incredible disadvantages to achieve what Saul calls "a position of power, influence and civilizational creativity" in Canadian society.
Other non fiction writing Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West (1992)The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense (1994)The Unconscious Civilization (1995)Le Citoyen dans un cul-de-sac?: Anatomie d'une société en crise (1996)Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century (1997)On Equilibrium: Six Qualities of the New Humanism (2001)The John W. Holmes Memorial Lecture (2004)The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World (2005)Joseph Howe and the Battle for Freedom of Speech (2006)A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada (2008)Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin (2010)The Comeback (2014)Le Grand Retour (2015) – French edition of The Comeback, translated by Daniel Poliquin
Honours
Saul was made a Companion of the Order of Canada (CC) in 1999. He is also a chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France (1996). His 21 honorary degrees range from McGill University and the University of Ottawa to Herzen University in Saint Petersburg, Russia. On October 16, 2019, he received his latest honorary degree from King's College London.
Ribbon bars of John Ralston Saul
Awards
Italy's Premio Letterario Internazionale, for The Paradise Eater (1990)
Gordon Montador Award, for The Unconscious Civilization (1996)
Governor General's Literary Award for Non-fiction, for The Unconscious Civilization (1996)
Gordon Montador Award, for Reflections of a Siamese Twin (1998)
Pablo Neruda International Presidential Medal of Honour (2004)
Manhae Literary Prize (2010)
Inaugural Gutenburg Galaxy Award for Literature (2011)
Writers' Union of Canada's Freedom to Read Award (2011)
Archives
There is a John Ralston Saul fonds at Library and Archives Canada.
References
External links
Institute for Canadian Citizenship
Interview with Mother Jones, November 9, 2005
John Ralston Saul's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
"Canada's Spiritual Quest", Adbusters magazine
"The prophet of anti-globalism" (interview), The Guardian, June 9, 2005
Good governance as the Key to Gross National Happiness, keynote speech by John Ralston Saul at Rethinking Development (GNH2) in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, June 23, 2005.
Interview with Scott London from the radio series "Insight and Outlook"
Full text and streaming audio and another transcript of Citizenship vs the Reigning Linear Trap, a public lecture given at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, August 29, 1999
Full text and streaming audio and another transcript of Globalisation and Democracy'', a public lecture given at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, January 1999
1947 births
20th-century Canadian philosophers
Alumni of King's College London
Canadian humanists
Canadian male novelists
Canadian political philosophers
Canadian political writers
Canadian viceregal consorts
Companions of the Order of Canada
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers
PEN International
Living people
McGill University alumni
Members of the Order of Ontario
Writers from Ottawa
20th-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers
21st-century Canadian philosophers
20th-century Canadian male writers
Canadian male non-fiction writers | 0.760872 | 0.98209 | 0.747245 |
Japanese values | Japanese values are cultural goals, beliefs and behaviors that are considered important in Japanese culture. From a global perspective, Japanese culture stands out for its higher scores in emancipative values, individualism, and flexibility compared to many other cultures around the world. There is a similar level of emphasis on these values in the cultures of the United States and Japan. However cultures from Western Europe surpass it in these aspects. Overall, Japanese society exhibits unique characteristics influenced by personal connections, consensus building, and a strong sense of community consciousness. These features have deep historical roots and reflect the values ingrained in Japanese society.
Global perspectives
From a global perspective, Japanese culture scores higher on emancipative values (individual freedom and equality between individuals) and individualism than most other cultures, including those from the Middle East and Northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, India and other South Asian countries, Central Asia, South-East Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America and South America.
Cultures from Western Europe score higher than Japanese culture in emancipative values and individualism. There is a similar level of emancipative values and individualism in the cultures of United States and Japan.
According to the theory of flexibility cultures and monumentalist cultures elaborated by social anthropologist Michael Minkov, certain societies emphasize adaptation to change and self-improvement (flexibility cultures) while others prioritize tradition and self-stability (monumentalist cultures). Japanese culture emphasizes flexibility more than most other cultures. Among a sample of 54 national cultures selected from all major regions of the world, Japanese culture ranked first on the flexibility index. The flexibility orientation of cultures is strongly correlated with educational achievement of students on international tests such as PISA and TIMSS.
History of scholarship
The writings of late 19th through early 20th century Western travellers such as Basil Hall Chamberlain, George Trumbull Ladd and Percival Lowell influenced later ideas about Japanese values in both popular and academic discourse.
Ruth Benedict's 1946 book The Chrysanthemum and the Sword was influential in shaping subsequent portraits and stereotypes about Japanese values. In anthropology, the book popularized the distinction between guilt and shame cultures. It portrayed Japanese culture as being based on hierarchies between superiors and subordinates, as well as having an emphasis on interpersonal relationships with close others.
The research culminating in the publication of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword was done during the Second World War when the United States and Japan were on opposite sides of the conflict. This situation influenced the research methodology used, as Benedict had to rely on interviews with a relatively low number of Japanese Americans, as well as on documents from wartime Japan. Because of these methodological problems, the book has been criticised for not distinguishing culture from ideology, as well as for relying on unreliable samples.
In the 1970s Japanese psychoanalyst Takeo Doi published the book The Anatomy of Dependence, which elaborated on the honne–tatemae divide between public expression and private thoughts or feelings. In Japanese mythology, the gods display human emotions, such as love and anger.
Japanese children learn from their earliest days that human fulfillment comes from close association with others. Children learn early to recognize that they are part of an interdependent society, beginning in the family and later extending to larger groups such as neighborhood, school, playground, community, and company.
Dependence on others is a natural part of the human condition; it is viewed negatively only when the social obligations (giri) it creates are too onerous to fulfill, leading to, for example, karoshi (death from overwork) or suicide, which is a topic of great elaboration in Japanese history and culture. However, in the early part of the 21st century, school bullying has become a topic of very great concern.
Education
Japanese adults are more likely to consider self-directness-related traits such as independence, individual responsibility, perseverance and imagination as being important goals in the education of children than are adults from most other cultures. On the other hand, Japanese adults are less likely to value traits such as religious faith or obedience as worthwhile goals for educating children in comparison with adults from other cultures. The degree of importance given by Japanese adults to practical values such as hard work and thrift or civic values like tolerance and altruism as part of child education is similar with that given by adults from most other cultures.
According to a global study realized by Michael Minkov and his collaborators using samples from 54 countries representing all major world regions, the advice that adults give (in the case they are parents) or would give (in the case they have no children) to their children is in accordance to the general features of the culture in which they live. Like cultural differences in values and norms related to other domains, cultural differences about child education goals form two indexes called individualism versus collectivism and flexibility versus monumentalism. Japanese adults consider individualistic traits as being more important in child education than parents from other cultures, except from Western Europe. Flexibility traits such as adaptation to changing circumstances and self-improvement were more likely to be selected as important by Japanese adults than by adults from any other culture included in the study.
Japan emphasizes independence, accountability, determination, and creativity in education. The Japanese value these traits more than other cultures when evaluating child education goals. Religious faith and obedience are less stressed in Japanese child education. Self-reliance and personal growth are stressed in Japanese education (Nemoto, 1999). Michael Minkov and colleagues found that adults' child guidance matches cultural values in 54 countries. Japanese adults value individualism and flexibility over collectivism and monumentalism in education. They value individual growth and adaptability. Western Europe and Japan value individual child education. Nemoto (1999) claims Japan values adaptability and self-improvement more than other cultures. Foreign educators say Japanese schools perform well in global math and science tests. Every Japanese child must attend elementary and middle school, regardless of family income. These schools receive large government tuition subsidies. Public elementary, middle, and high schools are cheaper than private (Nemoto, 1999).
Community
Community and Leadership
Certain distinctive features of Japanese politics can be identified, although this is not to say that they are unique to Japan. Rather, qualities also found in other political systems, such as the importance of personal connections and consensus building, played an extraordinarily important role in Japanese politics. These features have deep historical roots and reflect values that pervade the society as a whole.
In both the feudal and the modern eras, a major problem for Japanese political leaders has been reconciling the goals of community survival and the welfare and self-respect of individuals in an environment of extreme scarcity. In recent centuries, Japan lacked the natural resources and space to accommodate its population comfortably. With the exception of Hokkaidō and colonial territories in Asia between 1895 and 1945, there was no "frontier" to absorb excess people. One solution was to ignore the welfare of large sectors of the population (peasants and workers) and to use force when they expressed their discontent. Such coercive measures, common during both the Tokugawa and the World War II periods, largely, although not entirely, disappeared in the postwar "welfare state" (for example, farmers were evicted from their land to construct the New Tokyo International Airport at Narita Sanrizuka in the 1970s after long negotiations had failed). But non-coercive, or mostly non-coercive, methods of securing popular compliance had developed to an extraordinary degree in social and political life.
The most important such method is the promotion of a strong sense of community consciousness and group solidarity. Japanese individuals are often characterized as having a strong sense of self-sacrifice and community dedication (see Japanese values). Historians and sociologists note that both traditional and modern Japanese communities—the buraku, the feudal domain with its retinue of samurai, the large commercial houses found in Edo (the future Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto before 1868, and modern corporations and bureaucracies with their cohorts of lifetime employees—have striven to be all-inclusive. Such groups serve a variety of functions for the individual, providing not only income and sustenance but also emotional support and individual identity. Japanese called such community inclusiveness the "octopus-pot way of life" (takotsubo seikatsu). Large pots with narrow openings at the top are used by fishermen to capture octopuses, and the term is used to refer to people so wrapped up in their particular social group that they cannot see the world outside its confines.
The "group consciousness" model of Japanese social life, however, has been overstressed at times. A person may often go along with group demands because they serve self-interest in the long run (for example, political contributions may help secure future favors from those in office). Historically, democratic concepts of individual rights and limited government have been deeply appealing because they, too, promise protection of individual autonomy. Despite very different ethical and political traditions, the Japanese people were very receptive to imported liberal ideas both before and after 1945. John Stuart Mill's essay On Liberty, for example, was extremely popular during the Meiji era.
Because individual, usually passive, resistance to group demands occurs, Japanese leaders have found the creation of a strong community sense to be a difficult and time-consuming task. Harmony (wa), that most prized social value, is not easily attained. One mechanism for achieving wa is the use of rituals to develop a psychological sense of group identity. Political parties and factions, the offices of national and local governments, businesses, university departments, research groups, alumni associations, and other groups sponsor frequent ceremonies and more informal parties for this purpose. A group's history and identity are carefully constructed through the use of songs and symbols (often resembling, in miniature, the Meiji government's creation of symbols of kokutai in the late nineteenth century). Often, an organization's founder, especially if deceased, is regarded as something of a Confucian sage or a Shinto kami (deity). Group members, however, may find that pervasive ritualism allows them to "go through the motions" (such as the chanting of banzai! (ten thousand years!) at the end of political rallies, without having to make a deeper commitment to the group.
A second mechanism to promote community solidarity is the building of hierarchical relationships. In this practice, the influence of premodern ethics is readily apparent. In what anthropologist Nakane Chie calls Japan's "vertical society," human relationships are defined in terms of inequality, and people relate to each other as superiors and inferiors along a minutely differentiated gradient of social status, not only within bureaucratic organizations, where it might be expected, but also in academic, artistic, and, especially, political worlds.
Hierarchy expresses itself along two dimensions: first, an internal community differentiation of rank by seniority, education, and occupational status; and second, the distinction between "insiders" and "outsiders," between members and nonmembers of the community, along with the ranking of whole groups or communities along a vertical continuum. Although internal hierarchy can cause alienation as inferiors chafe under the authority of their superiors, the external kind of hierarchy tends to strengthen group cohesion as individual members work to improve their group's relative ranking. The Japanese nation as a whole has been viewed as a single group by its people in relation to other nations. Intense nationalism has frequently been a manifestation of group members' desire to "catch up and overtake" the advanced ("superior") nations of the West, while the rights of non-Western nations, like China or Korea, often viewed as "inferior," have been ignored.
Like group consciousness, however, the theme of hierarchy has been overstressed. Contemporary Japanese politics show a strong consciousness of equality, and even traditional communities, such as rural villages, were often egalitarian rather than hierarchical. Citizens' movements of the 1960s and 1970s differed from older political organizations in their commitment to promoting intragroup democracy. In addressing the nation, Emperor Akihito used colloquial Japanese terms that stressed equality, rather than the formal, hierarchy-laden language of his predecessors.
Two mechanisms for lessening the hierarchy-generated tensions are the seniority principle and early retirement. As men or women grow older, gaining seniority within an organization, they acquire authority and higher status. The seniority principle is reinforced by the traditional reluctance to place younger persons in positions of authority over older ones. The institution of early retirement (top-ranked businesspeople and bureaucrats commonly retired at age fifty-five or sixty) helps to the keep the promotion of others smooth and predictable. The system also helps to enable talented individuals to succeed to the most responsible positions and prevents a small group of older persons (what the Japanese call "one-man leaders") from monopolizing leadership positions and imposing increasingly outmoded ideas on the organization. Elite retirees, however, often continue to wield influence as advisers and usually pursue second careers in organizations affiliated with the one from which they retired. (see Elderly people in Japan)
The circulation of elites that results from the seniority and early retirement principles ensures that everyone within the upper ranks of the hierarchy has a turn at occupying a high-status position, such as a cabinet post in the national government. This principle, in turn, enables people to reward their followers. There has been, for example, a regular turnover of LDP leaders. No individual has served as party president (and prime minister) longer than Sato Eisaku, the incumbent between 1964 and 1972. The average tenure of party presidents / prime ministers between 1964 and 1987 was slightly more than three years. Frequent cabinet reshuffling meant that the average tenure of other cabinet ministers in the same period was a little less than a year. Japan has not been beset with leaders in their seventies and eighties unwilling to give up their powerful positions.
Another mechanism reducing intragroup tensions is the strong personal, rather than legalistic or ideological, ties between superior and subordinate. These ties are typically characterized in terms of fictive familial relationships, analogous to the bonds between parents and children (the oyabun-kobun relationship). The ideal leader is viewed as a paternalistic one, with a warm and personal concern for the welfare of his followers. For followers, loyalty is both morally prescribed and emotionally sustained by the system. In the political world, oyabun-kobun relationships are pervasive despite the formal commitment to universalistic, democratic values. At the same time, younger people find such relationships less appealing than their elders. The so-called shinjinrui (new human beings), born in the affluent 1960s and 1970s, were often criticized by older Japanese for being self-absorbed, egoistic, and "cool." The younger generation is inclined to view with disdain the emotional expression of paternalistic ties, such as in the 1989 television broadcasts of former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei's supporters weeping profusely over his political retirement.
Consensus building
The community is often demanding, but it is also fragile, because social ties are sustained not only through legal norms and common self-interest but also through the affective patron-client relationship. Open conflict poses a danger to the survival of this sort of community, and thus policy making requires elaborate consultation and consensus building, usually involving all the parties concerned in order to maintain wa (和), the notion of harmony within a group. According to political scientist Lewis Austin, "everyone must be consulted informally, everyone must be heard, but not in such a way that the hearing of different opinions develops into opposition. The leader and his assistants `harmonize opinion'... in advance, using go-betweens to avert the confrontation of opposing forces." After a preliminary agreement among all has been reached, a formal meeting is held in which the agreed-upon policy will be proposed and adopted.
This process is called nemawashi (root trimming or binding), evoking the image of a gardener preparing a tree or shrub for transplanting, that is, a change in policy. Austin points out that a common Japanese verb meaning "to decide" (matomeru) literally means to gather or bring together. Decisions are "the sum of the contributions of all." Although consensus building is, for leaders, a time-consuming and emotionally exhausting process, it is necessary not only to promote group goals but also to respect and protect individual autonomy. In fact, the process represents reconciliation of the two. In the political system as a whole, most groups play some role in the nemawashi process. Exceptions are those groups or individuals, such as Koreans or other minority groups, who are viewed as outsiders.
Political leaders have to maintain solidarity and harmony within a single group and also secure the cooperation of different groups who are often in bitter conflict. Takotsubo seikatsu can promote destructive sectionalism. During World War II, rivalry between the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy was so intense that it was nearly impossible to coordinate their strategic operations. In the postwar political system, prime ministers have often been unable to persuade different ministries, all self-sufficient and intensely jealous "kingdoms," to go along with reforms in such areas as trade liberalization. Observers such as journalist Karel van Wolferen, have concluded that Japan's political system is empty at the center, lacking real leadership or a locus of responsibility: "Statecraft in Japan is quite different from that in the rest of Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For centuries it has entailed the preservation of a careful balance of semiautonomous groups that share power... These semiautonomous components, each endowed with great discretionary powers, are not represented in one central ruling body." This view is probably exaggerated. Leadership in other countries, including the United States, has been paralyzed from time to time by powerful interest groups, and some policies in Japan requiring decisive leadership, such as the creation of social welfare and energy conservation policies in the 1970s and the privatization of state enterprises in the 1980s, have been reasonably successful.
Japanese Gender Role Expectations and Attitudes
Japanese gender roles have changed due to history and expectations. Due to gender roles' nuance, young Japanese women's experiences reveal societal attitudes, expectations, and gender inequality (Belarmino & Roberts, 2019).
History shapes Japanese expectations. Housework was done by women, while men worked. Although changed, Confucian and patriarchal expectations still affect gender dynamics (Belarmino & Roberts, 2019).
To balance Confucian values with a modernizing economy, the "good wife and wise mother" archetype replaced them in Japanese gender roles. Before post-World War II Western influence, women were mostly homemakers and childrearing with little political or higher education (Belarmino & Roberts, 2019).
A qualitative study of college-aged Japanese women reveals their values and customs. Interviewees thought Japanese women married, raised children, and supported men. Women identified with societal femininity and beauty standards through pressure. Japanese families and society expect women to marry and have children. Women are expected to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. While some valued education and work, society valued marriage and family more. Interpreting Japanese gender norms requires historical and contemporary contexts. Japanese women face gender inequality despite progress, requiring social discourse and reforms (Belarmino & Roberts, 2019).
See also
Japanese political values
Shame society
Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose
References
– Library of Congress Country Studies—see online text on "Values and Beliefs".
Further reading
d'Andrade, Roy. A study of personal and cultural values: American, Japanese, and Vietnamese (Springer, 2008) online.
Ayal, Eliezer B. "Value systems and economic development in Japan and Thailand." Journal of Social Issues 19.1 (1963): 35-51. doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1963.tb00429.x
Bae, Kyuhan, and Chinsung Chung. "Cultural values and work attitudes of Korean industrial workers in comparison with those of the United States and Japan." Work and Occupations 24.1 (1997): 80-96. online
Bellah, Robert N. Tokugawa Religion: The Values of Pre-Industrial Japan (The Free Press, 1957); online copy; see also online book review
Caudill, William, and Harry A. Scarr. "Japanese value orientations and culture change." Ethnology 1.1 (1962): 53- 91. online
Dolan, Ronald E., and Robert L. Worden, ed. "Values and Beliefs" in Japan: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress, 1994), online.
England, George W., and Raymond Lee. "The relationship between managerial values and managerial success in the United States, Japan, India, and Australia." Journal of Applied Psychology 59.4 (1974): 411+ doi.org/10.1037/h0037320
Hofstede, G. Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values (Sage, 1980)
Yeh, Ryh-song. "On Hofstede's treatment of Chinese and Japanese values." Asia Pacific Journal of Management 6 (1988): 149-160. online
Inglehart, Ronald. "Changing values in Japan and the West." Comparative Political Studies 14.4 (1982): 445-479. online
Flanagan, Scott C. "Changing values in advanced industrial societies: Inglehart's silent revolution from the perspective of Japanese findings." Comparative Political Studies 14.4 (1982): 403-444. online
Kaynak, Erdener, and Yasutaka Sai. The eight core values of the Japanese businessman: Toward an understanding of Japanese management (Routledge, 2016).
Kumagai, Fumie, and Donna J. Keyser. Unmasking Japan today: The impact of traditional values on modern Japanese society (Greenwood, 1996) online.
Makoto, A. T. O. H. "Very low fertility in Japan and value change hypotheses." Age 25 (2001): 29+ online.
Ralston, David A., et al. "The impact of natural culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China." Journal of international business studies 28 (1997): 177-207. online
Retherford, Robert D., Naohiro Ogawa, and Satomi Sakamoto. "Values and fertility change in Japan." Population studies 50.1 (1996): 5-25. online
Roesgaard, Marie Højlund. Moral Education in Japan: Values in a global context (Taylor & Francis, 2016) online.
Sawada, Janine Anderson. Confucian values and popular Zen: Sekimon Shingaku in eighteenth century Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 1993) online
Shigaki, Irene S. "Child care practices in Japan and the United States: How do they reflect cultural values in young children?" Young Children (1983): 13-24. online
Sun, Tao, Marty Horn, and Dennis Merritt. "Values and lifestyles of individualists and collectivists: a study on Chinese, Japanese, British and US consumers." Journal of consumer marketing (2004) 21#5, pp. 318–331. doi.org/10.1108/07363760410549140
Zhang, Yan Bing, et al. "Harmony, hierarchy and conservatism: A cross-cultural comparison of Confucian values in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan." Communication research reports 22.2 (2005): 107-115. online
External links
Chat and Consensus in the Japanese Traditional Meeting By Kazuo Sato | 0.762293 | 0.980254 | 0.747241 |
Structural approach | Structural approach is an approach in the study of language that emphasizes the examination of language in very detailed manner.This strategy, which is considered a traditional approach, examines language products such as sounds, morphemes, words, sentences, and vocabulary, among others. It also facilitates the process of learning language on the basis of structures.
Background
The structural approach to the study of language is traced back to the works of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. For Saussure, language must be evaluated by looking at its present state as opposed to its analysis based on its history or how language changed over time. He argued that language functioned as a communicative system consisted of verbal as well as written symbols and that language is organic since it is the result of decisions made by individual speakers. Consequent works on the structuralist approach used Saussure's focus not on particular languages but on language as a whole and its deep structures. As an approach to the examination of the language system, the Saussurian conceptualization and its adherents are concerned with the underlying structural rules and these produce meanings. This evolved into the modern conceptualization that feature four basic principles: 1) language is essentially speech; 2) mastery of structures forms the core of the learning process; 3) structures possess the characteristic of a logical sequence, hence the language structures are graded; and, 4) full grading of structures is a basic requirement.
Concept
The structural approach is a technique wherein the learner masters the pattern of sentence. Structures are the different arrangements of words in one accepted style or the other. It includes various modes in which clauses, phrases or word might be used. It is based on the assumptions that language can be best learnt through a scientific selection and grading of the structures or patterns of sentences and vocabulary.
Definition
This approach as Kripa K. Gautam states "is based on the belief that language consists of 'structures' and that the mastery of these structures is more important than the acquisition of vocabulary. Since structure is what is important and unique about a language, early practice should focus on mastery of phonological and grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary." Kulkarni "emphasizes the teaching and learning of the basic items or materials that constitute the framework of language."
Whereas according to Yardi 'structures' as an "internal ordering of linguistic item", and further adds that structures may be defined as "device that we use to make signal, to convey meanings, and indicate relationship."
Objectives
According to Menon and Patel the objectives of the new structural approach are as follows:-
To lay the foundation of English by establishing through drill and repetition about 275 graded structures.
To enable the children to attain mastery over an essential vocabulary of about 3000 root words for active use.
To correlate the teaching of grammar and composition with the reading lesson.
To teach the four fundamental skills, namely understanding, speaking, reading and writing in the order names.
To lay proper emphasis on the aural- oral approach, activity methods and the condemnation of formal grammar for its own sake.
Main features of structural approach
The structural approach makes use of the following features for teaching the language:
Word order – Word order or the pattern of form is very important in Language for e.g.:
a) Jo broke his toy
b) The toy broke Jo
sentence a) Jo broke his toy – makes proper sense. it shows the arrangement or pattern of words.
The presence of function words:
Function words help in modifying meaning considered the following sentence -
for e.g.:
a) I ate an ice cream.
b) I'm eating an ice cream.
c) I will eat an ice cream.
In the above given example, we can see the modified meaning.
the use of few Inflections:
By adding an affix, the base form of the word can be altered.e.g.:
a) In verbs: I play; he plays; I am playing ; I played
b) In nouns; One boy; two boys; one man
c) In adjective and adverb: Great – Greater – Greatest
Principles of the structural approach
Prof. F.G.French has entitled the following principles underlying the structural approach:
Importance of Framing Language Habits.
Importance of Speech – The structural approach is based on the principle of effective used of speech.
Importance pupil's activity.
The Principles of Oral work – Oral work is the basis and all the rest are built up from it.
Each language as its own Grammar – Instead of teaching Grammar of the target language and its structures are to be taught.
Creation of different types of meaningful situations by dramatization, facial expression, actions etc. Is stressed upon.
One item of language is taught at one time.
Mastery of structures is emphasized.
Selection of structures
How should a teacher select the structure to teach the learner. This involves the selection of structures. In the structural approach mainly the focus will be on structures. The following principles should be kept in mind while selecting structures :
Usefulness – the structures, which are more frequent in use should be introduced first
Productivity – some if the structures are productive, other structures can be built upon. for e.g.: we have two sentence pattern- a) Mr. Roy is here b) Here is Mr.Roy
the former pattern is productive because we can frame many sentences on the same pattern like – He is there etc.
Simplicity – The simplicity of the structure depends upon the form and the meaning.
Teach-ability – Items easy from teaching point of view.
Frequency – The structures must be selected with a high frequency of occurrence.
Range – to know, in how many contexts it is applicable
Coverage – A word covering a number of meanings For e.g.: Meals
Learnabiliy – teacher should focus on the items that are easy for students to learn should be taken first.
Meaning of language
Language is the most powerful and central tool in achieving our educational goal. When it comes for examining language, words are focal points and we begin our investigation of language structure by looking at words from four of the following perspectives:
Their parts should be meaningful.
Their sounds of syllables that make them up.
The principles that organize them into phrases and sentences.
The semantic relationships that link them in sets.
Its only through language, a person tries to express is thought, feelings, moods, aspiration which influence the ultimate and deepest foundation of the society.
Importance of language in the modern world
English plays an important role in our present Educational system and also in our National life. It has become one of the common language and a person one who is fluent in speaking English can be a world citizen. India is a multi-lingual country where there are many languages spoken in different parts of our country. English language helps to communicate with ease . Through structural approach we can learn English or any other language fluently. Structural approach teaches to learn sentences in a systematic manner which involves the structure, sequencing and pattern arrangement of a words to make a proper and complete sentences with meaning. Today the importance of English cannot be overestimated. It is a global language and it is the language of opportunities for the millions of youth around the world.
Maximum use of the foreign language
The emphasis by structural approach on the teaching of the graded structures of a language means that the classroom should have the maximum foreign language environment. This is characteristic feature in structural approach. Where grammar-translation method is used, the classroom is characterized by two factors: 1) practice in reading and writing and 2) maximum use of mother-tongue. In reaction to these practices structural approach advocates methods which would include – a) practice in the speech-skills, not because reading and writing should be neglected (as would be the case in the direct method), but that the teaching of the graded structures can be better undertaken through aural-oral work.
Gradation of structure
Structural approach upholds the teaching of English as a foreign language through the teaching of the structures of the language. The questions which structural approach attempts to answer primarily are: (1) should the structural items and sentence patterns to be graded? (2) how shall they be graded? and (3) what should be the fundamental principles of grading the structural items? through gradation of structure, we can get answers for the following Questions.
Gradation means grouping synonyms. In structural approach, gradation of structure can be taught by using the following patterns that should be taught at early stages:
Grouping :-
a) Phonetic grouping – group according to sound. for example: cat, rat, mat etc.
b) Lexical grouping – grouping according to words used in same situation.
c) grammatical grouping – pattern of sentences similar should be taught together.
d) Semantic grouping – Words having similar meaning grouped together.
e) Structure Grouping – selecting items that are fit for each other.
2. Sequencing :-
a) Grammatical sequencing – it will tell that it follows which structure. e.g.: I was watching a movie. I was watching a movie with my friend.
b) Semantic sequencing – A word having different meanings e.g.: The ball is there, under the bed. There are many balls in the bag.
c) Lexical sequencing – It Tells which word follows which e.g.: sit-stand, come-go, high-low
3. Types of patterns of sentences:
there are different patterns of sentence. as follows below:
a) Two- part patterns like She goes (she / goes)
b) Three-part patterns e.g.: He is reading (He / is / reading)
c) Four-part patterns e.g.: Geetha went to school (Geetha/went/to/school)
d) Patterns beginning with 'there', 'wh' type question e.g.: There are five baskets in the rack. What is your name?
e) Patterns of Command and Request e.g.: come here, sit down, stand up etc.
f) Formal pattern – like Good Morning, Thank You etc.
4. Sentence patterns
The structures may have the following pattern like:
a) Statement of Fact – mention simple facts e.g.: Pinky gets up at 6 a.m. She takes bath. she eats her breakfast. she goes to school. (subject-verb-object pattern)
b) Imperative sentence – Question form verb-subject-object pattern e.g.: Did Pinky come to school today? has she taken her breakfast ?
c) Imperative sentence (imply compliance) subject remains hidden. e.g.: (Pinky) Come here, Close the door, Bring your book etc.
5. Phrase patterns
Sentence using phases are called Phrase pattern. e.g.: That book is 'on the table'
References
Further reading
Philosophy of language
Language | 0.761014 | 0.981863 | 0.747211 |
Scientific community | The scientific community is a diverse network of interacting scientists. It includes many "sub-communities" working on particular scientific fields, and within particular institutions; interdisciplinary and cross-institutional activities are also significant. Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method. Peer review, through discussion and debate within journals and conferences, assists in this objectivity by maintaining the quality of research methodology and interpretation of results.
History of scientific communities
The eighteenth century had some societies made up of men who studied nature, also known as natural philosophers and natural historians, which included even amateurs. As such these societies were more like local clubs and groups with diverse interests than actual scientific communities, which usually had interests on specialized disciplines. Though there were a few older societies of men who studied nature such as the Royal Society of London, the concept of scientific communities emerged in the second half of the 19th century, not before, because it was in this century that the language of modern science emerged, the professionalization of science occurred, specialized institutions were created, and the specialization of scientific disciplines and fields occurred.
For instance, the term scientist was first coined by the naturalist-theologian William Whewell in 1834 and the wider acceptance of the term along with the growth of specialized societies allowed for researchers to see themselves as a part of a wider imagined community, similar to the concept of nationhood.
Membership, status and interactions
Membership in the community is generally, but not exclusively, a function of education, employment status, research activity and institutional affiliation. Status within the community is highly correlated with publication record, and also depends on the status within the institution and the status of the institution. Researchers can hold roles of different degrees of influence inside the scientific community. Researchers of a stronger influence can act as mentors for early career researchers and steer the direction of research in the community like agenda setters.
Scientists are usually trained in academia through universities. As such, degrees in the relevant scientific sub-disciplines are often considered prerequisites in the relevant community. In particular, the PhD with its research requirements functions as a marker of being an important integrator into the community, though continued membership is dependent on maintaining connections to other researchers through publication, technical contributions, and conferences. After obtaining a PhD an academic scientist may continue through being on an academic position, receiving a post-doctoral fellowships and onto professorships. Other scientists make contributions to the scientific community in alternate ways such as in industry, education, think tanks, or the government.
Members of the same community do not need to work together. Communication between the members is established by disseminating research work and hypotheses through articles in peer reviewed journals, or by attending conferences where new research is presented and ideas exchanged and discussed. There are also many informal methods of communication of scientific work and results as well. And many in a coherent community may actually not communicate all of their work with one another, for various professional reasons.
Speaking for the scientific community
Unlike in previous centuries when the community of scholars were all members of few learned societies and similar institutions, there are no singular bodies or individuals which can be said today to speak for all science or all scientists. This is partly due to the specialized training most scientists receive in very few fields. As a result, many would lack expertise in all the other fields of the sciences. For instance, due to the increasing complexity of information and specialization of scientists, most of the cutting-edge research today is done by well funded groups of scientists, rather than individuals. However, there are still multiple societies and academies in many countries which help consolidate some opinions and research to help guide public discussions on matters of policy and government-funded research. For example, the United States' National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and United Kingdom's Royal Society sometimes act as surrogates when the opinions of the scientific community need to be ascertained by policy makers or the national government, but the statements of the National Academy of Science or the Royal Society are not binding on scientists nor do they necessarily reflect the opinions of every scientist in a given community since membership is often exclusive, their commissions are explicitly focused on serving their governments, and they have never "shown systematic interest in what rank-and-file scientists think about scientific matters". Exclusivity of membership in these types of organizations can be seen in their election processes in which only existing members can officially nominate others for candidacy of membership. It is very unusual for organizations like the National Academy of Science to engage in external research projects since they normally focus on preparing scientific reports for government agencies. An example of how rarely the NAS engages in external and active research can be seen in its struggle to prepare and overcome hurdles, due to its lack of experience in coordinating research grants and major research programs on the environment and health.
Nevertheless, general scientific consensus is a concept which is often referred to when dealing with questions that can be subject to scientific methodology. While the consensus opinion of the community is not always easy to ascertain or fix due to paradigm shifting, generally the standards and utility of the scientific method have tended to ensure, to some degree, that scientists agree on some general corpus of facts explicated by scientific theory while rejecting some ideas which run counter to this realization. The concept of scientific consensus is very important to science pedagogy, the evaluation of new ideas, and research funding. Sometimes it is argued that there is a closed shop bias within the scientific community toward new ideas. Protoscience, fringe science, and pseudoscience have been topics that discuss demarcation problems. In response to this some non-consensus claims skeptical organizations, not research institutions, have devoted considerable amounts of time and money contesting ideas which run counter to general agreement on a particular topic.
Philosophers of science argue over the epistemological limits of such a consensus and some, including Thomas Kuhn, have pointed to the existence of scientific revolutions in the history of science as being an important indication that scientific consensus can, at times, be wrong. Nevertheless, the sheer explanatory power of science in its ability to make accurate and precise predictions and aid in the design and engineering of new technology has ensconced "science" and, by proxy, the opinions of the scientific community as a highly respected form of knowledge both in the academy and in popular culture.
Political controversies
The high regard with which scientific results are held in Western society has caused a number of political controversies over scientific subjects to arise. An alleged conflict thesis proposed in the 19th century between religion and science has been cited by some as representative of a struggle between tradition and substantial change and faith and reason.. A popular example used to support this thesis is when Galileo was tried before the Inquisition concerning the heliocentric model. The persecution began after Pope Urban VIII permitted Galileo to write about the Copernican model. Galileo had used arguments from the Pope and put them in the voice of the simpleton in the work "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" which caused great offense to him. Even though many historians of science have discredited the conflict thesis it still remains a popular belief among many including some scientists. In more recent times, the creation–evolution controversy has resulted in many religious believers in a supernatural creation to challenge some naturalistic assumptions that have been proposed in some of the branches of scientific fields such as evolutionary biology, geology, and astronomy. Although the dichotomy seems to be of a different outlook from a Continental European perspective, it does exist. The Vienna Circle, for instance, had a paramount (i.e. symbolic) influence on the semiotic regime represented by the Scientific Community in Europe.
In the decades following World War II, some were convinced that nuclear power would solve the pending energy crisis by providing energy at low cost. This advocacy led to the construction of many nuclear power plants, but was also accompanied by a global political movement opposed to nuclear power due to safety concerns and associations of the technology with nuclear weapons. Mass protests in the United States and Europe during the 1970s and 1980s along with the disasters of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island led to a decline in nuclear power plant construction.
In the last decades or so, both global warming and stem cells have placed the opinions of the scientific community in the forefront of political debate.
See also
Academic discipline
Cudos
Epistemology
International community
Normal science
Objectivity (philosophy)
Scientific consensus
Scientific communication
Extended peer community
References
Sociologies of science
History and philosophy of science
Alan Chalmers - What is this thing called science
Other articles
Pdf.
Höhle, Ester (2015). From apprentice to agenda-setter: comparative analysis of the influence of contract conditions on roles in the scientific community. Studies in Higher Education 40(8), 1423–1437.
Philosophy of science
Sociology of science
Types of communities | 0.762396 | 0.980053 | 0.747188 |
Universal access to education | Universal access to education is the ability of all people to have equal opportunity in education, regardless of their social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background or physical and mental disabilities. The term is used both in college admission for the middle and lower classes, and in assistive technology for the disabled. Some critics feel that this practice in higher education, as opposed to a strict meritocracy, causes lower academic standards. In order to facilitate the access of education to all, countries have right to education.
Universal access to education encourages a variety of pedagogical approaches to accomplish the dissemination of knowledge across the diversity of social, cultural, economic, national and biological backgrounds. Initially developed with the theme of equal opportunity access and inclusion of students with learning or physical and mental disabilities, the themes governing universal access to education have now expanded across all forms of ability and diversity. However, as the definition of diversity is within itself a broad amalgamation, teachers exercising universal access will continually face challenges and incorporate adjustments in their lesson plan to foster themes of equal opportunity of education.
As universal access continues to be incorporated into the U.S. education system, professors and instructors at the college level are required (in some instances by law) to rethink methods of facilitating universal access in their classrooms. Universal access to college education may involve the provision of a variety of different assessment methods of learning and retention. For example, in order to determine how much of the material was learned, a professor may enlist multiple methods of assessment. Methods of assessment may include a comprehensive exam, unit exams, portfolios, research papers, literature reviews, an oral exam or homework assignments. Providing a variety of ways to assess the extent of learning and retention will help identify the gaps in universal access and may also elucidate the ways to improve universal access.
As part of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Universal Education for All (EFA) children were adopted according to the United Nations in 1989. The limitation of education existed for students living with disabilities despite international declarations.
Non-discrimination and equality in education
Human rights are internationally recognized as universal rights, therefore meaning it applies to everyone equally and without discrimination. However, a significant number of individuals miss out on education due to discrimination preventing access to education.
Discrimination occurs most prominently in terms of accessing education. For example, girls can face gender-based barriers such as child marriage, pregnancy, and gender-based violence which often prevent them from going to school or contribute to them dropping-out of school. People with disabilities often face literal accessibility issues, such as a lack of ramps or insufficient school transportation, making it more difficult to get to school. Migrants often face administrative barriers that prevent them from enrolling, effectively barring them from education systems.
Girls are dropped out of school to assist their families with domestic labour. Due to limited resources, sons are sent to school rather than girls.. Uniforms, tuition fees, textbooks, teacher salaries and school maintenance are part of hindrances to education. Poverty is a significant barrier accessing education. In sub-Saharan Africa, children from the richest 20% of households reach ninth grade at eleven times the rate of those from the poorest 40% of households.
However, discrimination also occurs within education systems when certain groups receiving an inferior quality of education compared with others, for instance, the quality of education in urban schools tends to be higher than that found in rural areas.
Discrimination also happens after education where different groups of people are less likely to draw the same benefits from their schooling. For example, educated boys tend to leave school with higher wage potential than equally educated girls.
Non-discrimination and equality provisions found in international human rights law (IHRL) exist to ensure that the principle that international human rights are universal is applied in practice. Non-discrimination and equality are not abstract concepts under international human rights law (IHRL). They are elaborated human rights that have been developed over decades to address the discrimination that people face daily. Particularly education where the rights to non-discrimination and equality have been applied to the right to education across numerous human rights treaties, including one dedicated to the issue, known as UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education.
Despite the strength of non-discrimination and equality law, eliminating discrimination and inequalities is a challenge that individual states and the international community face. This was acknowledged in 2015 when the international community vowed to ‘leave no one behind’.
International and regional human rights treaties apply the rights to non-discrimination and equality to the right to education of specific marginalised groups. Marginalized groups are those who have suffered prolonged and historical discrimination, usually, but not exclusively, on the basis of identity (gender, for example), characteristics (ethnicity, race), or circumstance (refugees, migrants, internally displaced persons). Marginalized groups are very likely to be subject to multiple, compound, or intersectional forms of discrimination.
Examples of marginalised groups include:
girls and women
national, ethnic, and linguistic minorities
people with disabilities
indigenous people
migrants
refugees
asylum-seekers
stateless persons
internally displaced persons (IDPs)
persons in detention / persons deprived of liberty
people living in poverty
people living in rural areas
people affected by HIV
people affected by albinism
LGBTQI
older people and others
pregnant girls and adolescent mothers
people living in countries or areas affected by armed conflict
Access to education in racial minorities
In the context of post-secondary education, there exists a lack of access to education that disproportionately affects minority students. The number of students who pursue higher education heavily relies on the number of students that graduate from high school. Since the late 1970s, the rate in which young adults between the ages of 25 and 29 years old have graduated from high school and received a diploma or the equivalent has stagnated between 85 and 88 percent. In terms of race, there is a statistical gap between minority groups’ rates of graduation and white students’ rates of graduation. In 2006, the rate of high school graduation was 93 percent, for Black students was 86 percent, and for Hispanic students was 63 percent.
Although minority college attendance has increased throughout the years, the disparity has remained. In terms of completing high school, in 2010, white (47 percent) and Asian (66 percent) students were more likely to have graduated from high school. In comparison, only 39 percent of Pacific Islanders, 37 percent of Black students, 31 percent of Hispanics, and 28 percent of Native Americans completed high school. This transfers over to the numbers of students in minority groups who have enrolled in college, even though these students have great aspirations to attend college. When examining enrollment numbers, Black (23 percent) and Hispanic (19 percent) students enrolled into and attended 2-year and 4-year universities at lower rates, compared to white (45 percent), Asian (53 percent), and multiracial (37 percent) students. However, Black and Hispanic students are more likely to enroll into 2-year universities.
Causes of disparities
The disparity in access to higher education is primarily due to a difference in college readiness these students experience. College readiness refers to how prepared for higher education students are. Although there are several ways to define it, college readiness involves measuring four aspects of student performance: basic skills, knowledge of certain content areas, grade point averages (GPA), and college knowledge, also referred to as social capital. Basic skills include being able to read, write and think analytically about situations; content areas that students should have knowledge of include English and mathematics. Both aspects are crucial to college readiness because of their real-world application, and if a student is not proficient in these two areas, they are less likely to even pursue university. However, for many minority students they do not meet the basic requirements for colleges and universities.
In terms of GPA and college knowledge, racial disparities exist. Regarding GPA, the gap in school performance between minority and white students is significant. This gap can influence minority students’ aspirations towards attending college, which affects minority enrollment rates. In terms of college knowledge, many minority students do not have access to social capital because of the lack of resources catered to them to ensure their success. There also is a lack of knowledge among minority students about what resources are available, especially because many of them are first-generation students.
Work towards better access
Although racial disparities in college readiness exist, there are several ways to counteract them. One way involves the way that students’ communities support them. Their counselors, teachers, and parents must work with them to ensure that their school records, academic records, and such are accurately conveyed to colleges and universities. Other crucial factors that would contribute to higher rates of minority enrollment include encouraging students through policies and rewards for focusing on information pertaining to college, providing schools with the necessary resources, and cultivating the classroom environment to be encouraging of students’ skills so that they are better prepared for college. Organizations like the National Association for College Admission Counseling should also be more aware of this issue as well as do more to bring more attention to these disparities. Changes also must occur on an institution level for minority students to better succeed.
Programs like the ones developed at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County work towards eliminating disparities in higher education access in minority students. Their programs mostly focus on minorities having better access and getting more involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. One program, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, aids students by addressing the social capital aspect college readiness. This program connects students to financial resources as well as academic and social support, and they also receive research opportunities and connect with on-campus staff members. Other programs like the ACTiVATE program and the Partnerships for Innovation Program have stemmed from the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. These have pushed minority students towards success in accessing and completing post-secondary education, especially in STEM fields. Other programs across the country have also aided minority students in succeeding in higher education.
Access to education by law
In 2009 the House of Indian Parliament and the President of India both signed and approved a bill that would grant free law mandated education for children ages six to fourteen. It was considered a major step towards universal education for all. Muchkund Dubey author of the article “The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 : The Story of Missed Opportunity" discusses and highlights the issues of access, quality of education, financial implication, and discrimination.
In the United States, Brown vs. Board of Education was a landmark decision because it found and declared that, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”. This began the process of desegregation in many schools that had not desegregated yet. The significance of Brown vs. Board was the universal right of all students to attend educational institutions equally rather than using racial segregation to separate students. Jonathan Kozol, author of The Shame of the Nation, talks about how “physical conditions in these newly integrated schools were generally more cheerful…state of mind among the teachers and the children [was] more high-spirited” in the aftermath of desegregation.
Universal access
Universal Access to education is defined as having equal opportunities to take part in any educational system. However, some individuals, groups, or ethnic groups face barriers to equal access. The United States is credited with the current idea of universal access as a concern for handicapped persons. Two international agencies (World Health Organization and World Bank) estimated that around one billion people all over the world have various types of disabilities. Between 93 and 150 million of them are children. Plan International revealed that these kids are less likely to attend school, and if enrolled, they are often separated from their peers. The Global Partnership for Education said approximately 90 percent of children with disabilities from low and middle income nations are out of school. Historically, these students have been excluded from the ordinary education system and referred to special learning schools.
Despite all improvements made, education up to this day is inaccessible to millions of schoolchildren globally. Over 72 million children of primary education age are out of school, and around 759 million adults are uneducated. They do not have the resources for developing the situation of themselves, their families, and their countries. Poverty leads to lack of education. In almost all countries (developing and developed), children face barriers to education as a result of inequalities that emanate from health, gender, and cultural identity like religion, language, and ethnic origin. Factors associated with poverty include unemployment, illiteracy among parents, and ailments increase the possibility of non-schooling and dropout rates. Universal primary education is widely known as a major issue for many nations. The majority of these developing states do not possess the financial resources needed to build schools, provide books and other materials, and recruit, train, and pay teachers. The Sub-Saharan African region is the most affected region in the world as roughly 32 million African children are still uneducated. This is followed by Central and East Asia as well as the Pacific with over 27 million children uneducated. However, observers noted that universal access to education remains an attainable goal by 2030.
See also
Free education
Education For All
Inclusive education
List of countries by literacy rate
One Laptop per Child
Right to education
Universal primary education
Universal basic education
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goal 4
Sources
References
Sociology of education
Affirmative action
Human rights by issue | 0.763193 | 0.979025 | 0.747185 |
Intellectual honesty | Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving characterised by a nonpartisan and honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways:
One's personal beliefs or politics do not interfere with the pursuit of truth;
Relevant facts and information are not purposefully omitted, even when such things may contradict one's hypothesis;
Facts are presented in an unbiased manner and not twisted to give misleading impressions or to support one view over another;
References, or earlier work, are acknowledged where possible, and plagiarism is avoided.
Harvard ethicist Louis M. Guenin describes the "kernel" of intellectual honesty to be "a virtuous disposition to eschew deception when given an incentive for deception".
Academia
In academia, intellectual honesty necessitates that students, academics, and researchers openly disclose the origins of their ideas and give due credit to others in their writing. This fundamental principle serves as a cornerstone for the acquisition and progression of knowledge. As knowledge usually builds upon previous insights, advancements rely on the collaborative efforts of contributors. In scholarly systems, these contributions undergo rigorous evaluation before becoming a basis for further exploration. Upholding intellectual honesty is thought to be crucial to guarantee the transparency and openness of intellectual contributions in order to foster constructive criticism.
Science
Intellectual honesty has been described as part of integrity in scientific research and includes:
ensuring precision in depicting one's contributions to research proposals and reports
upholding impartiality in the process of peer review; fostering a collaborative and supportive atmosphere in scientific interactions, encompassing communication and resource sharing
being forthright about conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest; prioritizing the welfare and safeguarding the rights of human subjects involved in research endeavors
practicing ethical treatment of animals in the course of research activities
adhering to the reciprocal responsibilities existing between investigators and their research teams.
Business
Within the realm of business, intellectual honesty entails basing decisions on factual evidence, consistently pursuing truth in problem-solving, and setting aside personal aspirations. The adoption of intellectual honesty by organizations is thought to foster a culture of ongoing learning and receptiveness to novel ideas. This mindset frequently catalyzes enhancements across the entire organization, particularly when intellectual honesty becomes an integral part of the corporate culture. While psychological safety is sometimes understood a key to business innovation through fostering social cohesion and aiding learning, research has also shown that it can inadvertently hinder intellectual honesty instead of fostering it.
See also
Academic honesty
Conflict of interest
Epistemic feedback
Good faith
Intellectual
List of fallacies
Scientific method
Sophism
Systemic bias
References
Notes
Further reading
External links
Research ethics
Philosophical methodology
Anti-intellectualism | 0.762911 | 0.97933 | 0.747141 |
Morphological analysis (problem-solving) | Morphological analysis or general morphological analysis is a method for exploring possible solutions to a multi-dimensional, non-quantified complex problem. It was developed by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky. General morphology has found use in fields including engineering design, technological forecasting, organizational development and policy analysis.
Overview
General morphology was developed by Fritz Zwicky, the Bulgarian-born, Swiss-national astrophysicist based at the California Institute of Technology. Among others, Zwicky applied morphological analysis to astronomical studies and jet and rocket propulsion systems. As a problem-structuring and problem-solving technique, morphological analysis was designed for multi-dimensional, non-quantifiable problems where causal modelling and simulation do not function well, or at all.
Zwicky developed this approach to address seemingly non-reducible complexity: using the technique of cross-consistency assessment (CCA), the system allows for reduction by identifying the possible solutions that actually exist, eliminating the illogical solution combinations in a grid box rather than reducing the number of variables involved.
Decomposition versus morphological analysis
Problems that involve many governing factors, where most of them cannot be expressed numerically can be well suited for morphological analysis.
The conventional approach is to break a complex system into parts, isolate the parts (dropping the 'trivial' elements) whose contributions are critical to the output and solve the simplified system for desired scenarios. The disadvantage of this method is that many real-world phenomena do not have obviously trivial elements and cannot be simplified.
Morphological analysis works backwards from the output towards the system internals without a simplification step. The system's interactions are fully accounted for in the analysis.
References
Further reading
Duczynski, Guy; dov Bachmann, Sascha; Smith, Matthew; Knight, Charles (August 2023). "Operational and Strategic Progress in Ukraine: Identifying the Condition Changes". Naval Post-Graduate School, Insights, Monterrey. available at: https://nps.edu/web/ecco/global-ecco-insights
See also
Corporate strategy
Futures studies
Influence diagrams
Market research
Morphological box
Scenario analysis
Scenario planning
Socio-technical systems
Stakeholder analysis
Strategic planning
TRIZ
Wicked problem
Morphology
Problem solving methods | 0.762804 | 0.979438 | 0.747119 |
User research | User research focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs and motivations through interviews, surveys, usability evaluations and other forms of feedback methodologies. It is used to understand how people interact with products and evaluate whether design solutions meet their needs. This field of research aims at improving the user experience (UX) of products, services, or processes by incorporating experimental and observational research methods to guide the design, development, and refinement of a product. User research is used to improve a multitude of products like websites, mobile phones, medical devices, banking, government services and many more. It is an iterative process that can be used at anytime during product development and is a core part of user-centered design.
Data from users can be used to identify a problem for which solutions may be proposed. From these proposals, design solutions are prototyped and then tested with the target user group even before launching the product in the market. This process is repeated as many times as necessary. After the product is launched in the market, user research can also be used to understand how to improve it or create a new solution. User research also helps to uncover problems faced by users when they interact with a product and turn them into actionable insights. User research is beneficial in all stages of product development from ideation to market release.
Mike Kuniavsky further notes that it is "the process of understanding the impact of design on an audience." The types of user research you can or should perform will depend on the type of site, system or app you are developing, your timeline, and your environment. Professionals who practice user research often use the job title 'user researcher'. User researchers are becoming very common especially in the digital and service industries, even in the government. User researchers often work alongside designers, engineers, and programmers in all stages of product development.
Purpose
With respect to user research in the field of design, research is typically approached with an empathetic perspective in order to humanize data collected about people. This method can also be referred to a human-centred approach to problem-solving. User researcher aims to uncover the barriers or frustrations users face as they interact with products, services, or systems. A unique facet of user research is the brand of user experience (UX) research which focuses on the feelings, thoughts, and situations users go through as they interact with products, services, and systems. Many businesses focus on creating enjoyable experiences for their users; however, not including users in their development process can result in failed products. Involving users in the development process helps design better products, adapt products to change in behaviors and needs, and design the right products and desirable experiences for the users. User research helps businesses and organizations improve their products and services by helping them better understand:
Who their users are;
What their users are trying to achieve/ what their needs are;
How do their users currently try to do things, and what are the current pain points;
What is the best way to help users achieve their tasks.
There are various benefits to conducting user research more than just designing better products and services. Understanding what people want before releasing products in the market will help save money. Additionally, user research helps to gather data that can help influence stakeholders' decisions based on evidence and not opinions.
Applications
User research is interrelated with the field of design. In many cases, someone working in the field can take on both roles of researcher and designer. Alternatively, these roles may also be separated and teams of designers and researchers must collaborate through their projects. User research is commonly used in:
Software development
User experience design
Types of User Research
There is pure and applied research, user research utilizes applied research to make better products. There are many ways of classifying research, Erika Hall in her book 'Just Enough Research' mentions four ways of classifying user research.
Generative or exploratory research
Generative research or exploratory research is done to understand and define the problems to solve for users in the first place. It can be used during the initial stages of product development to create new solutions or it can be applied to an existing product to identify improvements and enhancements. Interviews, observational studies, secondary research, etc., are some of the common methods used during this phase. These methods are used to answer broad and open questions, where the aim is to identify problems users might be experiencing. Usually, the data collected through generative research must be synthesized in order to formulate the problems to be solved, for whom and why it is important.
Descriptive or explanatory research
Descriptive research or explanatory research helps to define the characteristics of the problem and populations previously identified. It is used to understand the context of the problem and the context in which users have the problem. The methods in this phase can be very similar to the methods used in the generative research phase. However, this phase helps to identify what is the best way to solve a problem as opposed to what problem to solve. During this phase, experts in the problem area are consulted to fill knowledge gaps that will be required to create a solution. This phase is required to avoid making assumptions about the problem or people that might otherwise result in a biased solution. The aim of this phase is to get a good understanding of the problem, to get the right solution ideas.
Evaluative research
Evaluative research is used to test the solution ideas to ensure they work and solve the problems identified. Ideas are usually tested by representatives from the target population. This is an iterative process and can be done on prototype versions of the solution. The commonly used method in this phase is called usability testing and it focuses on measuring if the solution addressed the intended problem. Users can also be asked to provide their subjective opinion about the solution, or they can be given a set of tasks to observe if the solution is intuitive and easy to use. In simple words, evaluative research assess whether the solution fits the problem and whether the right problems were addressed.
Causal research
Causal research typically answers why something is happening. Once the solution is up and running, one can observe how people are using it in real time and understand why it is or isn't used the way the solution was envisioned. One of the common methods used in this phase is A/B testing.
Tools and methods
The user research process follows a traditional iterative design approach that is common to user-centered design and design thinking. User research can be applied anywhere in the design cycle. Typically software projects start conducting user research at the requirement gathering stage to involve users right from the start of the projects. There are various design models that can be used in an organization, they includeA wide range of research methods are used in the field of user research. The Nielsen Norman group has provided a framework to better understand when to use which method, it is helpful to view them along a 3-dimensional framework with the following axes:
Attitudinal vs. behavioral: This distinction is the contrast between what people say and what people do. Attitudinal research is used to study users' perceptions, beliefs, opinions and what they think about a certain product or problem. Whereas, behavioral research measures how people really use a product. Interview studies, focus groups, surveys and diary studies often measure attitudes. Some usability studies that look how people use products can fall under behavioral research. Web analytics and click rates provide a good behavioral measure.
Qualitative vs. quantitative: Qualitative research help generate data by asking users about their attitudes through open ended questions via surveys, interviews, and observing behaviors directly. Quantitative research aims to measure attitudes and behaviors via surveys and analytics. The contrast lies in the ability to analyze data, quantitative research typically use mathematical analysis where the instrument of data collection gathers data that can be coded numerically whereas in qualitative research analysis is not mathematical. Affinity diagraming, thematic analysis, grounded theory, are some commonly used qualitative analysis methods.
Context of use: This describes how participants are using the product in question and whether they are using it in the first place. Products can be used in a natural or near natural setting where there is minimum interference from the researchers and this method provides data with great validity but lacks the ability to ask clarifying questions to users. Scripted use of the product are typically used in lab based or usability studies where the goal is to test or know about very specific aspects of the product. Some exploratory studies like interviews are done when a product does not exist yet or users' perception about a product is gathered when the product in question is not in use.
Qualitative methods
Quantitative methods
Deliverables
User research deliverables helps summarize research and make insights digestible to the audience. There are multiple formats of presenting research deliverables, regardless of the format the deliverable has to be engaging, actionable and cater to the audience. The following are some most common user research deliverables:
Research reports
Personas
Customer/User journey maps
Mental Model diagrams
Wireframes
Storyboards
ResearchOps
In 2018, a group of like-minded professionals in the user research industry called the ResearchOps Community defined a new practice called Research Ops to operationalize user research practice in companies. ResearchOps is similar to DevOps, DesignOps and SalesOps where the goal is to support practitioners by removing some operational tasks from their daily work. The goal of ResearchOps is to enable researchers be efficient in their roles by saving time taken for data collection and processing data for analysis. ResearchOps aims to support researchers in all facets of user research starting from planning, conducting, analyzing, and maintaining user research data. The ResearchOps Community defines it as the people, mechanisms, and strategies that set user research in motion - providing the roles, tools and processes needed to support researchers in delivering and scaling the impact of the craft across an organization. ResearchOps focuses on standardizing research methods across the organization, providing support documentation like scripts, templates, consent forms, etc, to ensure quick application of research, managing participants and recruitment in studies, providing governance, having oversight of research ethics, ensuring research insights are accessible to the organization.
Ethics in User Research
In private companies there are no clear regulations and ethics committee approval when conducting user research, unlike academic research. In 2014, facebook conducted an emotional contagion experiment where they manipulated the newsfeed of 689,000 users by showing either positive or negative content than the average user. The experiment lasted for a week and facebook found out that users who were shown positive posts posted more positive content and the users who were shown negative posts posted more sadder content than previously. This study was criticized because the users were not presented with an informed consent and were unaware that they were a part of the experiment. However, this study seemed to be legal under facebook's terms and conditions because facebook's users relinquish the use of their data for data analysis, testing and research. The criticism was mainly due to the manipulative nature of the study, harm caused to the participants who were shown negative content and a lack of explicit informed consent. Since then, facebook has an Institutional review board (IRB), however, not all studies undergo an ethics approval.
User Researcher often gather and analyze data from their users, however, such activity does not fall under the legal definition of research according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' requirements for common rule (46.102.l). According to them, the legal definition of research is a "systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge". Most of the user research studies do not contribute to generalizable knowledge but companies use the data to improve their products and offerings. Design research organizations like IDEO have compiled a guidebook for conducting ethical design research. Their principles are Respect for users, Responsibility to protect peoples' interests, Honesty in truthful and timely communication. However, there is no official framework or process that exists for ethical approval of user research in companies.
See also
Customer experience
Human factors
Human–computer interaction
Interaction design
Service design
Usability
User experience design
User experience evaluation
User interface
User-centered design
Voice of the customer
Design thinking
References
Customer experience
User interfaces
Market research
Design | 0.760851 | 0.981951 | 0.747118 |
Destabilisation | The word destabilisation (alternatively, destabilization) can be applied to a wide variety of contexts such as attempts to undermine political, military or economic power.
Psychology
In a psychological context, it is used as a technique in brainwashing and abuse to disorient and disarm the victim.
In the context of workplace bullying, destabilisation applied to the victim may involve:
failure to acknowledge good work and value the victim's efforts
allocation of meaningless tasks
removal of areas of responsibility without consultation
repeated reminders of blunders
setting up to fail
shifting of goal posts without telling the victim
persistent attempts to demoralise the victim
Destabilisation could also denote the extreme end of disinhibition syndrome and entail the complete shutdown of an individual's control of emotions, inhibitions, and productive functioning. The condition can be episodic or it could last for months or years, requiring professional care from a practitioner who is familiar with the individual's primary neurological disorder.
In psychology, there is also a process called cognitive destabilisation, which involves being open to conversions and transformations of various kinds. This could be used to counter political destabilisation by presenting a consensual view of the problem.
Other applications
Destabilisation is also used in the feminist context such as the way it is used to change the binary opposition between men and women, particularly how it gives the category 'woman' its meaning. For instance, this is expressed in many feminists' discomfort concerning postmodern theories' challenge to traditional binary oppositions, perceiving it as a subversion of women's attempt to define their own subjecthood. The body of literature on feminism also often invoke the need to destabilise modern theory, particularly the theoretical discourses that claim neutrality but are established from a masculine perspective. These attempts to destabilise modern female constructs have been informed by Jacques Derrida's deconstruction theory, particularly the destabilisation of positions and subjects that have been deemed holistic or authoritative.
In literature, a conceptualization refers to it as an aggression or a kind of attack on the reader to provoke discomfort. In international capital transactions, it is used to denote as a capital movement driven by erroneous forecast, driving the exchange rate away from equilibrium that would be supported by rational speculators whose foresight are correct.
See also
References
Further reading
Deception
Mind control
Psychological abuse
Harassment and bullying | 0.763985 | 0.977922 | 0.747118 |
Reflective listening | Reflective listening is a communication strategy used to better understand a speaker's idea by offering your understanding of their idea back to the speaker in order to confirm that the idea has been understood correctly. It is a more specific strategy than general methods of active listening.
Form of empathy
Reflective listening arose from Carl Rogers's school of client-centered therapy in counseling theory.
It is a practice of expressing genuine understanding in response to a speaker as opposed to word-for-word regurgitation. Reflective listening takes practice. Reflective listening is one of the skills of motivational interviewing, a style of communication that works collaboratively to encourage change. Failure to understand the needs of the person speaking can result in errors in work, such as problems being unresolved, or decisions not being quickly made.
Additional application
Reflective listening has been found to be effective in a therapeutic setting. Subjects receiving reflective listening from a counsellor reported better therapeutic relationships and more disclosure of feelings. There is also an increased chance of recovery.
A qualitative study of students using song lyrics to practice their reflective listening skills suggested that, according to participants, this allowed for a deeper understanding of the emotional content of the practice experience.
Reflective listening in open-ended dialogue
Skilled communicators frequently echo and restate their conversation partner's words, particularly when reacting to emotional narratives or when they are uncertain of the answer. Researchers Justin Dieter, Tian Wang, Arun Tejasvi Chaganty, Gabor Angeli, and Angel X. Chang have presented a new challenge and accompanying dataset designed to enable chatbots to replicate this behavior by echoing and rephrasing user inquiries to convey empathy or acknowledge ignorance. The authors examine the characteristics of effective rephrasing based on qualitative criteria and assess three different response generation models: a rule-based system that is sensitive to syntax, a neural model using a sequence-to-sequence LSTM with attention (S2SA), and an enhanced version of this neural model with a copy mechanism (S2SA+C). Human assessments indicate that both the S2SA+C and rule-based models produce responses that are similar in quality to those generated by humans. Furthermore, the deployment of S2SA+C in a live customer service environment suggests that this task of generating responses is a valuable addition to the capabilities of real-world conversational agents.
See also
Clean language
Focusing (psychotherapy)
Motivational interviewing
References
Further reading
Fisher, Dalmar (1981). Communication in organizations. St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Company.
Katz, Neil H. and John W. Lawyer (1985). Communication and conflict resolution skills. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
Kotzman, Anne (1984). Reflective listening. Kew, Victoria: Institute of Early Childhood Development.
Rogers, Carl (1951). Client-Centered Therapy: its current practice, implications, and theory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
External links
Reflective Listening — One-page summary used by National Health Care for the Homeless Council (currently under construction as of January 12, 2013)
Listening
Counseling
Behavior modification | 0.768737 | 0.971866 | 0.747109 |
Working hypothesis | A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further ongoing research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails. Like all hypotheses, a working hypothesis is constructed as a statement of expectations, which can be linked to deductive, exploratory research in empirical investigation and is often used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research. The term "working" indicates that the hypothesis is subject to change.
History
Use of the phrase "working hypothesis" goes back to at least the 1850s.
Charles Sanders Peirce came to hold that an explanatory hypothesis is not only justifiable as a tentative conclusion by its plausibility (by which he meant its naturalness and economy of explanation), but also justifiable as a starting point by the broader promise that the hypothesis holds for research. This idea of justifying a hypothesis as potentially fruitful (at the level of research method), not merely as plausible (at the level of logical conclusions), is essential for the idea of a working hypothesis, as later elaborated by Peirce's fellow pragmatist John Dewey.
In 1890, and again in 1897, Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin wrote "The method of multiple working hypotheses", in which he advocated the importance of simultaneously evaluating several hypotheses, rejecting those that conflict with available data, and ending with the one hypothesis supported by the data. This stood in contrast to what he called the single ruling theory, which encouraged scientists to find supporting data and not challenge it with difficult tests. The paper is considered a landmark on the scientific method, was an inspiration for the approach called strong inference, and was reprinted in 1965.
Peirce held that, as a matter of research method, an explanatory hypothesis is judged and selected for research because it offers to economize and expedite the process of inquiry, by being testable and by further factors in the economy of hypotheses: low cost, intrinsic value (instinctive naturalness and reasoned likelihood), and relations (caution, breadth, and incomplexity) among hypotheses, inquiries, etc. (as in the game of Twenty Questions). The Century Dictionary Supplement definition of "working hypothesis" reflects that perspective; Peirce may or may not have written it. Peirce seldom used the phrase "working hypothesis," but he once commented about a related kind of a hypothesis that it was "a hypothesis, which like the working hypothesis of a scientific inquiry, we may not believe to be altogether true, but which is useful in enabling us to conceive of what takes place." For Peirce the pragmatist, conceiving pragmatically of something meant conceiving of its effects in their conceivable implications as to informed practice in general including research.
John Dewey used the concept of the working hypothesis as a pivotal feature in his theory of inquiry. Contrary to the principles of verification and falsifiability, used in formal hypothesis testing found within dominant paradigms of 'normal' science, working hypotheses were conceived by Dewey as neither true nor false but "provisional, working means of advancing investigation," which lead to the discovery of other unforeseen but "relevant" facts. Dewey's development of the concept of the working hypothesis emerged from his contextualist epistemology in which absolute truth is unobtainable and replaced by "warranted assertability". Thus, Dewey noted:
The history of science also shows that when hypotheses have been taken to be finally true and hence unquestionable, they have obstructed inquiry and kept science committed to doctrines that later turned out to be invalid.
In Dewey's view, the working hypothesis is generated, not directly as a testable statement of, but instead in order to "direct inquiry into channels in which new material, factual and conceptual, is disclosed, material which is more relevant, more weighted and confirmed, more fruitful, than were the initial facts and conceptions which served as the point of departure".
Abraham Kaplan later described the working hypothesis as "provisional or loosely formatted" theory or constructs.
Design
Working hypotheses are constructed to facilitate inquiry; however, formal hypotheses can often be constructed based on the results of the inquiry, which in turn allows for the design of specific experiments whose data will either support or fail to support the formal hypotheses. In "Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis" Oppenheim and Putnam (1958) argued that unitary science, in which laws from one branch could be equally useful by others, could only be accepted tentatively without further empirical testing. Thus they argued:
We therefore think the assumption that unitary science can be attained through cumulative micro-reduction recommends itself as a working hypothesis. That is, we believe that it is in accord with the standards of reasonable scientific judgment to tentatively accept this hypothesis and to work on the assumption that further progress can be made in this direction.
In "The Working Hypothesis in Social Reform" George Herbert Mead (1899) takes a macro position and applies the notion of a working hypothesis to social reform.
In the social world we must recognize the working hypothesis as the form into which all theories must be cast as completely as in the natural sciences. The highest criterion that we can present is that the hypothesis shall work in the complex of forces into which we introduce it" (p. 369).
Mead (1899) also expresses the tentative or provisional nature of working hypotheses.
Given its success (the working hypothesis), he (the social scientist) may restate his world from this standpoint and get the basis for further investigation that again always takes the form of a problem. The solution of this problem is found over again in the possibility of fitting his hypothetical proposition into the whole within which it arises. And he must recognize that this statement is only a working hypothesis at the best, i.e., he knows that further investigation will show that the former statement of his world is only provisionally true, and must be false from the standpoint of a larger knowledge, as every partial truth is necessarily false over against the fuller knowledge which he will gain later (p. 370).
For Putnam, the working hypothesis represents a practical starting point in the design of an empirical research exploration. A contrasting example of this conception of the working hypothesis is illustrated by the brain-in-a-vat thought experiment. This experiment involves confronting the global skeptic position that we, in fact, are all just brains in vats being stimulated by a mad scientist to believe that our reality is real. Putnam argued that this proposition, however, rests on a "magical theory of reference" in which the existential evidence necessary to validate it is assumed. Thus, the brain-in-a-vat proposition does not make for much of a hypothesis at all since there is no means to verify its truth. It does, however, provide a contrast for what a good working hypothesis would look like: one suited to culling potential existential evidence of the subject at hand.
A more concrete example would be that of conjectures in mathematics – propositions which appear to be true but which are formally unproven. Very often, conjectures will be provisionally accepted as working hypotheses in order to investigate its consequences and formulate conditional proofs.
Materials scientists Hosono et al. (1996) developed a working hypothesis about the nature of optically transparent and electrically conducting amorphous oxides. This exploratory study evaluated the hypothesis's effectiveness using confirming examples (p. 169).
Application
In the field of public administration working hypotheses are used as a conceptual framework for exploratory, applied, empirical research. Research projects that use working hypotheses use a deductive reasoning or logic of inquiry. In other words, the problem and preliminary theory are developed ahead of time and tested using evidence. Working hypotheses (statements of expectation) are flexible and incorporate relational or non-relational statements. They are often used as ways to investigate a problem in a particular city or public agency.
These projects are a type of case study and use multiple methods of evidence collection. The working hypotheses are used as a device to direct evidence collection. As a result, working hypotheses are generally organized using sub-hypotheses, which specify in more detail the kinds of data or evidence needed to support the hypothesis.
See also
References
External links
Working, Null, and Alternative hypotheses
Hypotheses
Philosophy of science | 0.76297 | 0.979211 | 0.747109 |
Recognition-primed decision | Recognition-primed decision (RPD) is a model of how people make quick, effective decisions when faced with complex situations. In this model, the decision maker is assumed to generate a possible course of action, compare it to the constraints imposed by the situation, and select the first course of action that is not rejected. RPD has been described in diverse groups including trauma nurses, fireground commanders, chess players, and stock market traders. It functions well in conditions of time pressure, and in which information is partial and goals poorly defined. The limitations of RPD include the need for extensive experience among decision-makers (in order to correctly recognize the salient features of a problem and model solutions) and the problem of the failure of recognition and modeling in unusual or misidentified circumstances. It appears, as discussed by Gary A. Klein in Sources of Power, to be a valid model for how human decision-makers make decisions.
Overview
The RPD model identifies a reasonable reaction as the first one that is immediately considered. RPD combines two ways of developing a decision; the first is recognizing which course of action makes sense, and the second, evaluating the course of action through imagination to see if the actions resulting from that decision make sense. However, the difference of being experienced or inexperienced plays a major factor in the decision-making processes.
RPD reveals a critical difference between experts and novices when presented with recurring situations. Experienced people will generally be able to come up with a quicker decision because the situation may match a prototypical situation they have encountered before. Novices, lacking this experience, must cycle through different possibilities, and tend to use the first course of action that they believe will work. The inexperienced also have the tendencies of using trial and error through their imagination.
Variations
There are three variations in RPD strategy. In Variation 1, decision makers recognize the situation as typical: a scenario where both the situational detail and the detail of relevant courses of action are known. Variation 1 is therefore essentially an “If… then…” reaction. A given situation will lead to an immediate course of action as a function of the situation's typicality. More experienced decision makers are more likely to have the knowledge of both prototypical situations and established courses of action that is required for an RPD strategy to qualify as Variation 1.
Variation 2 occurs when the decision maker diagnoses an unknown situation to choose from a known selection of courses of action. Variation 2 takes the form of “If (???)... then...,” a phrase which implies the decision maker's specific knowledge of available courses of action but lack of knowledge regarding the parameters of the situation. In order to prevent situational complications and the accrual of misinformation, the decision maker models possible details of the situation carefully and then chooses the most relevant known course of action. Experienced decision makers are more likely to correctly model the situation, and are thus more likely to more quickly choose more appropriate courses of action.
In Variation 3, the decision maker is knowledgeable of the situation but unaware of the proper course of action. The decision maker therefore implements a mental trial and error simulation to develop the most effective course of action. Variation 3 takes the form of “If... then... (???)” wherein the decision maker models outcomes of new or uncommon courses of action. The decision maker will cycle through different courses of action until a course of action appears appropriate to the goals and priorities of the situation. Due to the time constraint fundamental to the RPD model, the decision maker will choose the first course of action which appears appropriate to the situation. Experienced decision makers are likely to develop a viable course of action more quickly because their expert knowledge can rapidly be used to disqualify inappropriate courses of action.
Application
Recognition-primed decision making is highly relevant to the leaders or officers of organizations that are affiliated with emergency services such as fire fighters, search and rescue units, police, and other emergency services. It is applied to both the experienced and the inexperienced, and how they manage their decision making processes. The Recognition-primed decision making model is developed as samples for organizations on how important decisions can affect important situations which may either save lives or take lives. The model developed can be used as a study for organizations to fill in the gaps and to determine which type of RPD variation is more applicable to the organization.
See also
Decision theory
Naturalistic decision making
OODA
References
Gary A. Klein, (1998) "Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions", MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 1–30.
Cognition
Imagination
Decision theory | 0.775844 | 0.962893 | 0.747055 |
Community leader | Community leader is a designation, often by secondary sources (particularly in the media), for a person widely perceived to represent a community. A simple way to understand community leadership is to see it as leadership in, for and by the community. Community ‘is frequently based in place and so is local, although it can also represent a community of common interest, purpose or practice’.
Community leaders are not necessarily elected to their positions, and usually have no legal powers, but they are often used by the media and the police as a way of determining the general feeling within a particular community, or acting as a point of liaison between that community and authorities.
Building healthy communities
Community leadership together with knowledge and skills, volunteering, networks and partnerships have been identified as among the five key indicators for stronger communities and civil society
Effective community leadership is increasingly recognised in Australia as elsewhere, as an important contributor to local social development. The leadership approach is based on a premise that individual development enhances community capacity. This is accomplished through training that equips people with the tools and understanding of the decision making process and allows their views to be expressed and incorporated into future development and planning. The acquisition of new skills also enhances effectiveness in addressing issues affecting their communities. It should also strengthen the community's capacity to identify opportunities and address crises in innovative ways.
References
External links
'Leadership Theory: Definitions of Community Leadership
What is a community leader? Are you one?
The Center for Community Leadership
Community building | 0.765283 | 0.976134 | 0.747019 |
Plurilingualism | Plurilingualism is the ability of a person who has competence in more than one language to switch between multiple languages depending on the situation for ease of communication. Plurilingualism is different from code-switching in that plurilingualism refers to the ability of an individual to use multiple languages, while code-switching is the act of using multiple languages together. Plurilinguals practice multiple languages and are able to switch between them when necessary without much difficulty. Although plurilingualism is derived from multilingualism (also referred to as bilingualism), there is a difference between the two. Multilingualism is connected to situations wherein multiple languages exist side-by-side in a society but are utilized separately. In essence, multilingualism is the coexisting knowledge of separate languages while plurilingualism is the interconnected knowledge of multiple languages. In general, plurilinguals have had contact with languages not native to them through educational institutions, however the education system plays only a small role in the linguistic competence of these individuals. Learning a second language is thought to stimulate someone's plurilingualism.
Definition and use
Plurilingualism was first equivalent to multilingualism when referencing plurilingual communities, where multiple languages were spoken in a community. However, a distinction of plurilingualism was necessary to differentiate individual and society. Plurilingualism was used to focus on the individual as the agent in the interaction of languages since multilingualism was societal contact of languages.
Plurilingualism does not necessarily mean a person is fluent in multiple languages, it means that a person can interchange more than one language with each other when a situation calls for it. A person is considered competent in plurilingualism when they can speak in one language while understanding another; and can switch between languages when appropriate and/or necessary. According to the Council of Europe, plurilingualism can also be used to mediate conflict between those with no common language. Researchers have even gone so far as to say that being able to understand different dialects and/or regional versions of one language opens the door for someone to be plurilingual. People who are plurilingual tend to have better communicative sensitivity, creativity, and metalinguistic awareness. The knowledge of multiple languages as well as the understanding of different cultures allows for the improved communicative skills. The advantages of plurilingualism seem to become greater the more languages someone learns.
Second language learners
Historically during the formal learning of a second language, it has been common practice to maintain a clear division between the first and second language. The division involves not speaking the first language while learning the second, as well as avoiding any reference to the elements of the first language. By not referencing the first language, instructors hope to develop in their students the same control of the language that native speakers have. This separation, referred to as a hard boundary, contrasts the soft boundary that comes with a plurilinguistic approach. An integrated curriculum, which utilizes the soft boundary, contrasts the different languages that are being taught and highlights the similarities and differences between the two.
Plurilingual education
Plurilingual education has been an increasing form of education in Europe. It was first introduced to the education system in 1996, along with the idea of pluriculturalism. According to the Council of Europe, it is imperative that students learn to be plurilinguists from a young age so that they can be not only be more competitive in an increasingly globalized world, but also be able to integrate within societies when necessary. The founding principles of plurilingual education are the acceptance of cultural diversity, the right to use one's mother tongue as a form of communication, the right to gain experience and knowledge of another language, the acceptance that language is the core of human dialogue. One of the few things plurilingual education promotes is "an awareness of why and how one learns the language one has chosen, a respect for the plurilingualism of others and the value of languages and varieties irrespective of their perceived status in society, and a global integrated approach to langue education in the curriculum."
Plurilingual education developed in the European Union due to the multilingual and multicultural communities throughout the European Union. Other multilingual countries are beginning to use plurilingual education as well. Some communities in Canada are implementing plurilingual education due to the increasingly multilingual society. The Canadian education system is utilizing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as a basis for their plurilingual education. Asian countries that are highly multilingual are also considering plurilingual education. South Asian countries have many mother-tongues, however economies and societies may be based on another language. Plurilingual education benefits the individuals of such countries by gaining functional competency in multiple languages for specific social situations and pluricultural competence.
Plurilingualism and pluricultural competence
Pluricultural competence is a consequence of plurilingualism. Pluricultural competence, on a basic level, is the understanding of several cultures. Rather than learning an additional language and/or culture, it is transforming the current knowledge as a whole. Language and culture are interconnected, by learning a language an understanding of the culture is also gained. However, plurilingualism and pluricultural competence are not separately distinguished understandings of language and culture. As plurilingualism is the complex, hybrid understanding of multiple languages that build to form a larger understanding, pluricultural competence is the same. The ability to comprehend and utilize culture in different situations is a valuable skill for individuals in multilingual societies. Depending on the social factors impacting a plurilingual at a time, their pluricultural competence is able to be altered to best adapt. Being plurilingual and having pluricultural competence allows the speaker to choose words and phrases that best describe the situation, which would not be possible without having a blended context of both languages and cultures.
See also
Interlanguage
Polyglotism
Multilingualism
Code-switching
Translanguaging
Translingualism
References
Language acquisition
Multilingualism | 0.764355 | 0.977229 | 0.74695 |
Evidence-based management | Evidence-based management (EBMgt) is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best evidence in management and decision-making. It is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.
Overview
Evidence-based management entails managerial decisions and organizational practices informed by the best available evidence. As with other evidence-based practice, this is based on the three following principles:
1) published peer-reviewed (often in management or social science journals) research evidence that bears on whether and why a particular management practice works;
2) judgement and experience from contextual management practice, to understand the organization and interpersonal dynamics in a situation and determine the risks and benefits of available actions;
3) the preferences and values of those affected.
While, like its counterparts in medicine, and education EBMgt considers the circumstances and ethical concerns managerial decisions involve, it tends not to make extensive use of behavioral science relevant to effective management practice. Evidence-based management proceeds from the premise that using better, deeper logic and employing facts to the extent possible permits leaders to do their jobs better.
Practice
An important part of EBMgt is educating current and future managers in evidence-based practices. The EBMgt website maintained at Stanford University provides a repository of syllabi, cases, and tools that can inform the teaching of evidence-based management.
Efforts to promote EBMgt face greater challenges than other evidence-based initiatives. In medicine, there is more consensus as to what constitutes best evidence than in the social sciences more generally, and management in particular. Unlike medicine, nursing, education, and law enforcement, "management", alone, is not a regulated profession. Management, however, is a learned discipline applied in practice in all types of professions, and professional disciplines essentially require professional management knowledge. There are no established legal or cultural requirements regarding education or knowledge for an individual to become a manager. Nevertheless, there are professional management organizations that do provide well-vetted and generally accepted professional certifications for managers who have been found knowledgeable, experienced, and tested through management certification examinations. Managers have diverse disciplinary backgrounds. An undergraduate college degree is typically required to enter MBA programs – but not to be a manager. No "regulated" body of shared knowledge characterizes managers, making it unlikely that peer pressure will be exerted to promote the use of evidence by any manager who refuses to do so. Little shared language or terminology exists, making it difficult for managers to hold discussions of evidence or evidence-based practices. For this reason, the adoption of evidence-based practices is likely to be organization-specific, where leaders take the initiative to build an evidence-based culture. Organizations successfully pursuing evidence-based management typically go through cycles of experimentation and redesign of their practices to create an evidence-based culture consistent with their values and mission.
Practices indicative of an evidence-based organizational culture include:
systematic accumulation and analysis of organizational data;
problem-based reading and discussion of research summaries; and,
making decisions informed by best available research and organizational information.
Organizations adopting agile approaches in their product development, often find they need to make changes in other areas to reap the full benefits of the changes (the growing field of business agility and agile transformation). Evidence-based management provides a more structured approach to working through such change in short-cycles; to focus investments in areas that will bring the greatest value soonest; and to provide a framework for evaluating their success.
Some advocates of EBMgt argue that it is more likely to be adopted in knowledge-intensive organizations. A study of six leading healthcare organizations found that managers and clinical leaders used a variety of forms of knowledge including drawing on academic research, experiential knowledge and respected colleagues. The researchers concluded that skillful 'knowledge leadership' is crucial in translating EBMgt and other academic research into practice in ways that are relevant and can be mobilized in specific organizational contexts.
Alternatives and objections
The weak form alternatives to evidence-based anything include hearsay, opinion, rhetoric, discourse, advice (opinion), self deception, bias, belief, fallacy, or advocacy. The stronger forms include concerns about what counts as evidence, types of evidence, what evidence is available, sought or possible, who decides and pays for what evidence to be collected, and that evidence needs to be interpreted. Also there are the limitations to empiricism as well argued in the historical debate between empiricism and rationalism which is usually assumed to be resolved by Immanuel Kant by saying the two are inextricably interwoven. We reason what evidence is fair and what the evidence means (Critique of Practical Reason). Critical theorists have raised objections to the claims made by those promoting evidence-based management. From this perspective, what counts as "evidence" is considered as intrinsically problematic and contested because there are different ways of looking at social problems. Furthermore, in line with perspectives from critical management studies, "management" is not necessarily an automatic good thing—it often involves the exercise of power and the exploitation of others. One response is to include a balanced treatment of such issues in reviewing and interpreting the research literature for practice. Another response is to reconsider EBMgt in terms of cybernetic theory, whereby the "requisite variety" of evidence compiled across decision-makers is critical because "compiling more evidence does not necessarily imply compiling a wider range of knowledge types" To that end, a promising alternative to the "evidence-based" approach would be the use of dialectic, argument, or public debate (argument is not to be confused with advocacy or quarreling). Aristotle, in works like Rhetoric, reasons that the way to test knowledge claims is to set up an inquiry method where a sceptical audience is encouraged to question evidence and its assumptions. To win an argument, convincing evidence is required. Calls for argumentative inquiry, or the argumentative turn may be fairer, safer and more creative than calls for evidence-based approaches.
Supporting research
Some of the publications in this area are Evidence-Based Management, Harvard Business Review, and Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management. Some of the people conducting research on the effects of evidence-based management are Jeffrey Pfeffer, Robert I. Sutton, and Tracy Allison Altman. Pfeffer and Sutton also have a website dedicated to EBMgt.
Evidence-based management is also being applied in specific industries and professions, including software development. Other areas are crime prevention (Sherman et al. (2002), public management, and manufacturing.
See also
Argumentation theory
Evidence-based policy
Evidence-based practices
Outline of management
Test and Learn
References
Management by type
management | 0.775165 | 0.963591 | 0.746942 |
Appreciative listening | Appreciative listening is a type of listening behavior where the listener seeks certain information which they will appreciate, and meet his/her needs and goals. One uses appreciative listening when listening to music, poetry or the stirring words of a speech.
It involves listening to music that one enjoys, people the listener likes to listen to because of their style and the choices the listener make in the films and television he/she watches, radio programmes and plays and musicals in the theatre. Unlike informative listening or relationship listening, appreciative listening does not rely on the message from the speaker it is how one responds as a listener. Our appreciation of what we hear will vary depending on our individual tastes, but will also be affected by three different factors:
Presentation
There are many different factors that encompass presentation including the medium, the setting and the style and personality of a presenter. Of course this works both ways and equally you will have been entranced by others because of the force of their personality and their delivery style.
The environment can also impact your appreciation of the presentation. Seating, temperature, clarity and volume of sound will all impact on whether it’s a good or poor experience.
Perception
Perception is an important factor in appreciative listening. As one is exposed to different experiences his/her perceptions can change. For example: individual's taste in music. We need to listen to various types of music to have a preference over other types and appreciate them. An individual's expectations also affects our perception.
An individual's perception and expectations are driven by his/her attitudes which determine how he/she reacts to and interact to the world in which he/she lives.
Previous experience
Some of our perceptions are clearly influenced by our previous experience and impact on whether or not we enjoy listening to something, or whether we are even willing to listen. Whether our memories evoke pleasant or unpleasant reminders will affect our appreciation. However, it’s important to remain open to new experiences. We can develop our appreciative listening skills.
See also
Dialogic listening
Informative listening
Active listening
Workplace listening
References
Listening
Personal life | 0.761401 | 0.980997 | 0.746933 |
Dominant culture | A dominant culture is a cultural practice that is dominant within a particular political, social or economic entity, in which multiple cultures co-exist. It may refer to a language, religion or ritual practices, social value and/or social custom. These features are often a norm for an entire society. An individual achieves dominance by being perceived as belonging to that majority culture which has a significant presence in institutions relating to communication, education, artistic expression, law, government and business. The concept of "dominant culture" is generally used in academic discourse in fields such as communication, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.
In a society, culture is established and directed by the individuals with most power (hegemony). In a culture, a group of people that have the ability to hold power over social institutions and influence the rest of the society's beliefs and actions is considered dominant. A dominant culture, is established in a society by a group of individuals that direct the ruling ideas, values, and beliefs that become the dominant worldview of a society. Individuals from the dominant culture spread their dominant ideologies through institutions such as education, religion, and politics. A dominant culture makes use of media and laws to spread their ideologies as well. Furthermore, a dominant culture can be promoted deliberately and by the suppression of minority cultures or subcultures.
The culture that is dominant within a particular geopolitical entity can change over time in response to internal or external factors, but one is usually very resilient. Antonio Gramsci has written that the masses are in the grip of a monolithic ruling class. However, the overall picture that Gramsci provides is not a static, closed system of ruling-class domination. Rather, he states that a society is in constant process, where the creation of counter-hegemonies remains a live option.
The concept of a dominant culture, or the concept of hegemony, originated in Ancient Greece. Although Vladimir Lenin, a politician and a political theorist, defined the concept as “Domination,” Gramsci redefined it as “An intellectual and moral leadership directed by contradictory political and, cultural agents and organizations.” He called these organizations “organic and traditional intellectuals” which represented the interest of the working class.
Examples of dominant cultures
United States
In the United States, for example, a distinction is often made between the indigenous culture of Native Americans, and a dominant culture that may be described as "WASP", "Anglo", "white", "middle class", and so on. Some Native Americans are seen as being part of the culture of their own tribe, community, or family, while simultaneously participating in the dominant culture of America as a whole. Also, ethnic groups are said to exist in the United States in relation to a dominant culture, generally seen as English-speaking, of European ancestry, and Protestant Christian faith. Asian Americans, Jews, African Americans, Latinos, and Deaf people, among others, are seen as facing a choice to oppose, be opposed by, assimilate into, acculturate (i.e. exist alongside), or otherwise react to the dominant culture.
Interactions between dominant culture and co-culture
Co-culture consists of minority groups, or groups whose beliefs and values differ from the dominant culture. Minority groups such as LGBTQ+, women, and black people or African American members, for example, can experience negative effects resulting from their interaction with the dominant culture. Minority groups can be victims of stress produced by the dominant culture. Minority stress can be described as the product that results from the differences between the minority and dominant values. Furthermore, minority stress is the outcome of the conflict that minority group members experience with their social environment.
LGBTQ+ Community
Members from the LGBTQ+ community, that live in a heterosexist society, are susceptible and inclined to suffer from chronic stress due to their stigmatization. Minority stressors include internalized homophobia, stigma and experiences of violence and discrimination. Internalized homophobia can be described as an LGBTQ+ member's disposition to societal negative attitudes towards the self while stigma refers to an LGBTQ+ member's expectation of discrimination and rejection.
Women
Women, as many other co-culture groups, are greatly affected by the dominant culture that surround them. The dominant culture tend to perceive women as less worthy of economic and educational opportunities. Also, In many cultures, women are expected to behave in a certain way and be responsible for tasks that men are not as they are also subject to double standards. These interactions can lead to unfavorable and negative effects on women. For example, women can feel restricted from expressing freely, fighting for their aspirations, and trying new activities.
Black and African American community
Globally, black or African American communities have been affected by the dominant cultures. In different countries, in order for black people to incorporate into the cultural hegemony, they were frequently isolated from their own cultural group, or an attempt was made to eradicate their culture completely. Many examples of cultural alienation and annihilation can be found across black and African American communities.
See also
References
Cultural concepts
Anthropology
Cultural studies | 0.761244 | 0.981174 | 0.746913 |
Minerva Project | Minerva Project is an educational organization that designs and delivers educational programs through educational and corporate partners globally. Its mission is reforming education through an interdisciplinary curriculum and fully active learning pedagogy delivered on a proprietary learning environment called Forum.
History
Minerva Project was founded by CEO and Chairman Ben Nelson in 2011 and received a $25 million seed investment from Benchmark Capital in 2012. In 2013, Minerva Project announced a partnership with Keck Graduate Institute to form the Minerva Schools at KGI, effectively becoming its first partner. Since then, more than 20 institutions, including high schools, universities, and corporations around the world, use the Minerva educational methodology to deliver their educational programs. The full methodology is described and documented in a book published by the MIT Press.
Philosophy
There is still some debate on what the purpose of higher education is, with one view arguing that higher education is solely for preparing graduates for specific careers, and others that education is the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom for their own sake.
Minerva Project supports a view proposed by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson more than two centuries ago. Their view advocates usefulness or “practical” knowledge; knowledge acquired to serve the country and humankind. This is why Minerva Project offers education centered around teaching students concepts and skills that nurture better decision-making in their professional, civic and personal lives.
Educational approach
Minerva's educational approach is centered on three pillars, developed based on decades of research on the science of learning: an interdisciplinary curriculum; fully active learning pedagogy; and outcomes-based assessment. Minerva's proprietary virtual learning environment, Forum, is designed to facilitate these three components. The approach has been lauded as a potential model for the future of higher education, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The interdisciplinary curriculum is structured to introduce transferrable skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving, then reinforce them over time, through practical application across multiple courses and contexts. The curriculum gives learners the tools to think systematically and approach problems critically and creatively.
The fully active learning pedagogy is a set of instructional practices that maximizes learner engagement, supported by functionalities of Forum such as Talk Time. Rather than the traditional focus on lectures and information dissemination, Fully Active Learning promotes a deeper grasp of the concepts being taught. Classes are constructed using a range of collaborative activities, including Socratic discussion, live polling, breakout groups, debate, role-playing, and simulations, among others. Instructors guide each session, emphasizing learner participation, group discourse, and project-based applications.
The feedback and assessment system is based on the learner's performance on learning outcomes that appear in multiple courses and disciplines. Learners receive feedback on their class participation, in-class assignments, and out-of-class assignments, and are able to track their progress on learning outcomes over time.
Educational partners
North and Central America:
American School of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)
Barna Business School (Dominican Republic)
UC Berkeley School of Law (U.S.)
Davidson College (U.S.)
Global Citizen Year (U.S.)
USC Marshall School of Business (U.S.)
Minerva University (U.S.)
Paul Quinn College (U.S.)
Stanza International Academy (U.S.)
University of Miami (U.S.)
Europe, Middle East and Africa
ESADE Business School (Spain)
IE (Spain)
Senegalese American Bilingual School (Senegal)
Zayed University (United Arab Emirates)
Asia
Apprez (Japan)
Beyond Dream Global Leaders School (Korea)
Elite Open Schools network (U.S. Canada, China, Korea, Indonesia, Japan)
GIA Micro School (Korea)
KAFA (Korea)
KenTech (Korea)
Kokkara (Japan)
Singapore Intercultural School (Korea)
Recruit (Japan)
LG Electronics (South Korea)
SK Group (South Korea)
References
External links
Educational organizations based in the United States
2011 establishments in California
Organizations based in San Francisco | 0.784087 | 0.952589 | 0.746912 |
Schoology | Schoology is a learning management system for schools and businesses, targeted mainly at schools.
Company History
Schoology was designed by Jeremy Friedman, Ryan Hwang, and Tim Trinidad in 2007 while studying at Washington University in St. Louis. Originally designed for sharing notes, features were gradually added and modified.
Schoology secured its first round of equity financing, totaling $1,250,000, with an investment of unknown origin in 2009 and an investment by Meakam Becker Venture Capital in June 2010. In 2012, Schoology raised $6 million in a round led by Firstmark Capital; in 2014, Schoology raised $15 million in a funding round led by Intel Capital; in November 2015, Schoology raised $32 million in a funding round, led by JMI Equity.
In November 2013, Schoology had over 7.5 million users across about 60,000 schools.
Schoology was acquired by PowerSchool in November 2019.
Use
Among Schoology's features are attendance records, grades, exams, and homework. The interface consists of a list of task and links to folders and assignments for students. Schoology can be integrated with the school's current grading system. Visually, Schoology is very similar to the environment of many social networks.
References
Social networking services
Learning management systems
Educational software | 0.762128 | 0.979995 | 0.746882 |
Antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis | The antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis (APT) is a theory in evolutionary biology that suggests certain genes may confer beneficial effects early in an organism's life, enhancing reproductive success, while also causing detrimental effects later in life, contributing to the aging process.
APT was first proposed in a 1952 paper on the evolutionary theory of ageing by Peter Medawar and developed further in a paper by George C. Williams in 1957 as an explanation for senescence. Pleiotropy is the phenomenon where a single gene influences more than one phenotypic trait in an organism. It is one of the most commonly observed attributes of genes. A gene is considered to exhibit antagonistic pleiotropy if it controls more than one phenotypic trait, where at least one of these traits is beneficial to the organism's fitness and at least one is detrimental to fitness.
This line of genetic research began as an attempt to answer the following question: if survival and reproduction should always be favoured by natural selection, why should ageing – which in evolutionary terms can be described as the age-related decline in survival rate and reproduction – be nearly ubiquitous in the natural world?" The antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis provides a partial answer to this question. As an evolutionary explanation for ageing, the hypothesis relies on the fact that reproductive capacity declines with age in many species and, therefore, the strength of natural selection also declines with age (because there can be no natural selection without reproduction). Since the strength of selection declines over the life cycles of human and most other organisms, natural selection in these species tends to favor "alleles that have early beneficial effects, but later deleterious effects".
Antagonistic pleiotropy also provides a framework for understanding why many genetic disorders, even those causing life threatening health impacts (e.g. sickle cell anaemia), are found to be relatively prevalent in populations. Seen through the lens of simple evolutionary processes, these genetic disorders should be observed at very low frequencies due to the force of natural selection. Genetic models of populations show that antagonistic pleiotropy allows genetic disorders to be maintained at reasonably high frequencies "even if the fitness benefits are subtle". In this sense, antagonistic pleiotropy forms the basis of a "genetic trade-off between different fitness components."
Trade-offs
In the theory of evolution, the concept of fitness has two components: mortality and reproduction. Antagonistic pleiotropy gets fixed in genomes by creating viable trade-offs between or within these two components. The existence of these trade-offs has been clearly demonstrated in human, botanical and insect species. For example, an analysis of global gene expression in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, revealed 34 genes whose expression coincided with the genetic trade-off between larval survival and adult size. The joint expression of these candidate 'trade-off' genes explained 86.3% of the trade-off. These tradeoffs can result from selection at the level of the organism or, more subtly, via mechanisms for the allocation of scarce resources in cellular metabolism.
Another example is found in a study of the yellow monkey flower, an annual plant. The study documents a trade-off between days-to-flower and reproductive capacity. This genetic balancing act determines how many individuals survive to flower in a short growing season (viability) while also influencing the seed set of survivors (fecundity). The authors find that tradeoffs between plant viability and fecundity can engender a stable polymorphism under surprisingly general conditions. Thus, for this annual flower, they reveal a tradeoff between mortality and fecundity and, according to the authors, this tradeoff is also relevant for other annual, flowering plants.
Role in fecundity and senescence
Senescence refers to the process of physiological change in individual members of a species as they age. An antagonistically pleiotropic gene can be selected for if it has beneficial effects in early life while manifesting its negative effects in later life because genes tend to have larger impacts on fitness in an organism's prime than in their old age. Williams's 1957 article has motivated many follow-up studies on the evolutionary causes of ageing. These studies show clear trade-offs involving early increases in fecundity and later increases in mortality. For example, two experiments with Drosophila melanogaster have shown that increased fertility is associated with reduced longevity. Likewise, for humans, infertile women live longer on average than fertile women.
One such study tests the hypothesis that death due to cardiovascular disease in women is linked to an antagonistic pleiotropy operating through inflammation and linked to fertility. Because the human immune system evolved in an ancestral environment characterized by abundant pathogens, protective, pro-inflammatory responses (which helped individuals to avoid and survive infections) were undoubtedly selected for in these environments. However, in terms of cardiovascular risk, these same inflammatory responses have turned out to be harmful as the material conditions of human existence improved – in affluent countries, where life expectancy is much longer than in the ancestral environment, strong inflammatory responses carry greater risks of cardiovascular disease as individuals age. The study looks at mortality, over a period of 3 to 5 years, in a group of 311, 85-year old Dutch women. Information on their reproductive history as well the results of blood tests, genetic tests and physical examinations was recorded. The study found that individuals with a higher pro-inflammatory ratio TNFα/IL-10 had a significantly higher incidence of death due to cardiovascular disease in old age. It also linked specific alleles to a combination of higher fertility, stronger inflammatory response and greater cardiovascular problems in old age. This finding supports the hypothesis that this gene was prevalent because it helped women in the ancestral environment to more effectively combat infection during their reproductive years. However, the pleiotropic costs of the gene in terms of cardiovascular risks are now clear because people live long enough to die of cardiovascular disease.
Role in disease
The survival of many serious genetic disorders in human evolutionary history has led researchers to explore the role of antagonistic pleiotropy in disease. If genetic disorders are caused by mutations to a single deleterious allele, then natural selection should eliminate carriers of this allele over evolutionary time, thereby lowering the frequency of mutations. Yet, research shows that the incidence of such alleles in studied populations is often stable and relatively high. In a 2011 review article, Carter and Nguyen discuss several genetic disorders, arguing that, far from being a rare phenomenon, antagonistic pleiotropy might be a fundamental mechanism by which "alleles with severe deleterious health effects can be maintained at medically relevant frequencies with only minor beneficial pleiotropic effects."
An example of this is sickle cell anaemia, which results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blood cells. Possessors of the deleterious allele have much lower life expectancies, with homozygotes rarely reaching 50 years of age. However, this allele also enhances resistance to malaria. Thus, in regions where malaria exerts or has in the past exerted a strong selective pressure, sickle cell anaemia has been selected for its conferred partial resistance to the disease. While homozygotes will have either no protection from malaria or a dramatic propensity to sickle cell anemia, heterozygotes have fewer physiological effects and a partial resistance to malaria. Thus, the gene that is responsible for sickle cell disease has fixed itself with relatively high frequencies in populations threatened by malaria by engendering a viable tradeoff between death from this non-communicable disease and death from malaria.
In another study of genetic diseases, 99 individuals with Laron syndrome (a rare form of dwarfism) were monitored alongside their non-dwarf kin for a period of ten years. Patients with Laron syndrome possess one of three genotypes for the growth hormone receptor gene (GHR). Most patients have an A->G splice site mutation in position 180 in exon 6. Some others possess a nonsense mutation (R43X), while the rest are heterozygous for the two mutations. Laron syndrome patients experienced a lower incidence of cancer mortality and diabetes compared to their non-dwarf kin. This suggests a role for antagonistic pleiotropy, whereby a deleterious mutation is preserved in a population because it still confers some survival benefit.
Another instance of antagonistic pleiotropy is manifested in Huntington's disease, a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a high number of CAG repeats within the Huntingtin gene. The onset of Huntington's is usually observed post-reproductive age and generally involves involuntary muscle spasms, cognitive difficulties and psychiatric problems. The high number of CAG repeats is associated with increased activity of p53, a tumor suppressing protein that participates in apoptosis. It has been hypothesized that this explains the lower rates of cancer among Huntington's patients. Huntington's disease is also correlated with high fecundity.
Other pleiotropic diseases include: beta-thalassemia (also protects against malaria in the heterozygous state); cystic fibrosis (increased fertility); and osteoporosis in old age (reduced risk of osteoporosis in youth).
Role in sexual selection
Sexual selection is a process of natural selection in which individuals of one sex choose to mate with individuals of the other sex based on certain observable characteristics (intersexual selection, the exaggerated tail in peacocks, for example) or they compete with other individuals of the same sex for access to mating opportunities with individuals of the opposite sex (intrasexual selection, as when males of certain mammalian species fight for the right to mate). It is generally accepted that the evolution of secondary sexual characteristics persists until the relative costs of survival outweigh the benefits of reproductive success.
At the level of genes, this means a trade-off between variation and expression of selected traits. Strong, persistent sexual selection should result in decreased genetic variation for these traits. However, higher levels of variation have been reported in sexually-selected traits compared to non-sexually selected traits. This phenomenon is especially clear in lek species, where males' courtship behavior confers no immediate advantage to the female. Female choice presumably depends on correlating male displays (secondary sexual characteristics) with overall genetic quality. If such directional sexual selection depletes variation in males, why would female choice continue to exist? Rowe and Houle answer this question (the lek paradox) using the notion of genetic capture, which couples the sexually-selected traits with the overall condition of the organism. They posit that the genes for secondary sexual characteristics must be pleiotropically linked to condition, a measure of the organism's fitness. In other words, the genetic variation in secondary sexual characteristics is maintained due to variation in the organism's condition.
Role in DNA repair
DNA repair capability in hamsters is relatively high during development in early mitotic brain cells, but is present at a reduced level in post-mitotic brain cells throughout adulthood. In humans DNA repair capability declines in older individuals. These findings suggest that DNA repair activity is regulated at a level that facilitates vigorous function during youth, but at an insufficient level during maturity that results in aging. Thus proteins that regulate the level of DNA repair activity appear to have the antagonistic pleiotrophic effect of being beneficial during youthful development, but insufficient to prevent aging during maturity.
Ubiquity in population genetics
Advances in genome mappings have greatly facilitated research into antagonistic pleiotropy. Such research is now often carried out in laboratories, but also in wild populations. The latter context for testing has the advantage of introducing the full complexity of the selection experience – competitors, predators, and parasites – though it has the disadvantage of introducing idiosyncratic factors that are specific to given locations. In order to be able to assert with confidence that a given pleiotropy is, indeed, an antagonistic pleiotropy and not due to some other competing cause (e.g. the mutation accumulation hypothesis), one must have knowledge of the precise gene that is pleiotropic. This is now increasingly possible with organisms that have detailed genomic mappings (e.g. mice, fruit flies and humans). A 2018 review of this research finds that "antagonistic pleiotropy is somewhere between very common or ubiquitous in the animal world .... and potentially all living domains... ".
See also
Evolution of ageing
Mutation accumulation theory
References
Genetics
Theories of ageing
Theories of biological ageing
Evolutionary theories of biological ageing | 0.764733 | 0.97665 | 0.746876 |
Kuhn–Popper debate | The Kuhn-Popper debate was a debate surrounding research methods and the advancement of scientific knowledge. In 1965, at the University of London's International Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science, Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper engaged in a debate that circled around three main areas of disagreement. These areas included the concept of a scientific method, the specific behaviors and practices of scientists, and the differentiation between scientific knowledge and other forms of knowledge.
Background
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996) was born into a world of technological and scientific advancement. Working as a historian and philosopher of science at MIT, Kuhn published The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in 1962, proposing a theory for classifying generational knowledge under frameworks known as paradigms. Paradigms being, "an accepted model or pattern", when upturned, "what were ducks in the scientist's world before the revolution are rabbits afterwards."
Karl Popper
Karl Popper (1902–1994) was born into a world of dogmatism and ideology amidst totalitarianism and WW2. As a Jew at the University of Vienna, Popper had fled to New Zealand taking up professorship at the University of Canterbury. Here, he had begun to write The Poverty of Historicism (1957) and The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) the day the Nazis stormed Austria. Both works are critical analyses of methodologies within the social sciences. However beyond the social sciences, Popper was also a physicist who lived amidst the second quantum revolution. Such a time proceeded through bold ideas and questions (a time which Kuhn identified as revolutionary science.)
This background inspired Popper to produce methodological ways of knowing based upon critical rationalism, producing the concept of falsifiability. Because of Kuhn and Poppers different contexts, the two proposed starkly different theories on the growth of knowledge. However, it is recognized that the two shared similar fan bases and still agreed on most areas of contention within the sciences.
Debate
Argument
Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn's debate was largely sparked by the uptake in theories in psychology during the 1960's. Before the debate, Thomas Kuhn synthesized these theories to make a structure for how scientific revolutions progress in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962).
Karl Popper was a critical rationalist, who began his early studies in psychology under Adler, then later turned to physics and philosophy. Thomas Kuhn was a relativist and historian, who started his early studies in physics.
Thomas Kuhn structured scientific research trends as the progression of paradigms and paradigm shifts. An example of a paradigm would be the geocentric model of the universe; an example of a paradigm shift would when the heliocentric model began taking over due to irrefutable evidence (largely from Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton). In Kuhn's model, these three would be revolutionary scientists, because they changed the model. On the other hand, normal scientists are those who work under paradigms, and determine the smaller details of the theory as it goes on.
Karl Popper understood the logic of Kuhn's model, but did not support it: he saw Kuhn's ideas as dangerous because they created theoretical laws out of trends that were not testable. To Popper, it was a type of historicism based on the adage that history repeats itself.
Popper is largely known for his writing against damaging ideologies throughout history. For this reason, he saw many overlaps between Kuhn's model and other inductive social theories that were attractive, but impossible to prove. Popper argued Kuhn's model was far too deterministic, warning that Kuhn's model should not be blindly believed. He was a critical rationalist, and placed value on individual approaches, while Kuhn looked at the trends of the masses. Seeing Kuhn's model as similar to Richard Feynman's later discussion of cargo-cult science in the 70's, he argued that if everyone adopted Kuhn's model, it would be self-fulfilling and there would only be the mentality of the normal scientist.
Popper's proposal can be thought of as Kuhn's revolutionary scientists' vision: Scientists must hold themselves accountable to the facts, and be constantly questioning the prevailing paradigm. Popper greatly detested the incoming "'post-rationalist' [...] age, proudly dedicated to the destruction of the tradition of rational philosophy and of rational thought itself," characteristic of growing subjectivism in the 1960's.
Kuhn believed that Popper's perspective only focused on "the extraordinary or revolutionary episodes in scientific development", which "obscured [...] the existence of normal research." As a historical relativist, Kuhn found Popper's conception of progress aligned with the Whig Tradition, which is a "form of historiography that assumes scientific progress" in so far as research has some higher goal.
Kuhn cared about science as a way to solve problems, whereas Popper cared about science as a way to determine truths. Popper's model, however, was prescriptive rather than truly reflective of reality, often attacked for being too 'romantic', whereas Kuhn's was popularly accepted to have realistically portrayed scientific progression from a sociological perspective.
In the end, Popper was far more idealistic, urging the scientist to work beyond their paradigm, and hold themselves to a higher standard. In opposition, Kuhn was far more pragmatic; he developed a new approach to understanding research which agreed with the history of science. Popper's argument holds sway amongst naturalists, claiming that "we become makers of our fate when we have ceased to pose as its prophets" against the deterministic nature of Kuhn's model. In contradistinction, Kuhn's argument holds footing amongst researchers in the humanities. This is because Kuhn created useful models and terminology to better understand history as thought in a time where relativism and revisionism was becoming of increasing value in academic circles. The conflict was about the future of science and what standards scientists should be held to when they conduct research.
Outcome
Inquiry was central to the Kuhn–Popper debate, and while the two men were both philosophers of science, one was a historian and the other a scientist. Their backgrounds greatly influenced their perspectives. The debate never reached a true consensus; however, it represents two popular perspectives on how to treat the growth of knowledge, promoting:
Deconstruction and recognition of confirmation bias;
Constant revision and testing;
Using a framework to inform methodologies.
Popper's argument is largely seen as the aim of research institutions and researchers, while Kuhn created a picture of what science is right now.
Philosophical influences
Karl Popper's initial perspectives paid tribute to Bertrand Russel and Tarski. However Popper soon diverted from these early influences, rejecting specific linguistic analyses as a means to derive deeper meanings from, favoring less-specific cases instead (finding social systems to be too complex a system to deconstruct from deductive inference.) Often Popper looked for how language was broadly used, and from there, deconstructed anti-rationalist tendencies such as historicism and Marxism using falsifiability. This approach largely removed him from the dominant Neo-Kantian tradition.
Popper's philosophical doctrine is that of critical rationalism. It is dependent upon a theory for attaining knowledge which rejected causation as a viable path to knowledge due its inability to explain future events. This is inspired by Hume's problem of induction, where Hume says:"...the supposition, that the future resembles the past, is not founded on arguments of any kind,' but is deriv'd entirely from habit."In The Logic of Scientific Discovery Popper refuted Hume's final sentiment that nothing can be known due to the illusory nature of the world, and instead proposed a deductive model of science. This model is rationalist, but critical insofar as it actively rejects inductivism.
References
Philosophical debates
Karl Popper | 0.763402 | 0.978344 | 0.74687 |
Magis | (pronounced "màh-gis") is a Latin word that means "more" or "greater". It is related to , a Latin phrase meaning "for the greater glory of God", the motto of the Society of Jesus. refers to the philosophy of doing more for Christ, and therefore doing more for others. It is an expression of an aspiration and inspiration. It relates to forming the ideal society centered on Jesus Christ.
From Ignatian retreat
Modern use of the word is often traced to St. Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises or retreat, where he would have the exercitant ask: "What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? and What ought I to do for Christ?" The more intimately the person comes to know Christ, according to St. Ignatius, the more the person will love him and the more closely the person will follow him. Throughout the Exercises, a grace the person asks for is to follow Christ more closely or to do what is more pleasing to God. This is frequently mentioned in the "points" for contemplating Christ's life which Ignatius proposes. Ignatius calls it the highest degree of humility for people to always want to be more like Christ in matters of poverty and worldly honors. Also, in what Ignatius calls the "First Principle and Foundation of the Christian life", he concludes with the admonition: "our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created". This concept of doing "more" occurs frequently throughout the Ignatian Exercises.
Impact
Contemporary uses of often have Ignatian roots. Beginning in 1997 Jesuits have invited students to a " gathering", as before World Youth Day celebrations, to share the ideals which they learned in the Jesuit tradition. Additionally, the name "" has been used for a Jesuit journal and newspaper and on banners heralding Jesuit education. The term is frequently central to the mission statement of Jesuit schools and can serve as a name for a voluntary service program or for an educational enhancement program for needy students. A video produced by Jesuits points out that the "more" is a matter of depth and quality, rather than of quantity.
Usage in Jesuit higher education
The concept of as an ideal of life is emphasized in many of the Jesuit universities across the globe. One of the 10 service organizations on campus at Loyola Marymount University uses Magis as its name. The organization stands to allow students to be leaders and contribute in the greater Los Angeles Community in the areas of Homelessness and Education, citing their three pillars of Service, Diversity, and Spirituality on the strive for "The more" that is emphasized in the contemporary definition of the term.
References
Ignatian spirituality
Latin mottos
Latin religious words and phrases
Ignatius of Loyola | 0.760215 | 0.98242 | 0.74685 |
Multimodal therapy | Multimodal therapy (MMT) is an approach to psychotherapy devised by psychologist Arnold Lazarus, who originated the term behavior therapy in psychotherapy. It is based on the idea that humans are biological beings that think, feel, act, sense, imagine, and interact—and that psychological treatment should address each of these modalities. Multimodal assessment and treatment follows seven reciprocally influential dimensions of personality (or modalities) known by their acronym BASIC I.D.: behavior, affect, sensation, imagery, cognition, interpersonal relationships, and drugs/biology.
Multimodal therapy is based on the idea that the therapist must address these multiple modalities of an individual to identify and treat a mental disorder. According to MMT, each individual is affected in different ways and in different amounts by each dimension of personality, and should be treated accordingly for treatment to be successful. It sees individuals as products of interplay among genetic endowment, physical environment, and social learning history. To state that learning plays a central role in the development and resolution of our emotional problems is to communicate little. For events to connect, they must occur simultaneously or in close succession. An association may exist when responses one stimulus provokes, are predictable and reliable, similar to those another provokes. In this regard, classical conditioning and operant conditioning are two central concepts in MMT.
BASIC I.D.
BASIC I.D. refers to the seven dimensions of personality according to Lazarus. Creating a successful treatment for a specific individual requires that the therapist consider each dimension, and the individual's deficits in each.
B represents behavior, which can be manifested through the use of inappropriate acts, habits, gestures, or the lack of appropriate behaviors.
A stands for affect, which can be seen as the level of negative feelings or emotions one experiences.
S is sensation, or the negative bodily sensations or physiological symptoms such as pain, tension, sweat, nausea, quick heartbeat, etc.
I stands for imagery, which is the existence of negative cognitive images or mental pictures.
C represents cognition or the degree of negative thoughts, attitudes, or beliefs.
The second I stands for interpersonal relationships, and refers to one's ability to form successful relationships with others. It is based on social skills and support systems.
D is for drugs and biological functions, and examines the individual's physical health, drug use, and other lifestyle choices.
Multimodal therapy addresses the fact that different people depend on or are more influenced by some personality dimensions more than others. Some people are prone to deal with their problems on their own, cognitively, while others are more likely to draw support from others, and others yet are likely to use physical activities to deal with problems, such as exercise or drugs. All reactions are a combination of how the seven dimensions work together in an individual. Once the source of the problem is found, treatment can be used to focus on that specific dimension more than the others.
Function
MMT starts after the patient has been assessed based on his/her emotional responses, sensory displays and the manner in which he/she interacts with people around via behavior, affect, sensations, images, cognition, drugs and interpersonal activities. Based on this assessment, the therapist will introduce the patient to the first session. During this time, the therapist and the patient will create a list of problems and the suitable treatments that may suit him/her the most. Since the treatment is based upon individual cases, each remedial strategy is considered as an effective method for the patients.
Post the completion of the initial assessment, a more detailed diagnosis is done using questionnaires. The therapist shall diagnose both the actual profile as well as the structural profile of the patient. Such a diagnosis will define the target which both the therapist and the patient would want to achieve once the treatment is complete. Here, the therapist will evaluate different other ways to treat the patient. Often, relaxation tapes are used to calm down the patient. Besides psychotherapy, the therapist will try to include dietary measures and stress management programs to treat patient's associated psychiatric symptoms. The prime focus of the therapist would be to ease the pains of the patient and fulfill his/her needs by studying his/her behavior and mannerisms.
Upon the patient's prior consent, the therapist will tape all the sessions and furnish a copy of those tapes to the patient. These tapes act as a supporting resource when the therapist is evaluating the patient's behavior. MMT is a flexible mode of psychotherapy because each treatment plan is devised keeping all the possibilities in mind. In the case of a single patient, the duration of the session could last not more than few hours, depending upon the therapist's analysis of the concerned patient's behavior. However, if the patient shows a condition that needs multiple treatments, then the session could stretch farther so as to enable the therapist to analyse the patient further.
CBT
Multimodal therapy originated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a fusion of cognitive therapy and behavior therapy. Behavior therapy focused on the consideration of external behaviors, while cognitive therapy focused on mental aspects and internal processes; combining the two made it possible to utilize both internal and external factors of treatment simultaneously.
Arnold Lazarus added the idea that, since personality is multi-dimensional, treatment must also consider multiple dimensions of personality to be effective. His idea of MMT involves examining symptoms on each dimension of personality in order to find the right combination of therapeutic techniques to address them all. Lazarus retained the basic premises of CBT, but believed that more of the individual's specific needs and personality dimensions must be considered.
See also
Common factors theory
Integrative psychotherapy
References
Integrative psychotherapy
Psychotherapy by type | 0.771481 | 0.968048 | 0.746831 |
Organismic theory | Organismic theories in psychology are a family of holistic psychological theories which tend to stress the organization, unity, and integration of human beings expressed through each individual's inherent growth or developmental tendency. The idea of an explicitly "organismic theory" dates at least back to the publication of Kurt Goldstein's The organism: A holistic approach to biology derived from pathological data in man in 1934. Organismic theories and the "organic" metaphor were inspired by organicist approaches in biology. The most direct influence from inside psychology comes from Gestalt psychology. This approach is often contrasted with mechanistic and reductionist perspectives in psychology.
Examples of organismic theories and theorists
Kurt Goldstein's organismic theory
Ludwig von Bertalanffy's organismic psychology within his general systems theory
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Heinz Werner's orthogenetic principle of development
Andras Angyal's biospheric model of personality
Abraham Maslow's holistic-dynamic theory
Carl Rogers' person-centered therapy and actualizing tendency
Fritz Perls and Laura Perls's Gestalt therapy
Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan's self-determination theory
Murray Bookchin's dialectical naturalism
See also
Notes
References
Hall, Calvin & Lindzey, Gardner. (1970). Theories of Personality. (Second Edition)
Maslow, Abraham. Motivation and Personality (1st ed.: 1954, 2nd ed.: 1970)
Perls, F., Hefferline, R., & Goodman, P. (1951). Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality.
Rogers, Carl. (1951). Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications and theory. London: Constable. .
Werner, H. (1957). The concept of development from a comparative and organismic point of view. In D. Harris (Ed.), The concept of development. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota Press
Further reading
Harrington, Anne: Reenchanted Science: Holism in German Culture from Wilhelm II to Hitler, Princeton University Press, 1999.
Humanistic psychology
Psychological schools | 0.779155 | 0.958483 | 0.746807 |
Decolonization of knowledge | Decolonization of knowledge (also epistemic decolonization or epistemological decolonization) is a concept advanced in decolonial scholarship that critiques the perceived hegemony of Western knowledge systems. It seeks to construct and legitimize other knowledge systems by exploring alternative epistemologies, ontologies and methodologies. It is also an intellectual project that aims to "disinfect" academic activities that are believed to have little connection with the objective pursuit of knowledge and truth. The presumption is that if curricula, theories, and knowledge are colonized, it means they have been partly influenced by political, economic, social and cultural considerations. The decolonial knowledge perspective covers a wide variety of subjects including philosophy (epistemology in particular), science, history of science, and other fundamental categories in social science.
Background
Decolonization of knowledge inquires into the historical mechanisms of knowledge production and their perceived colonial and ethnocentric foundations. Budd L. Hall et al argue that knowledge and the standards that determine the validity of knowledge have been disproportionately informed by Western system of thought and ways of being in the world. According to Jaco S. Dreyer, the western knowledge system that emerged in Europe during renaissance and Enlightenment was deployed to legitimise Europe’s colonial endeavour, which eventually became a part of colonial rule and forms of civilization that the colonizers carried with them. This perspective maintains that the knowledge produced by the Western system was deemed superior to that produced by other systems since it had a universal quality. Decolonial scholars concur that the western system of knowledge still continues to determine as to what should be considered as scientific knowledge and continues to "exclude, marginalise and dehumanise" those with different systems of knowledge, expertise and worldviews. Anibal Quijano stated:
In effect, all of the experiences, histories, resources, and cultural products ended up in one global cultural order revolving around European or Western hegemony. Europe’s hegemony over the new model of global power concentrated all forms of the control of subjectivity, culture, and especially knowledge and the production of knowledge under its hegemony... They repressed as much as possible the colonized forms of knowledge production, the models of the production of meaning, their symbolic universe, the model of expression and of objectification and subjectivity.
In her book Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, Linda Tuhiwai Smith writes:
Imperialism and colonialism brought complete disorder to colonized peoples, disconnecting them from their histories, their landscapes, their languages, their social relations and their own ways of thinking, feeling and interacting with the world.
According to this viewpoint, colonialism has ended in the legal and political sense, but its legacy continues in many "colonial situations" where individuals and groups in historically colonized places are marginalized and exploited. Decolonial scholars refer to this continuing legacy of colonialism as "coloniality", which describes the oppression and exploitation left behind by colonialism in a variety of interrelated domains, including the domain of subjectivity and knowledge.
Origin and development
In community groups and social movements in the Americas, decolonization of knowledge traces its roots back to resistance against colonialism from its very beginning in 1492. Its emergence as an academic concern is rather a recent phenomenon. According to Enrique Dussel, the theme of epistemological decolonization has originated from a group of Latin American thinkers. Although the notion of decolonization of knowledge has been an academic topic since the 1970s, Walter Mignolo says it was the ingenious work of Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano that "explicitly linked coloniality of power in the political and economic spheres with the coloniality of knowledge." It has developed as "an elaboration of a problematic" that began as a result of several critical stances such as postcolonialism, subaltern studies and postmodernism. Enrique Dussel says epistemological decolonization is structured around the notions of coloniality of power and transmodernity, which traces its roots in the thoughts of José Carlos Mariátegui, Frantz Fanon and Immanuel Wallerstein. According to Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, although the political, economic, cultural and epistemological dimensions of decolonization were and are intricately connected to each other, attainment of political sovereignty was preferred as a "practical strategic logic of struggles against colonialism." As a result, political decolonization in the twentieth century failed to attain epistemological decolonization, as it did not widely inquire into the complex domain of knowledge.
Themes
According to Alex Broadbent, decolonization is sometimes understood as a rejection of the notion of objectivity, which is seen as a legacy of colonial thought. He argues that universal conception of ideas such as "truth" and "fact" are Western constructs that are imposed on other foreign cultures. This tradition considers notions of truth and fact as "local", arguing that what is "discovered" or "expressed" in one place or time may not be applicable in another. The concerns of decolonization of knowledge are that the western knowledge system has become a norm for global knowledge and that its methodologies are the only ones deemed appropriate for use in knowledge production. This perceived hegemonic approach towards other knowledge systems is said to have reduced epistemic diversity and established the center of knowledge, eventually suppressing all other knowledge forms. Boaventura de Sousa Santos says "throughout the world, not only are there very diverse forms of knowledge of matter, society, life and spirit, but also many and very diverse concepts of what counts as knowledge and criteria that may be used to validate it." However, it is claimed that this variety of knowledge systems has not gained much recognition. According to Lewis Gordon, the formulation of knowledge in its singular form itself was unknown to times before the emergence of European modernity. Modes of knowledge production and notions of knowledge were so diversified that knowledges, in his opinion, would be more appropriate description.
According to Walter Mignolo, the modern foundation of knowledge is thus territorial and imperial. This foundation is based on "the socio-historical organization and classification of the world founded on a macro narrative and on a specific concept and principles of knowledge" which finds its roots in European modernity. He articulates epistemic decolonization as an expansive movement that identifies "geo-political locations of theology, secular philosophy and scientific reason" while also affirming "the modes and principles of knowledge that have been denied by the rhetoric of Christianization, civilization, progress, development and market democracy." According to Achille Mbembe, decolonization of knowledge means contesting the hegemonic western epistemology that suppresses anything that is foreseen, conceived and formulated from outside of western epistemology. It has two aspects: a critique of Western knowledge paradigms and the development of new epistemic models. Savo Heleta states that decolonization of knowledge "implies the end of reliance on imposed knowledge, theories and interpretations, and theorizing based on one’s own past and present experiences and interpretation of the world."
Significance
According to Anibal Quijano, epistemological decolonization is necessary for opening up new avenues for intercultural communication and the sharing of experiences and meanings, laying the groundwork for an alternative rationality that could rightfully stake a claim to some degree of universality. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni says epistemological decolonization is essential for addressing the "asymmetrical global intellectual division of labor" in which Europe and North America not only act as teachers of the rest of the world but also serve as the centers for the production of theories and concepts that are ultimately "consumed" by the entire human race.
Approaches
According to Linda Tuhiwai Smith, decolonization "does not mean a total rejection of all theory or research or Western knowledge". In Lewis Gordon's view, decolonization of knowledge mandates a detachment from the "commitments to notions of an epistemic enemy." It rather emphasizes "the appropriation of any and all sources of knowledge" in order to achieve relative epistemic autonomy and epistemic justice for "previously unacknowledged and/or suppressed knowledge traditions."
Indigenous decolonization
Relational model of knowledge
Decolonial scholars inquire into various forms of indigenous knowledges in their efforts to decolonize knowledge and worldviews. Louis Botha et al make the case for a "relational model of knowledge," which they situate within indigenous knowledges. These indigenous knowledges are based on indigenous peoples' perceptions and modes of knowing. They consider indigenous knowledges to be essentially relational because these knowledge traditions place a high value on the relationships between the actors, objects, and settings involved in the development of knowledge. Such "networked" relational approach to knowledge production fosters and encourages connections between the individuals, groups, resources, and other components of knowledge-producing communities. For Louis Botha et al, since it is built on an ontology that acknowledges the spiritual realm as real and essential to knowledge formation, this relationality is also fundamentally spiritual, and feeds axiological concepts about why and how knowledge should be created, preserved, and utilized.
In academia
One of the most crucial aspects of decolonization of knowledge is to rethink the role of the academia, which, according to Louis Yako, an Iraqi-American anthropologist, has become the "biggest enemy of knowledge and the decolonial option." He says Western universities have always served colonial and imperial powers, and the situation has only become worse in the neoliberal age. According to Yako, the first step toward decolonizing academic knowledge production is to carefully examine "how knowledge is produced, by whom, whose works get canonized and taught in foundational theories and courses, and what types of bibliographies and references are mentioned in every book and published article." He criticizes Western universities for their alleged policies regarding research works that undermine foreign and independent sources while favoring citations to "elite" European or American scholars who are commonly considered "foundational" in their respective fields, and calls for an end to this practice.
Shose Kessi et al argue that the goal of academia is "not to reach new orders of homogeneity, but rather greater representation of pluralistic ideas and rigorous knowledge". They invite academics to carefully scrutinize the authors and voices that are presented as authorities on a subject or in the classroom, the methods and epistemologies that are taught or given preference, as well as the academic concerns that are seen as fundamental and the ones that are ignored. They must reconsider the pedagogical tools or approaches used in the learning process for students, as well as examine the indigenous or community knowledge systems that are followed, promoted, or allowed to redefine the learning agenda. The purpose and future of knowledge must also be reevaluated during this process. There have been suggestions for expanding the reading list and creating an inclusive curriculum that incorporates a range of voices and viewpoints in order to represent broader global and historical perspectives. Researchers are urged to investigate outside the Western canons of knowledge to determine whether there are any alternative canons that have been overlooked or disregarded as a result of colonialism.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who emphasizes the significance of decolonizing history, memory, and language, has stated that language, not geopolitics, should serve as the initial point of decolonization. According to Mahmood Mamdani, the idea of a university based on a single language is a colonial heritage, as in the case of African universities, which began as a colonial project, with English or French being the project language, and it recognized only one intellectual tradition—the Western tradition. According to Mamdani, university education needs to be more diverse and multilingual, with a focus on not only providing Westernized education in a variety of languages but also on ways to advance non-Western intellectual traditions as living traditions that can support both scholarly and public discourse. Mamdani makes the case for allocating funds to the creation of academic units that may research and instruct in non-Western intellectual traditions. He believes that learning the language in which the tradition has been historically developed is necessary if one wants to access a different intellectual tradition.
Louis Yako opposes the labeling of new scholars as "Marxist", "Foucauldian", "Hegelian", "Kantian", and so on, which he sees as a "colonial method of validating oneself and research" through these scholars. According to Yako, despite the fact that scholars such as Marx, Hegel, Foucault, and many others were all inspired by numerous thinkers before them, they are not identified with the names of such intellectuals. He criticizes the academic peer-review process as a system of "gatekeepers" who regulate the production of knowledge in a given field or about a certain region of the world.
In various disciplines
In order to overcome the perceived constraints of the Western canons of knowledge, proponents of knowledge decolonization call for the decolonization of various academic disciplines, including history, science and the history of science, philosophy, (in particular, epistemology), psychology, sociology, religious studies, and legal studies.
History
According to the official web page of the University of Exeter, the "colonialist worldview," which allegedly prioritises some people's beliefs, rights, and dignity over those of others, has had an impact on the theoretical framework that underpins the modern academic field of history. This modern field of study has first developed in Europe during a period of rising nationalism and colonial exploitation, which determines the historical narratives of the world. This account suggests "that the very ways we are conditioned to look at and think about the past are often derived from imperialist and racialised schools of thought". Decolonial approach in history requires "an examination of the non-western world on its own terms, including before the arrival of European explorers and imperialists". In an effort to understand the world before the fifteenth century, it attempts to situate Western Europe in relation to other historical "great powers" like the Eastern Roman Empire or the Abbasid Caliphate. It "requires rigorous critical study of empire, power and political contestation, alongside close reflection on constructed categories of social difference". According to Walter Mignolo, discovering the variety of local historical traditions are crucial for "restoring the dignity that the Western idea of universal history took away from millions of people".
Modern science
The decolonial approach contests the notion of science as "purely objective, solely empirical, immaculately rational, and thus, singularly truth confirming”. According to this account, such an outlook towards science implies "that reality is discrete and stagnant; immune to its observer’s subjectivity, including their cultural suasions; and dismountable into its component parts whose functioning can then be ascertained through verificationist means". Laila N Boisselle situates modern science within Western philosophy and Western paradigms of knowledge, saying that "different ways of knowing how the world works are fashioned from the cosmology of the observer, and provides opportunities for the development of many sciences". Margaret Blackie and Hanelie Adendorff argue "that the practice of science by scientists has been profoundly influenced by Western modernity". According to this perspective, modern science thus "reflects foundational elements of empiricism according to Francis Bacon, positivism as conceptualized by Comte, and neo-positivism as suggested by the School of Vienna in the early 1900s." Boisselle also suggests that the mainstream scientific perspective that downplays the function or influence of Spirit or God in any manifestation in its processes, is not only Western and modern but also secular in orientation.
Boisselle sought to identify two issues with Western knowledge, including "Western Modern Science". For her, it starts off by seeking to explain the nature of the universe on the basis of reason alone. The second is that it considers itself to be the custodian of all knowledge and to have the power "to authenticate and reject other knowledge." The idea that modern science is the only legitimate method of knowing has been referred to as "scientific fundamentalism" or "scientism". It assumes the role of a gatekeeper by situating "science for all" initiatives on a global scale inside the framework of scientism. As a result, it acquires the power to decide what scientific knowledge is deemed to be "epistemologically rigorous". According to Boaventura de Sousa Santos, in order to decolonize modern science, it is necessary to consider "the partiality of scientific knowledge", i.e. to acknowledge that, like any other system of knowledge, "science is a system of both knowledge and ignorance". For Santos, "scientific knowledge is partial because it does not know everything deemed important and it cannot possibly know everything deemed important". In this regard, Boisselle argues for a "relational science" based on a "relational ontology" that respects “the interconnectedness of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of individuals with all living things and with the star world, and the universe”.
Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, with reference to perennial philosophy, critiques modern science for its rejection of metaphysics and spiritual traditions from around the world. He states that "the belief that only the scientific method gives access to valid forms of knowledge is not only flawed but totalitarian, having its roots in the European Enlightenment or the so-called Age of Reason". For him, "This dogmatic outlook is not science, but an ideology known as scientism, which has nothing to do with the proper exercise of the scientific method". This viewpoint challenges the idea that science is Truth, with a capital "T", saying that "contemporary science is largely relegated to dealing with approximations; in doing so, it is always modifying its understanding and thus is in no position to declare what can be finally known with certainty", and it promotes an understanding of science within the confines of its underlying philosophical assumptions concerning physical reality. In this context, Sotillos seeks to revive traditional metaphysics, also known as sacred science or scientia sacra, which is guided by metaphysical principles and is based on the sapiential teachings of world religions.
History of science
Beginning in the middle of the 1980s, postcolonial histories of science is said to constitute a “decentered, diasporic, or ‘global’ rewriting of earlier nation-centred imperial grand narratives.” These histories seek to uncover "counter-histories of science, the legacies of precolonial knowledge, or residues and resurrections of the constitutive relations of colonial science." Instead of "centering scientific institutes in colonial metropoles," this history attempts to examine what Warwick Anderson refers to "as the unstable economy of science’s shifting spatialities as knowledge is transacted, translated, and transformed across the globe". It seeks to eradicate "imperial grand narratives", which is said to provincialize science into a single "indigenous knowledge tradition". Instead, it seeks to recognise "the culturally diverse and global origins of science", and build a cosmopolitan model of science history in place of the narrow view of science as the creation of "lone geniuses". This perspective acknowledges the contributions of other civilizations to science, and offers a "contrageography of science that is not Eurocentric and linear". The central tenet is that the history of science should be seen as a history of transmissions. In this, Prakash Kumar et al cite Joseph Needham as saying, "modern science...[is] like an ocean into which the rivers from all the world’s civilizations have poured their waters”.
Philosophy
Nelson Maldonado-Torres et al see the decolonial turn in philosophy "as a form of liberating and decolonising reason beyond the liberal and Enlightened emancipation of rationality, and beyond the more radical Euro-critiques that have failed to consistently challenge the legacies of Eurocentrism and white male heteronormativity (often Euro-centric critiques of Eurocentrism)". According to Sajjad H. Rizvi, the shift toward global philosophy may herald a radical departure from colonial epistemology and pave the way for the decolonization of knowledge, particularly in the study of the humanities. In opposition to what is said to have been the standard method in philosophy studies, he argues against focusing solely on Western philosophers. Rizvi makes the case for the inclusion of Islamic philosophy in the discussion because he thinks it will aid in the process of decolonization and may eventually replace the Eurocentric education of philosophy with an expansive "pedagogy of living and being". Philip Higgs argues for the inclusion of African philosophy in the context of decolonization. Similar suggestions have been made for Indian philosophy and Chinese philosophy. Maldonado-Torres et al discuss issues in the philosophy of race and gender as well as Asian philosophy and Latin American philosophy as instances of the decolonial turn and decolonizing philosophy, contending that "Asia and Latin America are not presented here as the continental others of Europe but as constructed categories and projects that themselves need to be decolonized".
Psychology
According to many influential colonial and postcolonial leaders and thinkers, decolonization was "essentially a psychological project" involving a "recovery of self" and "an attempt to reframe the damaging colonial discourses of selfhood". According to the decolonial perspective, Eurocentric psychology, which is based on a specific history and culture, places a strong emphasis on "experimental positivist methods, languages, symbols, and stories". A decolonizing approach in psychology thus seeks to show how colonialism, Orientalism, and Eurocentric presumptions are still deeply ingrained in modern psychological science as well as psychological theories of culture, identity, and human development. Decolonizing psychology entails comprehending and capturing the history of colonization as well as its perceived effects on families, nations, nationalism, institutions, and knowledge production. It seeks to extend the bounds of cultural horizons, which should serve as a gateway "to new confrontations and new knowledge". Decolonial turn in psychology entails upending the conventional research methodology by creating spaces for indigenous knowledge, oral histories, art, community knowledge, and lived experiences as legitimate forms of knowledge. Samuel Bendeck Sotillos seeks to break free from the alleged limits of modern psychology, which he claims is dominated by the precepts of modern science and which only addresses a very "restricted portion of human individuality". He instead wants to revive the traditional view of the human being as consisting of a spirit, a soul, and a body.
Sociology
Decolonial scholars argue that sociological study is now dominated by the viewpoints of academics in the Global North and empirical studies that are concentrated on these countries. This leads to sociological theories that portray the Global North as "normal" or "modern," while anything outside of it is assumed to be either "deviant" or "yet to be modernized." Such theories are said to undermine the concerns of the Global South despite the fact that they make up around 84% of the world population. They place a strong emphasis on taking into account the problems, perspectives, and way of life of those in the Global South who are typically left out of sociological research and theory-building; thus, decolonization in this sense refers to making non-Western social realities more relevant to academic debate.
Religious studies
According to the decolonial perspective, the study of religion is one of many humanities disciplines that has its roots in European colonialism. Because of this, the issues it covers, the concepts it reinforces, and even the settings in which it is taught at academic institutions all exhibit colonial characteristics. According to Malory Nye, in order to decolonize the study of religion, one must be methodologically cognizant of the historical and intellectual legacies of colonialism in the field, as well as fundamental presuppositions about the subject matter, including the conception of religion and world religions. For Adriaan van Klinken, a decolonial turn in the study of religions embraces reflexivity, is interactive, and challenges "the taken-for-granted Western frameworks of analysis and scholarly practice." It must accept "the pluriversality of ways of knowing and being" in the world. The interpretation of the Quran in the Euro-American academic community has been cited as one such example, where "the phenomenon of revelation (Wahy)" as it is understood in Islam is very often negated, disregarded, or regarded as unimportant to comprehending the scripture. According to Joseph Lumbard, Euro-American analytical modes have permeated Quranic studies and have a lasting impact on all facets of the discipline. He argues for more inclusive approaches that take into account different forms of analysis and make use of analytical tools from the classical Islamic tradition.
Legal studies
Aitor Jiménez González argues that the "generalized use of the term “law” or “Law” masks the fact that the concept we are using is not a universal category but a highly provincial one premised on the westernized legal cosmovision". According to him, it was not the "peaceful spread of a superior science" that ultimately led to the universal adoption of the western notion of law. Rather, it "was the result of centuries of colonialism, violent repression against other legal cosmovisions during the colonial periods and the persistence of the process referred to as coloniality". The decolonial stance on law facilitates dialogue between various understandings and epistemic perspectives on law in the first place, challenging the perceived hegemony of the westernized legal paradigm. It is a strategy for transforming a legal culture that historically was based on a hegemonic or Eurocentric understanding of the law into one that is more inclusive. It highlights the need for a fresh historical perspective that emphasizes diversity over homogeneity and casts doubt on the notion that the state is the "main organizer of legal and juridical life".
According to Asikia Karibi-Whyte, decolonization goes beyond inclusion in that it aims to dismantle the notions and viewpoints that undervalue the "other" in legal discourse. This point of view maintains that a society's values form the foundation of legal knowledge and argues for prioritizing those values when debating specific legal issues. This is because legal norms in former colonies bear the imprint of colonialism and values of colonial societies. For example, English Common Law predominates in former British colonies throughout Africa and Asia, whereas the Civil Law system is used in many former French colonies that mirrors the values of French society. In this context, decolonization of law calls "for the critical inclusion of epistemologies, ways of knowing, lived experiences, texts and scholarly works" that colonialism forced out of legal discourses.
Inclusive research
Shift in research methodology
According to Mpoe Johannah Keikelame and Leslie Swartz, "decolonising research methodology is an approach that is used to challenge the Eurocentric research methods that undermine the local knowledge and experiences of the marginalised population groups". Even though there is no set paradigm or practice for decolonizing research methodology, Thambinathan and Kinsella offer four methods that qualitative researchers might use. These four methods include engaging in transformative praxis, practicing critical reflexivity, employing reciprocity and respect for self-determination, as well as accepting "Other(ed)" ways of knowing. For Sabelo Ndlovu Gatsheni, decolonizing methodology involves "unmasking its role and purpose in research". It must transform the identity of research objects into questioners, critics, theorists, knowers, and communicators. In addition, research must be redirected to concentrate on what Europe has done to humanity and the environment rather than imitating Europe as a role model for the rest of the world.
Data decolonization
Criticism
According to Piet Naudé, decolonization's efforts to create new epistemic models with distinct laws of validation than those developed in Western knowledge system have not yet produced the desired outcome. The present "scholarly decolonial turn" has been criticised on the ground that it is divorced from the daily struggles of people living in historically colonized places. Robtel Neajai Pailey says that 21st-century epistemic decolonization will fail unless it is connected to and welcoming of the ongoing liberation movements against inequality, racism, austerity, imperialism, autocracy, sexism, xenophobia, environmental damage, militarization, impunity, corruption, media surveillance, and land theft because epistemic decolonization "cannot happen in a political vacuum".
"Decolonization", both as a theoretical and practical tendency, has recently faced increasing critique. For example, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò argued that it is analytically unsound, conflating "coloniality" with "modernity", leading it to become an impossible political project. He further argued that it risks denying the formerly colonized countries agency, in not recognizing that people often consciously accept and adapt elements of different origins, including colonial ones. Jonatan Kurzwelly and Malin Wilckens used the example of decolonisation of academic collections of human remains - originally used to further racist science and legitimize colonial oppression - to show how both contemporary scholarly methods and political practice perpetuate reified and essentialist notions of identities.
See also
Decolonization of higher education in South Africa
Decolonization of museums
Decolonising the Mind
Decolonization of public space
Decolonizing outer space
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Notes
References
Further reading
Decolonization
Social epistemology
Postcolonialism | 0.761549 | 0.980631 | 0.746799 |
Subsets and Splits