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In this practice-based pedagogical paper, we, the university faculty of Education, Food and Nutrition, Sociology, and History in the U.S., describe how we started a Reflective Practice Teaching Circle at our institution for interdisciplinary dialogue about the effective use of social media (SM) for teaching and learning. Our discussions led to the design of the Social Media Entry Model that educators can use for decision-making. We begin this paper with a brief synthesis of scholarly literature describing students' SM use and how higher education faculty use SM to support 21st-century skills development. Next, we describe the institutional, individual, and pedagogical barriers that prevent faculty from embracing SM as a teaching and learning tool. Based on our shared vision and praxis, we present the Social Media Entry Model and describe how educators can use it when deciding how to integrate SM into the formal or informal curriculum. Through our narratives, we illustrate how we use a variety of SM platforms and different entry points in the model to enhance students' 21st-century skills. We also discuss the legal and ethical issues that educators must consider to ensure that university students use SM in a socially responsible manner.

The number of international schools hit the 6,000-mark in 2012, and the 13,000-mark in 2022. In spite of continuous growth and diversity of provision, paradoxically some literature continues to paint a largely negative sociological imagination, associating the arena with micro-politics, high turnover, and increasing precarity. At the same time, the social reality of working in the arena remains under-reported and under-theorised. The largest number of international schools are now in China, where two-thirds are of the 'non-traditional' type. Our paper focuses on the experiences of two expatriate teachers in that relatively new field. In order to address the questions of 'how do teachers cope?', and 'what strategies do they adopt?', our paper delves into the under-reported social reality of 'cliques'. By adopting a 'positive sociology' lens of inquiry, we begin to address the role that cliques-formation might have in dealing with precarity and insecurity, especially that of 'friendship precarity' caused by constant transitions and short-term contracts. It can be seen that cliques offer a natural, quick, and practical solution to addressing precarity, helping over time to create resilience, and should not be viewed solely within a negative sociological imagination.

A structural/cross-sectional micro-analytic perspective prevails in the Socio-constructivist research of peer knowledge construction. This paper proposes an alternative micro-sequential approach that focuses on the transitions between events during the activity. From this micro-sequential perspective, the study aimed to (a) explore the socio-cognitive interaction of symmetrical dyads of sixth and seventh graders solving a table comprehension task; (b) compare this interaction between symmetrical dyads of basic and advanced levels of competence. Participants were 148 sixth and seventh graders (74 dyads) from public schools in Rosario and nearby areas (Argentina). The dyads were symmetrical because their integrants had similar specific levels of competence (comprehension of a frequencies table) but differed in basic and advanced compositions. The interaction was coded using a system of mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories. An analysis of transition probabilities was performed among all codes, to identify activated/inhibited and inter-subjective/intra-subjective sequences. Transitions between statements aimed at solving the task formed the core of interactivity, as they comprise the codes that play a greater role in the elaboration of the task (shared by both symmetrical conditions). However, only the basic symmetry dyads showed an activating effect of the social feedback units. Transitions between cognitive questions and statements were also registered. Opinion questions were the most activated (inter-subjective) compared to demonstration and evaluation questions. Although these transitions were inter-subjective, they also differed according to the condition of symmetry. The work allows drawing conclusions about the relevance of a micro-sequential approach to interaction, since these results could not have been constructed from a classical structural perspective.

This paper advocates for the integration of the 'sociological imagination', as proposed by the sociologist C. Wright Mills, into pedagogical practices to foster inclusive and democratic classrooms. Departing from narrow evidence-based approaches, it explores how the sociological imagination connects personal experiences with broader societal structures, enhancing critical thinking and social awareness among students. Practical strategies for implementation across diverse subjects are discussed, emphasising its potential to empower school-age students as agents of social change amidst contemporary challenges.

This article addresses the revernacularization or reduction of the use-value of the standard Croatian language within the scientific and academic system. A bibliometric analysis of 1,152 academic papers was conducted on the sample of the selected Croatian journals in sociology and philology (Croatian studies). A longitudinal approach was used, analyzing all issues of the included journals in the periods 1996 to 1999, 2006 to 2009, and 2016 to 2019. Unlike in the 1990s, the selected journals were in later periods exposed to internationalization by being included in relevant international databases for scientific research. This article aims to investigate whether and how this process has affected the revernacularization of the Croatian language. The results show a similar absolute number of papers written in Croatian within the periods analyzed, and also a decrease in their relative number (share). In the period from 2016, a marked increase in the number of papers written in English was observed, as well as in the number of foreign authors. Such papers mostly do not address the topics of Croatian society. The results indicate an intensified internationalization of the analyzed journals, but not revernacularization. The mentioned trend can, nevertheless, lead to revernacularization with increasing international recognition of the journals, the continued promotion of publication in foreign languages, and a more rigorous policy of academic advancement in Croatia. In this sense, this study considers the need for preserving the standard Croatian language within the academic system, bringing both into a relationship with the widely promoted model of endogenous social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]