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This paper presents a framework which captures the complexity and multi-dimensional process of learning in action learning (AL) on an accredited executive Master's programme. The framework extends current knowledge by presenting a holistic participant perspective of learning. Underpinned by a social constructionist epistemology, the study supporting the framework's development adopted a qualitative narrative approach. Data were generated using in-person individual and group interviews with a total of 13 executive-level graduates from four cohorts of the programme. Data were analysed iteratively, culminating in the development of a conceptual framework for learning. The framework provides insight into the depth and richness of learning and change that can occur for participants on programmes adopting an AL approach in Higher Education. It highlights the importance for participants of having a trusted supported space for their learning. Furthermore, it illuminates the role of emotion and the paradox of vulnerability in the learning process. The conceptual framework, which encompasses emotional, social and relational dimensions, extends knowledge of AL by providing a unique and holistic view of participant learning on an AL programme. Additionally, through an enhanced understanding of the learning process as undergone by participants, the research informs academics in facilitating action learning programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the engagement of non-state actors (NSAs) in regional migration policy processes in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It identifies four categories of NSAs – non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), academia and the media – as the key actors engaged in regional migration governance processes in West Africa. The paper adopts a social constructivist approach and a multilevel perspective, drawing on interviews, surveys and an extensive analysis of ECOWAS policy documents. The paper argues that invented, invited and instrumentalised spaces for engagement between state and non-state actors in ECOWAS manifest in a complex web of regional and national interests contributing to regional migration governance from 'below'. Regional migration governance from below consists of transnational societal networks characterised by the interactions of NSAs across borders to influence policies and practices at the regional level. The analysis reveals that NSA engagement results in reinforcing regional policies, policy diffusion through regional processes and circumventing restrictive national agendas through adopting innovative regional approaches. These results contribute to strengthening the institutional framework for regional migration governance in West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once a popular buzzword for multinational corporations, 'professionalism' has now become a common catchphrase in India's emerging services economy. Today, youth aspiring to join entry-level services roles such as those in call centres, retail, and coffee shops undergo intense and regimented trainings to become 'professional', learning to regulate their bodies, behaviours, language, and overall identities, to fit into diverse and fast-paced 'servicescapes'. Whereas literature exploring notions of professionalism in India's growing services sectors has emphasised their corporate-western and disciplinary-ideological dimensions, more recent scholarship has begun to document how workers themselves perceive, experience and shape these notions. Drawing from this scholarship and ethnographic research conducted in a skills training centre in Pune city in western India, this paper explores how professionalism has increasingly become entwined with the discourse of 'soft skills' even at the margins of India's new services economy, and how it is being transmitted, questioned, and (re-)interpreted. The paper thus offers a grounded social constructivist view of professionalism, as not something that is simply imposed unimpeded upon passive neoliberal subjects by a powerful state and corporate actors, but rather as continually inflected by those who profess, teach and embody it, in line with local lived realities, experiences, values and belief systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article ostensibly underscores the interpretation of gender, structural inequalities and violent identity-interplay in selected novels in Zimbabwe. It vigorously examines the effects of the state of disaster on Zimbabwean's post 2017 experience. A plethora of themes ranging from the entangled past, stunted memories of the present were exemplified in the article. The paper epitomises how trends in the novels emanate from African literature, with specific reference on the fictional writings in Zimbabwe delineating and it depicts social issues of both the past and present which have haunted Zimbabwean social constructs. After Zimbabwe's independence on 18 April 1980, Zimbabweans anticipated euphoria that independence would usher in the desired peace. The political ruling class from the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) promised a strong political framework and commitment to the course of women's liberation. The achieved independence did not bring about the anticipated freedom but promoted the dichotomy among women and men and also, that of Black and White that had earlier preoccupied the defunct Rhodesia. Relying mainly on female novel writers, the paper hinges on Tsitsi (1988) Nervous Conditions, Vera's (2002) The Stone Virgins and other works in passing to delineate trends in the constructions of characters' responses to identities created by masculine stereotypes. This article explores Butler's theory of performativity to argue that there is an ambiguous link between the past and present, the depiction of gender violence and structural inequalities in the postcolonial Zimbabwean literary space which were largely demonstrated in Zimbabwean novels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon two previously published research papers exploring Canadian media reporting of childhood in the first wave of the pandemic, this paper investigates how constructions of childhood evolved from the first wave to the fourth wave of the pandemic. This qualitative research is guided by the central research question: Over the span of 2 years, from 2020 to 2022, what changes are evident in discourses reported within media focused on the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on Canadians under the age of 18 years? Findings from this study suggest that in the fourth wave young people were constructed as innocent victims of pandemic restrictions framed through an adult-centric lens; noticeably absent were representations of young people under the age of 18 in their voices. A key recommendation emerged from this study: any future research investigating the impact of the pandemic on young people under aged 18 years must include their full participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide an alternative reading to one of the most fundamental claims of the exhibitionary complex, which argues that museums are symbols of power, greatness, wealth, and progress. On the contrary, we adopt Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's (1996) concept of social constructionism and Star & Griesemer's concept of the border object and infrastructure to deconstruct the possibility of the fixity of meaning in Bennett's argument about the exhibitionary complex. We therefore argue that the many museums in Africa are slightly different. Rather than being a symbol of the people's power, wealth, and greatness, they reflect powerlessness and pain, which characterise their history. With histories such as the Transatlantic slave trade and British imperialism, which lasted through the 17th and 19th centuries, we discuss the Badagry Black Heritage Museum as a site not exclusively about power and greatness. The paper concludes that the defining characteristic of museums is their diversity, which offers multiple perspectives on their functionality, significance, and theoretical underpinnings. While Bennett's idea is laudable, there is a need to open up the concept of accommodating the specific features of museums across the world and develop new concepts or ideologies that reflect them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative research provides an in-depth understanding of lived experiences. However, these experiences can be hard to apprehend by using just one method of data analysis. A good example is the experience of resilience. In this paper, the authors describe the chain of the decision-making process in the research of the construct of "resilience". s The authors justify the implications of a multi-method, pluralistic approach, and show how the triangulation of two or more qualitative methods and integration of several qualitative data analysis methods can improve a deeper understanding of the resilience among people with chronic pain. By combining the thematic analysis, narrative analysis, and critical incident technique, lived experiences can be seen from different perspectives.Therefore, the thematic analysis describes the content and answers to "what" regarding resilience, the narrative analysis describes the dynamics of resilience, and answers to "how", while the critical incident technique clarifies the most significant experience and the answers to "why" changes happen. This integrative approach could be used in the analysis of other psychological constructs and can serve as an example of how the rigour of qualitative research could be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper appraises the way Facebook and WhatsApp social media users construct or obfuscate their identities and that of their followers and/or audience. Social media users post their statuses and what is on their mind on the public domain. These posts are presumed to 'project' the sender's identity dis/aligning themselves with readers or potential readers. The discursive processes involved are crucial for the appraisal of how identities are constructed or obfuscated. Language is at the centre of identity co-construction or obfuscation. Engaging the Appraisal and Social Constructionism theoretical frameworks, the paper examines identity construction or obfuscation from the three levels of analysis: lexical, textual pragmatic and interactional levels. Data for analysis is purposively sampled. Observation and group discussions are utilised to appraise the discursive socio-semantic meanings of the status and posts on social media. The paper argues that identities are largely obfuscated than constructed on social media. Identities are never unified, fragmentation of identities in differing situations and contexts compound obfuscation of identities in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of otherness in the social construction of ethnicities and rural multiculturalism has long attracted the attention of scholars. By following a postcolonial background, this paper investigates the social construction of Roma as 'other' in a multicultural landscape (the Romania-Serbia border) using interviews with participants of different ethnic groups. This paper addresses the following questions: (i) Is the Roma population in this area completely spatially segregated? (ii) How do different kinds of prejudice against Roma operate within this multicultural context? (iii) How does discrimination against the Roma interface with power relations, in particular political power in the area? The findings indicate that, alongside ethno-nationalist racism, Roma face prejudice from apparently more 'progressive' groups, who accept multiculturalism, yet blame the Roma for their own disadvantaged social and economic position on the grounds of a failure to integrate that is pictured as 'backward'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary feedback research, effective feedback does not depend on merely the characteristics of feedback but also on learners' ability to understand, manage and use the information. Known as feedback literacy, it refers to learners' social cognitive capacity, affective capacity and disposition prior to substantial engagement with feedback. In addition, feedback literacy is said to be developed in social learning settings. Despite the importance of the learner feedback literacy construct, little is known about its quantitative conceptualization or the specific psychological variables underpinning it. The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate a bifactor model of learner feedback literacy consisting of (1) conceptions of feedback, (2) feedback trust and (3) self-efficacy. Drawing from data on 923 learners from a polytechnic in Singapore that practices the social constructivist learning approach, results from Rasch and bifactor modelling analyses revealed that the learner feedback literacy model is psychometrically sound and robust with the potential to be developed further. Limitations and future research directions in the use of this model are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality (VR) training offers the capability to industrial workers to acquire skills and address complex tasks by immersing them in a safe and controlled virtual environment. Immersive VR (IVR) training is adopted in many diverse settings, yet little systematic work currently exists on how researchers have applied it for industrial skills training and if it holds the potential to be applied remotely. In this review, 78 representative studies were analysed to answer three key questions: Is IVR an effective training method for industrial skills training? How is research in this field applied? And how can we make IVR training more effective and applicable for remote training? We can testify that IVR is a promising training method with high effectiveness scores. However, our analysis has uncovered several gaps in the application of IVR training, like the lack of learning theories in the design process and limited metrics beyond time and scores. Additionally, our review also exposed unexplored but intriguing avenues of research, like the utilisation of biosensors for users' data collection, haptics that increases realism and applications with remote training potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This autoethnography asks newsrooms to consider how the actions and culture of white newsrooms can negatively affect Black female reporters through the usage of autoethnography and critical race theory. I reflect upon my experiences with workplace bullying as a reporter at a Southern newspaper to illustrate how white workspaces can be harmful for Black women and their identity. Critical race theory's social construction of race thesis and the theory's emphasis on storytelling via the voice of color thesis were used to explore bullying and lack of acknowledgement for the bullying that took place in the white newsroom. This paper also drew from communication literature that focuses on workplace bullying, gender, and identity. The analysis of my experiences and literature shed light on the isolation and bullying found within white newsrooms. I offer my newsroom experiences in hopes of creating changes in newsroom culture for Black female journalists and white newsrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Chinese pre-arrival training programs are focused on English language training without preparing students with psychological readiness to overcome potential adversities. This paper explores the effectiveness of an innovative six-week pre-arrival training program that integrated English training with resilience training through the lens of social constructionism. The program involved a mix of English proficiency training using stories with an underlying resilience theme coupled with further reinforcement of resilience skills through interactive narratives, bibliotherapy and art therapy. Thirty Chinese students who were enrolled in a joint venture training program between China and the U.K. were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The result of the pretest and posttest comparison after students participated in the training program showed a significant improvement in the experimental group's overall English skills and resilience, and a decrease in their anxiety, stress, and depression compared to the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods designs are accepted approaches to researching the creative industries. However, while these bring a depth of understanding, they do not generally include an understanding of the 'making' of a creative artefact; practitioners in the creative industries make creative products. A first-hand examination of the 'making', via an approach such as creative practice as research, provides a much-needed account of creative activity in the creative industries. But we take this argument further and provide a rationale for using creative practice as research alongside quantitative and qualitative approaches in a new research approach called extended-mixed methods. This paper discusses this approach and demonstrates that it can be defended within a constructionist epistemology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for a consideration of theoretical pluralism when conducting social science research in globalized and transcultural contexts via reflecting on a qualitative study which was designed to explore the ways in which second-generation Chinese young individuals were constructing selves in UK contexts. Narrative case studies were compiled and analyses conducted with a pluralist orientation integrating (Western) social constructionism and elements of (Chinese) Confucian philosophy and ultimately Taoist orientations. The multiple and dynamic positionalities demonstrated by the research participants prompted us to review many aspects of our research, which demanded sensitivity in respect of the following key areas –cultural complexity of research context, methodology and methods, epistemology and ontology, reflection and reflexivity, the criteria appropriate for conducting transcultural research, and the pluralist theoretical framework which enabled the development of potentially transformative representations of individuals in shifting contemporary global contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although health services in Australia have an aim to provide inclusive care for their patients/clients, this study highlights how barriers to care can lie at the centre of patient-provider interactions. Racial microaggression is a subtle form of racism that can occur in health settings, leading to further exclusion for First Nations Australians, immigrants and refugees. This paper is guided by Derrida's approach to deconstructionism by unpacking how language is used by health professionals – as holders of organisational power – and how they construct 'truths' or discourses about clients that historically have been marginalised by health services and system. Data comprise 21 interviews with staff from two rural health services. It identified three racial microaggressions were used to justify the challenges of providing care to people from First Nations, immigrant and refugee backgrounds: (1) Participants problematised culture(s) of service users; (2) participants implied cultural superiority in their conceptualisation of 'other' cultures; and (3) participants shared stories of inactions, discomfort and relegating of responsibility. The findings identified these discourses as forms of racial microaggression that can potentially lead to further exclusion of people seeking services and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I develop a perspective of nativized exoticism to describe how discourses around Peruvian Chineseness as both assimilated and exotic promote a multicultural mestizo national narrative that nevertheless overlooks questions of representation and the subject gaze. Using a qualitative approach, my argument connects micro-level analysis of spoken and mediated discourse to the broader contemporary and sociohistorical context. Findings extend existing work on processes of racialization in diaspora and the image of Asians as "perpetual foreigners" as well as imagined societies (Anderson, B. 2006. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso) and myths of equalizing mestizaje in Latin America. Findings further connect cotidian discourses to broader issues of appropriation and materiality within the national identity narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing ethnography and the theoretical paradigm of language ideology (Silverstein, M. 1979. "Language structure and linguistic ideology." In The Elements: A Parasession on Linguistic Units and Levels, edited by P. Clyne, W. Hanks, and H. Carol, 193–247. Chicago Linguistic Society), this article examines how ideologies of language inform language practices among migrant workers in a Vietnamese restaurant in South Texas. Data is drawn from participant observations, audio-recorded interactions, semi-structured interviews with participants, and collection of artifacts. Findings suggest that the participants hold certain ideologies, namely, (1) standardised English as an impediment or a resource, (2) polite language as access to community membership and career opportunities, and (3) multilingualism as a marketable commodity. Those beliefs, in turn, shape their trajectory of language practices and socialisation patterns. The participants' language ideologies, therefore, do not exist separately as a theoretical divide, nor a static social construct, but constantly evolve, mutually inform, and contest each other, dynamically transformed during their socialisation process. The paper concludes with the emphasis on exploring linguistic dynamics, such as language ideologies and multilingual turn in language socialisation, across similar transnational communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many music therapists propose that chaos, such as destructiveness and disintegration, could thwart music therapy group processes and should be minimised or resolved. From a paradoxical approach, however, chaos is understood as a transformative complement to ordered, formative music therapy experiences. The research in this paper explored how music therapists and adolescents could engage with chaos as a resource in music therapy groups. From a paradoxical approach, the music therapist--researcher facilitated two short-term group music therapy processes with nine young South Africans from under-resourced and often violent communities, referred for committing offences. The researcher utilised crystallisation, including constructivist grounded theory, participatory action research, and abduction, to analyse how group members could engage with chaotic group experiences. Findings, constructed through a cyclical process of data collection, analysis, and inclusion of group feedback, are presented in a matrix. The matrix shows how groups could utilise chaos to explore multiple possibilities for responding to challenges. They expressed themselves courageously and played unconventional group roles through their musicking and participation. They juggled paradoxical tensions between observational and active, integrative and disintegrative, engagement styles. This supported their transformation in the group, and potentially within the chaotic South African context. Music therapists can use the matrix to support adolescents in music therapy groups to engage with chaos as a transformative resource. They can accompany young people through offering holding, resources and collaborative support. When it is safe, music therapists may allow or encourage chaos that empowers adolescents to cope with challenges independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the current theory base that is explicit in research to understanding mental health disparities seen among Asian Americans. I will argue that the disparities framework is effectively insufficient due to the epistemological and ontological dominance of "mental illness" and "mental health services" via comparisons to non-Latino whites that is implicit in its methodology. Using a social constructionist conceptual framework as well as a critical discourse analysis, I will explicate the perpetuating limitations of the current disparities research agenda and propose cultural reflexivity in framing future research that may be more equitable and inclusive for Asian American health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses populism as a layered system with three levels: the political/institutional, the social/interactional, and the psychological/intrapsychic. Each level is theorized using a specific analytic concept, At the political/institutional level the analytic concept is ideology, and populism is theorized as a 'thin ideology' that divides society into the pure people and the corrupt elite. At the social/interactional level the analytic concept is social identity and populism is theorized as a form of identity politics in which devalued social groups develop a compensatory positive identity based on populist ideology. At the psychological/intrapsychic level the analytic concept is psychic structure, in which individuals use a paranoid/schizoid psychic structure that allows them to ward off the negative effects associated with their devalued social identity. Each analytic concept has the same deep structure: a binary polar opposition in which one pole is positive and good and the other pole is negative and bad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global environment has been hit with a pandemic of cataclysmic proportion. The COVID19 has created havoc on all countries and has claimed the lives of over 3 million individuals and affected over 100 million persons at the time of writing this paper. Countries have been forced to implement measures to safeguard their population. Included in these measures is work from home strategies. The crisis, whilst catastrophic in nature; has created some opportunities for groups such as persons with disabilities through remote employment. The author examines through a case study, the prospects for employment of persons with disabilities using the concept of remote employment. The Business Process Outsourcing sector is the focus of study. The fundamental question to answer in the study is to what extent can the Business Process Outsourcing sector employ more persons with disabilities in the Post-COVID19 era? The article is completed with some recommendations. The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges and opportunities for persons with disabilities. This article is about the possibilities of working from home by persons with disabilities in the after COVID-19 environment through the use of new technologies. The article is prepared by looking at a fast growing employment sector which showed that there is a big growth in working from home and that the chances are great for the employment of persons with disabilities through this means, with the aid of new technologies. Most of the public facilities across poor and middle-income countries are unfriendly to persons with disabilities and making some of these individuals work from their homes is a very good means of employing some of them in the labour market. This research is therefore important in showing how poor and middle-income countries can add to the employment of persons with disabilities by working from home with the use of new technologies and some recommendations are made on how to achieve this objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do African migrants become stuck-in-place and experience stuckedness in China? This article interrogates the concepts of stuckedness and social navigation to examine what it means to be 'stuck-in-place' using the stories of four Nigerians—a woman and three men—in Guangzhou City. Two modes of stuckedness were observed: 'truncational stuckedness' and 'identity stuckedness'. While the former resulted from being spatially stuck in Guangzhou on their way to South Korea and Hong Kong, the latter was a product of identity appropriation, where a migrant uses the passport of another country. Despite the constraint of stuckedness and the precarity that those without valid immigration papers faced, migrants managed to reinterpret their situations and stayed put while being opened to emplacement in Guangzhou—albeit a transitory kind. In calibrating their practice of 'moving on' in Guangzhou, however, economic integration, the local and transnational networks of migrants, hope, prolonging one's stay and management of micro-mobilities of the everyday were deployed singly or in combination with one another. The article advances debates in China-African relations and Afro-mobilities in East Asia while also contributing to discourses on migrant trajectories, stuckedness, and mobilities studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual engineering is the method for assessing and improving our concepts. Some have recently claimed that the implementation of such method in the form of ameliorative projects is truth-driven and should thus be epistemically constrained, ultimately at least (Simion, Mona. 2018b. "The 'Should' in Conceptual Engineering." Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 61 (8): 914–928; cf. Podosky, Paul-Mikhail Catapang. 2018. "Ideology and Normativity: Constraints on Conceptual Engineering." Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, Online first, 1–15. doi:10.1080/0020174X.2018.1562374). This paper challenges that claim on the assumption of a social constructionist analysis of ideologies, and provides an alternative, pragmatic and cognitive framework for determining the legitimacy of ameliorative conceptual projects overall. The upshot is that one should not ameliorate for the sake of truth or knowledge, in the case of ideologies – at least, not primarily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illuminates a method of representation of research methodologies and philosophical positioning expressed through the use of poetics, allowing for a more playful space for critical reflection in qualitative research. Methodologies and ontological and epistemological positioning can take on many forms within the research process and can pose a conundrum for the novice researcher. During my exploration for a suitable methodology whilst I undertook a Professional Doctorate in Health and Wellbeing there emerged a selection of poems debating the merits, in addition to the limitations, of the potential options available; all dependent on the philosophical stance I chose to embrace. Within this process, I was encouraged to use this art-based method of poetic expression within the doctoral trajectory which continued throughout the journey to facilitate reflexivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The sociocultural and historical context and membership of the speech-language pathology (SLP) profession underpins our norms of practice and our discourses. This context also informs and defines the ways that we practice today, including who we legitimise to enter our profession and why. In this paper, we used theory as a tool to critically explore how this socioculturally constituted knowledge and practice influences how students experience learning in SLP practice placements. Method: We used the theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (1991) as a conceptual framework to interpret qualitative data from two separate programs of research that had explored the phenomena of student learning in SLP practice placements. Result: The analysis cast light on how our understanding and expectations of SLP students' learning and competency development in placements is recursive and strongly legitimised in our profession. Students adjust to accommodate the professional knowledges, practices and expectations they encounter in their placements. This facilitates the perpetuation of practices proffered by the majority culture. Conclusion: The use of theory allowed us to explore the phenomena of student learning in placements in a new light, which unmasked new understandings of the longstanding challenge to increase diversity in the SLP community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to give the reader an overview of several theoretical, empirical, and clinical features of survivor guilt, and to integrate recent contributions of psychodynamic theory and, in particular, of control-mastery theory into the understanding of the concept alongside the latest findings in social psychology about it. After introducing the concept of survivor guilt and its origins in clinical observations on the consequences of having survived severe traumas (e.g., internment in concentration camps), we will discuss the findings in social psychology on the concept of survivor guilt in everyday social interactions, which is based on a conception that does not connect it strictly to severe traumas. We will then focus our attention on clinical observations and empirical research studies about survivor guilt, discussing the hypotheses developed by several control-mastery theorists about its role in psychopathology. Finally, we will illustrate some manifestations of survivor guilt with a brief clinical vignette. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative review procedures have developed significantly over the past 30 years; meta-ethnography being one. Meta-ethnography was originally located within an interpretivist world view and aimed at reviewing small numbers of qualitative studies, often involving small sample sizes. One of the defining features of meta-ethnography is that of theory generating. Whilst developed within healthcare literature, where particular procedures and processes are evident it is suited to the discipline of sports and exercise psychology. A notable gap in the healthcare literature is how meta-ethnographies honour ethnographies honour the theory generation. In order to apply the meta-ethnographic procedures, researchers need to appreciate the origins of the techniques, be aware of the impact of philosophical worldviews and critically appreciate the 7 prescribed stages. This paper seeks to; (a) provide a background to the area and overview of past meta-ethnographies within sport and exercise psychology, (b) identify the strengths and weaknesses of the approach, (c) provide a justification of assuming a social constructivist paradigmatic view to meta-ethnography, (d) provide an analysis of the 7 stages with clarity for a social constructivist and (c) provide directions for future application of meta-ethnography in sports and exercise psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivating children's creativity and imagination is fundamental to preparing them for an increasingly complex and uncertain future. Engaging in creative learning enables children to think independently and critically, work cooperatively, and take risks while actively engaged in meaningful projects. While current trends in education, such as maker movements and computer science education, are dramatically expanding children's opportunities for engagement in creative learning, comparatively few empirical studies explore how creative learning can be integrated into elementary school curricula. In this paper, we investigated five key design strategies for integrating creative learning in school curricula through computer programming activities. The five design strategies, drawn from design meetings with in-service teachers and two pilot studies, comprise (1) prepare an object-to-think-with for specific curricular ideas, (2) find a context that provokes a leap of ideas within a disciplinary framework, (3) facilitate tinkering through disciplinary inquiry, (4) pair students and establishing developer and researcher roles, and (5) provide feedback to connect computer programming projects to disciplinary ideas. Implementing these strategies with mixed-method analysis indicated positive support for the efficacy of these design strategies. We also provide insights into difficulties with integrating creative learning into school curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calls for school psychology researchers to produce scholarship explicitly centered on social justice have grown in recent years. There is a growing community of scholars dedicated to this research area but the knowledge base produced so far remains narrow and constrained in nature. We connect the constrained nature of this scholarship to the epistemological dominance of objectivism which has manifested in many ways, including calls to standardize the meaning of social justice. Social justice researchers must produce their research (whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed) within the confines of objectivist culture even though social injustice exceeds the constraints of any one epistemological framework. We argue that in order to foster social justice research in school psychology, a plurality of epistemologies is crucial. We present the epistemology of constructionism, and provide various examples of what an epistemologically diversified approach to school psychology research, practice and teaching in social justice may look like. Impact Statement The authors critique the restrictive role of objectivism in social justice-related research in school psychology. This paper can assist the field of school psychology to broaden its epistemological boundaries through constructionism which in turn can allow equity-oriented school psychologists to have a deeper engagement with issues of power, inequity, and injustice in research, practice, and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs have emerged in the U.S. as effective ways to bring together language minority and language majority speakers in school settings with the goal of bilingualism and bi-literacy for all. However, the proliferation of these programs has raised concerns regarding issues of inequity and dissimilar power dynamics in these spaces (Cervantes-Soon, 2014, "A Critical Look at Dual Language Immersion in the New Latin@ Diaspora." Bilingual Research Journal 37 (1): 64–82; Flores, 2016, Do Black Lives matter in Bilingual Education [Web log post]. Accessed May 1, 2017. https://educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/do-black-lives-matter-in-bilingual-education/; Valdes, 1997, "Dual language immersion programs: A cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students." Harvard Educational Review 67: 391–430, 2018, "Analyzing the curricularization of language in two-way immersion education: Restating two cautionary notes." Bilingual Research Journal). With this in mind, this study aims to shed light on the intricate social processes at work in DLI contexts. In particular, this paper examines first, how notions of language use, race, and ethnicity are socially constructed and intersect in DLI settings; and second, it explores how these ideas are discerned and re-shaped by young children into their own social and linguistic norms. Employing qualitative research methods, this year-long ethnographic case study uses the intersectional lens of raciolinguistics (Alim, Rickford & Ball, 2016, Raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; Rosa & Flores, 2017, "Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective." Language in Society 46 (5): 621–647), to examine the intricate cross-cutting dynamics at play in bilingual spaces. The exploration of these ideas helps to illuminate the ways in which language practices and interactions are shaped by social constructions from a very early age. Furthermore, it contributes to understandings of social perceptions and relations in multilingual/multicultural/multiethnic contemporary school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes a historical perspective to explain the development of the concept of social entrepreneurship, divergence between the forms of social enterprises (SEs) de jure and de facto in a post-Socialist society and approaches to typical tensions experienced by SEs as hybrid organisations. In this respect, the paper presents a framework of eight contrasting conceptual dimensions (i.e. possible institutional tensions) based on the analysis of prior social entrepreneurship studies and identifies respective tensions experienced by SEs based on data from Lithuania. The data were generated from semi-structured interviews (N = 11) with social entrepreneurship experts and from a survey with a semantic differential method in a sample of the participants (N = 98) in the largest conference on social entrepreneurship in Lithuania. This study concludes that understandings of social entrepreneurship in Lithuania are blurred by a dichotomy between SEs de jure and de facto which is set by current legal acts. The findings also indicate that social entrepreneurship insiders no longer perceive any controversy between social mission and businesslike activities. However, external attitudes as expressed in experts' interviews may still hinder SEs' attainment of social impact, one of the three dimensions (founding motives and innovation types being the other two) that is little reflected by social entrepreneurship insiders of a post-Socialist society in which the phenomenon is at a nascent stage. Directions for further research to bring contribution to institutional theory are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tenets of critical and social realism are well supported in the literature. However, researchers following a realist paradigm have concerns about the lack of methodical guidance for qualitative interviewing, despite their affirmation about the importance of in-depth interviews. A conducted review of empirical realist literature provides evidence of an absence of guidance and commonality regarding interview planning practices. To overcome this absence, this paper composes a guiding framework to assist researchers to phrase more appropriate interview questions in realist research. The steps are founded on critical and social realist concepts while guided by methodological realist principles. Its contribution aims to not only improve the practice of realist inquiry methods but also to introduce more research transparency. A more transparent method for interview questions can lead to increased validity and afford replicability of mechanism-based theories resulting from empirical realist research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through its portrayals of the intersectional identities of race and gender divergence, the FX series Pose illustrates how social structures fail marginalized communities as a disciplinary function of hegemony and perpetuate a biomedical model of health that serves to reinforce health disparities. For this study, researchers took a critical cultural rhetorical approach to the series through the lens of the social ecological model and biomedical model, to deconstruct hegemonic discourses of power present within medical practices. This paper situates Pose as an artifact that condemns the cultural practices of the marginalization and erasure of transgender communities, demonstrating how the show confronts the mechanisms of hegemonic power by exposing the cissexist stigmatization within the healthcare establishment. Through the exposure of the failings of the social ecological model with the biomedical model, Pose exposes the discrimination and stigma inherent within dominant forms of healthcare as they persist today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located at the edge of downtown San Diego, Barrio Logan is a neighborhood undergoing rapid gentrification. With a host of new breweries, galleries and cafés, this traditionally working-class, Mexican American community is being rebranded as the latest hotspot for cutting-edge arts and "authentic" local culture. Some support this change as gentefication. The word gentefication is a play on la gente ("the people" in Spanish) and suggests grassroots, Latino-led redevelopment of the community. In this paper, we draw from interviews with local residents, artists, business owners, and developers to explore the contradictions inherent in the gentrification of Barrio Logan. We argue that while gentefication signifies an attempt to rewrite urban space in a more culturally inclusive manner, it remains a discursive tool that leads to ongoing displacement of the racialized poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marked and persistent gender segregation in apprenticeship has been well documented. The social construction of 'male' and 'female' jobs is a key factor in the gendered patterns evident in career choice. Research on young women who have chosen careers in male-dominated occupations risks constructing them as 'Other', typically concluding that rather than challenging the gender binary, the women would reinforce it, echoing 'tomboy' identities according to which girls are aligning themselves with boys whilst devaluing femininity. Based on biographical interviews, this paper explores the role of gender in the career decision-making of one German and one English woman motor mechanic apprentice. It illustrates the strongly normative but highly contextual nature of gender as the two women negotiate identities in their quests to live 'liveable lives'. It will be argued that the rich and multi-faceted experiences of these two young women belie stereotypical accounts of gender, suggesting acceptable ways of being in male workspaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compartmentalization of (dis)ability from race and ethnicity, and other identity markers serves to maintain these constructs at a safe distance from one another. Beyond these broader socially constructed categories, there are also the subtler messages about normativity that manifest in gradients of ability, color, behavior, capital, expression and power. Even more restrictive is the creation of a narrow space for parent advocacy that is culturally-subtractive and bureaucratic, serving to privilege the already privileged while silencing the marginalized. In this paper, I use autoethnography with DisCrit as a framework in order to to trace my journey to becoming Minority-Mother-Advocate, un/belonging within community and academic forums. The centerpiece of my counternarrative is the transition of my own advocacy from valuing my son to addressing others' fears of him as a Black male whose visible (dis)ability doesn't fit neatly into prescribed norms. A reframing of parent advocacy is imperative, moving beyond the individualistic, unintentionally exclusive aims toward one of collective justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dichotomy of 'autonomous men' and 'relational women' is a long-lived social construction that is often taken for a fact. It is also suggested to relate to the reproduction of gender inequality in academia. Through the lens of dialogical self-theory, and based on our narrative data, we show that subtle gender inequality causes tension in the dialogical structure of the self. The tension is enforced by material and structural barriers and is rooted in the multiplicity of competing self-narratives. This tension is not an indication of lack of agency, and is linked to the interplay between self, organization and society. Those with a higher degree of multiplicity and democratic relations among their key I-positions are more prone to facing tension in career progression because of competing self-narratives. In this context, we introduce a distinction between 'being autonomous' and 'having reduced multiplicity'. This distinction shifts the focus from women only to selfhood, and to men and the reduction of multiplicity of I-positions to address gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the result of a research done from the Socioepistemological Theory of Mathematics Education, perspective in which we enquire about the reasons to study trigonometric Fourier series in electrical engineering, and what historical and epistemological conditions can be considered to develop more profound meanings when this topic is addressed in class. The findings in this research are four notions for the social construction of mathematics knowledge found in a qualitative historical-epistemological analysis of the original works of nineteenth century scientists. These notions consider transversal aspects from the scientists' works: the use of analogies from heat to electricity give mathematical support to their findings; the shift from a static to a dynamic paradigm about electricity; the concern of a steady state as the situational context in which the knowledge was built; and the presence/confrontation of an epistemological obstacle. We propose that these conditions can be used to broaden the meanings overshadowed by mathematics courses in schools that primarily promote the operational aspect of mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the ways in which gender, conceived as the product of an ongoing social and cultural construction in and through communication processes, is accomplished during medical encounters and through the narratives produced within these interactions. The main objective is to examine: (1) when and by what devices gender becomes interactionally relevant; (2) the participants' narratives on 'gender issues'; (3) the interplay between the narratives produced and the forms of communication created, also considering which form may be more effective in challenging gender stereotypes and bias. Data are drawn from a corpus of self-administered audio-recorded interactions between a female gynecologist/midwife and pregnant patients. The consultations (half of them mediated, half not) took place in a city of North Italy; the patients (sometimes accompanied by the husband) are migrant women from North and West Africa. The main results show that: (1) at each stage of the examinations, an orientation to gender emerges, mainly through questions that display categorizations, category-bound activities, and cultural assumptions about gender: when referred to the patient, these devices often reproduce the traditional cultural model of femininity and, connected to this, the 'normal' (heterosexual and stable) intimate relationship as socially expected; (2) medical dialogue as patient-centered approach is the most recurrent form of interaction and often leads to a co-construction of narratives in which personal uniqueness is more relevant than gender roles, expectations, and stereotyped representations; when husbands are involved, however, the interactions seem to shift toward doctor-centered forms of communication, and this usually leads to asymmetrical and directive constructions of narratives about differentiated and traditional gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I explore the impact of receiving mentorship into research and theory of the field that was guided by a social constructivist learning lens. I reflect on the ways that my conception of research and research agenda were framed subconsciously by early experiences investigating my secondary mathematics teaching practice under the mentorship of Dr. Terry Wood. Terry mentored through listening, posing questions, creating cognitive conflict, and encouraging my autonomous exploration. What stood out from this process are the parallels between her words about constructivism, applied to the elementary mathematics classroom, and her ways of mentoring me into the space of mathematics education research, theory, and practice. Her patient and student-centered mentorship had a profound impact on my ways of framing and studying teacher learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In education, low-income and racially minoritized students in urban districts are often constructed as 'dependent' – weak in their social positions but deserving of educational opportunity. This social construction of 'urban' students has been central to school choice politics and policymaking in the United States. In this study, I interrogate one particular aspect of this social construction: the way low-income and racially minoritized students are represented in quantitative data. I use school choice in Detroit, Michigan as an illustrative case; I conduct a critical discourse analysis of exchanges between former United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and members of Congress about school choice, and the quantitative research referenced during those exchanges. The study demonstrates how dominant conceptions of 'urban' education in the United States influence the production of data and research on school choice, and in turn the role those quantifications play in school choice discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, German foreign and security policy has been under intense pressure to adapt to a much more threatening geopolitical setting. Notwithstanding the leadership's decision to embrace change, the crisis has exposed some persistence in Germany's antecedent 'civilian power' paradigm, or culture of restraint. A culturalist analytical approach finds that durable historical and ideational factors in identity formation, the embeddedness of foreign policy in domestic institutions and the close association of European integration with the core tenets of Germany's identity constrain its capacity to act decisively and without equivocation, even under dramatically changed circumstances summarised in the concept of Zeitenwende. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to illustrate with five exemplar printed books the nature of books published by, or for, Old Believers in the small town of Klintsy in the Starodub frontier region. All of these books form part of the Slavonic Library's collection in Prague. Using theoretical insights from a social mechanism and the concepts of textual community and graphosphere combined with a multimethod methodology this article demonstrates how deliberately anonymized Old Believer books can be systematically studied in the field of Slavic librarianship with the purpose of providing enhanced consultancy services to students and scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper continues a debate on the normative limits of conceptual engineering. In particular, it responds to [Isaac, Manuel Gustavo. 2021. “Post-truth conceptual engineering.” Inquiry. doi:10.1080/0020174X.2021.1887758] claim, in response to [Simion, Mona. 2018a. “The ‘Should’ in Conceptual Engineering.” Inquiry 61(8): 914–928 and Podosky, Paul-Mikhail Catapang. 2018. “Ideology and Normativity: Constraints on Conceptual Engineering.” Inquiry. doi:10.1080/0020174X.2018.1562374], but in particular Podosky, that cognitive efficacy, rather than truth and knowledge, should be the normative standard by which we assess the legitimacy of a conceptual engineering project – at least for ideological concepts. I argue that Isaac has not done enough to show us that truth and knowledge are insignificant for the conceptual engineering of ideological concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the evolution of A. S. Byatt's writing in her later works, from the 2000s to the present, in particular the increasing enmeshment of the human and the non-human in her apprehension of embodiment and embeddedness. Her short fiction helped her develop transcorporeal ontologies. It sheds light on the parallel endeavour in her novels to increasingly connect, on an epistemological level, the cross-breeding of scientific disciplines. The premise of this integrated approach is to be found in the highly conceptual novel from 2000, The Biographer's Tale, in which the first-person narrator's dissatisfaction with social constructionism initiates his quest: 'I must have things'. The writing project outlined at the end of the novel heralds Byatt's own later practice: 'I could mix warnings with hints, descriptions with explanations, science with little floating flashes of literature'. In her latest novel, Ragnarok (2011), her collection of short stories, Little Black Book of Stories (2003), and her latest short story 'Sea Story', she shapes posthuman subjects by delivering the enmeshed 'onto-stories' of humans, things, and gods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prenatal depression affects approximately 10% to 15% of women. Guidelines recommend supporting women to make informed treatment decisions; however, minimal evidence exists regarding this decision-making process. This study aimed to develop a constructivist grounded theory of prenatal antidepressant treatment decision-making. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposively sampled women from the community or specialty clinics (N = 31). Iterative data collection and analysis, theoretical sampling, and member checking supported model sufficiency. In the Creating Comfort in Choice theory that we developed, participants were highly conscious of societal stigma toward mental illness and prenatal medication use, so fear, anxiety, and guilt dominated decision-making. Participants navigated dynamically among three clusters of decision-making activities: seeking information, making sense of information, and self-soothing. "Seeking information" included internal and external processes. In "making sense of information," participants appraised available evidence. In "self-soothing," participants engaged in coping strategies to try to alleviate painful emotions. The Creating Comfort in Choice theory can support patient-oriented decision-making regarding prenatal mental healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meaning of the term 'inclusion' is often taken for granted and seldom defined. Empirical research on inclusive education is often normative since it is based on terms such as 'justice' and 'democracy'. Such terms are challenging to translate into real practice because their meanings depend on a subjective evaluation related to the time and place where inclusion is supposed to happen. Inclusive education, therefore, is challenging to explore in research and to achieve in educational situations. This article explores the understanding of inclusive education through the lens of social system theory developed by Niklas Luhmann as well as theory of institutionalism. With the perspectives underlying mechanisms that create inclusion and exclusion in schools are identified at different institutional levels. Furthermore it is shown how subsystems include and exclude, i.e. what criteria apply to the access and rejection of a system. In this theoretical contribution to understanding inclusive education, we seek to intertwine Luhmann's theory of inclusion and exclusion with the institutional theory of the social construction of reality to discuss how policy, management, teaching, student relationships, and everything within the context of education that involves communication can create institutionalised systems with mechanisms that form persistent exclusion for some students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the marketing canon, as presently configured, has failed to confer social reality to the acts of its key protagonists – marketers. As an adjunct to both collective and contextually diverse perspectives on marketing, more emphasis on marketer agency is suggested, this in the context of nominally focused anthropological enquiry. It is further argued that the status afforded to consumer behaviour be similarly conferred for marketer behaviour, the latter under-represented within marketing research. Drawing on ontological nominalism, speech act theory and Searle's social constructionism, this article addresses implications for intersubjective meaning within our community and offers provisional thoughts for how this might be structured and improved. It ends with a call to action for both the rehabilitation and expansion of purposeful marketer behaviour study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This small-scale qualitative study, involving commissioners of carers' services, contextualized in academic and other literature, adds to an understanding of groupwork for carers within the context of an English legal framework. Five commissioners, from different parts of England, participated in an online focus group. The dataset was analyzed thematically using a reflexive Thematic Analysis approach. Three themes were developed from the data. One theme indicated that differing understandings of the purpose of group activities for carers co-existed in each area and another that system-wide blocks meant that the choice of provider depends on factors like ability to risk-manage the contract value rather than skills needed to serve whole populations. This led to a third theme of commissioners attempting to "engineer" the development of successful groupwork. The findings suggest that Community Social Work is likely to be successful in working with carers but may face challenges within a quasi-market approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]