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This paper advances a critical conceptual discussion and paradigm shift regarding the preparation of human and social service students. This work looks to make apparent the racial and class realities of preparing a primarily white, female, upper/middle-class human service professional to work in a field that overwhelmingly serves poor Black and Brown communities. The frameworks/concepts of The Racial Contract, Structural Competency, and The nonprofit Industrial Complex are employed to examine and understand social systems and structures of pertinence to human services. Finally, implications for human services, both in terms of human service curricula and practice are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a critical analysis of Sonali Deraniyagala's memoir Wave through the lens of sublimity and trauma theory, this paper argues that the discursive interplay of trauma and sublime in the text functions as a powerful means to express the unspeakable. Situating the text within the revised aes- thetics of the sublime, where the possibility of death constantly haunts the current existence or survival, the paper draws upon Burkean notions of the sublime and Cathy Caruth's and Judith Herman's approaches to trauma to demon- strate how the use of symbolic characters and the fear of death contribute to the processing of trauma and the expression of the unspeakable. By exploring the text's themes of grandiosity and nobility, as well as the possibility of death as a haunting factor, this analysis shows how the sublime in Wave serves as a means of expressing the ineffable and representing the unrepresentable through language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the association of volunteer tourism with global citizenship and argues that it involves outsourcing citizenship to ‘the globe’ in a manner unlikely to benefit global understanding or development politics. Volunteer tourism is strongly associated with global citizenship. Global citizenship, in turn, is associated with a better world. A key claim made about global citizenship is that it enables people to discharge their responsibilities to others in distant lands in an ethical way, less constrained by national interests. Yet global citizenship involves a reworking of the concept of citizenship not only spatially from nation to globe, but also politically from nation state and polity to non-governmental organisations and consumption (in this case, of tourism). The paper argues that in a number of ways the association of volunteer tourism with this geographically expanded but politically constricted notion of citizenship both reinforces a limited politics, and also limits the capacity of voluntourism to enlighten. By contrast, it is argued that a consideration of republican citizenship both clarifies these limits and suggests a more progressive rationale for volunteer travel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The main aim of this paper is to show that even when integrating the findings of behavioral economics, agency theory’s conception of interactions at work does not actually account for cooperative behavior. The paper draws on the distinction between the concepts ofindividualandpersonto critically examine this conception and show that, while work is mostly organized on the assumption that workers are self-interestedindividuals, management rhetoric addresses workers aspersonsin an attempt to prompt their cooperation and personal commitment. This managerial paradox may partly be due to the prevalent influence of agency theory’s prescriptions and has been contributing to a severe deterioration of the quality of working life. But it also indicates that agency theory has to confront serious theoretical and prescriptive dilemmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroeconomic multiple-self models describe individuals’ choices as the equilibrium of the interaction amongst neural sites modelled as economic agents. This approach aims at explaining some inter-temporal inconsistency problems and the rejection of unfair offers in ultimatum games. However, the experiments on these models do not provide replicable results. The standard view interprets this problem as due to inadequate econometric techniques. Conversely, this paper shows that the non-replicability problem arises from a conundrum of multiple-self models’ (MSMs) theory. It illustrates how the assumption of neuroeconomic agents is deduced from the revealed preferences theory applied to the neuro-level. Therefore, the paper shows how experiments on MSMs cannot test the assumption of neuroeconomic agents but only the empirical hypotheses that derive from it. This entails that the assumption of neuroeconomic agents is a tautology, which might generate hypotheses that do not robustly identify the neural correlates of behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of the present paper is a critical discussion of the recently developed concept Pedagogy in Practice (PiP) with the intention of improving the concept for future research. PiP aims to understand ongoing educational practice from the students’ perspective by interviewing groups of students about their understanding of learning. By emphasising ‘pedagogy’ and ‘practice’ and drawing from a theoretical foundation that takes practice and action as key concepts, PiP is an appealing alternative to research in student voice, to which it is closely related. However, a critical analysis of PiP in relation to its stated theoretical sources (Bourdieu, Bernstein, Dewey) shows that the approach contradicts these sources in key areas. In PiP students’ understanding of learning is taken as basic for improving educational practice, however, PiP is developed without an explicit notion of what education is for. This paper introduces a specific formulation of the purpose and functions of education based on the work of Gert Biesta, and outlines how a revised version of PiP might contribute to future empirical research in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a critical short review of an ongoing conflict between science and law in recent Italian litigation with the aim of illustrating how the so-called “flawed science” can negatively impact litigation. An effective story is used to introduce the primary elements that can characterize “flawed science” (i.e. insufficient sample size, the presence of confounding factors, the lack of predefined models, and an insufficient consideration of the so-called “regression toward the mean” phenomenon). An in-depth analysis of the most relevant Italian case law will then show how “flawed science” has been applied in a justice dimension. In particular, analyzing the “L'Aquila case” will demonstrate how “flawed science” can bring about questionable outcomes as regards the establishment of the causal link between negligent conduct and the damage occurred. The paper will then move on to analyze the conflict between technology and progress in an environmental justice context. In order to illustrate this point, the “ILVA case” will serve as a rather effective example of how the so-called “supreme rights” can be avoided through the establishment and application of legitimate legislative tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding solutions for the struggle to provide food security and access to water are among the most challenging tasks for our century. Chemistry, as one of the principal scientific and technological foundations of modern societies, can provide such solutions. Chemicals play an important role in the efforts of countries to achieve economic growth and their development objectives. Chemicals, however, can have a dual nature. As much as they are vital for ensuring food security and economic growth, their unsound use can adversely affect human health and the environment. This paper critically reviews the changes in the perception of society towards the risks of chemicals. For this, risk reduction strategies are put side by side with the advancements of chemistry as a science. The paper also outlines the underlying ethical consideration of risk assessment methods. As these complex tasks concern as much the field of chemistry as they concern other scientific disciplines, this paper outlines the unique positions of universities to engage such a broad range of different stakeholders involved in these debates. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the role that the higher education organizations can play in integrating these different fields into a single coordinated approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This account uses performance and critical analysis to investigate the entangled histories and multidirectional memories that entwine African colonialism and the Holocaust in Santa's Story by Aviva Pelham. The paper spotlights the intersections between the memory of the Holocaust and colonial Africa by focussing on the memory of women survivors and children of survivors on the African continent. Drawing on Marianne Hirsch's notion of 'postmemory' the paper interrogates the gendered intergenerational transmission of Holocaust and colonial memory through performance to address three interrelated concerns. First it responds to the limited scope of theatre and performance work produced and staged in Africa and elsewhere that engage with the memory and experience of Holocaust survivors on the African continent. Secondly this account responds to the dearth in critical commentary about the performance works created about women Holocaust survivors. Lastly, this dearth extends to creative works by Holocaust survivors' children born and raised on the African continent who explore what it means to 'perform' as their parents on the world stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy transition has provided a framework for designing and implementing renewable energy policies in a growing number of countries in recent years. The discourse from both international energy organisations and national governments around these renewable energy policies highlights its -supposed- sustainable nature. However, much evidence shows that the "renewable" component of these energy policies and the impact on local communities' sustainable development are much smaller than what is claimed in their discourse. This paper analyses the Mazar-Dudas hydropower project (Ecuador) case study, which is officially classified as a small renewable energy project (21 MW) with presumable low environmental impact and significant positive effects on sustainability of local communities. Although, the sustainability associated with hydropower production is one of the most controversial aspects of this energy production technology. Based on interviews with relevant actors and the subsequent thematic content analysis, the results highlight that the environmental impact is perceived as significant, contrary to what it is said in the official discourse. Additionally, the benefit-sharing scheme's effects of this hydropower project are far below expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding diverse opinions and debates about mixing methods, mixed methods research (MMR) is increasingly being used in sport and exercise psychology. In this paper, we describe MMR trends within leading sport and exercise psychology journals and explore critical realism as a possible underpinning framework for conducting MMR. Our meta-study of recent empirical mixed methods studies published in 2017–2019 indicates that eight (36%) of the 22 MMR studies explicitly stated a paradigmatic position (five drew on pragmatism, two switched paradigms between qualitative and quantitative elements of the study, and one was situated in relativist-interpretivism). The remaining 14 (64%) studies did not report their underpinning research philosophical assumptions. Evaluating the merits and limitations of these positions against critical realist assumptions suggests that several paradigmatic disagreements are potentially reconcilable. These include (a) maintaining that ontological and epistemological concerns are important for methodological integrity of a mixed methods study; (b) switching between paradigms in the same study is problematic; and (c) refuting the qualitative-quantitative incommensurability thesis, therefore allowing mixed methods research without compromising philosophical coherence. From a critical realist position, we suggest that both quantitative and qualitative designs are justifiable in a mixed methods study because (1) they help corroborate, refine, or refute plausible explanations of phenomena (epistemological), but (2) with different methodologies utilised to perform different tasks in the same research design related to different psycho-social system features (ontological). We call for a collaborative engagement by researchers across paradigmatic positions to work towards the advancement of methodological pluralism in our research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Brazilian economy since 2015. After an economic boom from 2005 to 2011, Brazil entered a downturn, which resulted in a strong recession in 2015 and 2016. The Economic Authorities understood that the cause of the crisis was due to an expansionary economic policy undertaken over the period 2009–2014; thereby the solution for the recession would be quite the opposite: fiscal austerity and tight monetary policy. However, the restrictive economic policies did not grant growth: Brazil grew a little bit more than 1.0% on average over 2017–2019. It was this stagnated Brazil that the Covid-19 pandemic met, turning it worse than what had already been bad. In view of that, we explain why the 'expansionary fiscal austerity' failed to furnish growth and debate what should be undertaken to ensure a sustainable economic activity and structural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Values are important in education and their role in university studies is central in tourism teaching as well. How values are communicated to students is an important aspect of our axiological approach. In order to promote a fruitful approach to values in the students, this conceptual paper discusses the role of theoretical knowledge in achieving empowerment for the students based on the tenets of critical realism and on Gramsci's philosophy. As students acquire disciplinary theoretical knowledge, they also develop the tools to make ethical evaluations. Knowledge is meant as the best possible understanding that we have of the world at the moment and it is always possible to achieve a better explanation of a phenomenon. Through an approach based on theoretical knowledge integrated with other creative ways to teach, the students can develop an ethical sensitivity and a flexible set of skills for both the workplace and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calls into question the idea that we can simply think about higher education as a research field and explores different meanings of the term field. It asks whether there are related fields: research into higher education, academic development and disciplinary teaching research, rather than one. The approach of the paper is conceptual, rather than empirical. It draws on the work of Wenger, Becher and Trowler, Bernstein and Bourdieu, all of whom have a claim to help us think about the nature of fields and academics' relationship to them. Each of these theorists highlights different aspects of what we might mean by a field, and thus what it would mean to claim that research in higher education is a field. The paper suggests that there can be no innocent answers to the question of fields because of our implication within them. It argues that there are normative as well as substantive debates about the nature of fields and the questions that can be asked within them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Globally, insider trading has been recognised as a market malpractice that affects the efficient performance of stock exchange markets. This paper critically analyses Malawi's statutory regime for insider trading regulation with the exclusive objective of assessing its effectiveness in guarding against the market malpractice on the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE). To this end, the paper examines the statutory conceptualization of the fundamental concepts of insider trading, the sanctions imposed and the enforcement mechanisms. Ultimately, the paper argues that the statutory regime is an ineffective tool against insider trading on the MSE, due to its overall restrictive, self-contradictory and ill-defined scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical analysis of the World Bank's new thinking on industrial policy. After outlining the changing perspectives on industrial policy put forward by the World Bank over the last three decades, we argue that the bank's economists have taken one step forward (the approval for the enhanced role of the state) but also one - if not two - steps backward (by strong encouragement to countries to seek their current comparative advantage in pursuing industrial policy). We argue that a critical analysis of the World Bank's policy stance on industrial policy as on other main issues is essential because of the institution's hegemony in policy analysis of economic development as well as its conditionality, which may now well include what this paper regards as its inappropriate industrial policy. The analysis in the paper combines classical contributions on international trade and the world economy, relevant economic history, as well as Krugman's comments on these issues in terms of modern economic analysis. The paper concludes with reflections on the appropriate industrial policy for developing countries that the World Bank should support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the experience of managing an exhibition project, undertaken by young professionals from the Museums of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin during the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition Status. Power. Movement was on display at the Berlin Cultural Forum (Kulturforum) from September 2020 to February 2021. In this interdisciplinary project, 13 co-curators selected 130 objects from 14 collections and asked how status is represented in movement. This article provides insight into how we experienced and dealt with the creation of our first exhibition amid an unprecedented crisis. Our project was confronted with the reality of the unfolding pandemic and empty museums. Key questions and concerns arose, such as: can the exhibition be opened? How to manage the planning uncertainty and, furthermore, how to deal with this ubiquitous event in our exhibition? As a result of the considerable restrictions, communication processes within the team and collaboration with external partners became extremely difficult. Our contribution adds a critical perspective from young professionals to the now-familiar discourse around museum work during a pandemic. In it, we share solutions we developed during the crisis, such as a Covid-19 themed intervention and the development of an online format for the exhibition. We additionally aim to show how we adapted our communication processes amid the crisis, working within a large cultural institution with multiple structural layers. Drawing on our experiences, we discuss issues of museum risk and crisis management. We also underline the need for a new critical discourse that would enable professionals to share experiences, responses and solutions to the ongoing pandemic and future crisis situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 (also known as the novel coronavirus disease) has led to the initiation of several disputes. While some of these relate to the non-performance of contracts, others concern the damages arising from the injuries caused by coming into contact with the virus. Considering the nature of the pandemic, a plethora of disputes arising from tortious liability for the injuries caused are likely to involve a foreign element—when it results in injuries in some form to persons by the violation of quarantine rules by foreigners or the failure to impose a lockdown to curb the outbreak. For instance, in the United States [US], a group of individuals and business owners have reportedly initiated proceedings against the Chinese government for failing to prevent the disease from spreading. Likewise, tourists from several countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom have initiated mass litigation against the Austrian Federal State of Tyrol and tourist businesses such as sports resorts, bars and restaurants for continuing the to operate in the State despite being designated as a high-risk zone. International disputes such as these chiefly involve the identification of the law that will govern the claim to decide the rights and liabilities of the parties. Unlike in the case of contractual claims, the determination of the applicable law is more arduous in the case of torts for the reason that the parties rarely, if ever, know each other and do not expect any particular person to injure them by the harmful behaviour. That said, several countries across the globe have made remarkable progress over the years in developing a framework to identify the governing law to adjudicate cross-border disputes on torts. The European Union [EU], the UK, China, Russia, Australia and Canada are some examples. In contrast, India continues to adhere to the century-old mechanism developed under the English common law which has mostly been replaced in the UK itself. In the absence of any black-letter law on the subject, the development of the method to identify the applicable law in matters of tort has depended on the courts. The Indian courts, however, lack experience in handling international disputes on tort. As a result, there is no conclusive and coherent mechanism to identify the governing law in such matters in India. The paper demonstrates how the rules to determine the applicable law in the present form in India will severely debilitate access to justice and increase transactional costs in obtaining legal information. In particular, it highlights the plethora of problems that are likely to arise in adjudicating disputes concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. In this respect, the author provides some suggestions that the lawmakers may consider while reformulating the mechanism to identify the applicable law in matters of tort and, in particular, while adjudicating disputes relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we utilised a critical discourse analysis methodology to highlight the discursive representation of African immigrant parenting in Canadian newspapers. We explored unquestioned ideologies and assumptions about African immigrant families and their parenting practices. We analysed 37 newspaper articles, after screening 635 records retrieved from the Canadian Newsstand database. Our analysis revealed discursive patterns that: (1) reflect unequal power relations and reinforce popular stereotypes about African immigrant families in Canada; (2) pathologize, demonise, and present a monolithic view of African immigrant parenting; and (3) influence service providers and institutional practices in ways that affect the parenting success of African immigrants. We also found a tendency to problematise African immigrant families and frame their parenting practices as being inferior to Canadian parenting practices and value systems. We argue that this grim representation of African immigrant parenting is a manifestation of power, cultural, and ideological differences, some of which are rooted in the immediate colonial past. We present policy and service implications of our findings, including a call for cultural education for Canadian service agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timber-framing is the most common mixed construction technique utilised by Romans and many other builders throughout history. However, archaeological evidence is scarce due to the overlapping urban land use and the perishability of the wooden skeleton. This paper focuses on timber frame wall — opus craticium — from Herculaneum, examined through a literature review and on-site analysis. The aim of this research is shedding light on the reasons for the diffusion of opus craticium through a critical analysis of Vesuvian archaeological evidence, among which the best-known is Casa a Graticcio (Insula III, 13–15, Herculaneum). The dichotomy between the written transmission of this technique and the construction practice in the Augustan epoch is also discussed. It is shown how the pervasiveness of this technique in Herculaneum arises from multiple reasons: firstly, the strong demand of new constructions and the need of heavy repairs during the Augustan Principate. Additionally, the anaerobic conditions resulting from the specific on-site burial in 79 AD allowed the conservation of the timber-framing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the ongoing debate over China's behaviour in the multilateral trading system established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It offers a systemic review of all completed WTO disputes against China in the past two decades and a critical analysis of four political factors embedded in China's impressive record of compliance. In doing so, it develops an analytical framework for future studies on China's approaches to WTO compliance and its interaction with international trade rules more broadly. While China's trade policy has become more sensitive to the changing external environment, this framework will remain highly relevant to studies of China's behaviour on trade and other economic matters and ways to engage with the emerging global superpower in the years ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of academic studies and policy reports have identified a set of core skills considered crucial in the twenty-first century economy. This article critically examines the evidence base underpinning that ideational consensus among international organizations (IOs) and global management consulting firms (GMCFs). We collected 234 skills reports produced over the past decade by major IOs (European Commission, ILO, OECD, UNESCO, and World Bank) and GMCFs (BCG, Deloitte, Ernest and Young, KPMG, McKinsey, and PWC). We then extracted bibliographic references from each report and used the analytic technique of citation analysis to examine how the consensus around these core skills was generated in order to uncover the authoritative sources of knowledge and the pattern of ideational policy diffusion observed. Our analysis reveals substantial gaps in the evidence base used. Evidence drew largely on a few academic economists, along with strong use of grey literature, and high rates of self-citation. Given these characteristics, the consensus around twenty-first century skills appears less epistemic in nature and more like an ideational echo chamber, which raises concerns about the extent to which policymakers should rely on this evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the U.S., many state and local governments have either legalized or decriminalized small quantities of marijuana for recreational or medicinal use. Reforming these laws has had significant public support, with reformers arguing that dissolving prohibitions on use as a policy remedy, or recompense, for the economic and human cost born by African American communities in the so-called "War on Drugs." However, we do not yet know what explains the shift in support for allowance, or, more specifically, what has widened the policy window for legislative reform across the country. Using the analytic framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT), specifically, Bell's (1980) notion of issue convergence, this paper highlights how this specific policy change continues to reproduce inequality in the maintenance of racialized interests in terms of who benefits and is burdened by reform. It concludes by recommending additional legislative action, such as automatic expungements for certain marijuana-related crimes, a legal remedy that can limit the collateral consequences experienced by those with criminal records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project performance researchers appreciate that the EVM (Earned Value Management) is a very good tool to calculate project cost performance. On the other hand, they condemn the EVM which provides inefficient schedule performance indications. To overcome this inefficiency the concept of Earned Schedule was evolved. This concept corrects the fundamental weakness of the EVM concept and proposes the schedule performance indicators which are time based. Even after the evolution of Earned Schedule concept, inefficiency can be noticed in schedule performance indications. The main objective of this technical paper is to propose a new method called as Critical Total Float Method to determine the accurate schedule performance indications and comparing the results with the conventional methods of schedule performance analysis. Schedule variance and Schedule performance index derived using the conventional methods yield false results in many instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent buildings are often concerned with the efficiencies of energy, space and health and wellbeing. The pursuit of technological prowess and measurable outcomes has led to a design epoch devoid of meaningful human connection to an intelligent building and the services that it delivers. This paper presents an application of design thinking to the built environment and assessment of the human meaning that it can influence. Furthermore, a set of mature and emerging technologies are discussed with some demonstrable interaction outcomes. The paper concludes with a critical analysis on the nuances that the processes and technology are able to craft – a magic that has seldom been achieved by existing intelligent buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical assessment of the way in which the internet and online material features as part of the process individuals embark on to plan acts of terrorism. The paper begins by evaluating concepts used to describe the role of the internet in the context of terrorism and political violence before analysing a single case study in detail in order to explore particular nuances that emerge which shed light on the relationship between perpetrator on the one hand and online content and behaviour on the other. The case study, in turn, is developed into a conceptual appraisal of terrorist use of the internet. The paper concludes by exploring the important distinction between the “theoretical” application of online learning as set out in terrorist propaganda and the hurdles that individuals face in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to explore the agency of teachers for peacebuilding education in Sri Lanka through a critical multiscalar analysis of the interplay between context – education policies and governance – and agent – teachers as strategic political actors. It draws on two studies conducted in Sri Lanka in 2006 and 2011 to give insight into a changing context from conflict to post-conflict. While peace education and social cohesion were high on the political agendas before the official ending of the conflict, the need for a continuous and integral peace education approach seems to be losing political ground in present-day Sri Lanka. The paper seeks to contribute to the broader debate on the complex role of education and teachers in conflict and post-conflict situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of expanding global educational privatization and shifting policies on how to fund educational facilities in many states in the US, this study engages the lenses of critical policy analysis and fiscal sociology to examine educational privatization in the school facilities industry in California. Employing critical policy document analysis to examine approximately 40 primary and secondary source documents including propositions, bills, government and education codes, facilities reports, and state public debt data, this paper addresses the following research question: How have education finance policies shaped the system of school district facilities financing over time, specifically with regard to the field of private actors involved in the school facilities industry? This paper examines the historical policy context for privatization in school district facilities financing, evaluating how policies have evolved, been implemented, and affected stakeholders over time in the broader neoliberal context. Findings indicate that policies promoting privatization in education finance impact school districts’ abilities to provide equitable facilities to their students. Also, the complex and intermittent process of financing school facilities has facilitated the rise of specialized private actors in the school facilities industry that has now organized to engage in private-sector policy setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper reviews the extant literature on action research/teacher led inquiry and answers the question: How and in what circumstances can action research improve teachers’ classroom practice and therefore what might be the implications for school improvement? A critical analysis of the nature and purpose of action research as a mechanism for school improvement is explored via close examination of definitions, the characteristics of action research and models of action research. From the literature reviewed, it is noted that action research, whether conducted individually or collaboratively, has been found to contribute to teachers’ ability to investigate their practice with a view to improving students’ outcomes and for school improvement. Nevertheless, the success of action research is predicated on a number of conditions such as motivation, trust, mutual respect, and resources, particularly time spent within the situational context. Additionally, in educational contexts, action research is generally externally mandated, and tends to take place as a fulfillment for programs of higher education which are targeted at improving practice in settings such as schools and classrooms. Under these circumstances action research does lead to school and classroom improvement. Still, these circumstances can be called ideal and as such the question of institutionalizing action research as part of the routine of schools globally remains a challenge. Still, however, action research has the potential for improvement at both the individual and institutional level once the conditions are right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the growing ‘teacher quality’ discourse, early career teachers have increasingly been positioned as problematic in Australian education policy discourses over the past decade. This paper uses a critical policy historiography approach to compare representations of early career teachers in two key education policy documents, from the late 1990s and mid-2010s. Starting with the Government response toA Class Act: Inquiry into the Status of the Teaching Profession(1998) and moving to the Government response toAction Now: Classroom Ready Teachers(2015), it explores changing representations in the context of broader shifts in education policy related to teachers’ work over this timeframe. It argues that the early career teacher ‘problem’ is articulated in very different ways in these two timeframes, explores the antecedents of key tenets of the current policy settlement, and, using the theory of practice architectures, considers the implications of these for the preconditions that shape and frame teachers’ work in contemporary times. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A convergence between vulnerability, radicalisation and children has been framed as an emergent category of abuse: "childhood radicalisation". Focusing on the UK PREVENT programme, this paper explores the ways children have become interrelated with counter-radicalisation. While PREVENT engages with people of all ages, Home Office data indicates children are a target group. This approach has been consolidated through the 2015 Counter-Terrorism and Security Act which legislates PREVENT as safeguarding. Inspired by Ernst Bloch's "ontology-of-the-not-yet", this article draws upon critical geographies of "hope" as a theoretical tool to unpack PREVENT. I explore the productive power of PREVENT in catalysing "hopeful" forms of subjectivity; specifically, the pedagogy of PREVENT, and de-radicalisation through Channel. The article then extends Bloch's original apparatus to examine the ways hope acts as an assemblage of affects to enact practices of control. It is the reciprocal influence of hope, fear and anticipatory security that helps illuminate how PREVENT makes visible, and thus regulates, processes of becoming. The article traverses disciplines encompassing criminology, critical geography, critical international relations, and critical terrorism studies. This inter-disciplinary approach usefully captures PREVENT in terms of performativity, anticipatory security and the figuration of the child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a critical analysis of Mercosur's audiovisual policy. It is based on qualitative document analysis combined with a goal-means tree analysis methodology. The confrontation of the goals and the means in this manner makes it possible to identify structural problems in the development of RECAM, which is the Specialized Meeting of Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities of Mercosur and Associated States. Expert interviews and an examination of the theory relating to supranational challenges and the tensions between the cultural and economic aspects of audiovisual activities made it further possible to assess the nature of Mercosur policies and how they affect the results achieved. Although it has high aspirations, RECAM demonstrates a weak strategic development with a clearly identifiable mismatch between the goals and the means. The proposed economic integration was not achieved and the implemented measures were focused on cultural actions that led to a purely symbolic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to identify variables affecting the severity of crashes involving traffic barrier end treatments. A field inventory was conducted to collect type, system height (from the ground to the top), lateral offset (from the edge of pavement), and side-slope of over 11,000 end treatments in the state of Wyoming. Then, the data collected was combined with historical end treatment crashes using the Critical Analysis Reporting Environment (CARE) software. Finally, a severity model was developed for end treatment crashes, considering a random-parameters ordered logit model. Among the end treatment types considered in this study, the end anchorage type A-FLEAT 350 was least likely to result in severe injuries in crashes. On the other hand, turned-down end terminal and the end anchorage WY-BET were involved with higher injury severity in crashes. End treatments located on a flat roadside were found to be less severe, showing a parameter estimate equal to –1.10 in the crash severity model. End treatment crashes involving pickup also had a lower probability of causing a severe injury crash compared to the other vehicle types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports on findings from a critical literature review, from 2004 to 2014, in relation to the positioning of beginning teachers’ professional learning during induction. The study uses theoretical frameworks drawn from competing discourses: an instrumental standpoint based on performativity and a dialectical standpoint based on a transformative view of good teaching as an advanced specialised practice. A critical analysis was conducted, using a systematic literature review that yielded 14 peer-reviewed papers, to discursively position teachers’ professional learning and pinpoint questions for future study. Findings showed that while studies reported positive outcomes they were often atheoretical and framed within narrow chains of logic that neglected important strands, such as, teacher “knowledge-of-practice”. The study raises important questions not only about the positioning of beginning teachers’ professional learning but about meaningful professional learning for all teachers across the continuum of teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At the heart of this Special Feature is a commitment to re-thinking the geographies of occupation, trespass and squatting. The interventions gathered below place particular emphasis on the importance of thinking with squatters, and how they, ultimately, seek to re-make the city on their own terms and with their own needs and desires in mind. At stake here, we argue, is a modest experimental form of 'concept-work' that is consonant with recent calls for a more fragmentary and open-ended approach to how we think about and inhabit cities. With this in mind, we offer three orientations that, in our view, advance and re-centre existing frameworks around urban occupation, trespass, and squatting: a critical historical perspective; an empirical focus on everyday geographies; and a theoretical lens that re-casts our understanding of spatial politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the vexed educational policy aspects of area-based interventions (ABIs) in neighbourhoods designated as 'disadvantaged' in an Australian context. We find that the way in which the policy of ABIs is supposed to operate and impact education is highly problematic. What we present instead in this paper is a much more complex process by which aspirations are formed, sustained, contested and maintained by young people who regard themselves as 'ordinary' and as being engaged instead in a process of navigating educational opportunities on the basis of resources available to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Resilience' has become a popular goal in research, social policy, intervention design and implementation. Reinforced by its conceptual and political slipperi-ness, resilience has become a key construct in school-based, universal interven-tions that aim to develop it as part of social and emotional competence or emotional well-being. Drawing on a case study of a popular behavioural programme used widely in British and American primary schools, this paper uses a critical social understanding that combines bio-scientific and social construc-tionist ideas in order to evaluate key challenges for policy, research and practice framed around resilience. The paper argues that although critical social perspec-tives illuminate important contemporary manifestations of old problems with behavioural interventions, and challenge narrow, moralising definitions of 'risk' and 'vulnerability', they coalesce with behavioural perspectives in a search for better state-sponsored responses to the shared question of how to build resilience amongst 'vulnerable' groups and individuals. Instead, we argue that critical sociologists need to resist responses that offer more sophisticated behavioural interventions and generate new forms of governance and subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological monitoring by means of lichens as accumulators of trace elements is a very suitable tool to assess and monitor air pollution and it has been adopted in several surveys in Italy in the last 30 years. In this paper, we try to make a critical analysis of this topic in order to understand the state of research and applications in this field. For this purpose, a database of the main field studies carried out in the last 30 years in Italy was prepared. The paper reports a survey of the characteristics of these studies. The aim is to take stock of the situation at present and to give a boost to the scientific community’s efforts to standardize the method at national and international level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contemporary scholars and theorists have devoted much attention to the issue of musical meaning, thereby trying to analyze how it is that musicmeans. Their analysis, however, seems to focus on meaning as it manifeststhrough language. Equally important, as Cross and Tolbert (2008: 1) note, is that “their ideas, particularly in the form of semantics, have tended to account generally for the relationships between the phenomena that constitute the object meaning and the expressions and sets of expressions that are used to articulate meanings”. The relationship between the object of meaning as well as the expressions used to articulate meanings presents two aspects:referenceof the term, on the one hand, andsenseof the term, on the other. While the former could be taken to mean that which the term denotes or, to use Cross and Tolbert's (2008) exact words, “that phenomenon in the world onto which [the term] can be mapped”, the latter is “derived from the ways in which that original term relates to other terms that are interpretable as capable of bearing similar kinds of meanings”. Within attempts to descending meaning in terms of thereferenceandsenseof the term, this paper offers a critical examination of the songAw Dubul'ibhunu, loosely translated as “Kill the Boer”. As a point of departure, the paper interrogates the concept of musicalmeaningin order to establish the relationships between the song as an original entity and something beyond itself. It is our wish to offer a critical understanding of the issue of musical meaning by examining closely the lyrics of the song. The paper explores as its foundation different theories of meaning in order to elucidate as clearly as possible the many existing interpretations of the meaning of the song as understood from an aesthetic and political perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a methodological approach building on advances in mixed-methods communication research to facilitate the integration of quantitative data into qualitative textual analysis. This method allows scholars working in a critical cultural media studies paradigm to incorporate quantitative data into their research to better understand media in an increasingly complicated media eco-system. This paper argues that despite calls for mixed-methods research, there are longstanding ideological and methodological tensions within the fields of Communications and Media Studies that create logistical and conceptual limitations to integrating quantitative methods in a critical cultural media studies context. This paper establishes the need for this intervention, the historical methodological contexts from which it emerges, and walks through how the approach works by looking at two possible studies using the approach in different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need to analyse the environmental conflicts that arise out of species reintroduction proposals and what these conflicts can tell us not just about rewilding as a form of "conservation," but also the broader societal conditions in which the conflicts occur. This paper analyses the emblematic nature of the contested proposal to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx into the Lake District, where a complex history has resulted in both a distinctive landscape and unique economy. It is within this context that the emblematic nature of the reintroduction conflict must be analysed. The author argues that the spirituality of the Lakes, conjured through the artistic expression of the Lake Romantics, was within the context of the industrial revolution and the processes of industrialisation, urbanisation, and rationalisation. On the other hand, the proposal to reintroduce the lynx and the focus on personal redemption and "wildness" are a product of the capitalism of late modernity, defined by global capital and information flows, individualism, and the extension of rationalisation and financialisation into the social and natural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), inclusive education has become the main alternative to special schools for the schooling of children with disabilities. In order to promote the global implementation of inclusive education, a variety of stakeholders form networks to transmit and exchange information and knowledge concerning political strategies. However, little is known about the actors and actor groups involved in these networks. In the present paper, we draw on general network theory and policy network theory to examine the Twitter communication network that has formed around the topic of inclusive education. Using exploratory and inferential social network analysis, we show that disabled persons' organizations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, hold a particularly central position in the network. This position enables them to potentially exert influence on the content and flow of information within the network. Aside from that, business actors are active participants in the network. Moreover, the Twitter network shows some structural patterns that can also be found in policy networks. Our findings help to map the global sphere of inclusive education promotion and can contribute to a broader understanding of global processes in inclusive education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper cultivates an approach to leisure scholarship which is more responsive to Indigenous peoples and responsibilities of translation. This study is grounded within kaupapa Māori, an Indigenous perspective specific to Aotearoa New Zealand that privileges Māori epistemology. We apply this to a longitudinal analysis of media representations of an Indigenous event (Puaka Matariki) held annually since 2004 in Ōtepoti/Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. We find that media narratives surrounding the event use te reo (Māori language) in a way that demonstrates its acceptance in the wider non-Māori community, a clear respect for Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) through the incorporation of identity and values, the manifestation of whanaungatanga (collectivity and social relationality), and the assertion of tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty). We conclude that events such as Puaka Matariki can act as expressions of empowerment for Indigenous communities traditionally marginalized through experiences of colonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically examines definitions of policy 'success' in the context of historical Indigenous higher education policy in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia. We begin by summarising applications of the often-used but arbitrary, rarely-critiqued terms 'policy success' and 'what works'. The paper chronologically articulates what 'policy success' has looked like in the context of historical Northern Territory higher education, based on a critical analysis of policy documents. We then apply Critical Race Theory and Indigenous research theories to highlight the power processes that are attached to representation of policy issues, creation of policy goals, and ultimately definitions of 'success'. We also consider the role of ethical principles in framing conceptions about what constitutes a worthy policy goal. We suggest expansion and resourcing of formalised Indigenous governance mechanisms is needed to create more productive dialogue about Indigenous higher education policy goals and, ultimately, discussions around what 'works'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching learners with different disciplinary backgrounds, aptitudes, worldviews and cultures is an abiding problem in Higher Education. Special measures are needed to ensure that course design, teaching methods and, especially, assessment does not exclude, alienate or disinvite learners simply because they have different capabilities and ways of understanding. Most of these measures involve the radical diversification of assessment and teaching methods and, designing curricula that allow learners to reach different conclusions and learning outcomes without penalization. This paper evaluates and commends the use of Spiral Dynamics' layered system of alternative worldviews as a means of developing learner skills in critical analysis and building deeper understanding of diversity. Using Spiral Dynamics-based pluralism to guide course design fosters greater inclusion and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical analysis of the relation between leisure and freedom. The need for this examination is based on the recognition that freedom is arguably the central pillar upon which definitions of leisure have been built. However, a plethora of philosophical works have indicated society has a significant influence upon the nature of the life experiences of the individual that inhibit their freedom, questioning the existence of freedom in the process. It is argued within this paper that freedom can and does exist but must be taken by the individual rather than provided by society. Such freedom is to be found amongst those on a journey towards enlightenment. In contrast, the leisure experienced by the majority of people is a socio-economic construct where freedom is a myth and consumption rules. This experience may be more accurately defined as consumerist recreation than leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apocalyptic crisis discourses of mental health problems and psycho-emotional dysfunction are integral to behaviour change agendas across seemingly different policy arenas. Bringing these agendas together opens up new theoretical and empirical lines of enquiry about the symbioses and contradictions surrounding the human subjects they target. The paper explores the relationship between behaviour change policy, enduring philosophical and political scepticism about the viability of the rational, autonomous subject of liberal and neoliberal governance, and the contemporary cultural privileging of its vulnerable, anxious and stressed counterpart. Weber’s accounts of authority illuminate dangers arising from an ad hoc, shifting, unaccountable state-sponsored intervention market that targets the vulnerable subject, proselytised by new types of ‘therapeutic entrepreneurs’. Using an education-based example of statutory legislation for counter-terrorism in schools and universities, the Prevent strategy, the paper argues that jettisoning the rational, liberal subject has extremely worrying implications for education and democracy. It concludes with questions about the implications of these under-researched cultural and political phenomena for assumptions about the subjects of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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This paper is a critical analysis of Biggs's deep and surface approaches to learning model, which is prominent in the higher education and tertiary learning fields. The paper reflects on the model's origins and the contextual pressures of the educational landscape extant at that time. It is argued that these pressures have led to a demonstrable lack of serious critique of the model, which has truncated the model's development, leaving it underdeveloped. There are significant problems with the model in the areas of supporting evidence, imprecise conceptualisation, ambiguous language, circularity, and a lack of definition of the underlying structure of deep and surface approaches to learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper attempts to make a critical analysis of the influence of Korean and Chinese dramas on university students in India, especially in the backdrop of the COVID-19 lockdown. Considering the current trend of an increasing surge in drama consumption among GenZ, the research attempts to identify both positive and adverse effects of the soaps on different aspects of their lives. The study is premised on a mixed-method online survey, the data of which is analyzed using the Percentage Analysis method and interpreted based on the Mood-Cue Approach in Cognitive Film Theory proposed by Greg M. Smith. Subsequently, the researcher establishes that the lockdown period has provided great opportunities for the young generation of students to explore a wide variety of Korean and Chinese content. And if the factors leading to the adverse effects on the youth are judiciously controlled, these soaps can contribute a lot to the self-betterment of university students in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]