Enabling transformation through critical engagement and reflexivity: a case study of South African academics

ABSTRACT

Scholars writing on agency argue that normally, individuals who experience social structures as comfortable will tend to want to reproduce them while those who experience these structures as oppressive will want to change them. This is a bleak outlook because it suggests that those in positions of power and influence are less likely to seek to overhaul the very system of rewards and punishments that benefits them. However, there are exceptions to this pattern: instances where those who experience the structures as comfortable, nevertheless, work at transforming them. This article introduces an alternative perspective to current transformation discourses by seeking to understand why such exceptions exist. It argues that critical engagement is an important dimension of such transformation, and examines how it interacts with reflexivity to shape individual choices and reformulate interest. Drawing on a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews with 10 academics who have been identified as agents of change at one university in South Africa, we reveal how individuals are able to shift their understanding of what is or is not in their interest in a context where raced, gendered and classed interests are deeply embedded in the fabric of the society. In such contexts, reflexivity and critical personal engagement with one’s context can lead to a shift in interest and then consciousness as the individual comes to see and experience things from a different vantage point, opening up the possibility for a changed relationship with the social structure and its constraints and determining influence.     

Student justice perceptions following assignment feedback

In higher education, students are exposed to regular feedback about their performance, and a prominent aspect of students’ attention to feedback concerns the extent to which grades are consistent with what a student has expected to receive. Any discrepancies that arise can result in negative justice perceptions, which research has shown are associated with negative cognitive, emotional and behavioral consequences. However the extent of, and consequences of, these negative justice perceptions within the learning process have gone largely unexplored. This study investigates the relationship between expectation/performance discrepancies, justice perceptions, student satisfaction and self‐efficacy. In particular, we found an interaction between the grade received and negative justice perceptions; poor performers with negative justice perceptions were more likely to have lower subsequent self‐efficacy and satisfaction than those who did not have injustice perceptions. However, self‐efficacy rose for those who had negative justice perceptions if they also received moderate to high performance feedback. The results reflect the complexity of cognitive and behavioral responses to performance feedback. Implications for grading and recommendations for reducing injustice perceptions are discussed.     

Adolescent Perceptions of Help-Seeking Resources for Substance Abuse

Adolescent perceptions of help-seeking social resources (e.g., parents, friends, school counselor, clergyman) they would utilize if they were having substance abuse difficulties were investigated for samples of early and middle adolescents. 8 different perceived help-seeking categories were identified, and intergroup comparisons were made with regard to gender and ethnic/racial group and with regard to alcohol consumption, substance-related problems, and school misconduct. 2 perceived help-seeking categories had the highest levels of problem behaviors. The first category consisted of adolescents who identified friends as the only social resource they would utilize if they were having substance abuse problems. The second category, referred to as social isolates, indicated that they would not utilize any social resource if they were having substance abuse problems. There were approximately twice as many male social isolates as female social isolates, and blacks and Hispanics were highly overrepresented in the social isolate category.     

Training needs of career guidance personnel in Australia and Hong Kong: A comparative study

An increasing emphasis on the need for provision of career development programs for all ages has prompted a parallel call for greater provision of training for career personnel. The present study surveyed career personnel in Hong Kong who were undertaking additional training, and Masters level students at an Australian university who were engaged in some careers work in their schools but who were not employed in a formal role as career teacher or counsellor. The survey focused on competencies of careers coordinators. The findings generally high-lighted a need for more training in the area of career development competencies.     

The parental bonding experiences of sex offenders: a comparison between child molesters and rapists

OBJECTIVE: It has often been hypothesized that because of a lack of early satisfactory attachments, sex offenders grow up unable to form relationships with adults, which makes them susceptible to pursue intimacy in maladaptive ways. This research aims to empirically examine the parental bonding patterns for a group of sex offenders, comparing child molesters and rapists. METHOD: Seventy-six men convicted of a sexual offense (57 child molesters and 19 rapists) completed the parental bonding instrument (PBI), and were assessed by means of a semi-structured clinical interview. RESULTS: Affectionless control style of parental bonding was highly prevalent amongst the sex offenders. There was some suggestion that low parental care was associated with childhood abuse and disturbances, particularly for child molesters. High overprotection in mothers was linked with parental separation and sex play with male peers in childhood. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to replicate the study with non-sexual offenders as a comparison group, and to establish whether the PBI provides a useful adjunct to studies of adult romantic attachment in sex offenders.     

The future of infant categorization research: a process-oriented approach

We call for a shift from a content-oriented approach to a process-oriented approach to the study of categorization in infancy. Although gains have been made in our understanding of infant categorization by evaluating the categories to which infants respond, further understanding of infant categorization, and how categorization changes with development, requires that we more directly assess infants' category formation. We argue that two directions for future research will continue to enhance our understanding of categorization in infancy (and beyond). First, contextual variations (e.g., the effects of task, stimuli, and other factors) on infants' categorization must be better understood. Second, we must more directly evaluate the kinds of information infants use when forming categories, as well as how their use of such information changes with age, task, and so forth. We argue that these two foci will provide clearer understanding of the origins and early development of categorization.     

Developing planning indicators for outdoor wind environments of high-rise residential buildings

The construction of a building may change the microclimate in the vicinity, and planning indicators in a master plan may directly affect the outdoor physical environmental quality in residential areas. An inappropriate plan for a site may accelerate wind and intensify vortexes over places on the pedestrian levels, which leads to an adverse outdoor environment. Therefore, the design of a cluster of buildings should not focus only on the buildings but also provide a good outdoor environment around the buildings. To tackle the problem of inadequate wind environment, the relationship between the building’s floor area ratio and height was identified in this study as the main planning indicator to be examined on its effects on the outdoor wind environment. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was hence developed to simulate the wind conditions generated by some typical site layouts with different values for planning indicators under relevant weather conditions, which were typical of those in Hangzhou, China. The simulated wind conditions are assessed using the wind speed ratio over the whole area of the building cluster at the pedestrian level. The effects on the local wind condition due to the varying of the planning indicators are discussed whilst considering the potential construction costs. The indicators resulting in better external conditions are highlighted in the conclusion as the recommendation which could be used as a rule of thumb by architects and planners at the master planning stage. The study disproves the common belief in the practice that a lower floor area ratio means fewer buildings and therefore greater external comfort. In fact, the higher the building, the greater the outdoor comfort wind zone for pedestrians. However, the increment in comfort area is limited to buildings extending from 25 to 30 levels.     

How are the Perceptions of Learning Networks Shaped Among School Professionals and Headteachers at an Early Stage in their Introduction?

This paper draws on the findings of a research project funded by the Liverpool City of Learning consortium in the UK. The aim is to explore the process of introduction of ten authority wide learning networks, the impact these have on school professionals practice, the opportunities they offer for CPD and the extent to which they may impact on pupil learning. The research presented here draws on findings from a questionnaire distributed to school professionals and key issues emerging from their analysis point to the influence of national government agendas on school professionals’ interpretation of the purpose of the networks. They also point to the views of staff regarding the impact of the attainment agenda as well as the extent to which an increased emphasis on social inclusion and wider understandings of learning and achievement (which are less well represented by results-based performance monitoring) are having on their hopes for what Learning Networks might deliver. The expectations of staff of the opportunities offered by learning networks for long term professional development provide some interesting insights, and perhaps, some useful pointers as to how networks of this kind might develop in the future.     

Recruiting and Retaining Asian American and Pacific Islander Teachers

The Urban Review - The lack of Teachers of Color in the United States raises questions about their recruitment and retention and the responsiveness of schools to racial and linguistic diversity....