Turning points in the lives of two pioneer Arab women principals in Israel

This study investigates the managerial career development of two Arab women, pioneer principals within the Arab education system in Israel. Using in-depth interviews relating to the characteristics of the different stages leading up to and within their careers as school principals (childhood and academic studies; the struggle to achieve the position; and the period in their position as principal), the study reveals the characteristics and evolution of their managerial style. The research findings indicate that these are two highly motivated women who dared to swim against the tide from an early age and achieved their positions, albeit with the support of their families, but not without serious battles. As the first women principals in their communities they continue to develop, while coping with the norms of Arab patriarchal society, where they need to prove that, despite their gender and the associated expectations, they are effective leaders. This necessitated their initial adoption of an authoritarian administrative style, which they eventually adapt into a more empathetic style. The study contributes to the study of female management styles by showing the evolution of the two women's management styles within the context of their traditional society, thereby questioning previous studies that see women's management styles as a static phenomenon.     

Understanding the mediating role of corporal punishment in the association between maternal stress,efficacy, co-parenting and children's adjustment difficulties among Arab mothers

This study, guided by the Family Systems Theory, examines the direct effect of maternal use of corporal punishment on children's adjustment difficulties. Also, it explores whether corporal punishment serves as a mediating factor in the relationship between several maternal characteristics, marital relationships, and children's adjustment difficulties. A total of 2,447 Arab mothers completed anonymous, structured, self-report questionnaires. The use of corporal punishment was generally strongly supported by the Arab mothers in our sample. A greater likelihood of using corporal punishment was found among mothers of boys rather than girls, among mothers with lower perceived self-efficacy to discipline children, and among mothers with a lower perception of their husbands’ participation in child-related labor. In addition, the higher a mother's reports on disagreement with her husband about discipline methods and the stronger her level of maternal stress, the more likely she was to use corporal punishment. Corporal punishment also mediated the association between the above mentioned factors and child adjustment difficulties. Furthermore, a husband's emotional support and family socioeconomic status were directly associated to children's adjustment difficulties. The results of the current study emphasize the need to observe children's development within the context of their family systems and to consider the mutual influences of different subsystems such as marital relationships and mother–child interactions. Prevention and intervention programs should raise parents’ awareness concerning the harmful effects of corporal punishment and take into account the impact of dynamic transactions of parental conflicts and disagreements regarding discipline methods on child outcomes.     

The Body As Medium in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities

This essay glosses an attempt to capture communication in the Arab uprisings through the prism of the human body. Such an approach to communication and revolution entails several challenges and opportunities. Challenges include tension between biopolitical approaches and a perspective that considers the body as an instrument of practice, the tendency in scholarship that restricts discussions of the body to discussions of gender and sexuality, and not politics at large, and the glossing over of issues of social class and geographic location, all crucial when considering the body as an instrument of communication. Opportunities afforded by using the body as a focal point include a fuller consideration of human agency that eschews technological determinism when studying power and resistance, a historically grounded analytical approach that preempts an uncritical dalliance with presentism, the body being in effect the “oldest medium,” and an analytical advantage whereby the body functions as a heuristic eye of the needle through which all empirical materials, and theoretical considerations are filtered, considered and interpreted.     

“Arab Spring is Wake-Up Call for Kim Jong-Il”

This study explores how differently and similarly the liberal and conservative newspapers in South Korea framed the Arab Spring in their opinion sections. By employing a qualitative framing analysis of editorials and columns, it found that the ideological views of the news outlets themselves had a considerable influence on the opinion discourses. Compared to the liberal papers, the conservative papers more persistently linked the Arab Spring to South Korea's confrontation with North Korea and portrayed the North Korean regime as the world's most infamous and brutal suppressor of human rights. While the conservative papers rarely saw the Arab Spring as the result of West-led neo-liberal globalization, the liberal papers characterized the Arab Spring as being part of the resistance to “neo-liberalism.” This ideological divergence media made possible the presentation of a variety of views about a public issue within a South Korean context. However, it is a matter of grave concern that news outlets' ideological orientations can also impede the objective presentation of an international issue or event, such as the Arab Spring.     

JOURNALISTS AT WAR

This article looks closely at the issue of unionization among a sample of Arab journalists working in transnational media. Although divided geographically, these media share the same trait of addressing Arab audiences all over the Arab region and indeed the whole world. The main question addressed in this article is how those journalists perceive the role of unions and whether there are differences among those who work in Europe, particularly London, vis-à-vis those in the Gulf. The article is based on interviews with 25 journalists from such outlets, who were asked about their membership and views of journalism unions in their local or host countries. I argue that journalists who work in London and who have joined the British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) see the NUJ as part of the British political scene and consider it to be a powerful potential tool in defending journalists' rights when reporting inside the Arab region.     

Syria and the Olympics: National Identity on an International Stage

Since its independence in 1946, Syria has fielded a team for every summer Olympic competition except 1956, yet has won only three Olympic medals. In contrast with its smaller, higher-powered neighbour Lebanon, its participation at the Olympics has been consistent but limited, with the country making little impact internationally. Yet the history of Syria's involvement with the Olympics reflects key elements of its political and social history: its ambitious but short-lived partnership with Egypt, the Baathist-supported promotion of women as athletes and head of the National Olympic Committee and its commitment to participation in the vexed but ideologically important Pan-Arab Games. This article uses official International Olympic Committee publications and related press coverage to examine the history of Syria's involvement with the Olympic Games, the Mediterranean Games and the Pan-Arab Games. It argues that Syria's participation was initially important not for its medal count but for the ‘sign of statehood' that membership in the Olympic community conferred, and that its participation in regional games supported Syria's political positions as a Baathist, Arab republic. It concludes by contending that these political commitments have renewed salience as the conflict in Syria that began in March 2011 continues, and the country's participation in Olympic and regional games becomes increasingly politicised.     

Service projects and women's agency in Salalah, Oman: A portrait of pre-service Dhofari English teachers

This research examines the service learning activities and written discourse of pre-service teachers from a cohort of 50 young women who were among the first generation in their community to complete a local university education with BA degrees in English language and literature combined with a subsequent teaching diploma to become English teachers. Based on written reports about service projects completed at the end of teacher training, the dominant theme that emerges is that of women's agency. Discourse analysis is used to create a portrait of how Dhofari women are learning to take agency and gradually developing their own unique views within student-centered learning.     

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Reactions to the Wallace shooting and awareness of it indicate that the role of interpersonal first sources of information was much greater than expected from previous studies. A second study supported the hypothesis that delays between the event and the time‐of‐interview account for the apparent lack of interpersonal influence in other studies, through the dissociation of source and content within the receiver.     

Revisiting perceived service quality in higher education: uncovering service quality dimensions for postgraduate students

ABSTRACT

Perceived service quality in higher education and its antecedents have been one of the significant issues worldwide. Despite being studied over decades, service quality (SQ) remains a crucial area of research due to its dynamic and contextual nature, among other reasons. The main research objective is to uncover the dimensions constituting SQ from the perspectives of postgraduate students and university staff to provide a better understanding of key elements of the SQ. The current research incorporated relevant theories and concepts from both marketing and higher education literature and employed in-depth interviews with students and staff for data collection. Interviewees’ insights were analyzed using content analysis. A conceptual model is developed to explain the suggested relationship among study variables. Based on qualitative data analysis, four dimensions of SQ emerged, namely academic services, academic facilities, administrative services, and students’ service role. Additionally, performance and employee orientation are found to affect SQ. Research findings can guide education managers and academicians to consider students’ service role as an integral dimension of SQ and find new ways to improve it.     

美苏与第三次中东战争

第三次中东战争是冷战时期美苏两国没有直接参与但却影响巨大的局部战争。美国的暗中支持使以色列胜券在握,敢于先发制人。战争过程中美苏两国首脑间的"热线"沟通使战争迅速结束,美苏对话反映了美苏关系朝着缓和方向发展。