The temporal pocket: 1990s Beijing artist colonies

In recent years, a small but growing body of scholarship has emerged on the category of the Chinese art district, particularly its institutionalisation amidst twenty-first century creative industries polices. Such research presents important stories of Chinese artists’ negotiations with urban and political authority, thus nuancing paradigms for the comprehension of political work within contemporary China. This current article contributes to this growing research area by considering the spatial conditions for these socio-spatial categories’ emergence, namely, the urban structures in which they first took shape in 1990s Beijing. First occupying traditional villages (cunzi) and later ex-socialist work units (danwei), these arts colonies appropriated existing communal architecture, and turned their designs and physical buildings to their own communal ends. Importantly, these sites were made available by the dramatic reconstruction of the city, and in this sense these occupations were limited to the temporal realm. To describe the nature of occupations, and their eventual impact upon the shape of the city, this paper proposes the category of “the temporal pocket”: a cellular and temporary inhabitance, defined by the shared investments of its participants, and one that is both discrete (in the sense of its spaces) and discreet (in the sense that this can be understood as a non-oppositional politics). The article is informed by spatial and cultural theory, literature on Chinese urban planning and art history, as well as primary documents (such as documentaries, art works and archival material) and interviews conducted by the researcher in Beijing.     

Family Fun Nights: Collaborative Parent Education Accessible for Diverse Learning Abilities

Quality early childhood education programs have a responsibility to provide enriched educational services to preschool students paired with parent support, education, and outreach. Pearl Buck Preschool, a non-profit organization devoted to the delivery of preschool services for children of parents with intellectual disabilities or learning difficulties, created a unique parent program titled Family Fun Night. This six-session series was developed with a strengths-based, collaborative framework and was connected to the Program-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports implementation in the preschool. The following paper discusses the development, facilitation, implementation, logistics, and assessment of the Family Fun Night series. Barriers to implementation are also discussed.     

Using Task Clarification,Checklists and Performance Feedback to Improve the Appearance of a Grocery Store

An intervention package of task clarification, checklists, and posted performance feedback was developed to increase completion of tasks contributing to the appearance of a local grocery store. The intervention package was based on an informal diagnostic assessment that examined antecedents, equipment and processes, knowledge and skills, and consequences in the organizational environment. A multiple baseline design across five departments was utilized to evaluate the effects of the intervention package on employee cleaning behavior related to the appearance of the store. The results suggest overall improvement of task completion across the five departments observed, with substantial increases resulting from application of the intervention. The mean percentage of tasks completed in the deli department increased by 36%; by 93% in the meat department; by 38% in the frozen department; by 25% in the produce department; and by 34% in the front‐end department. The average increase of task completion across departments was more than 45%. The results of this study are consistent with those of Anderson, Crowell, Hantula, and Siroky (1988), as well as with La Fleur and Hyten (1995), demonstrating that task clarification, checklists, and feedback have positive effects on work performance.     

Knowledge about the Bible and Skills for Biblical Interpretation Imparted by Norwegian RE Textbooks for Upper Secondary Education

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the knowledge about the Bible and the skills required for biblical interpretation as imparted by three textbooks for Norwegian upper secondary religious education (RE). The multidimensional theoretical framework combines models from biblical hermeneutics and RE. One model distinguishes between the worlds behind, in, and in front of the biblical text. Another distinguishes between the universal, common religious, and religion-specific dimensions of religious narratives. While the body texts alternate between the worlds behind, in, and in front of the text, the assignments focus on the worlds in and in front of the text and the religion-specific dimension.     

Instructor Clarity,Humor, Immediacy,and Student Learning: Replication and Extension

This study replicates and extends three widely cited instructional communication research studies regarding instructor clarity, humor, immediacy, and students’ learning: Richmond, Gorham, and McCroskey (1987), Wanzer and Frymier (1999), and Chesebro and McCroskey (2001). Students across four diverse institutions of higher education (N = 1,109) completed survey measures. Replication results suggest that findings from the original studies (clarity, humor, immediacy, and student learning) persist, and extension results, exploring verbal immediacy and perceived immediacy, reveal statistically significant correlations with the original studies’ variables. However, results of the replication and extension reveal measurement validity uncertainties that require further investigation.     

Beyond the Bullet Points: Teaching the Bible in Norwegian Upper Secondary Religious Education

Abstract

This qualitative study examines semi-structured interviews with four Norwegian teachers to explore how they teach biblical texts in upper secondary religious education (RE). The theoretical framework combines one model from biblical hermeneutics with one from RE. The former differentiates between the worlds behind, in, and in front of the biblical text, the latter between the universal, common religious, and religion-specific dimensions of religious narratives. Chief findings: All teachers utilize examples from the reception history of the biblical texts; they thus extend Ricoeur’s notion of the world in front of the text. The common religious aspects of biblical texts are mostly overlooked.