‘Birth work’ accompaniment and PhD supervision: an alternative feminist pedagogy for the neoliberal university

In this paper, we discuss how ‘with-woman’ midwifery and doula care provide resources for rethinking the theory and practice of academic supervision from a feminist perspective. We identify how the tradition of accompaniment in both birth work and academia is under threat given the economic reforms facing public sector education and health care. Despite these pressures, we suggest that the practice of focusing on the pregnant woman as an ‘expert’ on her pregnancy rather than on the foetus or the delivery – that is, the ‘product’ of her pregnancy – would help transform how we theorise and practise academic supervision. The aim of the supervisory relation would mean supporting the student’s direct relation to the intellectual, embodied and emotional process of completing the PhD. Such an approach suggests ways in which the pedagogical practices of contemporary midwifery and doula care can inform academic supervision in the neoliberal university.     

Standing by … standing off – troublesome compassion in the relationships of school boys

This paper draws on the story of ‘Mikael’, a schoolboy from northern Finland, to examine how his affective ties of compassion and his pursuit of dominant forms of masculinity evolve in his journey from middle childhood to young adulthood. In his earlier years, Mikael's speech regarding his relationships with peers and family members indicates a non-hierarchical sympathetic orientation, enabling sensitivity to diverse vulnerabilities. Over time, his speech reflects more and more the ideals of dominating masculinity and hierarchical relationality, and it is marked by ‘inner-circle’ compassion that excludes people considered vulnerable and/or ‘Other’. The authors argue that the challenge of balancing compassionate concern, masculinity and social position generates heavy costs, imposing on young men not only the heavy burden of fulfilling the requirements of culturally esteemed masculinity, but also a partial loss of being in touch with one's inner faculties of emotions and imagination.     

'There's no way this kid's retarded': teachers' optimistic constructions of students' ability

Historical research in the field of autism has suggested that judgements regarding the ability of students with autism should be made carefully, taking into consideration the person with autism's difficulty with communication, movement and performance in general. Although the historical literature has urged professionals to proceed with caution regarding judgements about ability, a haphazard understanding of people with autism as retarded prevails. This qualitative study analyses the experiences of four teachers who, within the context of the inclusive classroom, resist interpreting non-verbal students with autism as mentally retarded and seek to form a new understanding of ability. The following themes will be discussed: (1) finding situations where students demonstrate competence, (2) rethinking performance and understanding, and (3) expecting struggles.     

博弈论与会计

在会计领域进行博弈分析是可能的，会计作为企业的职能部门，具有经济决策功能，经济决策涉及到利益冲突的相关方，因而在会计领域进行博弈分析的内容也是十分丰富的。纳入了博弈论分析方法的会计具有决策会计的特征，但它又不同于传统意义上的决策会计。     

Relationality as a response to challenges of participatory action research in indigenous contexts: reflections from the field

ABSTRACT

Three researchers share their reflections on the challenges and goodness of fit of using participatory action research (PAR) in studies with indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada. Three central challenges of participatory methodologies are identified: (1) defining what constitutes participation; (2) the extended time required for a PAR study; and (3) researcher positionality. The authors discuss tensions inherent in the western academy when shifting final decision-making authority over research processes away from the academic institution to the indigenous community. A model situating the principles of PAR alongside perspectives and values congruent with the indigenous concept of relationality is presented as a means of mitigating these challenges. This approach aligns PAR principles within culturally-congruent definitions of relationship and encourages researchers to re-imagine participation as a form of relationship, allowing them to engage more deeply and genuinely with indigenous participants.     

Tracking the Topological: The Effects of Standardised Data Upon Teachers’ Practice

This article draws upon recent theorising of the ‘becoming topological’ of space– specifically, how new social spaces are constituted through relations rather than physical locations – to explore how standardised data, and specifically test data, have influenced teachers’ work and learning. We outline the varied ways in which teacher practices at a primary school in Queensland, Australia, were actively constituted through processes of ‘tracking data’ and ‘keeping data on-track’, and how teachers were simultaneously being disciplined, or ‘tracked’, by these very same data. Our analyses suggest that what appear to be more ‘technical’ activities and tasks of ‘using’ data are, in fact, actively constituted modes of governance, enabled through and deployed by ongoing practices of comparison and topological respatialisation.     

Understanding consciousness for optimal human wellbeing & growth holistically

Abstract

Consciousness is a natural and integral part of human beings that is at the core of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual functions throughout our lives. However, we tend to be too occupied with or distracted by the details of our daily existence to be fully aware of our own consciousness. More often than not, we are engaged in the surface consciousness in the materialistic world or emotional realm, which interferes us to get connected with our deeper consciousness and capacity. This paper will unpack the layers of human consciousness (or lack of consciousness) from philosophical perspective to examine the relations between our understanding of consciousness and its impact on our holistic wellbeing and growth (Singh, 2016 Singh, L. P. (2016). Science, spirituality, and ontological mysticism: the philosophical enquiry and reflection. Delhi, India: Concept Publishing Co. [Google Scholar]; Suzuki, 1999 Suzuki, S. (1999). Zen Mind. New York: Weatherhill. [Google Scholar]; Thompson, 2015 Thompson, E. (2015). Waking, dreaming, being. New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar]). What is consciousness? How do human beings choose our consciousness? What is the relation between micro and macro consciousness? How do we expand, develop, and apply our consciousness for the maximum wellbeing and growth through education? The paper intends to go beyond the compartmentalized analysis of consciousness (e.g. biological, psychological, neurological etc.) by engaging a holistic metaphysical viewpoint as well as relational and dialectic approaches (Ames & Hall, 2003 Ames, T. R. & Hall, L. D. (2003). Daodejing: making this life significant. New York: Ballantine. [Google Scholar]) Hegel, 1807, 1977 Hegel, G. W. F. (1807, 1977). The Phenomenology of spirit. (A. V. Miller Trans.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Google Scholar]; Laozi, 1999 Laozi. (1999). Daodejing (道德经). Shanxi, China: Shanxi Classics Press. [Google Scholar]). It aims to connect theory, learning, and living together with nature and universe beyond the limitation of time and space.     

Mapping Invitations to Participate: An Investigation in Museum Interpretation

This a/r/tographic inquiry delves into questions about participatory art museum practice, specifically seeking to understand the nature of invitations to participate. Utilising drawings, writing and mapping of embodied participation, questions of how individuals are invited to participate in various locations and how these invitations inform the work of art museums that engage in participatory practice are considered. Conditions for participation, including familiarity, personalisation, enthusiasm, playfulness, narrative, uniqueness, sociability and listening, as well as anti‐invitations that contradict moves toward participation, are discussed in relation to examples from the study and scholarly writing. The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to share research about participatory practice in various locations and its implications for art museums, and second, to explore the potential of arts‐based research methodologies, particularly a/r/tography, for art museum education research.     

Relational transitions,emotional decisions: new directions for theorising graduate employment

University-to-work transitions tend to be discussed in terms of skills, outcomes and the readiness of graduates for an increasingly insecure and flexible labour market. Such a focus on individual attributes and orientations depicts graduates as lonely and ostensibly rational figures; disembedded from their intimate networks and devoid of emotional context as they navigate their post-university pathways. This article aims to steer the debate in a new, fundamentally relational direction by exploring the role and significance of intimate kin and non-kin relationships for the ways graduates experience and make choices about employment and careers. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal research with women who graduated from universities in the UK between 2009 and 2011, the discussion highlights the value of an explicitly relational perspective for revealing the personal and emotional dimensions of the transition out of higher education. The article concludes that the process of securing work and committing to a career is embedded within the broader experiences of personal life, emotion and (im)mobility and, thus, raises important questions about the role and responsibility of universities at a time when employability metrics are read as a marker of teaching quality.