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1 – 10 of 14Niloofar Solhjoo, Maja Krtalić and Anne Goulding
While exploring the information experience within multispecies families, the subjective nature of humans and non-human entities, living beings and non-living objects becomes…
Abstract
Purpose
While exploring the information experience within multispecies families, the subjective nature of humans and non-human entities, living beings and non-living objects becomes evident. This paper aims to reveal the underlying significance of information within socio-physical living environments shared among humans, cats and dogs as companions.
Design/methodology/approach
Gaining inspiration from the information experience approach and posthumanism, this is a phenomenological paper. Empirical material related to lived experiences of participating families were gathered through multispecies ethnography methods, followed by phenomenological reflections. The paper has been written based on excerpt-commentary-units and the inclusion of videos and images as an approach to convey the richness of the lived experiences and multiple perspectives.
Findings
Findings are organised into three main sections, each capturing lived experiences of information and its utilization from various frames. The paper shows how living beings, both human and animal, use their physical, sensual and moving bodies to acquire and convey information to and from each other. Moving beyond the living beings, the study discusses how non-living objects in the physical environment of a multispecies family also shape information. Material objects, spatial locations and even plants became sources of information for the family members. Lastly, the paper delves into the social environment of the family, where all members, human and animal, are actively shaped by information within their social interactions and companionship.
Originality/value
Considering information distributed across species and material objects in a shared, more-than-human environment, the article suggests implications for an information experience approach. It emphasizes how information shapes the in-between humans, animals and their environment, highlighting their reliance on each other for understanding and living a good shared life. There is a need for future research to explore the information experience within the internal subjective minds of members of multispecies families, bridging the gap in the understanding of these external information and their internal information processes.
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Margaret P. Weiss, Lisa Goran, Michael Faggella-Luby and David F. Bateman
In this chapter, we focus on specially designed instruction (SDI) as a core value for the field of specific learning disabilities (SLD). SDI is at the heart of special education…
Abstract
In this chapter, we focus on specially designed instruction (SDI) as a core value for the field of specific learning disabilities (SLD). SDI is at the heart of special education, and the field of LD has been built on the core value that effective instruction improves student outcomes. We describe a two-step test and an extended example of what is and is not SDI for Matt, a student with an SLD. Finally, we discuss some of the confusion surrounding SDI and the need for the field to return to its core value of individualized, intentional, targeted, evidence- or high leverage practice–based, and systematic instruction for students with SLD.
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Elizabeth Benson, Jenny Lewis and Danny Pinchas
This chapter offers Australian and international insights into leadership development and discusses how aspirant and current middle leaders can use leader and teacher professional…
Abstract
This chapter offers Australian and international insights into leadership development and discusses how aspirant and current middle leaders can use leader and teacher professional standards to foster their professional growth. Standards help inform performance and development planning, and shape feedback and provide a framework for professional learning design. This chapter provides an overview of how systems such as New Zealand, Australia, and Scotland, among others, describe leadership in terms of standards. When used alongside an annual performance and development process, middle leaders can tap into the power of standards to continually sharpen their leadership practice and create a thriving career leading from the middle. Practical guidance is provided for middle leaders to engage with national teacher and leadership standards.
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Irene Lopatovska and Celia Coan
The study explored how information institutions can support the resilience of parents of adolescents affected by the Russia–Ukraine war. Ukrainian parents are facing major…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explored how information institutions can support the resilience of parents of adolescents affected by the Russia–Ukraine war. Ukrainian parents are facing major challenges of supporting their teenagers through a difficult developmental phase while also “buffering” their war-related hardships. By supporting parents, information institutions can also support children.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen parents were interviewed about mental health challenges and resources that are helpful and/or missing from their support systems. Recordings of participant narratives were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis technique.
Findings
The findings indicate that both teens and parents rely on internal resilience skills, family, friends and community resources to support themselves. However, a number of additional resources could be offered by information institutions, including content for (1) teens on developing skills in communication, interpersonal relationships, problem solving and academic pursuits; (2) parents on child development and opportunities in their host countries; both groups on (3) both groups on mental health first aid and safe spaces to meet peers. The study recommendations will be of interest to information professionals working with families, especially families affected by disasters.
Research limitations/implications
The study relied on a small convenience sample of participants.
Practical implications
Study recommendations would be of interest to information professionals who develop and provide services to families affected by natural and manmade disasters.
Social implications
Study recommendations improve understanding of the (potential) role of information institutions and libraries in strengthening family and community resilience.
Originality/value
The study offers a rare insight into experiences of war-affect families and provides evidence-driven recommendations for information institutions to support family and community resilience.
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This paper aims to overcome the limitations of studies on work-life balance, which have focused on Western countries without considering “mental” dimensions of gendered childcare…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to overcome the limitations of studies on work-life balance, which have focused on Western countries without considering “mental” dimensions of gendered childcare. By concentrating on South Korea as a case study, this paper also aims to examine how the gendered division of childcare changed when Korea's work-life/family policy followed European work-family conciliation policy.
Design/methodology/approach
The Korean Time Use Survey (KTUS) in 2009 and 2019 are used for multiple regression analyses. Based on discussions about theories on unpaid work distribution within households and its stratification effects, this study examines the relationship between wife's and husband's behaviors and the stratification effects in the gendered division of childcare alongside the work-life/family policy change.
Findings
Substantial findings indicate the necessity of strengthening various legal and institutional structures that might increase husbands' characteristics of caring masculinities. Additionally, while policies developed to support flexible working arrangements, low-income women at risk of being trapped in dual poverty of time and income should be carefully considered.
Originality/value
This study focuses especially on South Korea, thereby contributing to understanding how national policy and gendered distribution of childcare are related. Notably, this link has not been widely discussed in the literature on work-life balance. It also suggests viable directions for future policies depending on gender and socioeconomic status.
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The purpose of this short reflection is to allow for an informed use of both phenomenography and phenomenology in information studies and cognate fields.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this short reflection is to allow for an informed use of both phenomenography and phenomenology in information studies and cognate fields.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper apprises uses of phenomenography found particularly in accounts of information literacy commonly describing phenomenography as distinct from phenomenology.
Findings
Both phenomenography and phenomenology continue to hold much credence in methods applied across scores of academic fields, with information studies being among those in the vanguard. Claims displaying differences of phenomenography from phenomenology are misleading and incomplete descriptions of phenomenology.
Originality/value
The paper presents newer materials on the origins of phenomenography and phenomenology to advocate for tighter relationships between and clearer applications of these methods in information studies and beyond.
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Religious and secular pilgrimages present rich opportunities for investigating information activities in an original and intriguing context. While the Information Science…
Abstract
Purpose
Religious and secular pilgrimages present rich opportunities for investigating information activities in an original and intriguing context. While the Information Science community has previously shown interest in digital expressions of religion and spirituality, discussion on pilgrimage is at a nascent stage. The purpose of this study is to conduct an in situ investigation of how pilgrims record, curate, and share their experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
A field ethnography was conducted while walking with, observing and interviewing pilgrims along the Camino de Santiago, a popular European pilgrimage and UNESCO World Heritage route. Data collected from 25 semi-structured interviews and participant observations were thematically analysed within a theoretical framework combining Stebbins' contemplation and Nature Challenge Activity in serious leisure and Hektor's model of information behaviour.
Findings
This study expands the interpretation of pilgrimage by introducing new insights into pilgrims, different types of mobilities, spaces and objects, and social interactions. By using field ethnography and close-up observations of praxis, pilgrimage is analysed as a socio-technical process and discussed literature within and beyond Information Science. The work presents new understandings of the interplay between spirituality, embodied information practices, physical and online social interactions, analogue and digital media before, during and after these journeys and legacy aspirations.
Originality/value
The study is original in its combination of theoretical models and their ethnographic in situ application. It contributes to a more in-depth, in-the-field understanding of how pilgrims document their experiences via a rich palette of old and new media, the dynamics of using digital technologies during such physical and inner journeys and pilgrims' sharing practices. Implications for serious leisure and information practices are discussed, from theoretical to practical challenges and opportunities offered by pilgrimage experiences.
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Ingrid Hemmer, Christoph Koch and Anna Peitz
This paper aims to analyze the extent to which education for sustainable development (ESD) training enhances university teachers’ professional competence and whether it has the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the extent to which education for sustainable development (ESD) training enhances university teachers’ professional competence and whether it has the same effect in the digital as in the face-to-face format.
Design/methodology/approach
A training concept was developed based on the professional action competence model. Between 2018 and 2021, 19 training sessions were conducted with 183 university teachers: ten in face-to-face sessions and nine in the digital format. Questionnaires were administered before and after the training to determine its impact.
Findings
Overall, the training proved to be effective. There was a significant increase in professional knowledge and self-efficacy after the training, but there was no change in motivation. The face-to-face and digital formats proved to be equally effective.
Research limitations/implications
The long-term effect of the training could not be determined.
Practical implications
There should be regular ESD training and coaching for university teachers.
Originality/value
There has been little research on the effectiveness of ESD teacher training, and no comparison between the face-to-face and digital approaches exists. It has been possible to train a relatively large number of university teachers from a wide range of subject areas, about two-thirds of whom have had no previous ESD experience.
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