Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000Allan Walker, Qian Haiyan and Chen Shuangye
The purpose of this paper is to explore what developing moral literacy for leaders in intercultural schools will mean.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore what developing moral literacy for leaders in intercultural schools will mean.
Design/methodology/approach
Relevant literature on moral literacy, leadership, intercultural schools and social learning is brought together and integrated to develop an understanding of the intricacies of leading for moral literacy.
Findings
The foundation for developing moral literacy in intercultural schools requires leaders to become knowledgeable, cultivate moral virtues and develop moral imaginations as well as to possess moral reasoning skills. In intercultural settings these components focus on openly addressing, and indeed exposing, issues of class, culture and equity. The elements which form the basis for improved moral literacy are intimately connected with school life and community through learning. Leaders must simultaneously develop their own and their communities' moral literacy through promoting and structuring community‐wide learning through participatory moral dialogue. This may involve sharing purpose, asking hard questions and exposing and acknowledging identities.
Originality/value
This article attempts to apply moral literacy to leading in intercultural schools and suggests that learning holds the key to moral development.
Details
Keywords
This chapter evaluates the potential of virtual worlds for intercultural collaborative learning. A case study of a global lecture series is presented that used a virtual world as…
Abstract
This chapter evaluates the potential of virtual worlds for intercultural collaborative learning. A case study of a global lecture series is presented that used a virtual world as a platform for intercultural student collaboration. Students' subjective reports served as a basis for exploring cross-cultural differences in the perceived usefulness of virtual worlds for intercultural collaboration, and to examine what they have learned from working in an intercultural virtual team, what problems occurred, and how they resolved them. Based on the evaluation results, suggestions are provided for a culture-aware design of virtual worlds to facilitate intercultural collaborative learning and the development of intercultural literacy.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to present the emergent grounded theory of mitigating risk, which was produced through an analysis of the information literacy practices of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the emergent grounded theory of mitigating risk, which was produced through an analysis of the information literacy practices of English-speakers who are learning a language overseas as part of their undergraduate degree.
Design/methodology/approach
The grounded theory emerges from a qualitative study that was framed by practice theory and transitions theory, and employed constructivist grounded theory, semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation methods to explore the information activities of 26 language-learners from Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA.
Findings
The grounded theory of mitigating risk illustrates how academic, financial and physical risks that are produced through language-learner engagement overseas catalyse the enactment of information literacy practices that enable students to mediate their transition overseas.
Research limitations/implications
This study’s theory-building is localised and contextual rather than generalisable.
Practical implications
The grounded theory broadens librarians’ and language-educators’ knowledge of student activities during immersive educational experiences as well as extending understanding about the shape that information literacy takes within transition to a new intercultural context.
Social implications
The grounded theory develops understanding about the role that local communities play within intercultural transition and how these groups can respond to and prepare for increasingly fluid patterns of global movement.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to an increasingly sophisticated theoretical conceptualisation of information literacy while further providing a detailed exploration of transition from an information perspective.
Details
Keywords
Kumari Beck, Roumiana Ilieva, Ashley Pullman and Zhihua (Olivia) Zhang
The aim in this paper is to extend Dorothy Smith's conceptual understanding of work to consider the emerging labor of “knowmads” within internationalization of higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim in this paper is to extend Dorothy Smith's conceptual understanding of work to consider the emerging labor of “knowmads” within internationalization of higher education. Through original research on everyday experiences of internationalization, the authors seek to illuminate the ways individuals develop skills and competencies in relation to these new forms of work in order to address the reproduction of inequities. The authors make a connection between internationalization of higher education and knowmadic labor based on the premise that cross‐border education is often pursued in order to develop knowmadic attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a critical institutional ethnography of one mid‐sized Canadian university, the paper uses survey and interview data gathered from students and faculty ‐ individuals who are involved in knowmadic labor connected to internationalization – to illustrate some of the study participants' daily experiences of internationalization coordinated by the institutional structures of the university in times of globalization.
Findings
It is concluded that internationalization and connecting new forms of work involved in becoming and producing knowmads not only bypass and disregard present inequities in higher education, but work to reproduce them in new ways.
Practical implications
The paper provides insight in regards to processes and allocation of work within internationalization, while addressing forms of social inequities that often cut across these practices and concludes with brief comments on the implications of academic knowmadic labor in Western higher education institutions engaged in internationalization.
Originality/value
While research has been conducted on work in international contexts, little has addressed “the labor” that is involved in becoming knowmads, and that of “producing” knowmads. The paper draws connections between the internationalization of higher education and knowmadic work showing that knowmadic labor is often preceded by knowmadic educational opportunities. The cosmopolitan vision of creating globally aware citizens, with international knowledge, skills, and competencies that institutions espouse, are assumed to be good per se, and to lead to knowmadic qualities and attributes required in a knowmad society. The paper questions these assumptions and the relations of power on which they rest.
Details
Keywords
Michele Biasutti and Eleonora Concina
The aim of this article is to examine the perspectives, experiences, roles and values of Italian primary school principals regarding the inclusion of migrant children.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to examine the perspectives, experiences, roles and values of Italian primary school principals regarding the inclusion of migrant children.
Design/methodology/approach
The method of the study is qualitative and consists of a semi-structured interview, which was carried out with 17 primary school principals and examined using content analysis.
Findings
The following six categories emerged: (1) school organisation and services, (2) projects and activities for inclusion, (3) teaching methods and strategies, (4) assessment, (5) networking and (6) challenges. The findings highlighted the complexity of the principals' role; they have to take on several tasks to foster a positive school experience for migrant students. A student-centred approach was considered relevant for intercultural education to promote inclusion and well-being. Curriculum activities were designed according to student needs.
Research limitations/implications
The number of participants was limited, and they all worked in a small area of northeast Italy. Future research should examine the perspective of other school stakeholders such as teacher coordinators, the Commission for School Inclusion, teachers and tutors.
Practical implications
The findings could be used as a framework for defining a model of the organisation of the school useful for discussing the relevance of the activities and for comparing schools in different contexts. The development of reflective practice to analyse the activities inside the schools could be considered.
Social implications
Stakeholders could consider the findings before making decisions and developing policy actions countrywide.
Originality/value
The key factors included the awareness of the school principal role in managing the school and of the importance of connecting their school with the local community and external agencies.
Details
Keywords
The part covers the planning process from the perspective of the instructor. Our global set of authors span Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The principle concept is that the…
Abstract
The part covers the planning process from the perspective of the instructor. Our global set of authors span Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The principle concept is that the science of learning, the cybergogy, that has emerged in technologies like virtual worlds requires faculty to think in terms of learning archetypes. As faculty plan for activities and ways to manage attention in activity-based learning environments, they will think in terms of building around avatars, engaged in finding things, and responding to critical incidences. In doing so, teaching and learning grows around visual stimulation, engagement, collaborative motivation, personal interest, context in the subject matter, and “contemporarity” of the learning environment. The process for teaching in virtual worlds mirrors other emerging technology. Educators need to lead by example, using the technology themselves to build their expertise. They must garner support from their stakeholders and create and engage in professional development courses that focus on virtual worlds so they can prepare and be prepared for delivering in the environment.
Morris John Foster and Christopher Richardson
The aim of the research, in the East and Southeast Asia context, is to explore the advantages and problems of Buslish (business facilitation English) for managers and to generate…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the research, in the East and Southeast Asia context, is to explore the advantages and problems of Buslish (business facilitation English) for managers and to generate suggestions for maximising the use of Buslish as a critical resource in organisational effectiveness, including potential educational support and its required technology.
Design/methodology/approach
Data aimed to explore the issue were collected from a multi-country sample of 31 non-native English speakers, using a semi-structured questionnaire, plus in-depth interviews (10) with some respondents. Data were analysed using a mixture of descriptive statistics and logical argumentation.
Findings
The authors found a strong agreement that Buslish is important in the chosen setting, but there are problems in practice. Views on the importance of style and precision of the language actually used varied considerably. A key practical implication is that there is a role for English continuing professional development (CPD) courses.
Practical implications
Firms should support the development of English language skills of employees, certainly at management level and perhaps also at shop floor level. Suitable courses could be offered in firms' CPD programmes. Employees who are native speakers should be encouraged to enunciate clearly for non-native speaker colleagues, not to use slang and not to speak too quickly. While the authors encourage the use of contemporary communication technologies (e.g. virtual classrooms), they maintain that these should be supplementary in nature, supporting, rather than replacing, face-to-face learning formats.
Originality/value
A key aspect of the originality of the work is derived from the specific location, primary data collected and the creative nexus of the initial issue and its educational requirements, including technologies.
Details