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1 – 10 of over 17000Simon Burnett and Annemaree Lloyd
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of Dark Knowledge, an epistemology that acknowledges both alternative knowledge and ways of knowing which are cognizant of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of Dark Knowledge, an epistemology that acknowledges both alternative knowledge and ways of knowing which are cognizant of the moral and ethical positioning of each.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper that uses existing relevant literature to develop the work. The paper uses a four-stage literature search process and draws upon a range of disciplines, including philosophy, computer science and information management, to underpin the evolution of the concept.
Findings
As a conceptual paper, no empirical findings are presented. Instead, the paper presents an embryonic model of Dark Knowledge and identifies a number of characteristics, which may be used to explore the concept in more detail.
Research limitations/implications
There is a clear need to develop a body of empirical work, adding to the theoretical perspectives presented in this paper. It is anticipated that this paper will provide one of the cornerstones for future studies in this area.
Originality/value
The paper makes an original contribution to the study of information behaviours, practices and epistemology.
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– The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between objective language and narratives and how differences affect rhetoric.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between objective language and narratives and how differences affect rhetoric.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual implications are drawn from an analysis and discussion of the literature in the fields of autopoiesis, meanings and narratives.
Findings
Only narratives convey the experience of objectivity, which makes them more effective to persuade people to change than just providing “objective” data and explanatory knowledge.
Originality/value
The paper discusses how the projection of meaning is not an experience but knowledge. Meaning is experienced as an empirical property of the perceived.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of aspiring school leaders who utilized artmaking (in this case, photography, poetry, music, collage, and short films…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of aspiring school leaders who utilized artmaking (in this case, photography, poetry, music, collage, and short films) through Microsoft MovieMaker as a means for addressing injustices within surrounding school communities. The paper aims to explore how aspiring school leaders understood contemporary curriculum issues within increasingly culturally diverse school communities in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
This two‐year qualitative study embedded in grounded theory examined the experiences of aspiring school leaders who utilized artmaking (in this case short films through Microsoft MovieMaker) to examine contemporary curriculum issues within surrounding school communities. This study is conducted within the naturalistic tradition.
Findings
The significance of artmaking encourages participants to visually articulate the lived realities of disenfranchised populations. Participants engage in artmaking experience self‐transformation and a calling to encouraging human agency.
Originality/value
In the wake of addressing issues of social justice, the highly charged emotions associated with addressing such issues is evident in the range of emotions that surface including, anger, fear, intimidation, deep sorrow, resentment, joy, and others. Very little scholarship exists for aspiring school leaders who confront issues of social justice in relation to the intensity of emotions and their work.
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Evgeniya Georgievna Alekseeva, Irina Krasnopolskaya and Yulia Skokova
The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of the international volunteer programme’s dance4life (D4L) in Russia. The programme aims to address taboos, stigma…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of the international volunteer programme’s dance4life (D4L) in Russia. The programme aims to address taboos, stigma, discrimination, HIV/AIDS prevention and the promotion of sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and a healthy lifestyle among adolescents. The programme uses an “edutainment” model that involves young people through music, dance and youth icons. Educated volunteers provide schoolchildren with comprehensive information on SRHR and demonstrate the practical application of life and leadership skills. The programme ends with a celebration event.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Only those who got as far as stage three of the process, 20 per cent of those who begun, were sampled. The qualitative research involved youth aged 13-19 (20 interviews, six focus groups), teachers (eight interviews), volunteer team members (eight interviews) and programme managers in four project regions and in Moscow (five interviews). In the quantitative research 105 respondents took part, of whom 48 per cent were 13-16 years old, 44 per cent were 17-19 years old and 8 per cent were 20-23 years old. Both boys and girls were included in the sample.
Findings
Young people’s participation in D4L had a significant positive impact on perceptions of SRHR and knowledge levels, changed some misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and helped develop social and healthy lifestyle skills. The programme contributed to the growth of voluntary activity and the organizational skills of participants. Teachers’ perceptions of SRHR changed positively after their participation in the programme.
Research limitations/implications
The fact that the sample is only those who completed all stages of the programme, 20 per cent of the overall population who began it, is clearly a source of bias. The size of the quantitative research sample (n=105) does not allow disaggregation of data by region nor by gender: this limitation was minimized by choosing four regions with relatively comparable socio-economic status, and through quota sampling in equal proportions for boys and girls. This is the first time such a study has been conducted, so it is not possible to draw conclusions about the long-term impact of the programme.
Practical implications
The short implementation period allows for the dissemination of information and training to large numbers despite limited funding.
Social implications
The D4L approach provides information on SRHR to youth, which arouses their interest, and is perceived as relevant and important. Programme participants use this information themselves and share it with their friends, parents and other adults.
Originality/value
The D4L programme is unique in Russia: there is no regular sexual education in Russian schools. School programmes are rarely evaluated with the methods used in this study.
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This chapter asks whether it is helpful to consider a profession to be a practice and to what extent this meshes with the idea that ‘profession’ is a moral concept. It examines…
Abstract
This chapter asks whether it is helpful to consider a profession to be a practice and to what extent this meshes with the idea that ‘profession’ is a moral concept. It examines MacIntyre’s concept of a practice as an activity that pursues internal goods, finds that MacIntyre’s articulation of the concept by itself is not enough to describe what it is to be a profession and seeks to supplement this with ideas from others, primarily Miller and Davis. This supplementation, however, still leaves open the question of the origin of a profession’s authority (or licence) to use what can be called the ‘dangerous knowledge’ that differentiates the work of professions from other occupations. For this, Veatch provides useful ideas.
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Ulrich Meissen, Stefan Pfennigschmidt, Agnés Voisard and Tjark Wahnfried
Demand‐orientation is of crucial importance in mobile and pervasive information services in order to ensure the delivery of the right information at the right time and at the…
Abstract
Demand‐orientation is of crucial importance in mobile and pervasive information services in order to ensure the delivery of the right information at the right time and at the right place. In the past years, increasing attention has been devoted to the notion of personalized services that take the situation of the user into account. The trade‐off is to ensure appropriate information supply while preventing information overload. Comparing situations predicted by the system with the expectations of a user yields information about “so‐farunexpected” changes the user should be informed about. This paper describes an approach to identify and to resolve these knowledge discrepancies by informing the user about them in order to support his or her situation‐awareness. Our approach is illustrated in two applications.
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Shuwen Deng, Yili Cai, Longpan Xie and Yonggang Pan
Unsafe behavior is a major cause of safety accidents, while in most management measures for unsafe behavior, the construction workers are generally managed as a whole. Therefore…
Abstract
Purpose
Unsafe behavior is a major cause of safety accidents, while in most management measures for unsafe behavior, the construction workers are generally managed as a whole. Therefore, this study aims to propose group management of construction workers' unsafe behavior considering individual characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
A cognitive process model with ten cognitive factors was constructed based on cognitive safety theory. The questionnaire was developed and validated based on the cognitive model, and the results showed that the questionnaire had good reliability and validity, and the cognitive model fitted well. Latent class analysis was used to classify the unsafe behaviors of construction workers.
Findings
Four categories of cognitive excellent type, cognitive failure type, no fear type and knowingly offending type were obtained. Workers of cognitive excellent type have good cognitive ability and a small tendency for unsafe behaviors. Workers of cognitive failure type have poor cognitive ability and the potential for cognitive failure in all four cognitive links. Workers of no fear type have weak cognitive ability, and cognitive failure may occur in discovering information and choosing coping links. Workers of knowingly offending type have certain cognitive abilities, but cognitive failure may occur in choosing coping link.
Originality/value
This study formulates targeted management measures according to the potential characteristics of these four types and provides scientific theoretical support for the personalized management of unsafe behavior.
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Asking whether we should regard the learning organization as a tautology and, thus, of questionable utility, the purpose of this paper is to assess the ur-definition of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Asking whether we should regard the learning organization as a tautology and, thus, of questionable utility, the purpose of this paper is to assess the ur-definition of the concept furnished by Senge. It seeks to demonstrate, particularly to those unaware of a textual-analytic approach, how claims that have academic authority can have poor explanatory power, with attendant risks.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a post-structuralist methodology, by illuminating unarticulated assumptions and questioning bald assertions, this paper exposes sub-textual bias and a lack of rigour characterizing the prescription of the learning organization. This legitimizes alternative and more inclusive narratives.
Findings
This paper finds the learning organization furthering a managerialist interest under the guise of enabling the achievement of employee’s and employees’ desires. As such, it is in the tradition of improvement-offering management fashions. In offering the promise of a sort of liberation for employees, it ignores and facilitates systemic dysfunctions, both internal and external.
Originality/value
By introducing the suggestion that the learning organization might be usefully interrogated as a paralogism, this paper encourages a critical appreciation of learning, not as an unalloyed good but as a potentially repressive tool. A fortiori, the learning organization.
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Alan Tapper and Stephan Millett
In this paper we are revisiting the concept of a profession. Definitions of the concept are readily encountered in the literature on professions and we have collected a sample of…
Abstract
In this paper we are revisiting the concept of a profession. Definitions of the concept are readily encountered in the literature on professions and we have collected a sample of such definitions. From these samples we distil frequently occurring elements and ask whether a synthesis of these elements adequately explains the concept. We find that bringing the most frequently occurring elements together does not adequately address the reason (or purpose) that society differentiates professions from other occupations or activities – why there is a concept of ‘profession’ at all. We suggest an alternative approach that attempts to make sense of the concept at a more general level. This, more philosophical, approach employs analytical tools from Julius Kovesi, Patricia Hanna and Bernard Harrison to address the question of what is the point of the concept.
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