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Middle East meets West: Negotiating cultural difference in international educational encounters
No full textThis paper sets out to evaluate a proposed twelve-month programme of development aimed at academic staff at a new university in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The author uses a model of cultural difference proposed by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede as her starting point. Reference is also made to the work of other researchers and to the views of a number of people with first-hand experience of education in Iraqi Kurdistan. Cultural differences between the Kurdish participants on the proposed programme and its British facilitator are a likely challenge in this kind of project, in particular those associated with collectivist vs. individualist traditions. Focusing on this divide, some marked differences emerge in terms of how learning is viewed and approached in the two different countries. Whilst acknowledging that cultural difference is not confined to national boundaries, the author argues that the degree of collectivism or individualism within a society can be regarded as one of the many significant components of the complex concept of “culture”. She does not attempt to offer any empirical evidence to support a “best way” to approach international educational encounters. Rather, the author’s aim is to draw some conclusions to inform and facilitate the design and delivery of the proposed programme. At the same time, this paper may also offer some useful insights to those who find themselves in similar situations requiring them to deliver programmes in environments which are culturally removed from their own
The effects of surfing behaviour on the development of external auditory canal exostosis
No full textTo examine how individual surfing behaviour affects the development of external auditory canal exostosis and to produce a model to predict exostosis severity. A standardised questionnaire was completed and each participant underwent an otoscopic examination. Surfers were recruited from August to October 2011 from surfing competitions and from colleges in the South West of England. 207 surfers were included, 53 % had evidence of external auditory canal; exostosis: grade 1, 23 %; grade 2, 16 %, grade 3, 16 %. This risk of exostosis significantly increased with (1) surfing for 6 or more years, (2) surfing in the winter months, (3) surfing five or more times per month in the winter and (4) reported ear symptoms. Interestingly, participation in other water sports and wearing earplugs or a hood reduced the risk of developing exostosis. Surfers who surf in England are at significant risk of exostosis. A probability model was designed, incorporating different surfing behaviours and ear symptoms, the first of its kind in exostosis research. This model will be a useful tool for raising awareness of external ear canal exostosis in the surfing community and in assessing individual need for surgical intervention
A paradoxical academic identity: fate, utopia and critical hope
Get PDFUsing a dialectical mode of exposition, I offer a reflexive sociological theorisation of the paradox that characterises my academic identity: a fatalistic disenchantment concerning the colonisation of Higher Education (HE) by neoliberalism co-exists with a utopianism concerning HE's emancipatory possibilities. I begin with a discussion of Weber's contention that disenchantment is the fate of bureaucratised modernity. This is followed by a consideration of Freire's conception of hope as a universal ontological need and Bloch's conceptualisation of the objective and subjective dimensions of hope. The significance these authors attribute to dreaming in the development of the utopian imagination is also addressed. Next, I argue that the tensions in my identity, generated by the paradox of fatalism and utopianism, are partially resolved in the practice of a pedagogy of critical hope. I conclude by suggesting that this pedagogy can only be interstitial, existing within the gaps in bureaucratised, neoliberal higher educational institutions
A biological, latent variable model of health (EarlyBird 68)
Get PDFObjective
To determine whether factor analysis of a set of health-related biomarkers provides evidence of an underlying common dimension of variation, and to explore the relationship between this dimension of variation with positive and negative affect.
Method
Twelve health-related metabolic, immune and body-composition biomarkers at ages 5, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 16 years were obtained from the EarlyBird longitudinal cohort of 347 children and supplemented by positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) measured at age 16 years.
Results
At each age, principal factor analysis revealed that nine of the 12 biomarkers consistently loaded on the first extracted factor, accounting for 25% of the variance at age 5, and 37–44% of the variance at 7–16 years. High loading biomarkers included physical indicators of adiposity, insulin resistance, C-reactive protein, triglycerides, and cholesterol. Factor scores at different ages correlated between .48 and .85. Correlations between the first factor scores and mood measured at age 16 were r = −.17 (p = .02) for PA and r = .13 (p = .07) for NA.
Conclusions
There is a latent variable, h, that accounts for about a third of the variance of a set of health related physical and biochemical biomarkers. h is comparatively stable during childhood and is a weak predictor of mood. These data provide a rationale for aggregating biomarkers in psychoneuroimmunological research. The concept of h provides a possible biological rationale for the role of common factors in disease onset and progression, mental illness, and functional disorders
Mood and its association with metabolic health in adolescents: a longitudinal study, EarlyBird 65
No full textBackground
Mood comprises two main traits – positive and negative affect, both associated with depression and anxiety. Studies in children have linked depression with obesity, but the association with metabolic health is unclear.
Objective
To explore the relationship between mood and metabolic health in adolescents.
Methods
We studied 208 healthy children (115 boys) enrolled in the longitudinal EarlyBird Diabetes Study, and reviewed at 7 and 16 yr. Participants completed the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule – Child Form (PANAS‐C) at 16yr to assess positive and negative affect, together representing mood. Measures at 7 and 16 yr: body mass index (BMI), fat (%; dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry), physical activity (accelerometer), metabolic risk z‐score comprising homeostasis model assessment‐insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), triglycerides, total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio and blood pressure. Pubertal development was determined by age at peak height velocity.
Results
Positive affect was higher in boys than girls, (50 vs. 46, p = 0.001), negative affect higher in girls than boys (26 vs. 22, p < 0.001). Those with lower mood were fatter (r = −0.24, p < 0.001), had higher HOMA‐IR (r = −0.12, p = 0.05), higher cholesterol:HDL ratio (r = −0.14, p = 0.02), were less active (r = 0.20, p = 0.003) and had earlier pubertal development (r = 0.19, p = 0.004). Inverse associations between mood and metabolic risk z‐score and change in metabolic risk z‐score 7–16yr (β = −0.26, p = 0.006, and −0.40, p = 0.004, respectively) were independent of adiposity, physical activity and puberty and sex.
Conclusions
Low mood in healthy children is associated with poorer metabolic health independently of adiposity. These findings may have implications for the physical and mental health of contemporary youngsters, given their increasing obesity and cardiometabolic risk
Contextualizing phenomenology in event management research: deciphering the meaning of event experiences.
Get PDFPurpose: Although the core phenomenon of events is the experiences and the meanings attached to them, there is limited management research on the experiential, existential and ontological dimensions of events. Phenomenology provides a sound philosophical framework for studying the multifaceted dimensions of experiences and associated meanings of events. However, quite surprisingly, phenomenology has not yet been systematically applied on the event management field. This conceptual paper aims to introduce phenomenology to the study of events, demonstrate its value for the field and encourage as well as guide its application on event management research.
Design/methodology/approach: A review and synthesis of the main phenomenological streams of thought was undertaken in order to develop a research paradigm for the application of phenomenology on the event management field.
Findings: The paper explains why phenomenology is needed in the study of events and their management, its conceptual underpinnings and streams of thought and finally suggests a research framework for conducting phenomenological studies in event management.
Research limitations/implications: The consequences of the phenomenological perspective are delineated for explaining how the study of event meanings and experiences can be undertaken from this perspective. The limitations of phenomenology are noted such as the emphasis on ‘lifeworld’ subjectivity and subsequent difficulty to claim the generalizability of research findings.
Practical implications: The suggested research framework can guide future event management research on how to apply phenomenology to the study of event experiences and meanings. On this basis, practitioners can get insight regarding how to develop and design events that optimize the perceived experiences of attendees.
Originality/value: While the experiential paradigm and the phenomenological turn have been spread across many disciplines emphasizing the essence of lived
experiences in a variety of human interactions and exchanges, the event management field lags behind. This is unfortunate and has to be addressed as the experiences and meanings shape the essence of events. Therefore, this conceptual paper hopes to inspire, encourage and guide event management researchers to embrace and apply the
phenomenological perspective on their future research endeavors, which can profitably complement and expand the predominant research paradigms in the field
More than activities: using a ‘sense of place’ to enrich student experience in adventure sport
Get PDFThere has been increasing interest in recent years in the significance of a sense of place in the literature of outdoor adventure education. In the UK relationships between outdoor education and the environment still appear largely focused on the science of the natural environment and the activity in question. In this paper we present empirical evidence from an action research project to demonstrate how a combination of formal and informal pedagogy in a higher education context can lead to a socio-cultural and historical understanding of place and enrich the learning experience of students when teaching the classical outdoor adventurous activity of sailing. The sport of dinghy sailing is a module within a Bachelor’s undergraduate degree in outdoor education and was taught from a small fishing town in Devon, England. We adopted an integrated and experiential critical pedagogy of place that allowed theory and practice, thought and action to be a holistic experience and this approach provided opportunities for informal as well as formal learning. This action research project used methods including: photo-elicitation, focus group interviews and evidence from the analysis of written student assignments. Our findings show that students discover a significance of the meaningful relationship between the socio-cultural history of where that activity takes place and the activity itself and that as a result their engagement in the learning and research process was enriched
The declarative procedural model of language: a new framework for studying the non-inflecting languages of Southeast Asia?
No full textThe distribution of Bibionidae (Diptera) in Scotland
Get PDFWe review the material of the family Bibionidae from Scotland in the Natural History Museum, London and the National
Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, as well as some material from other collections and published records from the SIRI (Scottish
Insect Records Index). Eleven species of the genus Bibio Geoffroy, 1762 and four species in the genus Dilophus Meigen, 1803
have been collected in Scotland. We review the distribution and ecology of each species and present maps of records. Previous
Scottish records of Bibio hortulanus (Linnaeus, 1758) and B. reticulatus Loew, 1846 are deemed to be most likely erroneous.
Additionally, we have not found any specimens confirming the literature record of Bibio venosus (Meigen, 1804), but we
believe this record is most likely correct since this species is distinctive and well defined with no substantial confusion about
its identity. There is also a recent record of Dilophus humeralis Zetterstedt, 1850 which we have not been able to confirm. The
following species have unambiguous records from Scotland: Bibio clavipes Meigen, 1818; B. ferruginatus (Linnaeus, 1758);
B. johannis (Linnaeus, 1767); B. lanigerus Meigen, 1818; B. leucopterus (Meigen, 1804); B. longipes Loew, 1864; B. marci
(Linnaeus, 1758); B. nigriventris Haliday, 1833; B. pomonae (Fabricius, 1775); B. varipes Meigen, 1830; Dilophus bispinosus
Lundström, 1913; D. febrilis (Linnaeus, 1758); D. femoratus Meigen, 1804