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Agentic imagination in joint play in a home setting
No full textThere is a growing body of study advocating young children’s agency in play and care. Yet little attention has been directed towards addressing how to extend children’s agency to develop a meaningful learning experience for them in a family setting. We used a cultural-historical theoretical framework to investigate six infant-toddlers’ engagement in play and learning at home and early learning centres over a 7-month period. We applied the wholeness approach (Hedegaard, Studying children: A cultural-historical approach, Open University Press, 2008) to interpret the infant-toddlers’ play and their engagement with peers and adults. This approach considers the children’s perspectives, including their body language, gestures, choices, initiatives and movements, and the adults’ pedagogical choices, positioning and demands in play. Visual narrative analysis (Ridgway et al., Video J Educ Pedagogy 1:1–18, 2016) enabled us to capture and map the toddlers’ interactive patterns, non-verbal language and embodied movements and intentions in the play activity settings. Drawing on visual narrative methodology, cultural-historical concepts of imagination and agency were applied to explore El’s, a 21-month-old boy, joint truck play with his parents before dinner time in a home activity setting. The toddler’s agency and how he developed agentic imagination within the joint play under the support of his parents is discussed here. The study argues that adults need to acknowledge toddlers’ agency and motives in play while meeting parents’ demands. The focus child, El, used gesture and simple words to express his intention in continuing joint truck play, although his father explained to El that it was time for dinner and his father was getting tired of continually pushing the truck. In such a conflict, what can adults do to support the child’s intentions and meet adults’ demands? This problem gives rise to a pedagogical intention to think about how to sustain and afford children’s agency in play, thus addressing the conflict when the adults’ demands do not align with the child’s initiative in play. We argue agentic imagination can be a solution to sustain children’s play and meet adults’ agenda.</p
The impact of Arctic environments on human cerebral blood flow velocity
No full textBackground: The Arctic environment represents an extreme living condition that has significant impact on life. But research on alterations of human cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) in a high-latitude and low-temperature environment in the Arctic is still lacking. Methods: Members of the 12th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition team who took the icebreaker R/V Xuelong 2 to the Arctic were recruited. Transcranial colour doppler (TCD) examination was performed at the beginning of the voyage (lower latitude and higher temperature, LLHT) and during the Arctic scientific expedition period (higher latitude and lower temperature, HLLT), respectively. The spectral pattern and parameters of cerebral arteries were compared. Results: Among 16 healthy individuals, 13 completed the TCD examination twice. They had a significantly lower mean velocity (Vm) (63.5 cm/s HLLT vs. 68.4 cm/s LLHT; P = 0.028) and peak systolic velocity (PSV) (94.6 cm/s HLLT vs. 107.0 cm/s LLHT; P = 0.038) of the left middle cerebral artery (LMCA) and higher pulsatility index (PI) of the right middle cerebral artery (RMCA) (0.83 HLLT vs. 0.77 LLHT; P = 0.011) in the HLLT environment compared to the LLHT one. Conclusions: Changes in human CBFV may occur in higher-latitude and lower-temperature environments in the Arctic.</p
Epidemiological principles in claims of causality:an enquiry into Repetitive Head Impacts (RHI) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
No full textDetermining whether repetitive head impacts (RHI) cause the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)-neuropathological change (NC) and whether pathological changes cause clinical syndromes are topics of considerable interest to the global sports medicine community. In 2022, an article was published that used the Bradford Hill criteria to evaluate the claim that RHI cause CTE. The publication garnered international media attention and has since been promoted as definitive proof that causality has been established. Our counterpoint presents an appraisal of the published article in terms of the claims made and the scientific literature used in developing those claims. We conclude that the evidence provided does not justify the causal claims. We discuss how causes are conceptualised in modern epidemiology and highlight shortcomings in the current definitions and measurement of exposures (RHI) and outcomes (CTE). We address the Bradford Hill arguments that are used as evidence in the original review and conclude that assertions of causality having been established are premature. Members of the scientific community must be cautious of making causal claims until the proposed exposures and outcomes are well defined and consistently measured, and findings from appropriately designed studies have been published. Evaluating and reflecting on the quality of research is a crucial step in providing accurate evidence-based information to the public.</p
Household and home businesses research:emerging lifestyles, preferences and practices
No full textThis report presents findings from the first national Scenariosfor Future Living (SFL) household survey, completed by more than5,000 Australians in April–May 2025.The survey explores how emerging social trends, lifestyle shifts,and evolving household routines are shaping technology use inthe home and the implications for future energy demand.The survey builds on trends identified in the Digital EnergyFutures and Future Home Demand projects conducted by MonashUniversity’s Emerging Technologies Research Lab. The surveydesign was also informed by extensive stakeholder consultationacross research and industry partners.It was administered by the professional agency Instinct &Reason and weighted to 2021 ABS Census benchmarks to ensurerepresentativeness of the Australian population. While subjectto the usual limitations of online research, the dataset providesrobust, nationally representative insights into current andemerging household energy practices
Invisible Labour: Principals' Emotional Labour in Volatile Times:Report One: Technical Overview of the Project
No full textThis report provides a technical overview of the ARC Discovery Grant (DP230100594) research project: Invisible Labour: Principals' Emotional Labour in Volatile Times. The study is a collaboration between Monash University, Deakin University and the University of Sydney. The report is the first in a series of four and provides a technical foundation for a national study examining the emotional labour of Australian public-school principals. Drawing on 298 critical incident testimonies from 256 principals, as well as stakeholder interviews, case studies and a policy audit, the study reveals how principals’ emotional labour—often invisible and unacknowledged—has intensified and become central to their role. The research highlights the toll this labour takes on principals’ health, wellbeing and professional sustainability and calls for systemic reform to acknowledge and better support the emotional demands of the principals’ role
Partnering with consumers to co-design simulation-based learning that addresses cognitive bias in healthcare
No full textSocial profit orientation:lessons from organizations committed to building a better world
No full textServices marketing originated as a discipline to guide managers in marketing intangible products; in today's world, it must also guide managers in serving society. This research develops the concept of a social profit orientation, whereby organizations invest resources for the express purpose of enhancing the common good, especially the well-being of people and the health of the planet. Implementing social initiatives that serve this broader mission is no small challenge, but exemplary organizations are nevertheless charting a practical course. The authors conducted 62 in-depth executive interviews across 21 organizations in multiple countries, spanning both for-profit and nonprofit sectors, yielding valuable insights into how they create social profit for individuals, communities, and society at large through their initiatives. This research, grounded in published theory and directed toward practical implementation, defines the parameters of a social profit orientation and introduces an innovative framework that distills its antecedents, moderators, and outcomes. The experiences shared by the sample of forward-looking, future-oriented organizations can inform and inspire other companies, organizations, and institutions as they operate in environments where far more is expected of them than ever before.</p
Lifting the veil:probing altered visual perception in derealization
No full textDuring an acute episode of depersonalization/derealization (DP/DR), people report a complex and idiosyncratic change in their perceptual experience. Specifically, derealisation describes the experience of detachment from the external world and altered visual perception in which the surroundings look faded, foggy, or dream-like. Whilst some have argued that there may not be genuine perceptual changes in derealization, this proposal is yet to be tested empirically. Thus, we set out to investigate the potential perceptual changes in derealization. In this Registered Report, we conducted two online experiments to reveal the impact of DP/DR symptoms measured via the state version of the Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale (CDS) on how people evaluate (Experiment 1, N= 200, CDSstate mean: 32.43 ± 29.94 SD) and adjust (Experiment 2, N= 125, CDS-state mean: 29.38 ± 30.47 SD) naturalistic scene images with different levels of saturation and contrast. Participants were asked to rate how real the presented images look compared to their everyday experience (in Experiment 1) and to adjust the contrast or saturation level of images to match their everyday visual experience (in Experiment 2). We tested the effect of CDS-state scores on these subjective ratings via model comparison with Bayes Factors. In both experiments, we found strong evidence supporting the null models, suggesting that DP/DR symptoms did not affect realness ratings or vividness adjustments. These results provide empirical support for theories suggesting that self-reported altered vividness experience in derealization does not reflect genuine perceptual changes, instead they signify the (meta-)cognitive interpretation of these experiences. We discuss pros and cons of the current research practices when assessing derealization and highlight key avenues for the future investigation.</p
Observing and assessing role play in early childhood:evaluation of the Play Matrix tool
No full textThis study evaluates the Play Matrix, a novel observational tool designed to assess role-play in early childhood within the cultural-historical framework. The Play Matrix comprises 22 behavioral indicators across actions, speech, and emotional expressions. We examined its reliability and validity by analyzing video recordings of 42 children aged 5–6 years in both free play and adult-facilitated play settings. High inter-rater reliability was observed for most indicators, and significant differences in play behaviors between children with high and low levels of self-regulation were detected. Children with lower self-regulation exhibited more impulsive actions, expressive gestures, and involvement in emotionally rich group actions. Additionally, to validate the Play Matrix as a tool for analyzing the nuances of play situations, play behaviors in different play situations was compared. It was noted that children in free play show more unscripted character actions, speech in the play context, and more often regulate the behavior of other children. The Play Matrix offers a comprehensive mechanism for capturing the developmental potential of play, providing valuable insights into early childhood development.</p
Unpacking the ethics of care and safe learning environments in Indonesian vocational higher education settings:a contested space of power and (teaching) effectiveness
No full textNumerous studies have discussed the ethics of care and safe learning environments in relation to educational experiences. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on such aspects in vocational, non-western higher education contexts. This paper examines how students and teachers view entanglements of the ethics of care and safe learning environments in forming notions of teaching effectiveness in Indonesian vocational higher education settings. Utilising interview data from students and teachers in Indonesian higher education vocational institutions, the study draws upon Hofstede et al. Dimensions of National Cultures and Faranda and Clarke’s framework of effective teaching. The findings illuminate balanced power distance, communicative participation and pedagogy of care as fundamentals of the ethics of care that correspond with notions of safe learning environments to inform effective teaching in the Indonesian higher education vocational space. Illustrating social-educational contestations in the vocational classroom, implications suggest the need to minimise the existing large teacher-student power distance and transform the role of teachers as ‘object-givers’ and students as ‘object-takers’ into caring partnerships that promote vocational knowledge and practice. The study holds promise for educators, teacher educators and policymakers seeking to buttress support for ethical caring initiatives to enhance teaching effectiveness in the vocational non-western space.</p