University of Warwick Press: Journals
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THE FLAVOUR OF COMMUNICATION
Get PDFThe flavour of communication is a reflective narrative that recounts a journey of discovery using adapted CEFR (2020) mediation skills to develop more effective communication skills for a university pluricultural cohort of healthcare students. In mediation, language is conceptualised as more than a linguistic construct, as the skills focus primarily on the needs of the other person in the interaction. Is my message clear, am I intelligible? Can using soft skills such as respect and empathy render the interaction more successful, particularly if the other person should be from a different culture. The CEFR (2020) mediation skills tend to reflect various sociocultural and interactional competence theories (Vygotsky, 1978; Hymes, 1972; Canale & Swain, 1980; Kramsch, 1986) where the emphasis is getting communication right in the context. In CEFR (2020) mediation, with its unique and useful interplay of micro skills, all forms of communication are activated to facilitate understanding (Piccardo, 2020), as can and should happen in real-life. Mediation skills are transferrable academically and professionally. They can be used for a range of communicative acts and can make us more aware of the complex nature of language, which includes collective, cognitive and social functions (Piccardo et al., 2019)
Civic Education for Democracy: An Indicator for Civic Skills Teaching and Democracy vs. Authoritarianism
Get PDFSurprisingly absent today in the arsenal of democracy and legal development interventions globally, and of little interest in the ‘Western democracies’, is civic education in public schools. Preparing citizens with the wide range of skills for equal participation and impact in the full spectrum of public decision-making in all institutions that have political influence — regardless of citizens’ individual positions, families, access, wealth or other differential ability to exert power — is largely ignored. This article begins with the theory of civics education for democracy and examines the approaches that currently exist domestically in the U.S. and globally, including in international development (governance and ‘democracy building’) programs, for defining the essential skills for civic education for social contract democracy and preparing citizens for full and equal exercise of public responsibilities to assure the overall protection of group and individual rights and for meeting specific needs. Based on this theory, the article generates a list of key civic skill categories and skills for social contract democracy in complex societies. It then uses this list to create an indicator for measuring the actual commitment of countries and the ability of specific curricula to prepare citizens fully and equally and effectively for social contract democracy and for guiding efforts to improve civic education. Global application of this indicator reveals little real difference today in the preparation of citizens in ‘Western democracies’ and in one-Party or (generally recognised) authoritarian states, with regard civic responsibilitie
Counting and mattering: bringing GTA visibility to the fore in data, at a time of sector change
Get PDFUK Higher Education faces mounting pressures from financial instability, rising student numbers, and increasing regulatory demands. In this context, Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) play a critical role in sustaining teaching and learning during these challenging times. Despite their continued and growing presence, GTAs often remain absent or unseen in national datasets, institutional metrics and reporting, and quality assurance frameworks, leaving their contributions under-recognised and their professional status unclear.
This paper considers GTAs in relation to sector bodies and national datasets, examining the implications of their relative invisibility for strategic planning, accountability, and student outcomes, particularly in light of growing sector-wide emphasis on compliance and performance indicators. Drawing on institutional knowledge, experience and sector data, it advocates for a more rigorous approach to counting and representing GTAs both locally and nationally, positioning visibility as essential for equity, recognition, and the future resilience of our work. It argues that by ‘counting better’, we might also, at last, move towards liberating GTAs from the ubiquitous and well-document liminal space which they occupy.
DECONSTRUCTING STUDENT NEEDS IN EAP FOR STEM: INSIGHTS FROM BALEAP 2023 SYMPOSIUM
Get PDFThe BALEAP STEM SIG 2023 Symposium on \u27Deconstructing student needs in EAP for STEM\u27 provided insights into the unique challenges and strategies for teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Key presentations included Natasha Rust\u27s emphasis on integrating register, genre, and discourse analysis into EAP for science courses, Sanchia Rodrigues\u27s exploration of mathematical proficiency and discourse in EAP for maths, and Aaron Woodcock and Lori-Ann Milln\u27s strategies for creating sustainable English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) curricula focusing on vocabulary, speaking, mediation skills, and reflection. Audience discussions highlighted the need for flexible teaching approaches to cater to diverse STEM student groups and the importance of embedding EAP within the broader academic framework. The symposium underscored the collaborative nature of developing effective EAP programs that address both language and subject-specific needs, ensuring the preparation of students for academic success in their respective STEM fields. This interactive infographic and symposium write-up aims to summarise the presentations and discussion at the symposium, to foster ongoing discussions and developments in EAP for STEM education
Time to Write: A necessity, not a nicety
No full textIn this critical reflection we will explore our Time to Write project, providing a brief overview of our work, followed by discussion of expected and unexpected benefits, and the knowledge and skills leveraged in design and delivery. We also consider the remaining challenges as our funding from the UKRI Enhancing Research Culture allocation ends in July 2025 and we move to a ‘business as usual’ model.
Funding Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the UKRI Enhancing Research Culture Fund.
Review of \u27Secular Muslim Feminism: An Alternative Voice in the War of Ideas\u27 by Hind Elhinnawy (Bloomsbury, 2024)
No full textI cannot express how excited I was when a friend sent me a link to this new publication. At last, a book about Muslim women ‘that challenges the oversimplified and monolithic portrayals of Muslim women’ as passive, subjugated victims of Islam that has dominated for far too long. Instead Elhinnawy presents us with the rich and long history of feminist activism in non-western and Muslim majority countries, of diverse struggles, contexts and ideologies as well as a glimpse of the immense potential for change that secular Muslim feminists can and are creating for themselves, their communities and the wider world. This book is a must read for anyone interested in gaining wider insight and knowledge of the struggles that face Muslim feminists in the West and in Muslim majority countries from religious fundamentalists and the Right
The Flesh of the world and Indigenous thought: An inter-species art of not knowing it all in the age of the climate emergency
Get PDFMaurice Merleau-Ponty, at his Collège de France lectures, asserted our sharing in the flesh of the world. His comment has implications beyond those commonly discussed in the post-Enlightenment West, and we are yet to learn how to interact with some of these. Incommensurabilities between Indigenous and Western paradigms require our openness to methodologies of allowing methodology to emerge where familiar categories prove insufficient.
An intersection of contemporary Western science, Western phenomenological thought, and Indigenous philosophies, which was first explored during a series of trans-disciplinary academic conferences known as the “Dialogues”, offers initial shared ground as a starting point for subsequent Western interaction with Indigenous philosophies on their own terms.
Indigenous conceptions of participationalist paradigms, when granted space to emerge beyond the boundaries imposed by previously familiar categories, extend our comfort zone in their engagement with co-creative processes of inter-species, shared becoming. Unilateral human control of such processes reveals itself to be a questionable quest, not least when the climate emergency is contextualised with the necessity of our inability to preconceive all that we may be co-creating.
An alternative of mutually responsive forms of inter-species relationship is explored against a background of Indigenous philosophies embracing the embodied as an element of rationality alongside those accessible to linguistic expression. A case study involving an ancient evolutionary relationship and its role in Indigenous story is offered as a seed we may wish to grow into our own, original, post-Enlightenment Western forms of inter-species interaction in our own, Western localities
Gigantomachy Concerning a Void: Philippine Martial Law, Fictive Exception, and Sovereign Indecision
Get PDFWhat went right in the Philippine EDSA Revolution of 1986? A protracted martial law was ended. What went subsequently wrong? Normalised emergency has come to define Philippine political society, tragically demonstrated by the continuing drug war and the recent Anti-Terrorism Law-sanctioned slaughters. The transition from permanent martial law to a normalised emergency is driven by the liberal fear of the Schmittian challenge of the absolute sovereign—thus pushing the encodement of emergency powers within the law and, as such, normalising them. But Carl Schmitt was primarily correcting a perceived weakness of the Weimar Republic by preserving the potential for exceptional powers within the law, and as such, within its liberal system. Instead, his real opponent was Walter Benjamin, the other protagonist in what Giorgio Agamben describes as a “gigantomachy concerning a void.” At stake was the theoretical appropriation of the concept of exception. Is its decision the monopoly of the sovereign as Schmitt claimed? Or is it outside the law and the sovereign can only exclude it as Benjamin maintained? But, for us trapped in a state of exception that is the rule, the more important question is: How does this debate resolve the theoretical and practical puzzles raised by the ruinous practice of an after-martial law experienced as normalised emergency
Philosophical Archaeology: With and Beyond Agamben on Philosophy, History, and Art.
Get PDFThis review critically examines Govrin\u27s work on Giorgio Agamben\u27s philosophical archaeology, focusing on its historical and conceptual foundations. To this end, the aim is to engage with the dialogue established by Govrin throug key concepts in Agamben\u27s thought: the relationship between act and potentiality, origin and arché, time and temporality. The review seeks to unveil how these concepts emerge and unfold, shedding light on their significance within Agamben\u27s ohilosophical framework.
Testing the Limits. Can Nitrate Levels be Used to Safeguard the Health of UK Rivers? The Critical Reflection of an Undergraduate’s Introduction to Independent Research
No full textThe novelty of independent research is always a memorable experience, although never for the reasons expected. The responsibility of designing and executing an original project; the uncertainty of having to cope with issues as and when they arise. While I can attest to this being a positively enriching experience, it was certainly not without its drawbacks. Since the majority of these were a product of my shifting priorities, this came to define my project. Akin to a trial by fire at times, I thus attained a better understanding of the realistic expectations that ought to come with carrying out research, at any level, alongside the strengthening of my resilience to setbacks – although it did not feel as such at the time. Met with unfavourable circumstances, I nevertheless produced a comprehensive academic poster that has since allowed me to present at multiple conferences. Furthermore, I have taken my experience here and the desire to undertake research onto the next project and will continue to do so going forward