Feminist aesthetic practice of community development: the case of Myths and Mirrors Community Arts

Using Myths and Mirrors Community Arts, a feminist adult educationand development organization, this article argues that payingattention to the aesthetic dimension of politically-orientedpedagogies can add to knowledge and understanding of communitydevelopment and social learning theory and practice. Imaginationand creativity are powerful tools inherent to all human beingsthat enable risk-taking, the reclamation of public space, andthe simultaneous exercising and contesting of power within theneo-conservative landscape. Moreover, feminist aesthetic practiceof community development augments cultural leadership by creatingnew cultural actors and agents of change.     

Trans Bodies and the Failure of Mirrors

This project applies and expands Gallagher’s (2005) theories concerning body image and body schema to the concept of gender in general and in particular how understanding gender through this lens can be used to aid transgender people in understanding their own gender. In addition, the paper discusses the effects of gender-incongruent mirroring for transgender and gender nonconforming persons’ ability to know their own feelings and its role in the development of shame. In furthering the understanding of gender and self-knowledge, the concepts of tacit knowledge and phantom limbs reveal how one comes to know gender as a fundamental aspect of the self.     

Experienced crawlers avoid real and water drop-offs,even when they are walking

Crawling experience was recently linked to crawling and walking infants’ avoidance of falling on real and water cliffs, whereas walking experience had no effect on walkers’ avoidance behavior (Burnay et al., 2021). In the current study, the behavior of 25 infants was analyzed on the Real Cliff/Water Cliff apparatus using a longitudinal study design. Infants were tested as experienced crawlers (M_crawling = 2.93 months, SD = 1.07), novice walkers (M_walking = 0.68 months, SD = 0.29), and experienced walkers (M_walking = 4.90 months, SD = 0.92). Infants avoided falling on both cliffs when tested as experienced crawlers and their behavior was not different when tested as novice or experienced walkers. These findings confirmed the effect of crawling experience on crawling and walking infants’ avoidance of falls from heights and into water and the transfer of perceptual learning from crawling to walking postures.     

On the evidence for viruses in social work systems: law,ethics and practice

The purpose of this paper is to explore an apparent disjunction between espoused professional ethics and ethics in practice, and between law in statute and law in action. Social work in England is used as the main case study, however, research from other jurisdictions is drawn upon to demonstrate wider concern about departures from moral and legal rules. The evidence of the disjunction is presented, drawing principally from judicial review cases, investigations by the Commissioner for Local Administration (Ombudsman), inquiry evidence and government reports. The article critiques the current regulatory apparatus in England and the mechanisms by which staff and service users can hold public organisations, particularly councils with social services responsibilities, accountable. The interface between law and ethics is reviewed. The paper concludes with observations about strengthening legal and ethical literacy in practice.     

Student portfolios as windows into intercultural knowledge and knowing

This research paper deals with intercultural knowledge and knowing as displayed in higher education student portfolios. The portfolios were written by student pairs taking a global education course at Centria University of Applied Sciences, Finland, during seven academic years. Conceptual metaphor theory and metaphor analysis were utilised to explore intercultural knowledge and knowing in the portfolio texts. The study is one of the few metaphor analyses conducted in the context of intercultural/global education. For the analysis, we selected a sample of student portfolios that represented both degree-taking students and exchange students. In this study, interculturality was defined as interaction of people representing various cultural backgrounds, world-views and identities. The research questions were the following: What conceptual metaphors and metonymies do the students utilise when writing about culture and interculturality? What main conceptions of culture and interculturality do the metaphors and metonymies reflect? In the result section of this paper, we provide citations of portfolio text to discuss the four most frequently occurring metaphors and metonymies. We also discuss our interpretations about the underlying conceptions of culture and their significance for the practice of intercultural education.     

Fit for purpose: issues from practice placements,practice teaching and the assessment of students' practice

This paper explores a number of significant issues regarding the delivery of practice based learning for qualifying social workers, in the context of plans for the new social work degree. We also discuss four particular issues: 1. the definition and measurement of ‘good enough’ practice;

2. the determination of students' suitability for social work;

3. the role of practice teachers in responding to sensitive information and students facing personal crises; and

4. specialist and ‘long‐arm’ practice teaching.

In doing so, we draw on both our own direct experience and on discussions between over 70 practice teachers, tutors and placement co‐ordinators attending a Mid‐Yorkshire Social Work Education and Training Planning Group (MYSWETPG) conference hosted by Bradford College in March 2001.

We conclude that, given the current difficulties in the field of qualifying training and education for social workers, any significant improvements following from the new degree will remain dependent on the provision of adequate funding for practice learning, in general, and for the training, structured support and affirmation of practice teachers, in particular.     

Theory of practice,rational choice,and historical change

If we are to believe the proponents of the Theory of Practice and of Rational Choice, the gap between these two paradigmatic approaches cannot be bridged. They rely on ontological premises, theories of motivations and causal models that stand too far apart. In this article, I argue that this theoretical antinomy loses much of its edge when we take as objects of sociological investigation processes of historical change, that is, when we try to specify in theoretical terms how and in which conditions historical actors enact and endorse shifts in patterns of relations as well as shifts in the symbolic and cognitive categories that make these relations significant. I substantiate this argument in light of the distinction between two temporalities of historical change: first, the long waves of gradual change and, second, the short waves of moments of breaks and ruptures. Along the way, I develop an argument about the conditions of emergence of self-limiting norms and the centrality of epistemic beliefs in situations of high disruption.     

Theory,practice and the psychology of expertise

The following paper examines the contribution that relatively recent discoveries about the nature of expertise can make to an understanding of the relationship between theory and its application. Commencing with an example of how a theory might be developed, it takes elements of this example, such as the creation of generalisations based on pattern recognition, learning over time from experience, intuitive practice and so on, and provides a commentary on them using what is known of the movement from novice to expert. With the foregoing background the paper then goes on to explain some of the processes that lead to a failure to explicitly apply theoretical principles to practice. Finally, it examines the role played by differing levels of experience in determining the readiness with which theory may be applied and ways in which the intuitive use of theory can be developed.     

Photography,cinema and medium as social practice

One of the more interesting aspects of the dialogue between the mediums of the still and moving image that has taken place over recent years has been a concern within fine-art photography for the cinematic. Photographers have turned to the style and iconography of the established genres of cinema as a means of reinventing the pictorial form of the tableau and thereby to explore the possibilities of narrativity within the static image. However, beyond any aesthetic interest the contemporary genre of the ‘cinematic photograph’ may hold, it is argued here that it may be indicative of an important shift in the social, economic and technological bases of fine-art photography. This essay suggests that the significance of the ‘cinematic photograph’ lies in its complex forms of technical production, the mobilisation of skilled labour and professional expertise, and the deployment of substantial economic resources, which are to be found in the film industry. Through an analysis of the work of the American photographer Gregory Crewdson, the authors demonstrate how the formal and iconographic properties of his images are inseparable from his adoption of the cinema's specific modes of production and that the latter is central to a reading of Crewdson's photographs. The consequences this holds for our understanding of the medium of photography are developed with reference to Raymond Williams's concept of ‘medium as social practice’. The authors conclude that the ‘cinematic photograph’ might be regarded as symptomatic of a trend within contemporary art practices to model themselves on cinema as the emblematic form of cultural production of ‘late capitalism’, a trend that has significant implications for the dominant conceptions concerning the nature of the work of art and the role of the artist.     

论当代大学生民族精神认同之实践强化

民族精神是一个民族赖以生存和发展的精神支撑,也是民族文化中最核心、最精华的组成部分,是推动一个民族前进和发展的不竭动力.当代大学生作为社会发展的生力军,必须对其加强民族精神教育,在实践中强化其民族认同感要注重加强传统文化的熏陶和注重良好校园环境的影响,要积极为大学生创造和提供志愿服务平台,让其在参与中亲身体验民族精神的魅力和深刻内涵.     

Violence,resistance, and social transformation in anarchist thought and practice

ABSTRACT

Dating to the nineteenth century, anarchism has been commonly associated with violence and revolutionary upheaval. Yet, there have also been a number of nonviolent anarchists, including those that set up social work projects, alternative organizations, or those that advocated for educational or spiritual transformation. To date, violence and its relation to anarchism remain vague. This study analyzes a sample of historical and contemporary anarchists (N = 56) along with their respective viewpoints and experiences with violence and its alternatives. It discovers several tendencies inherent to violence rejection and acceptance in anarchism. These findings raise implications for anarchism and its relation to social work.     

Integrating research,policy, and practice in juvenile justice education

This article provides an overview of the history and context leading to Florida's efforts to implement an evaluation-driven research and associated quality assurance system for its juvenile justice education policies and practices. The Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program began implementing Florida's evaluation research and quality assurance system to juvenile justice education in 1998. The article includes a brief summary of articles comprising this special issue of Evaluation Review that address the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's various functions, methodological components, data, preliminary findings, continuing evaluation research efforts, and impediments.