Critical Work Research Articles

Traces of theosophical approach in Jalal'ud-Din Muhammad Rumi

Traces of theosophical approach in Jalal'ud-Din Muhammad Rumi

Critical literacy in an indigenous elementary EFL classroom

The purpose of this study was to examine what happens when indigenous students, in a Grade 6 class in rural Taiwan, critically examine EFL textbooks. Without a critical reading of textbook content, indigenous students are unable to examine unfavorable mainstream position. However, there are few English as a Foreign Language (EFL) studies on a critical literacy approach involving indigenous students. Data collected include observations and transcripts of critical literacy teaching, participants’ artifacts, responses to questionnaires, interviews, and the researcher's reflection journal. The findings show that critical literacy classes can empower indigenous students by providing alternative ways for them to view the world and lead them to discern norms and “silenced voices” in EFL textbooks, and to “cross borders” by noticing and addressing sociopolitical power, thereby repositioning their own identities. The study extends the knowledge in knowing how critical literacy work for indigenous group and gives suggestions to EFL teachers.

Moving On: Rethinking Practice and Transforming Data at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge

Scholarly attention is increasingly focusing on museum catalogues: their histories, challenges and, as this paper explores, their potential. Many databases contain outdated information and offensive language, the legacy of colonial-era knowledge production and digitization processes that translated catalogue cards into database entries. Much has been written about the potential of catalogues to act as sites of contact and collaboration, as well as how institutions can and should mitigate harm stemming from discriminatory language within their catalogues. Yet as museum practitioners are acutely aware, the extensive work required to enact change throughout a database is rarely perceived as exciting enough to garner dedicated project funding. This paper uses the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Stores Move Project (2020–2024) as a case study to illustrate how museums can, and realistically must, integrate critical documentation work into larger projects in order to achieve these objectives. The authors first engage with MAA’s own history of collecting and cataloguing, before detailing how collections staff have incorporated documentation priorities (re-cataloguing, historicizing data, and addressing bias) into the larger Project. They conclude with the hope that by making this work more visible and demonstrating its value, such projects might attract dedicated funding in the future.

Creating community in online critical social work courses

ABSTRACT This piece shares a practical participation assignment that emphasizes community-building, activism, collective learning, and contributions. Grounded in critical and inclusive pedagogical approaches, this assignment strives to create and model critical social work practices that require learners to be thoughtful and intentional about their engagement with the community both within and beyond the borders of the virtual classroom. We included this participation assignment in asynchronous online critical social work courses and continue to develop the assignment based on student experiences and feedback. We share the strengths of the assignment, for example, community-building, mutual peer support, countering the isolation that is commonly experienced in online learning, critical self-reflection and self-evaluation, opportunities for student choice, and encouragement of social justice activism outside of the course, and bringing this back into the course in meaningful ways. We also indicate contradictions and challenges of the assignment, for instance, individualistic expectations of participation, resistance from learners to non-traditional assignments, unsettling dominance in curriculum, and the corresponding implications on student evaluations. Lastly, we share our hopeful roadmap for support and implementation of critical and inclusive pedagogical approaches for online social work education and creative assignments that build community inside and outside our learning and teaching contexts.

Native daughters, evil empires, Blazing Worlds: Margaret Cavendish's imperialism

ABSTRACT The kidnapped maiden reborn as an Empress in Margaret Cavendish's Blazing World (1666) ultimately returns to her birthplace to wage war upon its enemies, using her newfound powers to unleash a devastating military force and bring the rest of that world to its knees. Her might is absolute and terrifying and its scope is planetary: coming home means subduing other nations, and sovereignty requires the establishment of a new world order. If empire and colony switch places in the second part of The Blazing World, this reordering system is brutal and ‘astigmatic,’ however, mismatching home and away, ‘fancy’ and ‘serious philosophical contemplations,’ Big Subjects and Little ones. Ideas about autonomy and agency are likewise enlarged and contracted by a new world view which roughly redistributes power and space. The work of post-colonial critics provides a framework for the imperial cartography Cavendish describes, but we can also understand the Empress's ‘superpower’ by drawing upon post-colonial models of exile and return provided by Richard Wright and Tsitsi Dangarembga. Showing us what happens when a native daughter comes home, The Blazing World not only anticipates the resistance of colonial subjects but simultaneously envisions an ‘imperial administration’ vast to enough to crush it.

The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality

Abstract Fairness in the criminal legal system is unattainable without effective legal representation of indigent defendants, yet we know little about the experience of attorneys who do this critical work. Using semi-structured interviews, our study investigated occupational stress in a sample of 78 attorneys representing indigent clients across the United States. We show how the chronic stressors experienced at work culminate in what we define as the stress of injustice: the social and psychological demands of working in a punitive system with laws and practices that target and punish those who are the most disadvantaged. Respondents positioned their professional stress around structural, not individual, aspects of the American criminal legal system, specifically punitive excess, underfunding of indigent defense, and the criminalization of mental illness and substance use. Working within these interrelated structural constraints makes public defenders highly vulnerable to stress and attrition.

‘It’s like Freire is haunting me’: the value of study groups for critical teacher professional development

ABSTRACT As part of a larger critical discourse study, I share how engaging with critical texts and discussion was personally and professionally meaningful for participants, despite perceived limitations. To understand how critical pedagogy overlaps and conflicts with contexts of teaching in public schools, I facilitated discussion with teachers in response to Paulo Freire’s text, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Subsequently, I critically analysed teachers’ discourse in study groups, interviews and reflective writing to uncover how ideology functions to support or refute the possibility of critical pedagogy in teachers’ contexts. Implications of the study inform the intersections of critical pedagogy, teacher professional development and Whiteness Studies. While this research validates existing knowledge about professional development design and delivery, it challenges an assertion within professional development studies about the role of teachers as experts. I assert that when it comes to equity-based professional development programmes, groups of predominantly White teachers benefit from an informed facilitator and or colleagues and texts from various ideological stances. I recommend schools of education and professional development organisations doing critical work with teachers consider how teachers’ unexamined beliefs impede the realisation of critical pedagogy, and how these beliefs can be challenged in a professional space framed by institutional norms.

Mindfulness-Based Social Work and Self-Care with Social Work Professionals: Replication and Expansion of a Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract Social workers are at high risk of work stress and burnout, with the Covid-19 reported to have amplified this risk. The Mindfulness-based Social Work and Self-Care programme (MBSWSC) has been found to support cognitive and emotion regulation of social workers, leading to improved stress, burnout, mental health, and well-being. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to replicate and expand the findings of an earlier RCT of MBSWSC, with a wider group of social work professionals (including managers), by evaluating the effects of MBSWSC (n = 29) versus an active control (n = 31). Replication of RCTs acts as an important means by which findings can be confirmed, results replicated, generalisability assessed and processes and applicability improved. When compared to an online active control group, MBSWSC (which was also delivered online) was found to improve stress, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation of service users, anxiety, depression, well-being, along with a range of mindfulness mechanisms of action which support cognitive and emotion self-regulation. The results from this study evidence the acceptability, effectiveness and durability of MBSWSC, and provide clear guidance that if MBSWSC is implemented across social work services, social workers are likely to experience improvements in these critical social work practice and self-care outcomes.

Indigenous Environmentalism through Dance: The Ohaji-Egbema Experiment in South-Eastern Nigeria

Scholars in the environmental humanities have engaged critically in how literature and the performing arts have absorbed the spirit of environmentalism as other disciplines have done. The greening of the humanities has been a subject of discussion from the last quarter of the 20th century. Ecoliterary discourse, ecofilms and ecomusicology have become buzz concepts in the arena of the environmental discourse. However, we argue in this study, that there is a paucity of critical works on how indigenous dance art forms can be used to communicate environmental stability, ecological consciousness, and be used as a medium to resist anthropocentric ideals. The questions that this paper raises are: In what ways can indigenous dances in Nigeria communicate ecological consciousness in the country? How and to what extent can indigenous dances be employed to discuss culture-nature entanglements in degraded sites? The researchers relied on Indigenous Standpoint theory, existing literature, interviews, and focus group discussions with stakeholders (indigenes, ministry heads, and oil company employees) and visits to oil-degraded sites in Ohaji/Egbema for information on the taxonomy, politics, and conflicts of space and oil in the region. In line with data gathered, indigenous songs and dances were packaged and performed to provide the much-needed platform for stakeholders (indigenes, government and oil firms) to rethink environmentally oppressive actions in the region toward ensuring environmental stewardship. This study examines the ways in which indigenous dance in Igbo land, Nigeria, can embody indices of indigenous environmentalism. It can also be a path towards decolonizing colonial ecological frameworks and epistemologies.

Collecting and Organizing the Influencing Factors of Team Communications to Handle Nuclear Power Plant Emergencies

A nuclear power plant (NPP), as a complex safety-critical system, requires qualified operators working in teams. Interactions between operators in the main control room (MCR) team are important to ensure safe operation. Since communication is the basis of the operators’ interactions, team communication is a significant factor affecting teamwork performance. Especially during NPP emergencies, poor team communication may lead to incorrect decisions and countermeasures, causing deterioration toward accidents. Moreover, in an emergency situation, emergency response teams are assembled. This multi-team and critical work condition further emphasizes the need for effective and accurate team communication. We collected the factors influencing team communication in NPP emergencies using a literature review combined with text mining. Our method for extracting the influencing factors consists of four steps; then, by applying topic modeling from text mining, we complemented the influencing factors. The resulting list of influencing factors of team communications for handling NPP emergencies is organized into five elements: individual, team, communication, NPP tasks, and external elements. Discussions on the team communication model, applicability, communication errors, and emergency response teams are also presented.

Beyond Representation: Using Nonfiction Children's Literature to Address Ableism

AbstractEducators who take an inclusive, anti‐ableist stance value human variation. Teaching in pursuit of anti‐ableism requires open dialogue about aspects of human diversity, complex social identities, and the contributions of people with disabilities. In this column, we build from the rich work exploring ableism via children's literature in order to push beyond representation and into the critical work of directly confronting and disrupting ableism in the classroom.

The Role of Yahya Haqqi in Egyptian Literature of the 20>sup>th</sup> Century

Yahya Haqqi is one of the most popular novelists in Egypt in the mid–twentieth century. He is known not only as an author of works of art. His books on the history of Egyptian literature, critical works, books of commemorations provide invaluable material about the life and activities of the literary circles of Egypt in the last century. He is the founder of the genre of “lauhat” (literary sketches) in Egyptian literature. The writer's artistic creativity reflects the development of Arabic short stories for more than forty years. His most famous works are “The Lamp of Umm Hashim”, “Awakening”, “The Postman”, “God bless you”. He is considered, first of all, the master of the novella, at the origins of which he stood in Egyptian literature. Yahya Haqqi plays a huge role in the creation of modern literary Arabic. He consciously set himself this task, scrupulously working on each phrase. He is the author of one of the most significant works of Arabic literature of the last century, his “Lamp of Umm Hashim” has become the most popular not only in Egypt, but throughout the Arab world.

Rabindranath Tagore’s Works in Cinema: A Review of Selected Critical Works

Locating the platitude of perspectives and arguments in the existing critical works on Bengali film adaptations, this critical review article examines some of the significant academic writings on Rabindranath Tagore’s works on screen. Since the vast filmography based on Tagore’s works, commonly known as ‘Tagore films’, has not received adequate critical and theoretical attention in South Asian academia, let alone in the adaptation studies in global academia, the number of critical works on them is relatively small. The main significance of this essay lies in focusing on the commonality of assessment of Bengali film adaptations (based on Tagore’s works) from a moralistic position of fidelity criticism – not from the theoretical lens of diverse adaptation theories – and on addressing the difficulty in fitting the existing assessments in the critical spectrum of adaptation scholarship. It has become an academic dismay for aspiring researchers to find materials on the annals of the filmography, given that there are so few scholarly publications spread across the internet's vast ocean and the interstices of libraries. Considering this context and realising the dire necessity for review articles on Tagore films, this article bears immense academic and theoretical value. By examining selected critical works analytically from the premise of the auteur theory that underpins creative adaptations, this study has the potential to ease the extraordinary burden of academic enquiries in the growing body of writings on film adaptations. More importantly, the paper will unveil, in the existing critical works, some glaring lacunas that may be addressed by future critical endeavours.

A Multiple Objective Decision Analysis Model for Capacity Expansion Plans Selection in Manufacturing

Capacity expansion is a critical decision with potential circumstances of risks and opportunities. This decision is further complicated given the conflicting decision measures and stakeholders’ preferences. Previous research is limited in providing a systematic framework to deal with such decisions in manufacturing environments. In this paper, decision analysis is used for the assessment of the appropriate capacity expansion plans of a mechanical contracting and fabrication company serving aluminum smelting industry. Repairing anodes used in aluminum smelting is a critical work that is outsourced to qualified companies. The increased demand for this kind of repair creates an opportunity for the contracting company to expand capacity. The expansion will qualify the company to receive more orders for anode maintenance and other mechanical services and respond more effectively to client demands, allowing for the advancement of expertise through the acquisition of large projects. However, the decision to expand may be a complex problem for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is ascribed to the appropriate form and the time required for expansion. Factors such as market rivalry, investment risk, budget constraints, bidding policies, and operational capabilities all complicate the decision making process, necessitating the use of a decision analysis model. Therefore, this article proposes the multiple objective decision analysis (MODA) approach for studying capacity expansion problem. MODA's cost-value model examines expansion plans within acceptable budgets and allows for trade-offs between value and cost, whilst the value gap analysis identifies opportunities to improve the values of the expansion plans. The sensitivity analysis demonstrates the model's robustness to changes in swing weights and value curves. The proposed model provides manufacturers with further investigation of the alternative expansion plans with insights into the associated cost and gaps for improvements.

The early modern canon and the construction of women’s writing

ABSTRACT In this essay, I aim to provide an overview of the relationship between women’s writing and the ‘canon’, to suggest some reasons for its continuing marginality to that canon, and to outline briefly the ways in which the particular character and qualities of early modern women’s writing require a rethinking of many of our dominant narratives about the literary history of the period. In this I draw upon the work of many critics whose work has shaped my thinking, and who are mapping out exciting new trajectories for the future direction of this field. The second part of the article focuses on setting out some ways in which early modern women’s writing might provide productive challenges to current orthodoxies about the canon of Renaissance Literature. Finally, I turn to the future, and some ideas about how the category of ‘women’s writing’ itself needs to be repositioned and reconceived.

Critical Nurse Performance Based on Training and Work Motivation

This research aims to determine the effect of training and work motivation on the performance of critical care nurses at Dr. Lung Hospital. M. Goenawan Partowidigdo Cisarua Bogor. The sample in this study was 85 people. The results of the validity and reliability tests show that all question items are declared valid and reliable. The research method uses multiple linear regression with IBM SPSS software. The multiple regression analysis of the F test (simultaneous) states that there is a simultaneous positive and significant influence between training and work motivation on the performance of critical nurses. The results of the t-test (partial) stated that training had a positive and significant effect on the performance of critical nurses and work motivation had a positive and significant effect on the performance of critical nurses at Dr. Lung Hospital. M. Goenawan Partowidigdo Cisarua Bogor.

La guerre aux yeux d’un enfant. « Allah n’est pas obligé » d’Ahmadou Kourouma

This article is devoted to a child’s narration in Allah n’est pas obligé [Allah is not obliged] by Ahmadou Kourouma. Considered transgressive, it is rarely used as a narrative strategy in literature, not least because it is quite risky: a child's story imitated by an adult can easily appear artificial and simplistic. Drawing on critical works devoted to this type of narration, this article explores how it functions to tell the story of war and what aims it has. It demonstrates that Kourouma invests a child’s narration with very strong expressive potential to draw the world's attention to the brutal exploitation of children in armed conflicts.

ACCELERATION ANALYSIS USING THE CRASHING METHOD IN THE SDN KUTISARI 2 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

In the construction of the Kutisari 2 SDN Project, there were several obstacles that hampered the implementation of the project, such as heavy rainy weather. The aim of the research is to determine the cost and acceleration time for the construction of the SDN Kutisari 2 Project. The research design was carried out to identify the time and costs of implementing the building construction completion project. The research was conducted at CV.Nisya Multi Bintang as the implementing contractor with a budget of Rp. 1,614,171,924 for 165 calendar days. The research subjects were contractors completing work on the Kutisari 2 Elementary School Development Project. This research used secondary data from the Draft Expenditure Budget, Schedule, weekly reports and project cost costs. Data analysis used Microsoft Project 2016 software. The results of the research stated (1) The duration of the Crashing was 8 calendar days with work that was on the Critical Work Route for the Construction of School Facilities, Infrastructure and Utilities at SDN Kutisari 2, namely water proofing coating with fiber on the 2nd floor, cleaning location to the end, B-0 work to cover 2nd floor columns, 2nd floor column cutting work, and floor screading work. (2) From the initial cost of the Kutisari 2 SDN School Facilities, Infrastructure and Utilities Construction Work Project, namely Rp. 1,164,171,924 with additional costs due to Crashing of Rp. 24,569,780 so the total costs due to the Crashing are Rp. 1,638,741,704.

Kyrgyz Proverb as a Means of Teaching the Syntax of the Kyrgyz Language

The article discusses the importance of using proverbs in the field of education and teaching the Kyrgyz language, as well as a syntactic analysis of proverbs. The proverb as a linguistic and speech unit is widely studied in Kyrgyz linguistics, as a didactic work in Kyrgyz literary criticism and as a classic example of folk pedagogy. The purpose of the study is to show how to correctly and effectively use Kyrgyz proverbs when teaching Kyrgyz as a native language. The work mentions some ways of implementing the syntactic constructions of proverbs in the Kyrgyz language. Kyrgyz folk works, when used skillfully, can help intensify the cognitive activity of students. The use of folklore materials as a teaching tool requires a detailed study of their linguistic nature. The use of proverbs in Kyrgyz language lessons enriches vocabulary and expands the range of grammatical means used, develops the ability to recognize, analyze, and classify linguistic facts.

The voice astray: Caroline Bergvall’s Dante

AbstractThis article analyses ‘Via: 48 Dante Variations’ by Caroline Bergvall (1962-) and considers the kind of Dante it performs. ‘Via,’ composed of the first tercet of Dante’s Inferno, accompanied by 47 (or 48) English translations of the tercet ordered alphabetically, was first divulged as a sonic piece and was then published in diverse textual iterations, with variants among the several written forms and between the spoken and written. I explore the links between Bergvall’s project and medieval textual practices and textualities, particularly the creative instability of works that exhibit mouvance and variance within a hybrid aural/textual culture. Engaging with recent critical work on queer philology and with Ovid’s myth of Echo, I consider how Bergvall’s ‘Via’ can be said to perform error, extending the predicament of the Dantean ‘I’ at the opening of Inferno, and how that performance of error may be a source of queer pleasure.