Meaningful Action Research Articles

Epideictic Priming amid COVID-19: Metonymy under the Microscope

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and its constituent controversies illustrate how the epideictic motives of mutual imagination and “showing forth” contribute irrevocably to rhetorical motion. Imagistic representations of disease like the Center for Disease Control’s morphological depiction of the SARS-CoV-2 “spike protein” form illustrative metonyms that reduce or “essentialize” complex networks of sociomedical phenomena into tangible shorthand, priming audiences for deliberative action. Images of symptomatic suffering that characterize diseases like polio, measles, and the common cold viscerally orient audiences to bodily suffering, compelling the sort of imaginative, deliberative vision that Aristotle terms phantasia. The spike protein obfuscates human suffering by substituting the euphemistically ineffable realm of microbiology. Journalists and medical communicators, therefore, bear an uncomfortable ethical imperative to represent metonymic suffering, not for its sensationalism or shock value, but for its epideictic capacity to prime or “turn” audiences toward meaningful deliberative action in support of real human well-being.

KAJIAN STUDI LITERATUR PEOPLE MANAGEMENT: PENGARUH KEPEMIMPINAN TERHADAP KINERJATIM

Transformational and transactional leadership are two types of leadership that haveanappeal to be studied in research studies. This study discusses the descriptions andperspectives of each type of leadership based on literature and previous research. Transformational leadership is a more visionary type of leadership and is able tobringemployees to continue to make changes through meaningful ideas, ideas and actions. Meanwhile, transactional leadership is more structural which includes rewards andpunishments as motivation for employees. Its implementation depends on the situationandconditions as well as the culture that exists within an organization. The actions of thesetwotypes of leadership af ect team performance in an organization. Ef ective leadershipwillaf ect the success of the organization to achieve its goals. The actions of a leader arealsoable to increase the growth and development of his followers (employees), especiallypersonal growth. This motivates employees to continue to grow and develop so that theresulting performance

Do Land Use Plans Affirmatively Further Fair Housing?

Problem, research strategy, and findings The 1968 Fair Housing Act required local government recipients of federal money to take meaningful actions to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH). Current fair housing analysis requirements are copious but do not request an assessment of how land use policies affect the potential for neighborhood integration. A recent California law requires local governments to include AFFH analysis in existing planning processes, and state guidelines encourage the measurement of the spatial distribution of planned sites for low-income housing with respect to opportunity. We propose and evaluate a fair housing land use score (FHLUS) that measures whether local governments’ land use policies promote inclusion across neighborhoods. We illustrate the FHLUS by examining zoning and housing plans for three municipalities in California that differ in terms of neighborhood variation in incomes. In all three cases, we found that municipal zoning and housing plans exacerbated patterns of segregation rather than reversed them. Our metric is more precise than existing approaches, but all measures of this phenomenon will be less useful in smaller, more homogenous jurisdictions. The analysis raises important questions about the geographic scale and outcome measures for AFFH analysis and expectations for municipalities of different sizes and levels of diversity. Takeaway for practice Our metric is a useful tool for advocates and planners at all levels of government. We recommend the federal government consider incorporating it into the AFFH toolkit and practicing planners employ the measure to analyze local zoning and investment decisions. The Technical Appendix is a step-by-step guide, including an Excel formula.

Integrating health leadership and management perspectives: the MESH framework for culturally informed food design thinking and well-being promotion

PurposeThis study examines the social and cultural life of food innovations to inform food design thinking. The authors explore this through wellness regulating functional foods, foods scientifically modified for health...

Teacher supply in Ireland: anatomy of a crisis

ABSTRACT The last several years have seen an escalation in calls for an adequate response at governmental level to the reality of a teacher supply crisis in Ireland. This article traces the evolution of the crisis, providing important socio-historical context and analysis. It argues that while the issue of a steady supply of teachers has been a feature of the evolving complexion of the Irish educational landscape for decades, the problem has become more pronounced in recent years. Despite this accentuation, there has been a reluctance at a policy level to engage with meaningful dialogue and action which risks irrevocably damaging the profession and ultimately the education system.

Reflections

This paper introduces my experimental game prototype titled Corridor which puts public transportation into conversation with survival struggle. As a performative role-playing game experience and experiment, Corridor is about a trip using public transportation, inspired by the Metrobus systems of Istanbul, Turkey. Metrobus in Istanbul is a rapid public transportation system that combines metro and bus implemented in a separate corridor on the highway (Berdiyorov 2020). Besides my own experiences in Metrobus, I utilize the interactions of a workshop that I co-operated at the Interactive Film and Media Conference (IFM22), titled “Listening to Passengers Listening to Stories: Interactive Storytelling” to contextualize Corridor. By building dialogical exchange of stories, participants of the workshop explored the experiences of public transportation users in relation to the survival of the body (Simsek and Andic 2022). Eventually, the conflicts that the participants shared in the workshop resonated with me to build intersections between survival struggles in the wilderness and a trip on public transportation. Survival is the oldest quest of living beings and is assumed as another term for being alive, and more importantly for being in the world. Survival of living beings is closely related to stability maintained in their bodies and for humans, this includes motivation and emotion (Evans 2015). At the same time, beyond simply a life and death matter, “survival invokes a complex bundle of existential struggles, political convictions, and cultural experiences” (Zeilinger 2018, 16). Reading survival from an ecological point of view, life on earth is collaborative survival (Tsing 2015). In metropolitan life, transportation is essential to the everyday commute of people, and this is part of survival. Although transportation systems manifest important aspects of our culture, they also sometimes present issues of conflict through the violation of personal space, privacy, and other harmful and abusive behavior. To overcome survival struggles, it is necessary to take meaningful actions, in games or real life. In the gameplay of Corridor, the participants need to maintain an Energy and Morale level Meter by collecting item cards and playing encounter cards strategically. Encounter cards present challenges such as social interactions between riders, protests about the economic situations, and seasons that are affected by climate crisis influencing the participants’ survival level. The matrix of the points ranging between 0 and 4 comes from nature writer Henry David Thoreau's “necessities of life” which are limited accessibility of food, shelter, fuel (modified as health), and clothing (1980). With Corridor, I intervene in the discussions of environmental humanities and game studies with the creative application of survival in an urban context, public transportation. In the experience of Corridor, the players can find a space to reflect on urban survival from the lenses of riders that include human experience, societal factors, and ecological thinking. Redressing the transportation game mechanics related to movement and mixing them with survival builds a critical reflection on human and nature relations in urban. Looking at and rethinking transportation as survival would light the way towards sustainable cities, and policies of living or moving together.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional Development Events in Academic Libraries Have Minimal Impact on Knowledge, Behavior, and Organizational Change Without Meaningful Design and Participant Intentionality

A Review of:Dali, K., Bell, N., & Valdes, Z. (2021). Learning and change through diversity, equity, and inclusion professional development: Academic librarians’ perspectives. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(6), 102448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102448 Objective – To explore experiences of library diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional development events (PDEs) and to examine the long-term impacts on knowledge and personal practices of librarians and organizational change Design – Exploratory, qualitative survey, hermeneutic phenomenology, retrospective reflection on a critical incident Setting – Academic libraries across the United States and Canada Subjects – 141 survey responses from academic librarians in public and private institutions who attended a DEI PDEs Methods – The authors distributed a survey in late 2020 to librarians in public and private academic institutions across the US and Canada. Participants were asked to reflect retrospectively on memorable and impactful DEI PDEs they attended in the last five years and to focus on events at least a year before the survey was conducted. Participants were also asked to describe if the PDE changed their own learning and practice, as well as their organization’s policies and practices. The authors used hermeneutic phenomenology as a framework for their research and data analysis, which they describe as an approach to phenomenology that emphasizes the range and diversity of experiences. The survey questions were designed to illicit retrospective reflection and critical incident technique in order to capture the most impactful and memorable experiences with PDEs from respondents. Survey responses were coded, categorized, interpreted, and then mapped to the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change, a principle that breaks the phases of change into six processes: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. Additionally, the authors also ensured they represented diverse backgrounds as a method for addressing and reducing bias. Main Results – The authors uncovered a trove of varied experiences and perspectives related to personal as well as organizational knowledge and change. However, they identified five broader categories of learning from the study data: cognitive learning, behavioral learning and change, personal learning and change, social learning and change, and emotional learning and change. The majority of study participants (n=91) chose to attend DEI PDEs rather than being required by their organizations to attend. Many came into the PDE with goals to attain new knowledge (n=39) and to change their behavior (n=30). Similarly, respondents noted that the PDE impacted them most by giving them new awareness around DEI topics and systemic inequities (n=51) and inspired behavioral changes and a commitment to taking action (n=28). PDEs also impacted some participants’ self-awareness around their own biases and privileges (n=22). However, responses included skepticism around the impact of PDEs on any real and meaningful change, particularly related to organizational culture and action. Respondents emphasized concern about performative allyship and underscored the challenges and barriers to making DEI a meaningful component of many institutional practices and policies. While respondents noted increased awareness around systemic inequities, these responses stood in stark contrast to several comments expressing frustration at the lack of meaningful organizational change and demoralization felt at the fruitlessness of DEI PDEs. The authors’ initial data analysis revealed that PDEs most impacted cognitive awareness and behavioral action. However, when they mapped the data to the TTM, results emphasized the impact of PDEs on behavioral learning and action. Conclusion – Academic librarians who participate in DEI-related PDEs experience a wide array of emotional responses to the training and leave with a broad range of cognitive, behavioral, and affective impacts. While data suggests that these PDEs increased awareness and knowledge and behavioral action the most, there is little that suggests that meaningful organizational change follows afterwards. Another challenge is the gap between having awareness of DEI topics and taking steps toward meaningful self-improvement. The authors note that it takes time for knowledge to translate into action and highlight the importance of post-PDE check ins by PDE facilitators and library administration. Academic librarians should approach DEI PDEs with intentionality by challenging themselves to set goals and use their new DEI knowledge to create actionable change both personally and organizationally. On the other hand, creators of DEI PDEs should take time to understand the participants and organizational culture in order to design trainings intentionally, using the TTM as a guide to identify how the PDE maps to the stages of change leading to meaningful action and follow up. Without intentionality, follow up, and goal setting, DEI-related PDEs may be ineffective, performative, and demoralizing.

Saying something with nothing: Refusal, avoidance and resistance in participant non-response

The relational processes of dialogue in biographical storytelling extend beyond manifest tales. Untold stories of unlived experience are also composed with an audience in mind and performed as communicative acts. This paper considers how and why research participants in a Mass Observation Archive study declined to respond to a life-writing task. Drawing on the sociology of nothing, we argue that their patterns of non-response were motivated by subjective intent and constitute meaningful social action. Despite having little or nothing to say about the substantive content of the topic, these participants told us plenty about how they felt about the challenging methodological process. In their accounts, we identified three modes of disengagement: commissive refusal, omissive avoidance and ambivalent resistance. Respectively, these involved consciously dismissing the task with reference to morals and values; surface amenability masking an evasion of deeper engagement; and confused, uncertain vacillation between approach and retreat. We explore the intrapsychic and interpersonal relational dynamics at play in each of these narrative modes and consider the authorial power of saying ‘no’.

Australian young people's perceptions of the commercial determinants of the climate crisis.

There is increasing public health focus on how corporate practices impact population health and well-being. While the commercial determinants of the climate crisis pose serious threats to human and planetary health, governments largely seek to balance climate action with economic imperatives. Global stakeholders recognize that young people have important voices in influencing climate responses. However, few studies have investigated young people's perceptions of the commercial determinants of the climate crisis. A qualitatively led online survey of n = 500 young Australians (15-24 years) investigated their understanding of corporate responses to the climate crisis, factors that influenced these responses and strategies to respond. A reflexive approach to thematic analysis was used. Three themes were constructed from the data. First, young people perceived that corporate responses to the climate crisis focussed on soft options and lacked meaningful action. Second, they stated that these responses were largely influenced by economic imperatives rather than planetary health, with policy levers needed to implement environmentally responsible corporate practices. Third, young people perceived that systems needed change to create demand for a cleaner environment, leading to improved practices. Young people have a clear understanding of the commercial determinants of the climate crisis and associated threats to population health. They recognize that corporate practices (and consumer demand) will not change without significant policy and structural change. Public health and health promotion stakeholders should work alongside young people to influence decision-makers to address harmful corporate behaviours.

Online Workshop with Service Learning Method to Meet the Needs of Tinkercad Users from the Engineering Field

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the learning process in practice, especially for people in the engineering field. Activities stopped and learning activities become very obstructed for a long time. Tinkercad is a simulator application that could be used as a learning tool or medium in engineering. The service learning method is used as a way of teaching and learning that links positive and meaningful action in society. Service learning uses demonstrations and experiments are used to transfer knowledge to society. A workshop elaborating the use of Tinkercad based on the service learning method was carried out online through community service activities to meet community needs in the engineering field. The workshop results showed that the service learning method was sufficient to help the community to meet the learning needs of engineering practices. A thorough demonstrations by instructors and experiments done by participants guided by assistants, produced a satisfactory result for more than 90% of the workshop participants. Periodic literacy provision was a follow-up to improve the abilities of all participants who have take part in workshop activities.

Education as an Open Question

In this paper, this theme of the open question is offered as a hermeneutical approach to problem-based learning. Most of the scientific literature on problem-based learning is in the realm of the behavioral-sciences. To the extent that the latter becomes the exclusive focus of research on problem-based learning, there is a risk of instrumentalization. The hermeneutical approach of this paper is meant to complement this field of research. The subjects of humanities research are not directly available to a humanities scholar, at least not in the way experimental subjects are to a natural scientist. This is Wilhelm Dilthey’s epoch-making understanding of the humanities in a nutshell. Philosophical anthropologist Helmuth Plessner, drawing on Dilthey, extends this insight to the historicity of human existence as such, summarizing the latter as an ‘open question’ that is always impressing itself upon us as human beings, but which at the same time cannot be answered definitively. It is through this process of asking and answering that we leave behind a history in the first place. I use these arguments to show that the theme of the open question yields a series of interconnected educational insights: notably the importance of subjectification, the social and historical context within which education necessarily takes place, and the construction of new knowledge and experience. These educational insights are rendered explicit and put into practice in problem-based learning. I hope in this way to develop a research perspective on problem-based learning as not only a set of behaviors, but as the scene of meaningful action.

Fuzzy Analytical Solution of Horizontal Diffusion Equation into the Vadose Zone

The process of how soil moisture profiles evolve into the soil and reach the root zone could be estimated by solving the appropriate strong nonlinear Richards’ equation. The nonlinearity of the equation occurs because diffusivity D is generally an exponential function of water content. In this work, the boundary conditions of the physical problem are considered fuzzy for various reasons (e.g., machine impression, human errors, etc.), and the overall problem is encountered with a new approximate fuzzy analytical solution, leading to a system of crisp boundary value problems. According to the results, the proposed fuzzy analytical solution is in close agreement with Philip’s semi-analytical method, which is used as a reference solution, after testing 12 different types of soils. Additionally, possibility theory is applied, enabling the decision-makers to take meaningful actions and gain knowledge of various soil and hydraulic properties (e.g., sorptivity, infiltration, etc.) for rational and productive engineering studies (e.g., irrigation systems).

Becoming the Imperfect Friend: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Contemplative Pathways to Healing and Reconciliation in Higher Education

Throughout this reflective essay I explore Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Indigenous philosophy and contemplative education as ethical pathways to healing and reconciliation in higher education. I put forth the idea of becoming the imperfect friend in a world ethos of death by a thousand cuts as a response to the violence of colonialism perpetuated in academia. I reflect on the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh values of eslhélha7kwhiws and stélmexw as contemplative dispositions that lend themselves to the process of becoming the imperfect friend. I conclude by describing a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh -led program hosted by Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2022-2023, named Moving Together In The Ways of The People. The program is captured in a documentary film following a dedicated group SFU educators, graduate students and staff endeavouring to take meaningful action towards reconciliation by embarking on a sacred learning journey led by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh elders and knowledge carriers on traditional, ancestral, unceded Coast Salish territories.

Implementing a regional School Health Research Network in England to improve adolescent health and well-being, a qualitative process evaluation

BackgroundThere is an increased need for prevention and early intervention surrounding young people’s health and well-being. Schools offer a pivotal setting for this with evidence suggesting that focusing on health within schools improves educational attainment. One promising approach is the creation of School Health Research Networks which exist in Wales and Scotland, but are yet to be developed and evaluated in England.MethodsThis qualitative process evaluation aimed to identify the main barriers and facilitators to implementing a pilot School Health Research Network in the South West of England (SW-SHRN). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with school staff, local authority members, and other key stakeholders. Interview data were analysed using the 7-stage framework analysis approach.ResultsFour main themes were identified from the data: (1) ‘Key barriers to SW-SHRN’ (competing priorities of academic attainment and well-being, schools feeling overwhelmed with surveys and lack of school time and resource); (2) ‘Key facilitators to SW-SHRN: providing evidence-based support to schools’ (improved knowledge to facilitate change, feedback reports and benchmarking and data to inform interventions); (3) ‘Effective dissemination of findings’ (interpretation and implementation, embedding findings with existing evidence and policy, preferences for an online platform as well personalised communication and the importance of involving young people and families); and (4) ‘Longer-term facilitators: ensuring sustainability’ (keeping schools engaged, the use of repeat surveys to evaluate impact, informing school inspection frameworks and expanding reach of the network).ConclusionThis study identifies several barriers to be addressed and facilitators to be enhanced in order to achieve successful implementation of School Health Research Networks in England which include providing a unique offering to schools that is not too burdensome, supporting schools to take meaningful action with their data and to work closely with existing organisations, services and providers to become meaningfully embedded in the system.

Coaching for Clinician Educators

Clinician educators (CEs) face manifold challenges, such as teaching under increasing clinical productivity pressures, satisfying evolving accreditation requirements, and combatting trainee and faculty burnout. Coaching is currently emphasized at the career poles: academic coaching for students and residents, and leadership coaching for institutional executives and chairs. Yet coaching for CEs can be a strategy for success at any career phase.Within the business world, coaching is commonplace, with robust supportive evidence. In medicine, evidence suggests that coaching can: (1) improve faculty burnout, quality of life, and resilience1; (2) help faculty attain professional goals2; (3) increase academic productivity3; and (4) improve the learning climate of an institution.4Coaching differs from other professional relationships like mentoring, advising, or sponsoring.5 At its core, coaching is a partnership wherein the coachee generates personal goals, discovers strategies to achieve them, and describes markers of success through a process of self-reflection and meaningful action(s). Through powerful questions, the coach provides the structure and scaffolding while the coachee owns the process of self-discovery. The coaching experience is uniquely personal and builds upon a foundation of mutual positive regard, empowerment, trust, and vulnerability. It does not require content expertise or a “senior-junior” dynamic.

Sociocultural space of the Penza region during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

The subject of the research is the study of the content, forms and methods of practical activity of cultural organizations, associations of the Penza region and creative workers during the Great Patriotic War at the front and in the rear, as well as socio-cultural interaction in order to form patriotic sentiments. Special attention is paid to the coverage of the activities of cultural institutions of the Penza Region, creative associations, as well as the work of the authorities to achieve the goals and objectives of ensuring the preservation of a high level of socio-psychological motivation of the Soviet population in the fight against the Nazi invaders.The study is also a collection, generalization and updating of local history material on the transformation of cultural life of the Penza region caused by evacuation processes. Within the framework of the work, new historical sources that were not previously involved in scientific circulation are published, to study the socio-cultural space and creativity of cultural figures of the Penza region during the Great Patriotic War as a system of interaction and education of patriotism, adaptation strategies of the Soviet man in the conditions of mobilization and extreme living conditions. The thesis is substantiated that the response of art workers to the needs of wartime was not just a formal execution of a state order, but an internal call, a philosophically grounded meaningful action of each employee. It was the inner desire to be useful during the war, coupled with creative potential and a sincere desire for self-realization, that became a vivid example of the manifestation of spiritual and moral values traditional for our Fatherland. The material collected and analyzed in the work can be used in research work, in the preparation of teaching aids, in university and school training courses, including local history, as well as in the work of museums and in the preparation of scientific literature. The methodological basis of the work was logical, historical-logical, system-structural, socio-cultural, comparative-legal, generalization, commenting method.

The Action of Attention Intersections of Contemplative Dance Performance and Sufi Remembrance

This reflection considers how the deep attention cultivated in the Sufi contemplative practice of remembrance, or دكر (dhikr), might support my capacity to serve the world through my actions as a performer. By reflecting on the contemplative dance film in existence or in absence created during the Seminario Artes de Cena e Practicas Contemplativas in 2021, this text explores ways in which attention itself could be a meaningful action in the world.

Women and planetary health in Asia-Pacific

In the face of climate change, women's preconceived vulnerability and virtuousness often deflect focus from gender inequality in decision-making and leadership. Within environmental, political, and social crises, women are capable and proficient leaders who are pivotal to climate change action and are already inspiring social change in innovative ways. This article presents examples of women-led environment movements in the Asia-Pacific that challenge the patriarchal notions that women must be rescued rather than actively participate in their salvation. Historically, strategies have been centered on eco-conscious activism and organized protests. As climate change effects become more evident, engagement has transformed into emergency response and preparedness, with women's groups shepherding and leveraging through healthcare settings and grassroots and community networks. The way forward is to urge meaningful policy actions to support women as effective planetary stewards and campaigners against environmental challenges. This will be achieved through funding mechanisms, gender-inclusive representation mentorships, and pathways that transcend political boundaries.

Grappling with key questions about assessment of the Health Advocate role.

Although the CanMEDS framework sets the standard for Canadian training, health advocacy competence does not appear to factor heavily into high stakes assessment decisions. Without forces motivating uptake, there is little movement by educational programs to integrate robust advocacy teaching and assessment practices. However, by adopting CanMEDS, the Canadian medical education community endorses that advocacy is required for competent medical practice. It's time to back up that endorsement with meaningful action. Our purpose was to aid this work by answering the key questions that continue to challenge training for this intrinsic physician role. We used a critical review methodology to both examine literature relevant to the complexities impeding robust advocacy assessment, and develop recommendations. Our review moved iteratively through five phases: focusing the question, searching the literature, appraising and selecting sources, and analyzing results. Improving advocacy training relies, in part, on the medical education community developing a shared vision of the Health Advocate (HA) role, designing, implementing, and integrating developmentally appropriate curricula, and considering ethical implications of assessing a role that may be risky to enact. Changes to assessment could be a key driver of curricular change for the HA role, provided implementation timelines and resources are sufficient to make necessary changes meaningful. To truly be meaningful, however, advocacy first needs to be perceived as valuable. Our recommendations are intended as a roadmap for transforming advocacy from a theoretical and aspirational value into one viewed as having both practical relevance and consequential implications.

Sex, Racial and Ethnic Differences in Barrett’s Esophagus and Epidemiology of Esophageal Cancer

Sex, racial, and ethnic disparities in the incidence and prevalence of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma are well studied. Despite advances in surveillance techniques and multimodality treatment, disparities exist in outcomes with not all populations benefiting proportionately. A deeper understanding of the cause and nature of these disparities could help guide meaningful action toward mitigating these differences. This review focuses on the sex, racial and ethnic differences in the incidence, prevalence and outcomes of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma, and delves into the literature on potential causes for the variation in presentation and outcomes.