Perspective Of Thinking Research Articles

Violence and Corruption of Megachurch Leaders: Unravelling Silent Coloniality in Zimbabwe

This theoretical article argues that megachurches are an inadequately problematised factor in the Zimbabwean crisis and uses, as examples of violent and corrupt megachurch leaders, Emmanuel Makandiwa, Uebert Angel, and Passion Java. As Zimbabwe moves towards elections in 2023, ZANU-PF has resorted to using megachurches to enact propaganda, create voter empathy, and stir up violence, dividing the religious electorate along party lines in the process. The article is couched in decoloniality theory to position megachurch leaders within instability and as thwarting democracy in Zimbabwe. I respond to two questions: how do Makandiwa, Angel, and Java contribute to thwarting democracy while promoting corruption and violence? And, how can religion be approached from the perspective of decolonial thinking to reverse the crisis that has been created by prophets in Zimbabwe? I end by arguing that the Zimbabwean crisis takes various forms and that the role of megachurch leaders in finding a solution and in reconstructing narratives of peace and good governance in Zimbabwe cannot be ignored.

To know, feel and do: an instructional practice of higher education for sustainable development

Purpose The importance of multidimensional and engaging instruction for sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education cannot be overstated. Such instructions should motivate students not only to memorize and contemplate these goals but also to actively participate in addressing SDG-related challenges. Consequently, this study aims to develop practical and appropriate instructional approaches to education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education to enhance students’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors concerning sustainability. Design/methodology/approach By using a quasi-experimental design, this ESD study was conducted at a university in central Taiwan. A total of 121 students from diverse academic backgrounds participated in the 16-week experiment, which was divided into three groups. Lecturing, thematic teaching and design-thinking strategies were applied to these respective groups. Findings The thematic-teaching and design-thinking groups displaying improved cognitive performance. However, the quantity results revealed that the design-thinking group surpassed the other two groups in sustainability knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and mind map tasks. The qualitative findings further indicated that design thinking – through multiple practical problem-solving activities – guided college students to think independently and sustainably, as well as enabled them to internalize the value of sustainable development. By implementing these effective approaches, the core goals of ESD-related personal and societal transformations may be realized. Practical implications This study proposed a goal-oriented ESD instructional model for educators, demonstrating the efficacy of design thinking in cultivating higher-order thinking and affection for ESD in students. Additionally, this study introduced an innovative evaluation approach – mind mapping – to the ESD domain, which may compensate for the limitations of the survey method. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of design thinking and thematic-based pedagogies in sustainable development higher education. Additionally, it also offers a practical ESD instructional model with reference value for scholars and multi-domain instructors. Moreover, the study highlights that by examining organizational governance from the perspectives of design thinking and higher-order affection, sustainable and economic development need not be mutually exclusive concepts. Instead, pursuing SDGs can be viewed as investment opportunities for organizations rather than mere costs.

Employee Involvement Mediates the Relationship between Strategy Formulation and Implementation: the case of Rural and Community Banks in Ghana

Purpose: This study investigates the mediating role of employees in strategy formulation and implementation in rural banks in Ghana.
 Methodology: The researcher surveyed 360 respondents from rural and community banks in Ghana. Two hundred (270) respondents responded out of the 360 expected responses, representing a 75% response rate. The researcher used Amos graphics to examine employee involvement in the mediation role in the relationship between strategy formulation and implementation.
 Findings: The relationship between strategy formulation and implementation was accepted (β = .0505, p = 0.000 < 0.05), the effectiveness of strategy formulation predicted the effectiveness of strategy implementation, and the employee mediation role between strategy formulation and implementation was accepted (β 0.140, p = 0.046 < 0.05). Employee mediates strategy formulation and implementation and predicts the effectiveness of strategy implementation.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study investigated the relationship between strategy formulation and implementation in the rural and community banks in Ghana and the role of employees in the relationship between strategy formulation and implementation, a theoretical contribution made to the field in the strategic management process. There is limited current literature that has examined the mediating role of employees between strategy formulation and implementation in the rural and community banks in Ghana or used the variables in this study to make predictions and conclusions on employee role in the relationship between strategy formulation and implementation. The study recommends that strategy formulation should not be an exclusivity right for top managers and must be an all-inclusive process where all stakeholders within the RCBs are involved in the strategy formulation process, selecting the stakeholders from middle management, lower management, and employees. The selection must be limited to functional heads, unit heads, and employees with strategic roles and responsibilities to provoke positive strategic outcomes, leadership to encourage creativity, knowledge sharing among staff for new thinking perspectives and methodologies in the banks’ product and service offerings.

MAKNA TARIAN SIALO PADA RITUAL RAMBU SOLO LUWU SULAWESI SELATAN

This research discusses the meaning of sialo dance. Sialo dance is one of the traditions of the Bastem Luwu community in South Sulawesi which is performed at the death ceremony (rambu solo). Understanding the values and meanings contained in sialo dances is often neglected and lack of concern, including the millennial generation not understanding and not knowing the values and meanings of sialo dances contained therein. The focus of this research explores the meanings contained in the sialo dance at the rambu solo ceremony from the perspective of the sociology of local culture. this writing is useful to increase knowledge about the culture of Luwu South Sulawesi.The author uses qualitative method research realist ethnographic approach to describe the meanings of interaction and cultural values of sialo dance. The author's local cultural sociology study uses the perspective of Herbert Mead's thinking, Herbert Blumer, Clifford Geertz with the perspective of symbolic interactionism studies. The research location is Lalong Village, Luwu Regency, Walenrang District, South Sulawesi. This writing is focused on exploring the meanings and values of the sialo dance which is the local culture of the Bastem community at the rambu solo ceremony. The results of this study indicate the meaning of the sialo dance, which is meaningful to tell the life history of the deceased person who was celebrated. In addition, this dance also has a meaning to welcome government guests who come to share grief with the deceased family.

Analisis Faktor-faktor yang Mempengaruhi Keberhasilan Program Zakat Produktif dalam Meningkatkan Kesejahteraan Mustahik

The purpose of this study is to analyze what factors affect the welfare of mustahik in managing productive zakat. The independent variables in this study include work ethic, training and mentoring. While the dependent variable is the mustahik's welfare. The population in this study are zakat recipients in the economic program from 2019 to 2021 totaling 52 mustahik who are fostered by Dompet Dhuafa Waspada, so that these 52 mustahik are the samples in the study. In addition, this study collected data using a questionnaire so that it uses multiple linear regression analysis in the data analysis method. The approach used is a quantitative approach. The results of the study show that work ethic, training and mentoring variables simultaneously have a significant effect on mustahik welfare while partially, work ethic does not have a significant effect on mustahik welfare. While training and mentoring partially have a positive and significant effect on the welfare of mustahik. This study is limited to the zakat institution Dompet Dhuafa Waspada Medan. Work ethic is always related to the quality of human resources. Education is a means of improving work ethic, because education can add skills and open one's perspective of thinking. While the age factor can be an obstacle to a person's work ethic. The age that is no longer productive also influences the level of enthusiasm for work ethic. This research provides new insights about the factors that influence success in managing productive zakat.

The Medieval of the Long Now

Abstract As decades turn to centuries to millennia, the contemporary relationship with the past is increasingly medieval. This article takes the perspective of extreme long-term thinking to reexamine how medieval studies can interact with more contemporary fields. How might scholars share the “now” with each other and with their predecessors from other millennia? And how might this perspective transform racial epistemologies? Inspired by the millennial thinker, Henry of Huntingdon (d. 1157), the article connects the Long Now Foundation, the 10,000-Year Clock, the poet T. S. Eliot, and the near future called the “digital Dark Ages.” Henry from the twelfth century provides a recent antecedent for imagining the “long now” wrought by settler colonialism. Undoing periodization directly challenges the colonizing deployment of time itself.

Integrated Sustainability Assessment Framework of Industry 4.0 from an Energy Systems Thinking Perspective: Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

Sustainable energy systems based on efficiency, low-carbon, and smart technologies are essential for the future energy transition. A new integrated sustainability assessment framework (ISAF) is required to evaluate cross-cutting subjects and future research. Sustainability analysis based on conventional dimensions and complementary categories is needed for a digital energy transition. Industry 4.0 created a new platform and technological portfolio to improve the efficiency and automation of cleaner energy systems (lower environmental and social impacts and high performance). To address these aspects, a new methodology based on bibliometric analysis, systematic literature review, and energy systems thinking was developed. From Scopus and Web of Science databases, 1521 and 959 documents were respectively compiled and merged to select 181 articles related to these research subjects between 2017 and 2021. Out of this total, 62 articles from industrial manufacturing were identified as the most representative energy consumption sub-sector. These articles were analysed from the ISAF using conventional dimensions (environmental, economic, and social) and complementary categories of sustainability (technological innovation, governance and life cycle). The main findings reveal that worldwide studies addressing the nexus between Industry 4.0, Energy and Sustainability have increased significantly in recent years, primaly in high-income countries. These studies have centred on the industrial manufacturing subsector, assessing sustainability unevenly by focusing mainly on technological and environmental issues. Research gaps indicate that a comprehensive assessment of social, governance, and life cycle aspects is still required.

Patient Safety in Palliative Care at the End of Life from the Perspective of Complex Thinking.

Actions for patient safety at the end of life must be aligned with the principles of palliative care, such as promoting comfort and quality of life. Faced with this complex process, health professionals need to seek the central relationships of the concepts of safety and palliative care to the end of life, in line with the wishes and expectations of the person and family members/caregivers, as well as with available resources and the capacity of services but, above all, reinforcing the importance of a non-reductionist care approach, which encompasses the various aspects inherent to humans. Hence, we present a new vision of patient safety in palliative care at the end of life based on the complex thinking of Edgar Morin, scientific evidence, and health policies in the global context. We discuss the deficiencies and disjunctions in thought and practice of palliative care at the end of life and patient safety, as well as the challenges for the conjunction of these complex themes, to finally present potential ways to apply complex thinking in the safe care of the patient at the end of life. The problematization of different aspects for the interposition of knowledge about patient safety in palliative care at the end of life portrays the existence of intersubjective connections and the multidimensionality that permeate the guidelines, actions and relationships that sustain the disciplines.

University teachers’ professional agency for learning and leading sustainable change

ABSTRACTUsing social constructivist theories of adult learning and complexity thinking perspectives, a long-term, multi-tiered professional development (PD) programme was designed, implemented and evaluated at Qatar University. This qualitative study explored the systems of influence on 24 university teachers’ professional agency for learning and leading sustainable change throughout their participation in the programme. Within the context of educational change, university teachers’ professional agency refers to their ability to exercise control, take stances, make choices and exert influence in ways that impact their learning and leading sustainable change. Using multiple sources of data, participants reported supports and constraints to their professional agency within multiple systems. These systems of influence included factors within the personal, PD programme, department/college, and university systems. Findings revealed variations in university teachers’ willingness and capacity to examine previously held beliefs, design innovative pedagogies, and become change agents. The findings underscore the notion of emergence as an explicit characteristic of learning and leading change within and across complex systems. Future iterations of the programme, and similarly constructed programmes in higher education contexts, should consider the systems of influence on university teachers’ professional agency for learning and make concerted efforts to support their ability to lead sustainable change.

Communication Technology from the Perspective of Precise Thinking for the Infrastructure Development Management of Middle School Students in the COVID-19 Environment

Communication Technology from the Perspective of Precise Thinking for the Infrastructure Development Management of Middle School Students in the COVID-19 Environment

The Metaverse and complex thinking: opportunities, experiences, and future lines of research

Research trends about the Metaverse have increased in recent years due to its potential to create immersive realities, where complex thinking becomes relevant as an ability to promote emerging ways to understand and explain the different realities that comprise a digital society. Although some investigations allow us to know both topics’ concepts and applications, scientific literature production about them is scarce. In this work, we conducted a systematic review of the literature (SLR), analyzing 234 publications from various databases, including Scopus and Web of Science, to understand how studies about the Metaverse overlap with the components of complex thought. The results showed that there has been extensive exploration of the Metaverse since 2022. The prevalence of the Metaverse aligns with the design of algorithms and retail sales, and it primarily correlates with virtual reality technology. Likewise, various reference frameworks and taxonomies have been designed to explain the operation of the Metaverse in different formative spaces. We concluded that examining the Metaverse from the perspective of critical, systemic, scientific, and innovative thinking can open lines of research that affect the knowledge of immersive technologies and the evolution of disruptive digital ecosystems.

The Impact of the Chinese Thinking Style of Relations on Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Coping Styles.

Chinese people tend to view and analyze problems according to relations and holism, which can cause them to adopt positive coping strategies when facing difficulties, thus improving their mental health. This study verifies the relationship among relations as a dimension of the Chinese thinking style, coping strategies, and mental health through three research studies. Study 1 preliminarily examines a significant, positive correlation between Chinese relational thinking and mental health through questionnaire surveys. Study 2 primes Chinese relational thinking and explores its relationship with coping strategies. The results show that relational thinking could enhance individuals' active coping, seeking of emotional support and venting, problem avoidance, and attentional diversion coping strategies while reducing denial and disengagement coping styles. Study 3 further demonstrates through questionnaires across time points that Chinese relational thinking could improve individuals' mental health by enhancing their active coping and minimizing denial and disengagement. The results of the three studies are of great significance in terms of improving mental health from the perspective of Chinese relational thinking and coping strategies.

The Design and Implementation of Practical Teaching in Packaging Design Course based on the Perspective of Curriculum Civics

With the rapid development of economic globalization and information technology, education and teaching in colleges and universities are facing more and more challenges and opportunities. In such a background, how to focus on the cultivation of students' values and the improvement of their innovation ability has become an important direction and goal for the reform and development of college education and teaching. As an interdisciplinary and comprehensive course, packaging design has a wide range of application value and social significance. However, packaging design not only needs to focus on aesthetic and functional considerations but also needs to pay attention to the cultivation of social responsibility and values, as well as the improvement of students' innovation ability and creativity. Therefore, how to design and implement the curriculum of packaging design based on the perspective of curriculum thinking and politics has become an important issue in the reform of university education and teaching. Through the discussion of several aspects, this paper aims to provide reference and inspiration for college education and teaching and promote the improvement and enhancement of the packaging design curriculum.

The Classification of V-A Resultative Construction and the Analysis of its Grammatical Blending

In this paper, through the investigation and analysis of the structure and semantic features of V-A Resultative Constructions(VA動結式) in Modern Chinese(such as "打碎" "洗乾淨" etc). The structure is re-divided into two types of which is the prototype ‘NP1+V+R(A)+NP2’ and for the variable-type is ‘NP+V+R(A)’. Then use the grammatical blending theory to analyze the formation mechanism of V-A Resultative Construction. As a result, the following conclusions are drawn: First, the essence of the V-A Resultative Construction formula is a causative meaning. Both events are causative, which the construction is composed of causing events and resulting events. Second, self-variable meaning(自變義) is a variant of agent causative meaning(施事類致使義). When the causer of the causing events and the receiver of the resultant event are unified in the imaginary space, and the verb is intransitive, a self-variable semantic V-A Resultative Construction is obtained, and vice versa, the action behavior is verb-object Structure, it will be defined as the type of agent causative meaning(施事類致使義). Third, deviating meaning(The result is different from what humans expect) and non-deviating meaning(The results are independent of human expectations) are two different categories. Although they have no ‘Object’ in terms of syntactic structure, in fact the internal semantic generation mechanism is different. And to draw the following conclusion, Grammatical blending provides a new perspective of innovative thinking for the research on the construction of V-A Resultative Construction.

P. Ricoeur’s Creative Imagination: The Source of Narrative Identity and Social Justice

The paper analyses Paul Ricoeur’s concept of creative imagination and shows how this essential element of human consciousness determines personal and societal identity and how it can be a source of just social norms and of ‘good life’ (vie bonne). The imagination, which is characterized by semantic innovations and a heuristic function, creates a dynamic narrative defining a human being and opens as specific rationality surpassing purely argumentative rationality and allowing to solve conflicts of social norms. The ethical aspect of this process, implying a triple structure I/other/just institutiones, creates conditions for the realization of the dialectic of justice and love in the political space; due to the dialectic, innovative ways for the realization of social justice become possible. Critical questions intended to open up the perspective for further thinking are posed at the end of the paper.

The Problems and Countermeasures of the Agglomeration and Development of Private Higher Vocational Education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

At present, the agglomeration and development of private higher vocational education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is mainly due to insufficient institutional mechanisms, insufficient exchanges, insufficient cooperation, differences in concepts, insufficient characteristics, insufficient major research platforms, obvious lack of technological innovation, and differences in legal systems, etc. problem. Under the background of "One Country, Two Systems", to build high-level private higher vocational colleges with Chinese characteristics and embodying Chinese spirit, it is necessary to promote the agglomeration and development of private higher education, because this is in the accumulation of talents, resource sharing, platform co-construction, innovation and leadership. Knowledge spillovers, etc. It will play a very important role in promoting the goal of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to build a world-class bay area. Judging from the development experience of the world-class Bay Area, if private higher vocational education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area achieves agglomeration development, it is necessary to liberate educational productivity from the system and mechanism, strengthen the construction of major research platforms from the perspective of cross-border thinking, and strengthen from the aspect of technological innovation. The research of innovation theory promotes the agglomeration of innovative talents and seeks more possibilities for collaboration and cooperation from the differences in legal systems.

An Exploration of High School English Reading Teaching from the Perspective of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is an important symbol of intelligent talents, which is conducive to cognitive ability. It is also called the cornerstone and promoter of rational society. Basic education should be to cultivate critical thinking ability as the primary goal. Through the exploration of English reading teaching in high schools, this research explores how to strengthen students’ critical thinking in reading. That is, to propose effective practice strategies from the teacher level, curriculum level, etc.

Critical thinking in primary science through a guided inquiry pedagogy: A semiotic perspective

ABSTRACT Although education research in critical thinking is a rapidly emerging field, how teachers can facilitate, monitor, and support critical thinking in primary science remains a challenge. This paper builds on recent semiotics mediated scientific reasoning research to present a fresh perspective of critical thinking in primary science. Analysis of student and teacher interactions in an innovated semiotics grounded learning design and pedagogy demonstrates a recursive process of collaborative construction, reviewing and refinement of representational systems and models. The multimodal epistemic practices of the discipline, involving the generation, evaluation and refinement of the semiotic systems that frame scientific ideas and practices are presented to both stimulate and support generative critical thinking. How semiotic systems in primary science can provide a focus, stimulus, and tool, for not only students’ generative critical thinking but also teacher monitoring and support is presented.

Frugal innovations of South African female social entrepreneurs

The good practices of female social entrepreneurs in developing contexts who are able to grow their social entrepreneurial endeavours through innovative problem-solving processes should be understood in order to inform policymakers and models that enhance social value add and innovation for social good. This study explores and describes the Frugal Innovation of female social entrepreneurs who are able to grow their endeavours. Problems that the women deal with are linked to the dimensions of Frugal Innovation from a Design Thinking perspective to illustrate the complexity of the issues that these women encounter. A qualitative approach is applied to the study. A purposive sample of 11 cases of a South African sample frame of 45 was selected as these women displayed growth and innovation in their endeavours whilst engaging in solving complex problems. In a content analysis of their innovative problem-solving, findings indicate that the enablers of Frugal Innovation in the social entrepreneurial context are leveraged by the women in the study to grow their endeavours towards systemic integration. This way, they are creating more sustainable solutions that can be viewed as good practice which may inform policymakers and other social entrepreneurial models. The original contribution of this study lies in the application of the theoretical framework in an interdisciplinary way, to provide insight on Frugal Innovation in a social entrepreneurial context that might become increasingly relevant in a post-pandemic world.

The cognitive process of creative design: A perspective of divergent thinking

Among cognitive research on creativity, only a few are about divergent thinking in design. In order to better understand the internal mental process of designers, this study adopts protocol analysis and focuses on the field of visual communication design. The commonalities and differences between expert designers and novice designers, together with their strengths and weaknesses, are summarized based on the way they approach divergent thinking, aiming to help novice designers overcome their weaknesses and grow faster. In addition, this study clarifies the components of divergent thinking and their interrelation, building a cognitive model of designers' divergent thinking in design.