Institutional Philosophy Research Articles

Ditos e não escritos sobre o mal-estar docente: a potência do ler e do escrever em ateliês de escrileituras

Trata-se de uma investigação qualitativa, que interroga sobre as causas e consequências do mal-estar docente na rede estadual de ensino de uma cidade do interior Sul do RS. Primeiramente, buscou por elementos sobre a temática através do exame bibliográfico na área da Saúde - mais especificamente da Psicologia - e na área da Educação. O segundo movimento visou fomentar os estudos relativos à metodologia cartográfica. Para a produção de dados, realizou pesquisa documental, utilizou entrevistas semiestruturadas e propôs atividades intervencionistas a partir de ateliês de escrileituras. Focaliza a escrita como exercício clínico, desde a Psicologia Institucional e a Filosofia da Diferença. Alguns resultados indicam a existência de uma cultura educacional de fuga do trabalho, borrando o que se denomina mal-estar docente. Entretanto, há causas e consequências apontadas que corroboram os achados de pesquisas anteriores. Enviado em: 30 de maio de 2016.Aprovado em: 01 de agosto de 2016.

International mediation and Australian foreign policy: building institutional capacity to respond to overseas conflict

ABSTRACTIn October 2012, Australia's parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade recommended that a mediation support unit should be created within the Australian Agency for International Development, a department now amalgamated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The question is: Does Australia possess the motivation and capacity to implement active and effective international mediation by building the capacity of intermediaries to deploy various peacemaking methods to hasten de-escalation at different stages of a conflict? If not, is a mediation support unit an appropriate initiative to address this capability gap? This article draws on quantitative conflict data sets and an expert panel to conclude that Australia's track record demonstrates significant capacity to undertake international mediation, but that the mediation personnel and processes available to government are insufficiently resourced and coordinated to readily provide policymakers with accessible tools to undertake the diverse range of mediation strategies advocated by conflict scholars. While a mediation support unit would address some of these issues, at present it conflicts with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's institutional philosophy based on diffused expertise.

Medical informatics within the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum in Pakistan: challenges and need of 21st century

At present a large number of private and public medical schools in Pakistan are still teaching by traditional methods whereas most of the medical schools in the modern world are training their future physicians by latest teaching tools like evidenced-based and problem-based learning. It is a fact that our graduates no doubt have very strong knowledge of basic sciences and clinical skills. They can compete anywhere in the world but we should accept that we are week in medical informatics due to many reasons. We must recommit ourselves to our teaching missions by vigorously pursuing strategies that support and recognize the invaluable contributions of teaching faculty to the preservation of these missions. In my opinion we must continuously innovate and utilize innovative methods like medical informatics as a tool to help us to attain our mission to produce physicians of 21st century. We should produce the doctors who have the knowledge, attitude, aptitude and clinical skills consistent with the teaching learning philosophy of medical institutions.

A prospective study to find out the most cost effective preoperative prophylactic antibiotic regime in elective abdominal routine surgeries

Introduction: Anti microbial prophylaxis before any elective surgery is a preferred deterrent to post operative surgical site infection now. A study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative prophylaxis in our hospital setting. We have used different antibiotics, two being from the cephalosporin class, one from the fluoroqiuinolones and anti beta lactamases in combination along with metronidazole. These were used in different combinations and for different durations. The aim was to find out the best and most economical pre operative prophylaxis in our surgical practice. Methods: A total of 138 patients (above 16 years) were taken for the study. It was a randomized and blind study. Patients were prospectively analysed. First, the patients were divided into two groups, those who would receive a single dose of antibiotic at incision and those who received two more doses after the dose at incision. Next, the patients were analysed depending on operation room condition wise. The open elective as well as the laparoscopic elective procedures done in an OT condition where emergencies are undertaken as well as open and lap cases done in OTs where only elective cases are undertaken. The routine practice of preoperative bath, preoperative preparations of the area with iodophores and spirit, operating under normothermia and hydration were as per the institutional philosophy and common to all the patients. Cefotaxime+ Sulbactum, Ofloxacin + Metronidazole, Cefepime+ Tazobactum. Result: Keeping the outcome of the study in mind all the materials was analysed and statistical analysis done and confidence intervals were noted. The single dose pre operative prophylaxis scored over three doses regime in all the cases for lap surgery irrespective of OT condition. Three doses regime worked better in combined OT condition for the open elective procedures. The study also revealed the most economic choice for routine elective abdominal surgery. Conclusion: Multiday and antibiotics use for a prolonged period is not advisable these days after a routine elective abdominal surgery. Single dose injection of antibiotics at a proper time is good enough for preventing postoperative surgical site infection after a routine Laparoscopic surgery. Three doses regime is better in open surgical cases performed in OTs where emergency procedures are undertaken. It is advisable to use the most cost effective regime to reduce the healthcare cost in the country.

La participación comunitaria como estrategia para la intervención físico espacial

How to intervene the territory of a vulnerable community? This was the question that we attempted to respond, from the research project called Physical and spatial interventions through design and participatory construction in areas of environmental interest: the case of trail, garden center and soccer field Ninos de los Andes (Children of the Andes) Foundation (2015). The project was developed between the Catholic University of Manizales, the Architecture program and the Ninos de los Andes Manizales (Children of the Andes, Manizales) Foundation. The relationship between the inhabitant and the place he occupies was studied, with the aim of identifying criteria to transform, reconstruct, improve, and enhance spatial relationships between the inhabitants of the Foundation and three spaces that are favorable to meditation, education, and recreation of a community of children of ages ranging from 7 to 17. This process raised a strategy of community participation in order to engage the population with activities about these spaces and to try to transcend them into places in pursuit of generating a sense of belonging. This brings into play various aspects that guide the case study: identifying who occupies it, what they feel in and for this place, how they live it, etc. This is done hand in hand with a spatial analysis as landscape structure with a shape, a topography, a fauna and a flora, but also the possibility of projecting it from the institutional philosophy of the Foundation and the desire and need for its inhabitants to lead a change in their sense of life toward much better and more inclusive horizons.

Speaking to the Ghost: An autoethnographic journey with Elwyn

As educators we are haunted. This haunting takes place on several levels, through our personal histories, through key theoretical ideas we have encountered on our journeys, and by those significant educators who have gone before. This paper highlights how Elwyn S. Richardson continues to haunt education in New Zealand. Also how Elwyn, in turn, was haunted by ‘Wal’ and John Dewey. Rubbing up against neo-liberal reform, philosophers such as Elwyn, give us permission to develop our own personal educational philosophy. Through employing an arts-based autoethnography, we explore how our educational journeys have been haunted by Elwyn. And by drawing on Jacques Derrida’s directive, ‘speak to the ghost’, we summon up Elwyn. To do this we write a series of fictional letters which enable us to reflect on one author’s memories. Through analysis of these letters we demonstrate the importance of the Arts as a method to critically reflect upon, and rise above, the dominant neo-liberal ideology we work within. We speculate here that a strong personal philosophy has the potential to disrupt and engage educators critically with an institutional philosophy that continues to dominate much of mainstream education in New Zealand.

Occupation-focussed practice in justice health and forensic mental health: Using a practice-based enquiry approach

Providing occupational therapy services in secure settings can be challenging due to a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the limitations of the physical environment. Maintaining an occupation focus in such environments can also be difficult, especially if there are competing institutional philosophies. In this article, we describe a project undertaken by a group of occupational therapists in NSW, Australia which focuses on centralising occupation in the programmes they provide in a number of units within state funded Justice and Forensic Mental Health Services. The project utilises a practice-based enquiry approach through which the practitioners engage in a reflective analysis of their everyday practices and the artefacts produced in practice. Collectively, the group of practitioners together with an academic have formed a community of practice scholars who both critique and support each other's enquiry processes and actions aimed at transforming practice. Whilst the project is only in its early stages at the time of writing, it is hoped that the findings will inform other occupational therapists hoping to ‘reclaim occupation’ in their practice setting.

Teaching African Philosophy in African institutions of higher learning: The implications for African renaissance

In the not-so-distant past, colonial European scholarship denied the existence of African philosophy. In reaction, indigenous African scholars assiduously strove to prove its existence. While Africans succeeded in demonstrating the existence of African philosophy, another denial—deliberate or otherwise—manifested and continues to manifest itself in the non-existence or peripheral existence of African philosophy in institutions of higher learning. It is argued in this article that African philosophy should be at the core and centre of teaching in African institutions of higher learning. It is anticipated that such a move could help Africans in their quest for self-rediscovery and reconstruction, otherwise known as ‘African renaissance’. Simultaneously this move could help to reverse the psychological damage that many Africans continue to experience as a result of two unresolved issues: 1) some outside the African cultural community, continue to distort—insultingly—African culture, and 2) some inside the African cultural community—particularly the powerful ruling African elite—make self-serving statements in the name of African culture in pursuit of their selfish interests.

Controversy in Law

Although legal positivists have in the past decade come to accept the view that there is a necessary connection between law and morality, they have remained committed to the central thesis of legal positivism – that we can decide what the law is without committing ourselves to a view about which decision would be morally right. The most powerful challenge to this thesis, however, has rested on the belief, accepted by some but not others, that theoretical disagreement in law is pervasive. This is because moral assessments are typically controversial and subject to substantial disagreement. So the received view has been that theoretical disagreement is compelling evidence of law’s incorporation of moral notions. By taking advantage of analytic resources only recently being developed in the philosophy of institutions (social ontology), the paper shows that constraints existing in law by virtue of its institutional nature render nonmoral theoretical disagreement widely possible, and frequently actual. An understanding of the logic of institutional power and authority shows that “theoretical” disputes in law are, in the first instance, best understood as nonmoral controversies over the standards for determining whether the existing legal materials are sufficiently “directed at” the present circumstances (the “intentionality” constraint), and whether they provide a solution to the new matter with sufficient exactness (the “exactness” constraint). Theorists have traditionally been too eager to overlook these sorts of disagreement about whether and how past legal materials and judicial decisions may fit the new situation, and have leapt too readily to the realm of moral justification.

The Impact of a National-Goal-Driven Higher Education Policy on An Ethnic Minority Serving Institution in China

This paper examines the implementation of Project 985 at Minzu University of China, an ethnic minority serving university in China. As a university established specifically for the education of ethnic minorities, the paper examines in what ways the implementation of a policy uniformly mandated to serve national higher education goals by China’s Central government impacts the unique institutional philosophy and mission at one particular university. The paper focuses primarily on the ways in which the university’s function to serve the needs of the nation’s ethnic minority population has become diffused amid other priorities.

Concepción del enfoque de género en la práctica docente en la institución educativa técnica agropecuaria mamón de maría en el Carmen de Bolívar

<p>Objetivo: Determinar la influencia de la concepción del enfoque de género en la práctica docente en la Institución Educativa Técnica y Agropecuaria del Mamón de María. Metodología: Esta investigación es de corte cualitativa y tipo de investigación descriptiva. La metodología utilizada fue la triangulación hermenéutica. Para poder cumplir con los objetivos propuestos se trabajó con 10 docentes a quienes se les aplicó, como técnicas para la recolección de la información, una entrevista semiestructurada a 3 de ellos y, al resto, dos talleres desde el grupo focal, y con 12 estudiantes, a quienes se les aplicó un cuestionario. Se realizó una revisión documental al PEI y Manual de Convivencia de la IETA Mamón de María. Resultados: Según la triangulación de las fuentes de información se pudo analizar que los docentes, muestran poca claridad en los conceptos de sexo, género y sexualidad, la cual pudo estar causada por factores como: formación cultural, familiar y profesional que tiene el docente, con respecto al concepto de género, lo cual construyen y consolidan el quehacer académico. En la revisión documental se observa, que no hay aceptación de la población LGTB, puesto que hacen referencia al homosexualismo como una condición contraria a la convivencia y no como una preferencia sexual que nada tiene que ver con los valores y sana convivencia entre los seres humanos. Con respecto a la práctica docente se puede decir que no tienen claridad sobre el término, y para referirse al tema, lo relacionan con la expresión de estrategias pedagógicas o modelo pedagógico. Esta situación se refleja en los estudiantes puesto que en el cuestionario aplicado, expresan que no hay equidad en la formación de la técnica, y se presentan actitudes culturales desde la formación y concepción del concepto de género de cada uno de los docentes. Conclusiones: Los docentes presentan confusión entre los conceptos de sexo, sexualidad y género; por tanto, en el quehacer pedagógico, puedan ocurrir prácticas discriminatorias y sexistas, en ocasiones se presentan en la división de tareas que han sido atribuibles a hombres y a mujeres respectivamente. La práctica de la docencia en la institución no está enmarcada dentro de los cánones de la equidad de género, puesto que en la filosofía institucional y los documentos que guían los procesos educativos, no están redactados en un lenguaje incluyente y no tienen un enfoque de equidad de género; aunque propenden por una educación integral para todos, no se manifiestan en los lineamientos básicos, la intención de llevar estos procesos en equidad para hombres y para mujeres sin distingo de opción sexual.</p>

Methods of Teaching Philosophy in Technical Higher Educational Institutions

Relevance of the study is due to the new requirements that apply to Kazakhstan engineer in the contemporary socio-economic conditions in the world. This paper explores the system of value formation among students of technical higher educational institutions in the teaching of philosophy. The research objective is theoretically to prove and approve system of formation of valuable orientations of students of technical higher educational institutions in the course of philosophy teaching. Theoretically justify and approve the formation of a system of value orientations of students of technical higher educational institutions in the teaching of philosophy. The methods of research are methods such as analysis of the subject of research, study and analysis of the scientific and methodological literature on the topic of research, the study of the regulatory program and educational planning documentation, simulation, design, system analysis, synthesis, interview, summarize the results of the study. As a result, the study identified the social and philosophical, psychological, and educational background of system design of value formation among the students of technical higher educational institutions in the course of teaching philosophy, and also proves the concept and designed the model of the formation of the value orientations of students of technical institutions in the teaching of philosophy. In accordance with the object and purpose of the work was to determine the theoretical and practical implications of the design of the system of value formation among students of technical higher educational institutions in the teaching of philosophy. In particular, the refined concept of “value orientation”, examined the psychological mechanisms of the system of value orientations of the individual.

From agents of change to partners in arms: the emerging academic developer role

This commentary explores the role that academic developers (ADs) play in universities. Three case studies illustrate the roles that ADs may enact as agents of change. They reflect an emergent shift from acting as the institutional teaching and learning ‘expert’ (i.e. agent of change) to a more adaptive, collaborative partnership model where the AD works in partnership with academic leaders to change educational practice. The influence of national external forces on institutional philosophy, policy, and practice, and the AD role is also examined, using Australian initiatives as an example.

The Journey to Teaching Online: A Case Study of Faculty Preparation and Experiences in Online Teaching

When Bill Gates published his book “The Road Ahead” (1995), he summarized the transformative implications of the personal computing revolution and described a future profoundly changed by the arrival of a global information super highway. Almost twenty years later, the tsunami of online programs and the MOOCs (massive online open courses) is impacting the structural integrity of post-secondary institutions and changing the competitive landscape of higher learning at an unprecedented pace. When Allen and Seaman (2013) asked the question of whether faculty acceptance of online education increased in their Sloan Consortium annual report, only 30.2% of chief academic officers believe their faculty accept the value and legitimacy of online education. This rate is even lower than the rate recorded in 2004. With an apparent widening gap between institutional strategy and faculty acceptance, each organization needs to conceptually map its road ahead. However, only an institution as a whole can decide for itself what kind of change is needed and define what constitutes evidence of lasting change. This implies a unique transformation of institutional philosophy, culture, strategy, and reward systems for faculty members. Complex adoptive system (CAS) theory (Olson & Eoyang, 2001), suggests that the most powerful organizational transformations occur not at the macro level but rather at the micro level where behaviors and changes began to emerge. Thus, instead of trying to measure, evaluate, or categorize which faculty member fits into which stage of online faculty development under which framework, this study asked four tenured faculty members to reconstruct their experiences on why they teach online, how they learn to teach online, and what factors influences their journeys to teaching online. Their narratives painted a landscape of faculty acceptance in institutions and the online learning phenomena in our society. Ultimately, their stories are really about change. By studying the “change agents” in a changing organization in a changing industry, this study is not an exercise to identify the best practices. Rather, this study hopes to inspire new ideas for new ways to conceptually frame the problem facing the faculty, the institution, and the industry in their road ahead in teaching online. The researcher hopes that this study may be used by institution leaders, faculty developers, and other faculty members to: (1) assess the level of progress of their current and future distance learning program, (2) determine how distance learning programs should be established, (3) evaluate faculty development efforts, (4) improve strategies and implementations for institutionalization of their distance education programs, including academic programming and faculty reward structure, and (5) improve online student retention and learning outcomes.

Point/Counterpoint

Point/Counterpoint

‘I JUST WANT TO TALK’

Literature on men's health help-seeking suggests that, consistent with hegemonic masculine ideals, men display a general preference for solution-focused interaction. Men's health services routinely orient to this preference, emphasising assistance in the form of practical advice. Little research, however, has examined the nature of actual interactions between men and health professionals. The present paper analyses interaction on a men's telephone relationship-counselling service, focusing on reasons for calling. We demonstrate some recurring interactional patterns relating to the helpline's institutional philosophy of solution-focused counselling. Specifically, callers routinely engaged in narrative reporting of relationship troubles rather than indicating that they were seeking advice; counsellors, however, routinely orientated to the role of advice- and information-provider, in addition to that of troubles-talk recipient. We examine the recurring interactional disfluencies around this reason-for-call talk, considering some consequences for institutional help-giving that arise from the assumption of a male preference for solution-focused healthcare.

The Social history of crime and punishment in America: an encyclopedia

Several encyclopedias overview the contemporary system of criminal justice in America, but full understanding of current social problems and contemporary strategies to deal with them can come only with clear appreciation of the historical underpinnings of those problems. Thus, this four-volume work surveys the history and philosophy of crime, punishment, and criminal justice institutions in America from colonial times to the present. It covers the whole of the criminal justice system, from crimes, law enforcement and policing, to courts, corrections and human services. Among other things, this encyclopedia will: explicate philosophical foundations underpinning our system of justice; chart changing patterns in criminal activity and subsequent effects on legal responses; identify major periods in the development of our system of criminal justice; and explore evolving debates and conflicts on how best to address issues of crime and punishment. Its signed entries provide the historical context for students to better understand contemporary criminological debates and the contemporary shape of the U.S. system of law and justice.

Desarrollo moral, valores y ética; una investigación dentro del aula

Utilizar en un curso de formación universitaria, la investigación dentro del aula, como estrategia para promover en los grupos, la motivación hacia los aprendizajes de temas como valores, moral y ética, resultó una experiencia innovadora y positiva con la cual se encontró un modo adecuado para transmitir los conocimientos teóricos pertinentes para favorecer la reflexión y revisión del propio desarrollo moral y ético del grupo participante y a la vez cumplir con los contenidos del curso. La educación moral que todos los ciudadanos y ante todo profesionales en Orientación y en Educación deben poner en práctica, requiere de analizar cuál ha sido el propio desarrollo moral del educador y de todos los actores del sistema, cuál es su comportamiento ético, así como su propia escala de valores. Ante una permanente transformación social, se hace necesario saber de dónde partir para transmitir a poblaciones juveniles y de infantes una educación moral. De esta experiencia surge un modelo de educación de calidad total que debe ser acorde con las creencias del personal y con la filosofía institucional. Consiste en combinar el currículum institucional educativo con el análisis permanente de situaciones reales, por parte de todos los actores del sistema; esto permitirá formar al educando desde un enfoque humanista con énfasis moral y ético, indispensable en una época como la actual.

Transforming Unjust Structures: A Philosophical and Theological Perspective

This essay explores the difficult task of transforming unjust social structures (USS). It does so by an understanding of the moral features of interactions, drawing from Hannah Arendt's political philosophy and Paul Ricoeur's conception of institutions. Then a definition of what can be considered as USS is given and some of the characteristic features of these social phenomena specified. As a further step, this essay delves into a theological understanding of USS as structures of sin, for no rationale can be given for the most perverse USS (concentration camps/Gulag). Theology, through the notions of evil and sin, possesses some instruments to understand the absurd violence, the indifference and hopelessness of USS. The essay close with some remarks on how to deal with USS.

Employees' perceptions of institutional values and employer-employee relationships at the North-West University

A multicultural and multilingual tertiary environment—the North-West University (NWU), with an endorsed corporate identity—had recently gone through an incorporation process (where other tertiary institutions had been merged into the main institutional structure). This created an ideal environment for an article aimed at the relationship between employees' perceptions of how effective the institution upheld its values and the continued quality of its employee relationships. The university consists of three independent campuses, each with their own corporate identity, ethos and employer–employee relationship structure. This article sets out to determine the nature of the NWU's employer–employee relationships and employees' perceptions of the institution's newly established corporate identity. Furthermore, values, integrity, commitment, accountability and respect were only recently established and are currently in a process of being incorporated as institutional philosophy drivers into the corporate identity of the NWU. Against this background, the following research question is asked: what is the relationship between NWU employees' perceptions of the institution's values and employer–employee relationships? The article indicates that there is a connection between the do-value, integrity and the establishment of a communal relationship between the institution and its employees. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.