Liberal Practices Research Articles

Freire's hope in radically changing times: a dialogue for curriculum integration from science education to face the climate crisis.

This article advances a dialogue for understanding curriculum integration as a form of radical pedagogy, starting from science education in times of climate crisis. The paper weaves Paulo Freire's work about a radical form of emancipatory pedagogy, bell hooks's proposal to transgress boundaries in teaching, and the landscape of identities for science persons in order to embrace a radical pedagogy for facing the climate crisis: an anti-oppressive curriculum integration practice. The issue of climate change education is discussed in its challenges as we present some findings about the role of policy in incorporating climate change in education in Chile and the experience of a teacher, Nataly, coauthor in this work, integrating curriculum as an action-research project. We propose that an anti-oppressive curriculum integration emerges from converging two approaches: curriculum design intended for sustaining democratic societies and thematic investigations proposed for liberatory practices of the oppressed.

Decolonizing inclusion in performing academia: Trans‐inclusion as phronetic border thinking/doing praxis

AbstractIn this paper, inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa, we draw upon our embodied experiences as non‐white scholars from different parts of the South to examine our complicity and responsibility for inclusion in performing a Western, neoliberal, diversity‐oriented, globalizing academia such as the United States' Academy of Management. We refer to the dominating practice of inclusion as universalist inclusion (uni‐inclusion), where a hegemonic includer includes diverse subaltern others while blind to colonial differences. We argue that uni‐inclusion has a dark shadow that perpetuates a “you are with us or against us” sentiment of white male superiority and violence, even as it elides the deep connectedness of epistemic, bodily, and material practices in the praxis of performing academia. Drawing upon our embodied and enacted experiences of tenures at Academy of Management as borderland scholars with relational reflexivity, we propose phronetic border thinking/doing praxis for trans‐inclusion as a non‐essentialist possibility of decolonizing inclusion. We share our understanding of how we have enacted border thinking/doing praxis so that it may provide pointers to pluriversalizing academia. Trans‐inclusion is a neologism we suggest to indicate a liberating praxis for all in an era of decolonization and empire where diverse includers beyond self/other dehumanizing binarism engage within an ethics of caring and co‐existence.

ЛИБЕРАЛЬНАЯ МОЛОДЁЖНАЯ ПОЛИТИКА В РОССИИ КОНЦА XIX – НАЧАЛА ХХ В.

The purpose of the article is to consider the development of youth policy in Russia in the early 20th century. In this context, the authors define the significance of the Constitutional Democratic Party and its political and legal practices. One of the main directions of its activity was the process of implementing theoretical concepts regarding the involvement of young students in party work. The research is based on the positions formed at the beginning of the 20th century, during the period of active party building of the leading Liberal Party of Russia. On the basis of a comparative analysis, the liberal political practice in relation to students is compared with the practice of the Radical Right and Left Parties in Russia. As a result, the authors conclude that the political practice of Russian liberalism was sub-ordinated to theoretical postulates suggesting that the involvement of students in political activity causes more damage to society than the benefits that political organizations of the liberal camp receive.

An Equity Framework to Engage Community College Preservice Teachers in Black Liberatory Practices

An Equity Framework to Engage Community College Preservice Teachers in Black Liberatory Practices

Systemic racism in data practices

Systemic racism in data practices

Supplemental Material for Adverse Childhood Experiences and Yoga as “A Practice of Liberation”

Supplemental Material for Adverse Childhood Experiences and Yoga as “A Practice of Liberation”

Sociopolitical development and social identities

In the past decade, interest and research on critical consciousness has increased dramatically. This commentary updates and expands Sociopolitical Development Theory by Watts and Flanagan (Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 2007, 1), elaborating on elements of the theory and linking them to liberation praxis. Expansion included research of the interplay of social identity and Critical Social Analysis (CSA) (i.e., the deconstruction of oppression's causes and effects through a political lens). This exploratory, qualitative project analyzed narratives written by young adults seeking admission to a training program for community-organizers. The result was a framework of "Viewpoints" relevant to programming for adolescents. Sample quotes illustrate how combinations of CSA and social identities can enrich sociopolitical development and are enriched by intersectionalities.

The 5D Cycle for Health Equity: Combining Black Feminism, Radical Imagination, and Appreciative Inquiry to Transform Perinatal Quality Improvement.

Too often, quality improvement initiatives are rooted in the health care system's oppressive structures and hierarchies. Transformative quality improvement models that embody the wisdom and liberatory potential of oppressed groups areneeded to address the alarming inequities within perinatal health. Inspired by experiences with Appreciative Inquiry, a possibility-focused change model, and frustrated by the limits of traditional quality improvement, the author sought new approaches to perinatal quality improvement. Inquiry into Black feminist recommendations for perinatal quality improvement and the principles of radical imagination led to the creation of the 5D Cycle for Health Equity, which grounds Appreciative Inquiry's 5D cycle (define, discover, dream, design, deliver/destiny) in Black feminism and radical imagination. The 5D Cycle for Health Equity is an innovative approach to addresshealth inequities by challenging oppressive quality improvement methods and health care structures. The cycle guides quality improvement collectives through a process that redefines harm and health equity; discovers new understandings of wellness across the past, present, and future; dreams of equitable care with the principles of antioppression and collectivity; designs solutions that embody the liberatory practices of oppressed groups; delivers solutions that strive to free everyone by freeing the most oppressed; and forges a new destiny. Midwives are well poised to use the 5D Cycle for Health Equity to disrupt structures of inequity and foster a health care system that supports the health and wellness of oppressed groups.

Imperialism of the Mind: Decolonial Theological Approaches to Traumatic Memory

ABSTRACT Frantz Fanon’s call to clear the “rot” of mental imperialism takes on even greater importance in light of emerging neuroscientific research regarding intergenerational trauma. Read through a decolonial theological lens, epigenetic trauma reveals that basic assumptions regarding the independent human person occlude foundational truths. Individuals are fundamentally connected to others in a way that can create ground for a thicker description of “shared humanity” and for liberatory practices of memory. Political theology provides a necessary space to forge theoretical and practical connections between the personal and political natures of race, trauma, and god-talk that are essential to move toward justice. Exploring multiple aspects of being – biological, decolonial, theological, future – I suggest that building communities of Christian enfleshed counter-memory is one potential path toward decolonizing theology and addressing the wounds of colonization through social transformation.

A Call for a Black Feminist Liberatory Ethics in Criminological Research on Black Women and Girls’ Offending and Victimization

Criminology posits objectivity and neutrality as the ideal standard for research methods, yet traditional definitions of objectivity and neutrality have historically been constructed by White, cisgender men and used to gauge the legitimacy of criminological research. This paper is an examination of the difficulties of studying Black women and girls’ offending and victimization as a Black woman researcher, including the “pushback” for what was seen as race exclusion in a gender violence issue. Based on my qualitative research with Black women survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation, I introduce “Black feminist liberatory ethics,” a set of guidelines and ethics of care for studying Black women and girls and their experiences criminal legal system amid the continuing struggle of liberation from oppression. I argue research can include liberatory practices for historically oppressed groups from systemic and epistemic injustice by revolutionizing traditional criminological research methods.

A Community within a Community: Collectivism, Social Cohesion and Building a Healthy Black Childhood

This article features in‐depth interviews and ethnographic vignettes that explore collectivism, social cohesion, and Black educational leadership as a strategy to infuse liberatory practices in the educational process. The article examines how the social foundation of African‐centered ethos of collectivism can shift how marginalized students approach and experience learning and socialization inside mainstream K‐12 educational systems. Additionally, this article introduces a new theoretical concept entitled Ethno‐Cultural Responsiveness. This theory explains how sub‐culture groups socialize new members into their particular ideological and sub‐cultural communities. This research demonstrates how African‐centered leaders shape their schools through an ideological inquiry designed to challenge what they perceive as the cultural negation of African histories and understandings. Moreover, the leaders featured in this article use their public‐facing political project (an African‐centered institution) grounded in the politics of Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism to design and shape their institutional cultures to be responsive to people racialized in western counties as Black.

Dual System Curriculum in Chemical Engineering Education

Higher education for chemical engineering is required to fulfill several aspects of the required skill and knowledge requested by stakeholders, including professional societies, company partners, accreditation boards, and national standards. Ministry of education of Indonesia under Makarim administration also mandated more liberal practice in Indonesian higher education as jargoned as "Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM)" means "freedom to learn, freedom campus". These several aspects, combined with the current COVID-19 pandemic, bring a massive problem in the curriculum. Herein, we discuss and propose a dual system curriculum to accommodate the government standard's requirement, minimize the gap between education and industry, and the professional association. The initial implementation in two universities is observed and the challenges, future direction and lesson learned are discussed. We expect the curriculum gives the student experience learning in the classroom and a live laboratory in conjunction with MBKM's spirit.

“Listen when I come to the table”: Reimagining education with and for Black elementary-aged youth and their mothers

Much of the literature regarding Black youth experiences in schools considers the effects of racism and takes up inquiry through deficit views. Yet, to understand how to shift the system of schooling to provide equitable, liberatory learning experiences, it is critical to center Black children’s voices and perspectives. In the current study, we partnered with eleven Black elementary youth and their mothers to explore their dreams for re-imagining schools. We identified four themes related to school improvement from a child-centered, abolitionist lens. Our findings highlight the need to increase opportunities for youth voice in scholarship and practice, and join existing conversations that see education as the practice of liberation and freedom.

“Black, Queer, and Christian”

“Black, Queer, and Christian”

Pediatric Ventilation Liberation: A Survey of International Practice Among 555 Pediatric Intensivists.

IMPORTANCE:Pediatric ventilation liberation has limited evidence, likely resulting in wide practice variation. To inform future work, practice patterns must first be described.OBJECTIVES:Describe international pediatric ventilation liberation practices and regional practice variation.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:International cross-sectional electronic survey. Nontrainee pediatric medical and cardiac critical care physicians.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:Practices focusing on spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) eligibility, SBT practice, non-SBT extubation readiness bundle elements, and post-extubation respiratory support.RESULTS:Five-hundred fifty-five responses representing 47 countries were analyzed. Most respondents reported weaning followed by an SBT (86.4%). The top SBT eligibility variables reported were positive end-expiratory pressure (95%), Fio2 (93.4%), and peak inspiratory pressure (73.9%). Most reported use of standardized pressure support regardless of endotracheal tube size (40.4%) with +10 cm H2O predominating (38.6%). SBT durations included less than or equal to 30 minutes (34.8%), 31 minutes to 1 hour (39.3%), and greater than 1 hours (26%). In assigning an SBT result, top variables were respiratory rate (94%), oxygen saturation (89.3%), and subjective work of breathing (79.8%). Most reported frequent consideration of endotracheal secretion burden (81.3%), standardized pain/sedation measurement (72.8%), fluid balance (83%), and the endotracheal air leak test as a part of extubation readiness bundles. Most reported using planned high flow nasal cannula in less than or equal to 50% of extubations (83.2%). Top subpopulations supported with planned HFNC were those with chronic lung disease (67.3%), exposed to invasive ventilation greater than 14 days (66.6%), and chronic critical illness (44.9%). Most reported using planned noninvasive ventilation (NIV) following less than or equal to 20% of extubations (79.9%). Top subpopulations supported with planned NIV were those with neuromuscular disease (72.8%), chronic lung disease (66.7%), and chronic NIV use for any reason (61.6%). Regional variation was high for most practices studied.CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE:International pediatric ventilation liberation practices are heterogeneous. Future study is needed to address key evidence gaps. Many practice differences were associated with respondent region, which must be considered in international study design.

Liberation Theology: A Pragmatist Perspective

Liberation Theology: A Pragmatist Perspective

Liberatory Practices and Potentials in Brooklyn School Gardens

ABSTRACT School gardens provide collaborative grounds for education and cultivation, operating within the U.S. education system and in connection to movements to rectify societal and environmental injustices. Based on perspectives of gardeners in public schools in Brooklyn, NY and the intersection of school gardens with other movement work, a four-part framework of liberatory practices and potentials via school gardening is outlined. This paper asks: What liberatory practices are happening in Brooklyn school gardens, and what is the potential for building upon them, particularly in relation to rectifying injustices faced within racially minoritized communities? In this study, gardens were found to support personal achievements, health benefits, adult mentorship, peer bonding, identity affirmation, community transformation, and positive relationships with the natural world. Some programming addressed social and environmental injustices explicitly, but students and staff identified potential to expand this; particularly needed are clear curricular prioritization and social and material support. Important to engendering any form of liberation through school gardening are: intentionality and transparency regarding program aims, just forums for student engagement and impact, and critical acknowledgement of the political and geographic realities in which these gardens operate.

Effect of pediatric ventilation weaning technique on work of breathing

BackgroundVentilator liberation is one of the most challenging aspects in patients with respiratory failure. Most patients are weaned through a transition from full to partial respiratory support, whereas some advocate using a continuous spontaneous ventilation (CSV). However, there is little scientific evidence supporting the practice of pediatric ventilator liberation, including the timing of onset of and the approach to weaning mode. We sought to explore differences in patient effort between a pressure controlled continuous mode of ventilation (PC-CMV) [in this cohort PC assist/control (PC-A/C)] with a reduced ventilator rate and CSV, and to study changes in patient effort with decreasing PS.MethodsIn this prospective physiology cross-over study, we randomized children < 5 years to first PC-A/C with a 25% reduction in ventilator rate, or CSV (continuous positive airway pressure [CPAP] + PS). Patients were then crossed over to the other arm. Patient effort was measured by calculating inspiratory work of breathing (WOB) using the Campbell diagram (WOBCampbell), and by pressure–rate-product (PRP) and pressure–time-product (PTP). Respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) was used to calculate the phase angle. Measurements were obtained at baseline, during PC-A/C and CPAP + PS, and during decreasing set PS (maximum -6 cmH2O).ResultsThirty-six subjects with a median age of 4.4 (IQR 1.5–11.9) months and median ventilation time of 4.9 (IQR 3.4–7.0) days were included. Nearly all patients (94.4%) were admitted with primary respiratory failure. WOBCampbell during baseline [0.67 (IQR 0.38–1.07) Joules/L] did not differ between CSV [0.49 (IQR 0.17–0.83) Joules/L] or PC-A/C [0.47 (IQR 0.17–1.15) Joules/L]. Neither PRP, PTP, ∆Pes nor phase angle was different between the two ventilator modes. Reducing pressure support resulted in a statistically significant increase in patient effort, albeit that these differences were clinically negligible.ConclusionsPatient effort during pediatric ventilation liberation was not increased when patients were in a CSV mode of ventilation compared to a ventilator mode with a ventilator back-up rate. Reducing the level of PS did not lead to clinically relevant increases in patient effort. These data may aid in a better approach to pediatric ventilation liberation.Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov NCT05254691. Registered 24 February 2022

African biblical hermeneutics in a state of flux – towards refocusing its trajectory

This study attempts to critically re-examine certain key hermeneutical concerns of a representative group of African biblical and religious studies scholars, who ground African theological reflection on traditional African values, cultures and social realities. Most of the scholars examined are united by a focus on the past and by an attempt to interpret the present and future on the basis of it. The article critiques the backward-looking hermeneutic implicit in the work of the scholars, especially Jesse Mugambi’s backward-looking metaphor of reconstruction. It proposes a hermeneutic based on the metaphor of liberation, as employed, for example, by African women theologians or by Gerald West or Emmanuel Katongole, who focus on building the present and future on the basis of a new liberative transformative narrative and praxis that prioritises the sacredness and inviolability of human life in the context of the web of life, and in particular foregrounds the dignity of African lives, as well as all others.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article engages exposition and understanding of biblical texts by African scholars. Aspects of NT Christology or Ecclesiology are connected to theologies of traditional African socio-cultural realities. The relevance for an African theology of liberation and African theology of women is defended as necessitated by a new liberative transformative hermeneutic.

Ventilation Liberation Practices Among 380 International PICUs.

OBJECTIVES:1) Characterize the prevalence of ventilator liberation protocol use in international PICUs, 2) identify the most commonly used protocol elements, and 3) estimate an international extubation failure rate and use of postextubation noninvasive respiratory support modes.DESIGN:International cross-sectional study.SUBJECTS:Nontrainee pediatric medical and cardiac critical care physicians.SETTING:Electronic survey.INTERVENTION:None.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Responses represented 380 unique PICUs from 47 different countries. Protocols for Spontaneous Breathing Trial (SBT) practice (50%) and endotracheal tube cuff management (55.8%) were the only protocols used by greater than or equal to 50% of PICUs. Among PICUs screening for SBT eligibility, physicians were most commonly screened (62.7%) with daily frequency (64.2%). Among those with an SBT practice protocol, SBTs were most commonly performed by respiratory therapists/physiotherapists (49.2%) and least commonly by nurses (4.9%). Postextubation respiratory support protocols were not prevalent (28.7%). International practice variation was significant for most practices surveyed. The estimated median international extubation failure was 5% (interquartile range, 2.3–10%). A majority of respondents self-reported use of planned high-flow nasal cannula in less than or equal to 50% (84.2%) and planned noninvasive ventilation in less than or equal to 20% of extubations (81.6%).CONCLUSIONS:Variability in international pediatric ventilation liberation practice is high, and prevalence of protocol implementation is generally low. There is a need to better understand elements that drive clinical outcomes and opportunity to work on standardizing pediatric ventilation liberation practices worldwide.