Social Constructivist Model Research Articles

Real Classroom vs. Virtual Classroom: Volunteer Subtitle Translators’ Website as an Example of a Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education

This descriptive study explores an interrelation between online volunteer subtitle organization and a social constructivist approach in translation training from a pedagogical point of view. The study sets out to test the hypothesis that technology-enabled online volunteer translators’ communities stand as an example of a social constructivist approach to translator training in a virtual context. Through an analysis of the forum section of the website as well as the workflow, similar characteristics of both the online platform and a Social Constructivist Approach in translator training by Kiraly are extracted. The study thus aims to identify if volunteer translator organizations can be an example of a Social Constructivist Approach to translator training in subtitle translation. The case study focuses on an online volunteer translators’ website named www.turkcealtyazi.org. The empirical data collected is based on the analysis of selected samples from the forum section of the website. The data derived is then compared with the model of the social constructivist approach in translator education to discover the similarities in terms of the relations between members, the workflow, the distribution of tasks, etc. The findings map how the online volunteer organization is similar to a social constructivist model applied in translator training in a classroom setting.

조라 닐 허스턴의 횡단-신체적 상상력

This study examines Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God through the lens of Stacy Alaimo’s concept of Trans-Corporeality. The recent emergence of materiality in feminist thought has been prompted by the debate around the linguistic turn and its social constructionist models. Postmodernism and post-structuralism have enriched feminist theory to deconstruct the biological determinism and the dichotomies of nature/culture, matter/mind, and female/male. However, these theories have perpetuated Western dualism by keeping women away from nature and disregarding the materiality of bodies. Alaimo introduces the concept of Trans-Corporeality as an epistemological zone that explores the material interchanges between bodies and the wider nonhuman environment.
 This paper has two primary objectives. First, employing Alaimo’s concept as a framework, it examines the material transit between human bodies and the environment within the novel. It redefines Hurston’s environmental vision and the political nature of the text. Second, it remaps the geography of criticism about the novel via the material turn’s interpretations of biological essentialism as well as social constructionism. There has been a schism in Hurston criticism between identity politics over African American folk culture and post-structural interpretations of race and gender. This paper argues that by focusing on the microscopic interactions between the human and nonhuman worlds, it is possible to bring about substantial change in the dominant scholarship that appear irreconcilable.

LGBQ+ college students’ expressions of grief during sexual identity development: photographic insights from a qualitative study

Featuring the experiences of 14 LGBQ+ college students at U.S. institutions across the country, this paper centers on photographs participants took and reflected on as they described expressions of grief relative to their sexual identity development (SID). Drawn from an interview-based narrative inquiry study focused on how LGBQ+ students detail ambiguous loss in SID by considering stories and photos, we employed narrative analysis to examine their photos and data gathered through two individual interviews with each participant. Guided by a conceptual framework integrating literature on SID and scholarship on the social constructionist model of grief, we identified four thematic expressions of grief: Navigating External and Internal Conflicts Shaped by Oppressive Structures, Articulating Varied Emotional Responses in SID, Processes Associated with Coming into Queerness, and Engaging with the Future as Unknown, Yet Filled with Hope. We provide implications for research, as well as for practice targeted at educational and counseling professionals.

Methods for more-than-human wellbeing: A collaborative journey with object interviews

Articulating the complexities of relational wellbeing can be challenging at the best of times, and even more complex during periods of heightened stress and uncertainty. Taking inspiration from feminist materialisms and recent writings on material methods, we explore the potential of object interviews to reveal the material-discursive dimensions of women’s experiences of wellbeing during the pandemic. In this paper we describe our research process conducting object interviews with 38 women living in Aotearoa New Zealand from a range of socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. We explore the potential and challenges of object interviews for surfacing new ways of knowing (theoretically, methodologically, and cross-culturally) wellbeing beyond human-oriented health, medical and social-constructionist models, and towards more multidimensional and relational understandings. This paper offers our reflections and learnings about the process of re-turning object interviews and the potential of such approaches for evoking complex ways of knowing wellbeing during and beyond pandemic times.

Catholic Seminarians on “Real Men”, Sexuality, and Essential Male Inclusivity

This paper is based on an empirical study using in-depth qualitative interviews that examines how Roman Catholic undergraduate seminarians in the United States understand gender, sexuality and masculinity. The findings describe how seminarians reject interactionist and social constructionist models of gender, and rely on a strict biological based model where sex/gender are seen as a unified concept. This leads them to adopt an “essential male inclusivity”, where they argue that all people assigned male at birth have equal claim to “manhood”, which eases pressures on them to act in gender normative ways. The social-psychological and identity-based motivations of these beliefs are examined in connection to their life in the seminary and other anticipated occupational characteristics. In contrast, the seminary’s mandates around both celibacy and compulsory heterosexuality, make sexuality more fraught than gender for seminarians. The larger consequences of these perspectives are also explored in regard to gender inequality, homophobia, and the lack of acceptance for the LGBTIQ+ community.

Narratives of Loss: Exploring Grief through Photography


 
 
 Grief is not an exclusively private and intrapsychic phenomenon but a dynamic process whereby the bereaved negotiates the meaning of the loss in a way that may challenge his/her personal self-narrative. Drawing on a social constructionist model of grief, this paper features a case study where we analyse narratives of mourning elicited through a personal photographic project. The visual-based narrative methodology used in our study (photo-production) not only allows for multi-modal forms of expression and communication in the study of grief, but it also serves as an aid for individuals to scaffold further meaning-making processes which cannot be conveyed through narrative alone. The paper concludes with an invitation to reflect on the use of photography as both a possible methodological tool to explore narratives of grief and a therapeutic tool for the construction of meanings and continuing bonds with the deceased.
 
 

Destination website management: A social constructionist approach

This study aims to provide the development and application of a social constructionist model for destination websites. The proposed model was applied to analyze the travelers' visual attention and perception of website management elements during browsing on the Brazilian destination website. An exploratory qualitative research with a multi-method design was conducted. An eye-tracking analysis was used to verify participants' visual attention during browsing on a destination website. After that, a series of in-depth interviews was approached with the same participants to investigate their perception of website management elements. The data collection was performed with exchange students in a Brazilian university. The study's theoretical implication is the social constructionist destination website management model development and the conceptual explanation regarding its elements. The study's practical implication is the evaluation of travelers' feedback about the Visit Brasil website, which leads to some managerial suggestions for improvement that might be used by those responsible for creating and managing digital communication strategies for country brands.

Does Medicine Have Common Goals? An Analysis of US Medical Organizations’ Ethics Statements

A philosophical framework defines medicine. Multiple competing frameworks lead to varying and sometimes conflicting understandings of the physician-patient relationship, medicine's goals, and physicians' duties. The objective of this study is to categorize the various goals, identify the underlying philosophical framework, and determine inconsistency among US medical organizations. Twenty-five American Board of Medical Specialties-related organizations, the American Medical Association, and the American Osteopathic Association were searched for key goal-related terms in their ethics-related statements. Direct goal statements were also analyzed. Key terms were grouped as physician-centric/objective (best interest, treat disease, prevent disease, cope with illness, health care/promotion) representing the traditional ends of medicine, patient-centric/subjective (welfare/well-being, patient benefit) reflecting social constructionist methodology, or relational (services to humanity, medical/patient care). Each organization was characterized overall as traditional, social constructionist, or relational. Inconsistency was defined as the smaller between the social constructionist and traditional with relational possibly inconsistent. Definitions of key terms and references to philosophical frameworks were reviewed. Twenty-two organizations were included; 73 percent of statements as a whole reflected a social constructionist model with 18 percent having traditional ends and 9 percent a relational framework. There was an 18 percent to 27 percent inconsistency among organization statements as a whole; 68 percent of organizations had direct statements; 47 percent of direct statements reflected a social constructionist methodology, 33 percent the traditional ends, and 20 percent the relational model; 33 percent to 53 percent of direct statements were inconsistent among organizations. No definitions of key terms or explicit references to philosophical frameworks were found. There is substantial inconsistency regarding the direct goals of medicine without any definitions of key terms. This inconsistency and lack of clarity underlie disagreement regarding physicians' roles and their duties. Clear core goals such as treat and prevent disease would consistently define the physician-patient relationship, restore medicine's objectivity, and provide a distinct understanding of physicians' obligations. American medical organizations use a multiplicity of terms and have substantial inconsistency regarding the direct goals of medicine with neither a clear underlying theoretical basis nor a definition of key terms. Our analysis suggests the most common theoretical basis for the goals of medicine was the social constructivist view followed closely by the traditional ends of medicine (e.g., treat and prevent disease) and finally the relational model. The authors contend that the traditional ends of medicine are the best option for a core mission of medicine whereby the physician-patient relationship is consistently defined, and a physician's duties derived.

Exploring ELT practices, teachers’ professional profile and beliefs: Analysing data from the PRIN survey and envisaging pedagogical projections

This paper presents selected findings emerging from the survey related to the PRIN Prot. 2015REZ4EZ questionnaire, created and administered by the Unit 3 of the same PRIN project. This tool of investigation was specially devised in order to research and acquire the main values and beliefs ascribable to a volunteer group of teachers, operating in the Italian territory and catering for different levels of education in the national system. From the authentic data collected, it is possible to draw an overall profile of those professionals engaged in the diversified educational contexts above referred to. Even though still connected to and partially influenced by a SE and native-speaker’s model authority, there is evidence of the presence of an active ELF-aware perspective emerging from the respondents; the qualifying questions where this aspect specifically occurs are analyzed in details, particularly in relation to which sociolinguistic model of English are those teachers inspired by in their teaching. Furthermore, those values and beliefs, in connection to the pedagogical approach of choice, are interpreted from a prospective point of view, envisioning their potential developments in the future, also projecting them into the frame of reference provided by a social constructivist model as designed by Kurt Kohn in MY English (2018) and further developments (forthcoming 2020). The emancipation of the ELF users and their adaptive appropriation of the lingual capabilities inherent in the ELF-aware approach, together with the acknowledgement of the ELF-users’ expressive means affordable according to that perspective, are highilighted, also in terms of individual and collective creativity, from the side of both teachers and learners, in the variegated educational contexts.

7P\u2019s of life-satisfaction: a social constructionist model for the life satisfaction of religious minority groups in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)

Minority groups can, depending societal conditions, find themselves living marginalized lives in some communities. Religious-based discrimination can result in these groups feeling dejected and deprived of their basic rights, resulting in, among other things, stress and dissatisfaction. To understand and explore their life satisfaction, their plight needs to be addressed. Here, I present the findings from a qualitative study conducted in the Kohat district, involving the selection and interview of 27 participants, comprising 14 Christians, seven Hindus, and six Sikhs. Participants representing three different religious groups were purposively selected and interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Participants of the study included religious scholars, social activists, employees, and political representatives from these religious minorities. A thematic approach was used for data analysis, which comprises coding, categories, and thematic coding. The emerged categories were prioritized and then allocated names, each beginning with the letter “P”, under one thematic code namely, the “7P’s of life satisfaction”.

Operationalizing intersectionality as a framework in qualitative grief research

The field of thanatology emphasizes understanding grief as situated within social contexts. Yet, existing research largely examines individual experiences, neglecting to critically examine the role that sociocultural systems and forms of oppression play in how people grieve. In this manuscript, we use the social constructionist model of grief as an epistemological stepping stone to operationalize intersectionality as a framework to engage in this critical qualitative research. We provide an overview of the research process implementing an intersectional framework, including examples of research questions and procedures throughout, and discuss implications for helping praxis and education and future scholarship.

The public salience of crime, 1960–2014: Age–period–cohort and time–series analyses†

AbstractThe public salience of crime has wide‐ranging political and social implications; it influences public trust in the government and citizens’ everyday routines and interactions, and it may affect policy responsiveness to punitive attitudes. Identifying the sources of crime salience is thus important. Two competing theoretical models exist: the objectivist model and the social constructionist model. According to the first, crime salience is a function of the crime rate. According to the second, crime salience is a function of media coverage and political rhetoric, and trends in crime salience differ across population subgroups as a result of differences in their responsiveness to elite initiatives. In both theories, period‐level effects predominate. Variation in crime salience, however, may also reflect age and cohort effects. Using data from 422,504 respondents interviewed between 1960 and 2014, we first examine the nature of crime salience using hierarchical age–period–cohort (HAPC) models and then analyze period‐level predictors using first differences. We find that 1) crime salience varies mostly at the period level; 2) crime salience trends are parallel (cointegrated) across demographic, socioeconomic, and partisan groups; and 3) crime salience trends within every population subgroup are most consistent with the constructionist model. The crime rate does not exert a significant effect in any subgroup.

A university supported social constructivist model of professional development

ABSTRACT The number of children diagnosed with autism both nationally and internationally is increasing dramatically. Development of social-communication abilities is a major difficulty for those on the Autism Spectrum (AS). Research highlights the positive impact of supporting parents to adopt facilitative communication strategies when interacting with their children on the AS. However, there is a paucity of research exploring the impact of enhancing knowledge and use of such strategies in schools. In response to this, a social constructivist model of professional development (PD) was developed and evaluated using a multiple case study of five different autism-specific classrooms in the Republic of Ireland. Findings indicate that the interactions within the classrooms changed, the adults’ communication became mainly facilitative, the duration of positive shared engagement increased significantly, and the pupils’ rate of communication increased, particularly their initiations. The More Knowledgeable Other (the first author) played a pivotal role in supporting the adults’ active engagement in the learning through facilitation and incorporation of learning activities. This article argues for a model of PD in which the participants are actively engaged in learning activities that require them to implement the content, and to reflect and problem solve both individually and within a group.

The Experience of Belonging in Youth from Refugee Backgrounds: A Narrative Perspective

To gain a qualitative understanding of belonging as reflected in the experience of newly resettled young people from refugee backgrounds. Drawing upon a narrative perspective premised on a postmodern social constructivist model, the study is based on the understanding that belonging is a constructed experience, with multiple possibilities of the nature of belonging. Interviews were conducted with 30 students and their parents using a digital storytelling research approach. The interview data was transcribed and explicated using a thematic narrative analyses process, aiming at explicating the participants’ experience of belonging. Parent data was used to supplement students’ accounts. Five themes emerged and are explicated: connection to a larger entity; experience of immersion; experience of connection (and disconnection); sense of identity; and instrumental outcomes. A sense of belonging emerged as a multi-faceted and nuanced experience, negotiated in a social space by refugee youth in ways that best enable them to make sense of their experiences. Youth from refugee backgrounds seek coherence in their narratives of belonging, which are characterised as being highly relational. From a narrative co-constructivist perspective, narrations of belonging reflect the roles of both youth and their significant others in a process of collaborative meaning making. The findings may inform future research targeting refugee youth resettlement and adaptation wellbeing.

Mobile Technologies as a Catalyst for Pedagogic Innovation Within Teacher Education

This article reviews the use of mobile technologies within teacher education at the University of Northampton. In order to develop a strong commitment to digital literacy, the School of Education is using sets of teaching iPads with trainee teachers and has allocated an iPad to every member of the academic staff. Experiences from mobile technology projects involving ITT students, primary teachers and academics are shared to illustrate how mobile technologies have been a catalyst for new pedagogies based on a social constructivist model of learning in the teacher education programmes. The author aims to develop creative, self-directed learners who can work in collaborative teams within a professional community of teachers, academics and students. The author has considered ways in which mobile devices extend learning beyond taught sessions, and how the use of apps to make shareable digital artefacts can lead to purposeful engagement. To this end, the School of Education is focusing on a set of core apps that facilitate the creation, collaboration, curation, and capture of content.

How the “Non-duped” Pass

Abstract This essay responds to Slavoj Žižek's recent criticism of trans activism by arguing for an understanding of gendered recognition within the symbolic-social realm that goes beyond acknowledgment and acceptance of diverse gender identities without requiring the presumption of any biological or physical essence of gender. This model is defended through a review of social constructionist and psychoanalytic models of perception and gender attribution, and illustrated through examples drawn from ChaosLife and Eve's Apple—two Web comics by and about transgender people.

Online feminist practice, participatory activism and public policies against gender-based violence in Spain

This article presents and reflects upon the results of a survey involving a sample of women who have experienced gender-based violence and who have turned to an institutional centre to tackle their situation. In aiming to move beyond a descriptive treatment, we consider the plurality of user types and their remote use patterns in relation to the resources offered by virtual feminist communities designed to promote increased sociopolitical mobilisation in the fight against violence against women. We will observe the progressive emergence of protest actions organised by Spanish virtual feminist communities, which make use of new technologies to contribute productively to the debate and to political action in innovative organisations and formats. The article discusses how feminist virtual communities are using digital spaces for their work combatting violence against women, and whether this work is apparent to those who experience this violence. Finally, we tackle the implications of this work for online feminist activism in terms of a more interactive and social constructivist model of activism, as well as considering its relationship to institutional-legal discourse and public policies that require women to recognise themselves as victims.

A Social Constructionist Model of Therapeutic Factors

Evidentiary support for the efficacy of therapeutic models has been a contentious issue since the professionalization of psychology. Despite advances in evidence-based practices in psychology and common factors research, discontent still exists among postmodern psychotherapists in that evidence is mainly defined in modernist/positivistic terms, thereby excluding therapeutic models based on alternative nonpositivistic epistemologies. I proposes a model, which is based on social constructionist theories, for investigating the therapeutic efficacy of various approaches. This article evaluates and differentiates between two models for viewing the efficacy of psychotherapy, namely outcome versus process efficacy. A social constructionist model of therapeutic factors is proposed as a means to incorporate therapeutic factors into psychotherapy processes that are consistent with a social constructionist theory of change. Three main therapeutic elements, which are identified as central to an effective psychotherapy process, are outlined in the model. The proposed model may be useful as a guide to efficacious psychotherapy and as a means for investigating the efficacy of social constructionist therapies.

'When you write you are not expected to come from your home': Analysing 'fateful moments' as a reclaiming of 'self' in historically white university

Dismal graduation rates amongst black South African university students indicate high levels of academic unpreparedness. Socio-economic circumstances have been cited as core contributing factors in this regard. Adopting a sociological perspective, I argue that not enough attention is given to the emotional trauma experienced by first generation black working class students transitioning into historically white universities. This trauma often translates into an existential crisis where the search for a new sense of self emerges. This article has been developed from my PhD thesis, and describes the struggles accompanying a black student’s search for an authentic sense of identity and acceptance. Drawing on a social constructionist model of identity formation, I locate Giddens’ (1991) concept of ‘fateful moments’ as an effective tool for developing deeper insights into black students’ perceptions of self. In doing so, I highlight the sensitivities surrounding these students’ academic performance. In concluding, I underscore the strong interconnections between a strong sense of self, feeling at ‘home’ within the institution, and academic success.

The Contextual Specificity of Gender: Femininity and Masculinity in College Students’ Same- and Other-Gender Peer Contexts

Social constructivist models of gender suggest that gendered attitudes and behaviors, such as femininity and masculinity, are context-dependent (Deaux and Major 1987). If this is the case, femininity and masculinity may be better conceptualized as variable states rather than as stable traits. In the present study, we used Ecological Momentary Assessment to investigate variations in femininity and masculinity according to the gender of peers in female and male college students’ real-life social contexts. Cisgender participants were recruited from a small liberal arts college in the northeastern region of the United States. Sixteen female and 11 male college students (M age = 20) contributed 448 reports documenting their social context and femininity and masculinity over a 2-week period. We found that men reported greater femininity on a momentary version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) when they were with women in comparison to when they were with men. We also found that both women and men reported greater masculinity on a momentary version of the BSRI when they were with men in comparison to when they were with women. Our findings lend empirical support to social constructivist models of gender and highlight the importance of investigating how interpersonal contexts contribute to gender-typed attitudes and behaviors.