Social Learning Opportunities Research Articles

Deliberative multi-actor dialogues as opportunities for transformative social learning and conflict resolution in international environmental negotiations

The format for formal international negotiations on environment and development sometimes prevents negotiators from truly listening to each other and adapt pre-existing positions to realize constructive conflict resolution. In this paper we present and analyse “Multi-Actor Dialogue Seminars” (MADS) as an approach to contribute to transformative social learning and conflict resolution, and the contribution to tangible and intangible outcomes in formal negotiations. Unlike negotiations, the objective of MADS is not to agree on a text, but to identify areas of agreement and disagreement, build trust and understanding and identify policy options that are tailored to different cultural-political and value systems. As a case study we use the breakdown of the negotiations at the formal Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference in 2010 regarding “innovative financial mechanisms,” and subsequent two international Quito Dialogues using the MADS approach. Through a composite of methods this article reveals the effects of the Quito Dialogues on formal CBD negotiations. The Quito Dialogues contributed to bringing actors out of their deadlock and thereby paving the way for constructive results in the formal CBD negotiations, evident by references in CBD Decisions adopted by 196 CBD Parties. We discuss key design and implementation factors which were decisive for these effects including the importance of a bridging organization, trust building, exploration of both convergences and divergences, involvement of participants with diverse and conflicting views early in the planning, promotion of active listening and addressing diverse knowledge systems and power asymmetries.

Researcher–Planner Dialogue on Environmental Justice and Its Knowledges—A Means to Encourage Social Learning Towards Sustainability

Societies aiming for a sustainable future need more effective and legitimate planning and decision making practices, in which various actors together find pathways towards a sustainable transition. In this paper, we approach sustainability and environmental justice as epistemological (and ontological) challenges for land-use planning, and empirically analyse how action research could support planners’ social learning and planning towards fair and sustainable development. We analysed qualitatively the evolution of the researcher–planner dialogue while co-designing and developing better methods, means and practices to improve environmental justice in regional scale planning in Kymenlaakso Region, South-East Finland. We found that researcher-planner dialogue developed during cooperation. While in the beginning, social learning related to approaching environmental justice as a fair distribution of power evolved incrementally, later, when dialogue became more focused, communicative and reflective as an outcome of mutual frames and trust, learning occurred in a more transformative way. Such transformative learning concerned recognising youth as a silent group in the planning process and the means to involve their perceptions in planning. In order to support sustainability transformation in the future, we conclude that it is essential to create opportunities for such incremental and transformative social learning through innovative modes of interaction in various contexts.

Maternal influences on primate social development

Primate mothers have the potential to influence the development of species-typical aspects of their offspring’s behavior as well as their individual sociosexual and reproductive strategies. If mothers experience psychosocial stress during pregnancy or lactation, their own stress hormones can have a long-term impact on their offspring’s physiology. The mother’s own behavior, especially weaning-related rejection, can be stressful to infants and have long-lasting effects on their infants’ neuroendocrine reactivity to stress. Exposure to variable maternal style early in life has long-term effects on the development of offspring behavior, including exploration and play, affiliation and aggression, and parenting. Primate mothers influence the kinship- and rank-related social preferences of their offspring, typically by providing opportunities to interact with some individuals more than others. Although mothers can contribute to the development of sex-typical behavior in the offspring (along with other environmental and genetic factors), sex-typical behavior is generally not the product of maternal socialization. Mothers provide their offspring with opportunities for social learning but rarely teach their infants new skills. In primate species with despotic dominance hierarchies, maternal transmission of rank through agonistic aid to their offspring makes a crucial contribution to the offspring’s fitness (as the daughters of high-ranking mothers reproduce more successfully than the daughters of low-ranking mothers). Future studies of maternal influences on social development could benefit from a deeper theoretical and experimental investigation of the evolutionary significance of these effects as well as of their underlying proximate mechanisms.

Social Learning Through Structured Exercise for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Increased participation in structured exercise (SE) routines has positive effects on physiological, cognitive, and social development (SD) for students of all ages and abilities. SE offers unique opportunities for social learning in a non-academic context. SE allows students to practice vital social skills such as observation, imitation, and self-regulation. Unfortunately, SD during SE is often overshadowed by more commonly known physiological benefits. Researchers of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are encouraged by SE findings which offer alternative methods for learning social skills the students struggle to develop. Examining the social impact of increased SE for these students bolsters the value of SE findings beyond physiological effects, illuminating the complex, often overlooked positive relationship between SD and exercise for students with ASD.

Socially creative activities in Psychologically Informed Planned Environments: engaging and relating in the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway

PurposeMajor developments in the management of and intervention for people with significant personality difficulties who have offended are continuing, most recently with the implementation of the Offender Personality Disorder (Department of Health/National Offender Management Service (DoH/NOMS), 2011) Pathway. Included in this, is the Psychologically Informed Planned Environment model, currently being implemented in Prisons and Probation Approved Premises. This model includes the provision of “socially creative activities” (Benefield et al., 2018), opportunities for social learning and relationship building. The purpose of this paper is to explore the rationale for and examples of the implementation of these.Design/methodology/approachThe paper offers a narrative review of research around child development, personality, social learning and the policy context around the OPD Pathway. An overview of the socially creative sessions and a rationale for them is provided.FindingsA conceptual understanding of the rationale for socially creative sessions is provided with a description of the sessions that focussed upon development of imagination, narrative/story making, social expression and relational experiences, i.e. singing, drama and reading with others. It is argued that the activities offered opportunities to engage in a different medium for expression, learning and relating, that may provide a catalyst for change in individuals with entrenched motivational and interpersonal difficulties.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a conceptual paper that provides a rationale for socially creative sessions and describes the sessions. This paper does not feature outcome data which are outside the remit of this paper; however, future research into the impact of this approach to aid relational development and assist in emotional and behavioural stability is essential.Practical implicationsThe complex needs of this client group emphasise the need for services to offer holistic ways to engage people who can have a positive impact upon relationships.Originality/valueThe work presented in this paper is valuable for professionals working within the personality disorder and criminal justice field, also for policy makers and commissioners.

Rediscovering connections between animal welfare and human welfare: Creating social work internships at a humane society

Summary Within a narrative of how two distinct graduate social work internship placements at a humane society were structured and implemented, we address: (1) historic and contemporary rationales for social work roles in humane society settings, (2) development of social work field placements in a humane society, and (3) specific social work learning opportunities afforded. Findings The first petition for removal of a child due to abuse in the United States occurred in 1874 through efforts of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals director. While child protection services have evolved since then, numerous aspects of human–animal interaction are relevant to social work: social support roles of animals, connections between violence toward animals and violence toward humans, therapeutic benefits of animals, companion animal loss, and compassion fatigue among animal shelter and veterinary staff. Encompassing such HAI aspects, we describe the development of two distinct internship placements at a humane society. One placement entailed a twofold focus on: reduction of staff compassion fatigue and development of an Emotional Support Animal placement program (the Hope and Recovery Pet Program); the other placement focused on aspects of the connection between violence toward animals and violence toward people. Applications Aspects of these social work placements can be modified and replicated in humane societies and related settings. Increased awareness of the potential relevance of human–animal interaction across social work practice settings allows for explicit identification of/response to clients’ human–animal interaction-related strengths and concerns, ultimately supporting the well-being of both humans and animals.

Evaluating the impact of a falls prevention community of practice in a residential aged care setting: a realist approach

BackgroundFalls are a major socio-economic problem among residential aged care (RAC) populations resulting in high rates of injury including hip fracture. Guidelines recommend that multifactorial prevention strategies are implemented but these require translation into clinical practice. A community of practice (CoP) was selected as a suitable model to support translation of the best available evidence into practice, as it could bring together like-minded people with falls expertise and local clinical knowledge providing a social learning opportunity in the pursuit of a common goal; falls prevention. The aims of this study were to evaluate the impact of a falls prevention CoP on its membership; actions at facility level; and actions at organisation level in translating falls prevention evidence into practice.MethodsA convergent, parallel mixed methods evaluation design based on a realist approach using surveys, audits, observations and semi-structured interviews. Participants were 20 interdisciplinary staff nominating as CoP members between Nov 2013-Nov 2015 representing 13 facilities (approximately 780 beds) of a RAC organisation. The impact of the CoP was evaluated at three levels to identify how the CoP influenced the observed outcomes in the varying contexts of its membership (level i.), the RAC facility (level ii.) and RAC organisation (level iii.).ResultsStaff participating as CoP members gained knowledge and awareness in falls prevention (p < 0.001) through connecting and sharing. Strategies prioritised and addressed at RAC facility level culminated in an increase in the proportion of residents supplemented with vitamin D (p = 0.002) and development of falls prevention education. At organisation level a falls policy reflecting preventative evidence-based guidelines and a new falls risk assessment procedure with aligned management plans were written, modified and implemented. A key disenabling mechanism identified by CoP members was limited time to engage in translation of evidence into practice whilst enabling mechanisms included proactive behaviours by staff and management.ConclusionsInterdisciplinary staff participating in a falls prevention CoP gained connectivity and knowledge and were able to facilitate the translation of falls prevention evidence into practice in the context of their RAC facility and RAC organisation. Support from RAC organisational and facility management to make the necessary investment in staff time to enable change in falls prevention practice is essential for success.

The Impact of Family Adjustment in Expatriate Success

Family adjustment to a new country plays a significant role in expatriate success. This paper investigates the reasons behind expatriate failure relative to personal characteristics of partner, family characteristics, and cultural distance. The authors discuss family related issues and contribute to the better understanding on the problems that cause expatriate failure through identity theory and investigate how organizations could support the expatriate experience by taking into consideration the role of the spouse and family, along with cultural distance to the expatriate destination. There are only a few studies that link experiences of expatriate family and partner to international assignment success. We add to this research by examining the spouse and family adjustment process through the use of identity theory. We provide guidelines on the impact of family adjustment in expatriation literature to help organizations better equip both the expatriate employee and their family with sufficient cross-cultural training and social learning opportunities. Our contribution provides a level of analysis on determining expatriation success factors and guiding organizations in facilitating the cultural adjustment of expatriates and their families. The paper provides implications to industry and practice on key success factors needed to reduce failure.

The effects of sociability on exploratory tendency and innovation repertoires in wild Sumatran and Bornean orangutans

It has been hypothesized that opportunities for social learning affect the size and complexity of the adult skill set of birds and mammals, their learning ability, and thus ultimately also their innovation frequency. To test these predictions we compared rates of social learning, rates of independent exploration (independent learning) and innovation repertoires between individuals of a highly sociable population of Pongo abelii at Suaq Balimbing and a less sociable population of Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii at Tuanan. Suaq immatures showed significantly higher rates of peering, even after controlling for differences in association time and diet complexity, implying that they make disproportionally greater use of their increased opportunities for social learning. As predicted, we found that immatures and adults at Suaq also showed significantly higher rates of exploratory behaviour. The difference between the individuals of the two popuations remained when controlling for association time, suggesting persistent developmental effects, intrinsic differences, or both. Accordingly, Suaq animals had a larger set of learned skills and a higher mean dietary complexity. Our findings show that population level sociability, individual rates of exploration and population-wide repertoires of innovations are positively linked, as predicted.

Mapping a sustainable future: Community learning in dialogue at the science–society interface

In 2015, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) announced that the Science Year 2015 would focus on the “City of the Future”. It called for innovative projects from cities and communities in Germany dedicated to exploring future options and scenarios for sustainable development. Among the successful respondents was the city of Luneburg, located in the north of Germany, which was awarded funding to establish a community learning project to envision a sustainable future (“City of the Future Luneburg 2030+”). What made Luneburg’s approach unique was that the city itself initiated the project and invited a broad range of stakeholders to participate in a community learning process for sustainable development. The authors of this article use the project as a blueprint for sustainable city development. Presenting a reflexive case study, they report on the process and outcomes of the project and investigate community learning processes amongst different stakeholders as an opportunity for transformative social learning. They discuss outputs and outcomes (intended as well as unintended) in relation to the specific starting points of the project to provide a context-sensitive yet rich narrative of the case and to overcome typical criticisms of case studies in the field.

Identifying path-breaking transitions for Kenya’s marginalised communities in water and sanitation provision

PurposeThis paper aims to illustrate relationships between stakeholders in the conceptualisation and implementation of water and sanitation services (WSS) projects in marginalised settings of Nairobi and Kiambu Counties. It outlines these relationships in a flow diagram that shows a pathway analysis in which social innovation strategies are used as markers in the program of inclusive water provision. The study’s objective is to map the processes of social innovation in an effort to highlight the role of marginalised communities in their access to the right to water.Design/methodology/approachThe paper approached the study using a case study design, and thereafter, constructivist grounded theory was used to further delve into the comparative cases. To map the processes of social innovation, the case study design was seen to be appropriate, as it sequenced activities in a time-series analysis. From these two case studies, four comparative cases were used to pinpoint path-breaking transition in the pathway analysis. The methods used in both phases were, namely, in-depth interviews, observations and document analysis, and these were complemented by field notes.FindingsThe paper indicates an opportunity to use emergent patterns for a more context-specific analysis of WSS projects in marginalised communities. It advances the role of marginalised communities as vital stakeholders in the approach described as “the right to the city”. The model of spatial appropriation brings to the fore the binary yet separate processes that stakeholders engage in.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the use of a grounded theory model, the results may not be transferable to other contexts. Therefore, further testing of the proposed pathway analysis and model is encouraged, as this model suggests ways of ensuring full community engagement which would result in greater success in projects involving marginalised communities.Practical implicationsThe paper has implications for both the government and communities, in that more deliberate roles for the community-based organisation in the conceptualisation of WSS projects can lead to social learning opportunities for government institutions and greater success in implementation.Originality/valueThe paper justifies the need for government institutions to map and evaluate WSS projects using emergent patterns to highlight the role of marginalised communities as their right to the city.

Predictors and Implications of Synthetic Drug Use Among Adolescents in the Gambling Capital of China

Synthetic drug abuse has become an increasingly serious problem among adolescents in Macao, the world’s largest gambling market and the only legal gambling place in China. To counteract this trend, a good understanding of the culturally relevant risk factors for this behavior is required. Based on social learning theory and opportunity perspective of deviance, logistic regression analysis was performed on a probability sample of 8,076 Macao students collected in 2014 to investigate whether delinquent peer association, recreational use of time with friends, attitudes toward drug use, and the availability of synthetic drugs are significant predictors of synthetic drug use among adolescents. The analyses revealed that students who had more drug-using peers, perceived drug use to be less harmful, and had easier access to synthetic drugs were more likely to use drugs. The findings indicate that preventing synthetic drug use among adolescents should target individual risk factors and the availability of drugs.

Direct Impacts of an Urban Living Lab from the Participants’ Perspective: Livewell Yarra

Urban living labs have emerged as transition arenas for undertaking process-oriented and reflexive experiments in the multi-stakeholder governance of sustainability. This paper evaluates Livewell Yarra, an urban living lab in Melbourne, Australia, that brought together academic researchers and community actors to engage in experiments for low-carbon living. This paper evaluates transition team experiments in governance of the lab itself and community experiments in carbon reduction that took place in people’s homes and small group settings known as decarb groups. This paper’s primary research question is: what are the direct impacts of urban living lab experiments from the participants’ perspective? The research methods utilised include action research, asset-based community development, participatory co-design and most significant change research. This paper evaluates experiments in low-carbon living through data collected via stories of change from participant interviews. The results indicate that experiments in urban living labs create opportunities for social learning and empowerment, but also raise issues of leadership and ownership of transition governance. The findings suggest that Livewell Yarra could have benefited from clearer agenda setting and continuous monitoring to feedback results. The paper concludes by suggesting future research directions that utilise the operational processes of transition management to support experiments in urban living labs.

Connecting brawn, brains, and people: an exploration of non-traditional outcomes of youth stewardship programs

Programs in which youth work collectively on an environmental stewardship project may provide social learning opportunities that support social-ecological system resilience and the development of social ties. However, few empirical investigations document the social learning processes that actually occur in these programs. This paper presents a multi-case study ethnography of six summer youth civic ecology education programs. Methods included participant observation, interviews, and group mind-mapping. The results suggest that programs offered moderate social learning contexts, with participants having little say over the direction and design of the program’s environmental stewardship goals. Nevertheless, participants worked together and collaborated on projects led by program leaders, with whom they developed strong ties. In programs focused on a single issue in one place, participants shifted their conceptual frames to include locally relevant concepts. While participants did not form strong ties with other program participants or with individuals from outside programs, they valued experiences where they led volunteers or were observed by others doing stewardship work. These results suggest that environmental stewardship programs can be designed to enhance social learning opportunities, which could incorporate strategies to increase youth developing ties with each other and with outside organizations.

Educational tourism in agriculture and identity of farm successors

Although farm visiting is gaining popularity as a type of experience-oriented tourism, the economic viability of this emerging service has not been fully established. To make it viable, it is not enough to approach educational tourism solely from a technical viewpoint, we also need to approach it from the aspect of the operator’s identity, a factor that has not been addressed fully in the arena of either rural tourism or tourism economics. Thus, by presenting a conceptual economic framework that explains the connection between a farmer’s identity and the level of diversified activity including tourism, this article has evaluated, based on a questionnaire survey of next-generation successors working on-farm at Educational Dairy Farms in Japan, the hypothesis that those farmers who have enlarged their identity will be able to successfully develop diversified activities. The results clarify factors that lead to enlarged identity, including formation of both a wider perspective and more extensive human networks from social learning opportunities, and female initiative within the activity. In this context, the issue of identity formation should be properly positioned in the field of innovation-oriented capability building of farm management.

Facilitating communities of practice as social learning systems: a case study of trialling sustainable sanitation at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

While social learning is advocated as critical for inducing large-scale shifts toward sustainability, methodological issues associated with designing the opportunities for social learning or guidelines for practitioners seeking to facilitate such learning in cross-disciplinary teams working on sustainability-oriented projects are lacking. This paper draws on a two-year pilot project in Sydney, in which government, industry and academic partners collaborated to learn about the development potential of urine diversion (UD) systems in practice. The concept of ‘Communities of Practice’ was used to identify inherent challenges and opportunities for social learning. An outcome of the project has been the identification of overarching principles for designing opportunities for social learning in such projects, particularly the need (1) to facilitate community-oriented leadership, (2) to develop strategic exercises for collaborative engagement and (3) involvement of actors beyond the boundaries of the experiment to introduce novelty, diversity and cumulative learning opportunities.

Low heritability in tool use skills in a wild vulture population

Tool use is widespread among animals and has been under intense study due to its prominence in human society and evolution. A lack of detailed genetic information for wild populations has perpetuated assumptions regarding associations between individual differences in tool use and cognition and learning processes. However, captive birds and mammals can use tools in the absence of opportunities for social learning, indicating a genetic basis. Here, we used animal models and relatedness analysis to disentangle the role played by genetics and learning in tool use in an insular population of a long-lived vulture, Neophron percnopterus. Our results show a low heritability in this behaviour, perhaps because of the low variability observed among birds. However, not all individuals used stones to break eggs, and those that did so behaved consistently. Importantly, there was no evidence of learning at the timescale considered. Our results suggest that repeatability in tool use within individuals may indicate a link with some personality traits, with strong evolutionary and ecological consequences.

Sensory hypersensitivity predicts enhanced attention capture by faces in the early development of ASD

Sensory sensitivity is prevalent among young children with ASD, but its relation to social communication impairment is unclear. Recently, increased sensory hypersensitivity has been linked to greater activity of the neural salience network (Green et al., 2016). Increased neural sensitivity to stimuli, especially social stimuli, could provide greater opportunity for social learning and improved outcomes. Consistent with this framework, in Experiment 1 we found that parent report of greater sensory hypersensitivity at 2 years in toddlers with ASD (N = 27) was predictive of increased neural responsiveness to social stimuli (larger amplitude event-related potential/ERP responses to faces at P1, P400 and Nc) at 4 years, and this in turn was related to parent report of increased social approach at 4 years. In Experiment 2, parent report of increased perceptual sensitivity at 6 months in infants at low and high familial risk for ASD (N = 35) predicted larger ERP P1 amplitude to faces at 18 months. Increased sensory hypersensitivity in early development thus predicted greater attention capture by faces in later development, and this related to more optimal social behavioral development. Sensory hypersensitivity may index a child's ability to benefit from supportive environments during development. Early sensory symptoms may not always be developmentally problematic for individuals with ASD.

Student-led enterprise groups and entrepreneurial learning

This study considers the phenomenon of student-led enterprise groups in UK higher education institutions with regard to their role and activities and their potential to enhance entrepreneurial learning. The researchers adopted a case study methodology, acknowledging that a multiplicity of variables influences pedagogical development and therefore the findings are intended to further understanding rather than to produce generalizable data. The study’s findings both support and update those of prior studies which posit a link between the groups and opportunities for experiential and social learning. The article also provides a novel focus on learning outcomes for group leaders.

Overheating in retrofitted flats: occupant practices, learning and interventions

ABSTRACTThe overheating risk in flats (apartments) retrofitted to energy-efficient standards has been identified by previous studies as one that is particularly high. With climate change and rising mean temperatures this is a growing concern. There is a need to understand the kinds of practices, learning and interventions adopted by the occupants of individual homes to try to reduce overheating, as this area is poorly understood and under-researched. This case study focuses on the impact of different home-use practices in relation to the severity of overheating in 18 flats in one tower block in northern England. Internal temperatures monitored in comparable flats show that the percentage of time spent above the expected category II threshold of thermal comfort according to BS EN 15251 can differ by over 70%. Extensive monitoring, covering a full year, including two summer periods, has identified emergent changes in heatwave practices linked with increased home-use skills and understanding among the research participants. Close analysis of design intentions versus reality has identified key physical barriers and social learning opportunities for appropriate adaptation in relation to heatwaves. Recommendations for designers and policy-makers are highlighted in relation to these factors.