Variety Of Professional Contexts Research Articles

Facilitating sensitive disclosures by building rapport: the sensitive topic paradigm*

ABSTRACT Investigative interviews are critical to both the investigative process and its subsequent outcome. It is not uncommon, however, for interviewees to be reluctant to disclose all that they can remember due to negative feelings (e.g. shame, embarrassment). To overcome such feelings and facilitate detailed disclosures, researchers and practitioners across a variety of professional contexts have advocated for the use of rapport building. There exists little research, however, where rapport building has been experimentally evaluated within an ecologically valid paradigm. Within the current study, participants underwent an interview regarding a topic that we be believed to be inherently uncomfortable to discuss (i.e. details of their self-pleasuring behaviours) and were questioned using either a Rapport or No Rapport approach. Across N = 39 participants, results indicated (1) the outlined paradigm may be an effective method of examining interviewing tactics in an ecologically valid manner and (2) establishing rapport is an effective method of overcoming feelings of discomfort and facilitating disclosures. Practical and theoretical implications, as well as potential next steps are discussed.

Editorial

The first Applied Theatre Research edition of 2023 once again revels in the diversity of our field. It offers contributions from several geographic locations: Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada, with work in a variety of professional contexts: community theatre, education, social services and theatre in education. The projects involved canvass several social contexts, from the stigma associated with gambling and poverty to issues related to social media and mental health, and to a discussion of the importance of place and our environment. This edition also traverses a wide field of ideas.

The emotional labor of physical education teachers in ‘difficult contexts’: an inductive analysis of the most significant moments of their career

ABSTRACT Introduction Originally, the concept of emotional labor comes from the sociological work of Hochschild (1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley: The University of California Press). In recent decades, it has also been defined in approaches of a more psychological nature within a variety of professional contexts. However, the emotional labor of teachers has been the subject of only a limited number of studies, especially in Physical Education (PE). It is essential to better understand the forms and inducers of teachers' emotional labor in this context. PE in ‘difficult' teaching contexts particularly can test teachers' emotions. This article aims to analyze the forms and inducers of PE teachers' emotional labor in ‘difficult’ contexts, during the most significant moments of their career, according to an inductive situated psychological approach. Method 61 PE teachers working in ‘difficult’ French classrooms agreed to participate in this research. Using the critical incident method, we asked these teachers to tell us about the most significant moments of their career in this context. The 203 critical incidents collected were inductively analyzed, according to a ‘grounded theory’ approach, in five stages. Processing data in this way allowed us to identify the forms and inducers of the teachers’ emotional labor in each critical incident collected. Results Four forms of emotional labor were identified through the analysis. Two of them refer to an active position (n = 116; 57.1%): ‘To master the negative emotions generated by an unpleasant situation’ and ‘To master the positive emotions generated by a pleasant situation’. The remaining two categories relate to a passive position (n = 87; 42.9%): ‘To feel and express the positive emotions generated by a pleasant situation’ and ‘To feel and express the positive emotions emerging from an unpleasant situation’. The inducers of the teachers’ emotional labor were mostly negative (n = 106; 44.9%) and can be divided into six categories (including that of ‘Student violence against the teacher’). Conversely, three categories of positive inducers were also identified (n = 130; 55.1%), especially that of the ‘Quality of human relations within the school’. The relationship between the forms and inducers of the teachers’ emotional labor revealed that the active forms emerged from negative inducers and that the passive forms were related to positive inducers. Discussion and conclusions The emotional labor of PE teachers in ‘difficult’ contexts mainly consists in mastering negative emotions in situations that are sometimes very risky. These situations are mostly linked to student violence, social difficulties, and disruption. However, our results also highlight the fact that PE teaching in ‘difficult’ contexts should not be viewed solely as negative. Teachers also experience significant positive emotions, which refer to the passive forms of emotional labor. These positive emotions are moreover intense since the teachers have previously experienced difficulties in this context. They are mainly linked to the quality of human relations within these schools.

“Lifelong learning Ecologies: Linking formal and informal contexts of learning in the digital era”

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss articles in the issue on topics including lifelong learning, informal education and social media in education.

BUILDING BETTER LAW: HOW DESIGN THINKING CAN HELP US BE BETTER LAWYERS, MEET NEW CHALLENGES, AND CREATE THE FUTURE OF LAW

The legal profession faces increasing challenges to the relevance, utility, and acceptance of law and the rule of law as tools of social organization that are important and essential to human beings. Often the issues which challenge law and legal systems seem perennial, obstinate, and intractable. In order to remain relevant to the societies it serves, the law needs to innovate. We need to find new ways of thinking about law as a human designed and deliberate system of social organization. In this context, adopting an innovation mindset is an important starting point. “Design thinking” offers us a description and practice of an innovation mindset that can be and is employed in a variety of professional contexts. This article is an introduction to design thinking, its challenges, and its possibilities for law. It postulates that in fact design thinking as a concept and as a set of techniques is particularly well suited for use in law, and that we actually employ many of its techniques already. The article argues that by bringing these techniques into sharper focus, we can both recognize how we are in some ways using them already, and more importantly, how they can be deployed in even more useful and innovative ways to “build better law” at all scales of the legal endeavour, from individual service to legal systems.

The Concerned Mental Health Practitioner

Summary A discussion is provided regarding a fundamental principle of psychology, a concern for other's welfare, as set out in the American Psychological Association's (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Although the principle concern for others' welfare is essentially aspirational in nature, this is an ethical principle that is at the core of the mental health professions' stated values, and that must be positively put into operation in a variety of professional contexts. Unlike so much else in professional ethics codes that involves injunctions of what not to do, or which attempts to limit the self-serving tendencies of professionals, this general principle is essentially positive, pointing to the need to approach others and to consider their welfare first.

The Challenge of Inclusion: Reconsidering Alternative Approaches to Teaching and Research

One underlying theme in the speeches presented by Paula Pomerenke (Outstanding Teacher), Priscilla Rogers (Outstanding Researcher), and Gail Fann Thomas (Respondent) at the ABC 2000 Convention in Atlanta is the need to listen to alternative voices in our discipline, to acknowledge our shared interests and histories while making room for approaches to teaching and research. All three speakers recognize the importance of devising a common umbrella under which scholars and practitioners of communication can meet, discuss our particular professional and institutional successes and challenges, and formulate together the future of communication as a rich and necessary discipline. Yet, each also suggests that have not gone far enough in opening this umbrella to individuals in our profession who bring alternative perspectives to pedagogy and scholarship and who might therefore help both in tackling our discipline's problems and in bringing a renewed vitality to our work. Pomerenke (2001), for instance, calls ABC members to build and strengthen relationships with practitioners, and to consider the two-way conversation between academics and practitioners that will reenergize communication theories and practices in both sectors. Rogers (2001) discusses the dual processes of convergence and commonality in our discipline, suggesting that can encourage diversity in communication scholarship, in particular, if keep our eyes on the common goal of providing practical knowledge that can enhance the communication effectiveness of all kinds of organizational stakeholders, particularly related to business (p. 21). According to Rogers, the topical streams and recurring themes in our conference programs and journals (p. 20) are evidence of our disciplinary commitment to improved interactions in the corporate sector and serve as a reminder that intellectual tensions (p. 16) between individuals who espouse varied ideological and methodological perspectives might be overcome as work towards fulfilling this commitment. And Thomas (2001) effectively reinforces the idea that diversity need not lead to splits in our discipline; rather, the varied aspects of our work (e.g., teaching and research, positivism and interpretive studies) might be viewed as two side of the same [business communication] coin (p. 24). The message that I took away from these speeches was one of inclusion and tolerance, a message that is both inspiring and encouraging to scholars and teachers in our profession who desire to take pedagogical and methodological risks and to challenge the boundaries of our discipline. Later during the conference, I attended a panel discussion focusing on qualitative research methods and theories and was heartened by the continued tone of inclusion of alternative perspectives (including such interdisciplinary emphases as rhetorical studies and social theory, narrative theory, cultural studies, and discourse theory). Yet, at the close of the session, several audience members raised their hands to express concern about merging some of the new approaches discussed with we do as teachers of communication courses in schools and English departments, as consultants for real organizations, and as researchers situated in a variety of professional contexts. I do not want to suggest that there was a lack of interest or enthusiasm on the part of all audience members for the methods and theories offered by panelists. But as left the room, I sensed that the overwhelming response was something to the effect of what interesting ideas ... too bad can't try them out given the places where work, the people with whom work, and the students whom teach. Throughout the remainder of this response, I want to focus on just one example of a disciplinary interest represented by the panelists, cultural studies (Rentz, 2000), and discuss its (perhaps unnecessary) exclusion from our scholarship and teaching interests. …

Communication Skills Training: Management Manipulation or Personal Development?

In a recent edition of Human Relations, Elmes and Costello (1992) reported the results of their observations of a communication skills training (CST) workshop. Their paper examined this approach to training from a dramaturgical perspective and argued that CST could be considered as an inherently manipulative means of strengthening management control within organizations. Given that there has been an explosive growth of interest in CST as a means of furthering personal development, in a variety of professional contexts, the present paper addresses the concerns raised by Elmes and Costello, by examining some of the central issues associated with this approach to training. Research evidence is reviewed which suggests that CST is an effective training medium which can be a positive force for strengthening relationships within the work environment. CST as a means of furthering behavioral change is examine in the light of the Elmes and Costello critique. Finally, the implications of these issues for the management of relationships at work are considered.