scholarly journals “They do treat us as a bit normal now”: Students’ experiences of liminality and communitas whilst volunteering on a sports-based outreach project

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 869-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hayton
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
North East ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Student Volunteers

Student volunteering during university has been widely championed for its purported benefits to both students and society alike. Internationally, universities have increasingly coupled student volunteering opportunities or embedded forms of service learning with sport-for-development programmes (SFD) as a means of contributing to strategic institutional objectives. However, there is a paucity of academic research that documents the social processes experienced by students as they converge with hard-to-reach client groups when volunteering on university-led SFD platforms. Therefore, and utilising data captured from semi-structured interviews ( n=40), this article explores the lived experiences of undergraduate students who volunteered on a sports-based community outreach project: the Sport Universities North East England (SUNEE) project. Largely run by student volunteers, the SUNEE project delivers a raft of sports-based and personal development programmes to hard-to-reach groups. This article utilises Victor Turner’s concepts of liminality and communitas to illustrate the processes of initiation and integration that confer both membership upon student volunteers and their legitimacy as leaders, when working with the hard-to-reach clientele on the project.

Ethnographic Service Learning: An Approach for Transformational Learning

Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie A. Medeiros ◽  
Jennifer Guzmán
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Transformational Learning ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Field Methods ◽  
The Social ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Transformational Experiences ◽  
Learning Projects

Trends in higher education pedagogy increasingly point to the importance of transformational experiences as the capstone of liberal arts education. Practitioners of ethnography, the quintessential transformational experience of the social sciences, are well-positioned to take the lead in designing courses and term projects that afford undergraduate students opportunities to fundamentally reshape their understanding of the social world and their own involvement within it. Furthermore, in the United States, colleges and universities have become proponents of service learning as a critical component of a holistic educational experience. In this article, we describe how service learning can be incorporated into training students in ethnographic field methods as a means to transformational learning and to give them skills they can use beyond the classroom in a longer trajectory of civic participation. We discuss strategies, opportunities, and challenges associated with incorporating service learning into courses and programs training students in ethnographic field methods and propose five key components for successful ethnographic service learning projects. We share student insights about the transformational value of their experiences as well as introduce some ethical concerns that arise in ethnographic service-learning projects.

scholarly journals The confidence delusion: A sociological exploration of participants’ confidence in sport-for-development

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-398
Author(s):  
David S Scott
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
The Body ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
Development Capacity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ethnographic Methodology ◽  
The Impact

Although sport is widely utilised as a tool for personal development, capacity building, and fostering peace, there are still numerous theoretical gaps in our knowledge about how sport influences individuals’ identities, and how this translates into their everyday lives. Within the academic literature there has been seemingly little focus placed upon participants’ emotional and embodied accounts of their sport-for-development (SfD) experiences. This paper uses phenomenologically-inspired theory to explore individuals’ lived experiences of a SfD course, and their descriptions of the social interactions and feelings of confidence they encountered, in order to address this lack of experiential data. An ethnographic methodology was used to collect data through four sports leadership course observations, and cyclical interviews over 4–10 months with eleven course attendees, plus individual interviews with five tutors. Participants’ understandings of their course experiences and the subsequent influence these understandings had on their lives were described through their use of the term confidence. A further phenomenological and sociological interrogation of this term enabled confidence to be seen as being experienced as a ‘frame’ and ‘through the body’ by participants. This study provides original conceptualisations of confidence in relation to participants’ SfD experiences, as well as important discussions regarding the role of emotions and embodiment in understanding the impact of SfD on participants’ everyday lives.

scholarly journals The Online Learning Environment: Creating a space for women learners?

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shushita Gokool-Ramdoo
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Social Spaces ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Distance Education ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Data ◽  
Online Distance

<P>This paper examines how online distance education acts to democratize access to, and suit the ontologies of, Mauritian women who seek to empower themselves for development. Data from semi-structured interviews of 30 middle class couples are presented in this paper. Interviews and analyses are premised on a feminist perspective and conducted within the social relations analysis framework. The objective of this research was to understand what types of supportive environments (social spaces) enable Mauritian women to engage in educational endeavours that promote their personal potentials and creativities which, in turn, advance democracy for all citizens of Mauritius. Husbands were also interviewed to provide ground for analysis and to decrease bias, which can be generated by women-only data. (1) Marriage/ family and (2) occupation, represent the ‘social spaces’ selected for this study. Discretion, degree of learner control, and the outreach capacity inherent in distance learning makes the online modality a natural choice to democratize women’s access to education. Based on interviewees’ experiences and perceptions, this study concludes that online learning can enhance and democratize women’s access to education for personal development – but only if the power relationships in the two ‘social spaces’ are well understood and well negotiated by these women. The findings in this paper shed light on the importance of understanding ‘learner spaces’ when establishing and setting-up open learning organisations. <BR> </P>

scholarly journals “They Need to Learn to Take It on the Chin”: Exploring the Emotional Labour of Student Volunteers in a Sports-Based Outreach Project in the North East of England

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Hayton
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Emotional Labour ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Student Volunteers ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Regulation Of Emotion ◽  
Feeling Rules

This research explores the emotional labour of university students whilst volunteering on the Sport Universities North East England (SUNEE) sports-based outreach project. Using data from semi-structured interviews with students (n = 40) this paper draws on the work of Arlie Hochschild (1983, 2012) to explore the feeling, display and regulation of emotion by this cohort of volunteers throughout their involvement on the SUNEE project. The findings suggest that students’ emotional labour is influenced by a variety of challenging attitudes and situations that they encounter when attempting to coach “hard to reach” groups. To perform such emotional labour, students often chose to transmute emotion, separating their actual emotions from their outward display to convey a demeanour necessitated by the perceived feeling rules of the coaching context.

Service Learning For Social Change: Raising Social Consciousness Among Sport Management Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Bush ◽  
Michael B. Edwards ◽  
Gareth J. Jones ◽  
Jessica L. Hook ◽  
Michael L. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Sport Management ◽  
Social Consciousness ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Issues ◽  
Management Students

Recently, scholars of sport management have called for more research aimed at understanding how sport can be leveraged for social change. This interest has contributed to a burgeoning paradigm of sport management research and practice developed around using sport as a catalyst for broader human and community development. In order for sport practitioners to successfully develop, implement, and sustain these programs, integration of development-based theory and concepts are needed in sport management curricula. Service learning is one pedagogical approach for achieving this objective, and is well suited for promoting social change practices among students. This study assesses how participation in a sport-for-development (SFD) service learning project impacted the social consciousness and critical perspectives of sport management students. Results suggest the experience raised student’s awareness of community issues, developed a more holistic perspective on the role of service, and influenced their future careers.

scholarly journals Students’ Engagement for Better Learning at a Lebanese Francophone University: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  
Lina Kadi ◽  
Dalal Moukarzel ◽  
Salim Daccache
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Faculty Interaction ◽  
Supportive Environment

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of student-faculty interaction, supportive environment, and effective teaching practices on students’ perceived learning gains at the Faculty of Science in a francophone university in Lebanon. Approach/Methodology/Design: This study used a mixed research method design, including semi-structured interviews with five administrators, and a student engagement survey based on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The sample consisted of one Dean, four Chairpersons, and two-hundred eighty-six undergraduate students. We conducted thematic analysis for the qualitative data obtained from interviews, and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis on the quantitative data obtained from the survey. Findings: The interview results with the dean and chairpersons revealed that having clear communication with students about their learning outcomes, offering a supportive environment and a structured advisory system were important elements to engage them in their learning experience. Findings from the students’ survey showed that clearly explaining course objectives and giving feedback on tests or homework are essential teaching practices that enhance students’ learning gains. Responses also showed the significant influence of a supportive environment measures on students’ academic and personal development, in particular, encouraging social interaction and helping students handle their non-academic responsibilities. Practical Implications: This study can be a reference for other Francophone universities that are not acquainted with the NSSE survey, widely used in Anglophone universities to promote student learning. It could contribute in reviewing the effectiveness of teaching practices, student-faculty interaction, or other academic and social support services. Originality/Value: This research paves the way for further research that could include other disciplines in the selected university or include other Francophone universities in Lebanon with emphasis on interactive teaching practices that effectively engage students in the University’s life.

Challenges for study abroad in contemporary Japan

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-174
Author(s):  
Dawn Grimes-MacLellan
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Social Discourse ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Japanese Students ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
Japanese Student ◽  
The Social

Abstract As the number of university students studying abroad has skyrocketed globally, waning Japanese participation stands in sharp contrast. What accounts for this decline? Drawing on ethnographic research, including surveys and semi-structured interviews, conducted in fall 2016 with 14 Japanese undergraduate students majoring in the social sciences, this article discusses current challenges influencing outbound Japanese student mobility. In contrast to contemporary social discourse in Japan that has criticized young Japanese as ‘inward-looking’ and unwilling to take on new challenges, including studying abroad, my results reveal that students continue to aspire to overseas study but are also concerned about costs and other challenges. The article closes with a discussion of how a small but growing number of Japanese students are addressing impediments by taking matters into their own hands, and how this emerging trend may require a reinterpretation of statistics suggesting a decline in Japanese participation in study abroad.

Women students from Saudi Arabia in a study abroad programme

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassna M. Alfayez ◽  
Julia Hüttner
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
The Social

Abstract Most students taking part in Study Abroad (SA) programmes aim to immerse themselves as fully as possible in the target language (TL) country and so improve their TL proficiency, as well as their own personal development towards independent adulthood. From a research perspective, the quality of social networks involving TL speakers, and hence the social interactions the SA students engage in, are seen as of paramount importance in determining the ultimate success in TL attainment. This paper addresses a cohort of learners who have not received a lot of attention in the SA literature, namely Saudi Arabian female students, whose individual immersion into the TL context is limited by cultural restrictions, importantly the need to be accompanied by a male guardian (mahram). Based on a data set of a cohort of nine students gathered over the period of one year, this study aims to establish the extent to which these students engage in social interactions in the TL setting and how these affect their overall language proficiency development. Data was gathered pre-, during, and post-SA, using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative instruments. These tested language proficiencies and surveyed the social interactions and engagement with the TL of the students, using both questionnaires (Language Engagement Questionnaire, Social Networking Questionnaire) and semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest, firstly, that despite the limitations on social interactions, these students clearly benefit from SA. Findings show a complex set of relationships between language development and interactions, with diverse strategies employed to access social networks and thus engage in interactions. Overall, these results point to SA settings as highly conducive learning environments, even for students who face cultural restrictions in their interactions.

"How was the call?": Understanding the social determinants of mental health of the undergraduate students in Bangladesh (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananya Bhattacharjee ◽  
S M Taiabul Haque ◽  
Abdul Hady ◽  
S.M. Raihanul Alam ◽  
Mashfiqui Rabbi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Economic Condition ◽  
Android Application ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After

BACKGROUND Mental health of the undergraduate students in Bangladesh is an understudied topic. The overall condition of mental health facilities and services in Bangladesh is very poor and demands serious attention. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to identify the social determinants of mental health of the undergraduate students in Bangladesh, and observe the effectiveness of a reflective tool to record and reflect on their interactions with friends, family members, and academic or professional correspondences. METHODS We recruited 22 undergraduate students from three universities in Bangladesh. We deployed an android application to help them describe their mood after each conversation and later reflect on those descriptions. We also conducted two semi-structured interviews with the participants before and after using the app. RESULTS Our results show that academics, family, job and economic condition, romantic relationship, and religion are the major social determinants of mental health of the undergraduate students in Bangladesh. Our app helped the participants pinpoint the specific issues related to these factors. Although our app does not provide any explicit recommendation, participants took certain steps on their own to improve their mental health. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the findings from this study would provide better insights for the researchers to design better solutions to help the younger population from this part of the world regarding their mental health issues.

Exploring social inclusivity within the University of the Third Age (U3A): a model of collaborative research

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 1580-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBECCA PATTERSON ◽  
SUZANNE MOFFATT ◽  
MAUREEN SMITH ◽  
JESSICA SCOTT ◽  
CHRISTOPHER MCLOUGHLIN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Third Age ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
The Third ◽  
North East ◽  
The Social ◽  
The University

ABSTRACTLifelong learning is believed to have physical, social and emotional benefits for older adults. In recognition of this, numerous programmes encouraging learning in later life exist worldwide. One example is the University of the Third Age (U3A) – a lifelong learning co-operative rooted in peer-support and knowledge sharing. This article is based on a collaborative study conducted by university researchers and members of a U3A in North-East England (United Kingdom) investigating the social inclusivity of the group in light of low attendance levels among those from social housing and non-professional backgrounds. A qualitative approach comprising semi-structured interviews and focus groups was adopted to explore knowledge and experience of lifelong learning and the U3A. Sixty individuals aged 50+ were interviewed. The demographic profile of participants largely reflected the socio-economic make-up of the area, with the majority living in areas of high socio-economic deprivation. Several barriers to lifelong learning were revealed, including: poor health, insufficient transport and caring responsibilities. Regarding U3A participation, three exclusionary factors were outlined: lack of knowledge, organisational name and location. Poor comprehension of the purpose and remit of the U3A can result in the development of ‘middle-class' myths regarding membership, perpetuating poor participation rates among lower socio-economic groups. Such perceptions must be dispelled to allow the U3A to fulfil its potential as a highly inclusive organisation.

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