scholarly journals Disciplinary Culture and Effective Teaching: A Cultural Anthropological Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Saeid Safaei Movahhed
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Disciplinary Culture ◽  
Anthropological Study ◽  
Field Notes

During the last couple of decades, many researchers have been trying to explicate "effective teaching" in higher education. As a result, when one searches the term, a vast amount of papers and research reports pop up in the literature, involving lists of attributes and competencies of effective teachers. But the impressive point is that "effectiveness" has been viewed mostly from a technical vantage point and disciplinary differences have not received proportionate attention. At the same time, some sociologists of science began to view disciplines as tribes and territories who own their exclusive norms, rituals, and values. Hence, this research aims at investigating effective teaching in higher education within the framework of disciplinary culture. Methodologically, the research may be deemed as interpretive ethnography as it aims at representing emically how members of disciplinary cultures perceive and interpret effective teaching. Hence, based on Tony Becher classification of disciplines into civil and rural, two postgraduate classes were selected, namely from Pure Mathematics (involving 15 students to represent civil disciplines) and Education Studies (involving 18 students to represent rural disciplines). To collect data, the researcher deployed non-participant observation for a full semester and informal interviews were also conducted at regular intervals. The field notes and interview protocols were analyzed thematically to produce meaningful categories for results representation. As credibility was of great concern in the research, three strategies were used for this purpose namely member check, peer debriefing and prolonged engagement. Based on the interpretations, members of rural disciplines evaluate teaching as effective when it focuses on classic texts, cares about human and social issues, approaches laymen jargons, emphasizes understanding, appreciates variety of teaching strategies and learning styles, holds a critical stance towards cultural issues, and takes on a lenient approach in marking. On the other side, members of civil disciplines evaluate teaching as effective when it focuses on updated resources, is content-oriented, approaches professional terminology, emphasizes practicality, and takes on a tough stance on marking.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary bachelor's degree in health: analysis of a new higher education curriculum in Brazil

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (42) ◽  
pp. 719-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Layza Castelo Branco Mendes ◽  
Andrea Caprara
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
Higher Education Curriculum ◽  
Intense Process

Brazilian public universities are undergoing an intense process of change in search of solutions to transform themselves into institutions that are more attuned to 21st century social needs. In this regard, the aim of this study was to analyze a new higher education curriculum offered at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA): the Interdisciplinary Bachelor's degree in Healthcare. This was a preliminary qualitative investigation, accomplished as a case study. The methodological tools used include document analysis, open interviews and participant observation. It was seen that the teachers were engaged in the process of putting together a course that promotes training of professionals qualified to undertake social development. It was also noted that the students were themselves proving to be capable of deep critical reflection on social issues. It was therefore concluded that the case studied has provided the results expected by the higher education institution hosting the course.

scholarly journals Effective Teaching Strategies and Behaviors of Legal Translation Lecturers in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-340
Author(s):  
Robert Martínez-Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Effective Teaching Strategies ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Quality In Higher Education

Framed within the current accountability policies in higher education, under the strains of global competition and the internationalization of universities worldwide, this article examines effective teaching as a pillar of teaching quality in higher education among legal translation lecturers. By linking certain teaching and learning styles to the different dimensions of effective teaching (instructional, organizational, and emotional), the teaching profile of legal translation lecturers in Spain at undergraduate level is analyzed. In addition, student-centered teaching approaches are connected to the use of classroom strategies and methodological resources that characterize effective teaching. The findings of this study, obtained through the distribution of the tamufq questionnaire (Teaching and Assessment Methodology of University Faculty Questionnaire) among legal translation lecturers at undergraduate level in Spain, suggest that those lecturers who adopt a post-positivist approach in their classroom display a greater variety of teaching behaviors and strategies associated with both effective curriculum implementation and higher quality teaching than those who are closer to traditional, positivist approaches. These findings may be particularly useful in the design and implementation of continuous professional development courses and pedagogical training of lecturers.

scholarly journals Effective Teaching in the Eye of Teacher Educators: A Case Study in a Higher Education

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
MELEK ÇAKMAK ◽  
Ülker Akkutay
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
State University ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Educational Sciences

Attempts to explore teacher educators’ thoughts seem to be meaningful at educational sciences since the number of studies discussing effective teaching and effective teacher at teacher education in the eye of teacher educators are quite limited. Therefore, this study mainly aims to identify the viewpoints of teacher educators in order to discover how they contextualize the concept of effective teaching. For this aim, a case study design, increasingly used in education (Tellis, 1997), is utilized in the study. This method is suitable when the research addresses an explanatory question such as how or why? (Yin, 2004). A questionnaire including open-ended questions is given teacher educators (n=48) who are working at a state university in Turkey. The participants are asked how they conceptualize effective teaching and which characteristics of effective teachers they prioritize. The results mainly show that to know what teacher educators’ opinions on the key concepts of effective teaching might be helpful for teacher educators to revise some points in their teaching and raise their awareness on the issue.

Family Participation in Challenger Baseball: Critical Theory Perspectives

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lupe Castañ ◽  
Claudine Sherrill
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Head Coach ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
Field Notes

The purpose was to analyze the social construction of Challenger baseball opportunities in a selected community. Participants were 10 boys and 6 girls with mental and/or physical disabilities (ages 7 to 16 years, M = 11.31), their families, and the head coach. Data were collected through interviews in the homes with all family members, participant observation at practices and games, and field notes. The research design was qualitative, and critical theory guided interpretation. Analytical induction revealed five outcomes that were particularly meaningful as families and coach socially constructed Challenger baseball: (a) fun and enjoyment, (b) positive affect related to equal opportunity and feelings of “normalcy,” (c) social networking/emotional support for families, (d) baseball knowledge and skills, and (e) social interactions with peers.

“You're Only Ever A Block From The ‘Hood”

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 152-170
Author(s):  
Alex Blue V
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Automobile Plant ◽  
Original Intent ◽  
Spatial Reorientation ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
The City

This article explores the use of sound, lyrics, and performance as tools for spatial reorientation and reimagining, identity formation and affirmation, and counternarrative or counterarchive in a rapidly gentrifying contemporary Detroit, Michigan. Two discrete, yet discursively linked case studies are presented—performances by the same artist in two different spaces—that exhibit various modes of “flipping,” slang that can refer to multiple transformative practices in contemporary Detroit. These practices include the use of overdetermined spaces, or spaces that have been declared abandoned or vacant, for something other than their original intent—i.e. using a decommissioned automobile plant as a music video set; sampling, which can be understood as using sonic components from previously recorded songs in the creation of new hip-hop beats; buying homes in a state of disrepair, fixing and reselling them at large profits; and inverting meaning itself, via slang or coded language. Additionally Black techniques of sounding and performance are illuminated, with a focus on echo as a mode of co-creation. These various practices are all responses to the growing wave of gentrification that gains momentum in the city daily. The analysis draws primarily from ethnographic research conducted from 2016 to 2018, culling data from participant observation, recorded interviews, informal conversations, field notes, lyrical and video analysis, and the analysis of mediated accounts, both print and online. As the analysis shows, the strategies utilized by artists in Detroit ensure that no matter how much the spaces in Detroit continue to change, and no matter how much an attempt is made to provide racially curated space through various forms of violence, you’re only ever a block from the ‘hood.

Ijtihad in Contemporary Shi`ism

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-52
Author(s):  
Hamid Mavani
Keyword(s):  
Legal Theory ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Personal Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Economic

The adoption of the Mu`tazili school of “rationalist” theology and the institution of ijtihad enabled Shi`i legal theory to exhibit vibrancy and made it adaptable to changing contingencies and circumstances. But because Shi`i jurists did not face the challenge of governing a state, their juridical focus and orientation remained fixated on resolving issues confronting the laity or their followers (muqallid) at a personal level and did not provide an ethical framework for the ijtihad process. The establishment of a Shi`i state in Iran in 1979, which forced them to tackle social, political, economic, educational, and cultural issues, demanded a change in orientation – away from the individual and toward society as the unit of analysis vis-à-vis ijtihad. They marshaled various methods, legal devices, and strategies to address contemporary social issues in order to provide pragmatic guidance to the citizens that would be in conformity with the moral and ethical principles laid out in the revelatory sources. This paper examines the writings of Ayatullahs Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Muhammad Mahdi Shamsuddin, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlullah, and Ruhullah Musavi al-Khomeini and studies this phenomenon of change from individual-oriented ijtihad to society-oriented ijtihad.

scholarly journals Humour in Sports Coaching: ‘It’s a Funny Old Game’

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 744-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Nicholas Edwards ◽  
Robyn L Jones
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Ethnographic Film ◽  
The Social ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Sports Coaching

The primary purpose of this article was to investigate the use and manifestation of humour within sports coaching. This was particularly in light of the social significance of humour as a critical component in cultural creation and negotiation. Data were gathered from a 10-month ethnographic study that tracked the players and coaches of Senghenydd City Football Club (a pseudonym) over the course of a full season. Precise methods of data collection included participant observation, reflective personal field notes, and ethnographic film. The results demonstrated the dominating presence of both ‘inclusionary putdowns’ and ‘disciplinary humour’, particularly in relation to how they contributed to the production and maintenance of the social order. Finally, a reflective conclusion discusses the temporal nature of the collective understanding evident among the group at Senghenydd, and its effect on the humour evident. In doing so, the work contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the social role of humour within sports coaching.

scholarly journals Critical Race Theory and Caring as Channels for Transcending Borders between an African American Professor and Her Latina/o Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline B. Koonce
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Archival Data ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Reflective Essay

This reflective essay uncovers ways in which critical race theory and caring are key to crossing racial, cultural, and linguistic borders between professors and their students. Many scholars have noted how critical reflection relates to effective teaching, especially when taking into account student learning. Reflecting upon archival data and participant observation, the author describes, through various stories, how she uses critical race theory and caring to connect with her students in spite of their differences. The author also provides examples of how her students reciprocate her care in extravagant ways.

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