How Teachers in Elementary Schools Evaluate Their Classroom Environments: An Evaluation of Functions of the Classroom Through an Environmental Approach

Understanding the educational environment and effectively regulating it in consistent with educational objectives is an important factor in facilitating teaching and a crucial ability for the teachers. Investigating the perception of 12 classroom teachers at four elementary schools about their classroom environment, this study aims to reveal the situation about their classroom environment, its effects, and the desired classroom environment in terms of the functions of the classroom environment. Two analytical frameworks, Classroom Functions Theory as well as Environmental Competence, are means to understand this topic. A semi-structured interview form and an observation form were used as data collection instruments. In the study, it was observed that the majority of teachers were able to evaluate the classroom environment, but they remained unsolved about how the classroom can be designed better. Besides, the teachers stated that their classroom environments performed social, symbolic identity, and task instrumentality functions in a limited way for various reasons while largely functioning the shelter and security. Finally, the teachers emphasized that their classes did not fulfill growth and pleasure functions and that most of their desires about the classroom environment were related to these functions.

Identity retention and sense of belonging : an examination of second generation Eritrean youth in Toronto

This research examines identity perceptions of twelve Eritrean youth (aged 20 to 27) residing in Toronto, Canada. With the help of qualitative techniques, this research seeks to investigate what it means to be Eritrean and Canadian as well multiculturalism policy and how it all impacts the identity of Eritrean youth. The findings suggest an emphasis on primordial and national Eritrean identity, while their Canadian identity is interpreted as a mindset and is embraced situationally. While youth accept a black identity, the results indicate the development of a hyphenated Eritrean-Canadian identity with greater emphasis on the Eritrean identity. Moreover, participants are critical of and view multiculturalism policy as ineffective in promoting tangible results. Through an analysis of the debates in the existing literature on ethnic, national and racialized identities, this research concludes that Eritrean youth develop a symbolic identity towards being Eritrean and Canadian.

Identity retention and sense of belonging : an examination of second generation Eritrean youth in Toronto

This research examines identity perceptions of twelve Eritrean youth (aged 20 to 27) residing in Toronto, Canada. With the help of qualitative techniques, this research seeks to investigate what it means to be Eritrean and Canadian as well multiculturalism policy and how it all impacts the identity of Eritrean youth. The findings suggest an emphasis on primordial and national Eritrean identity, while their Canadian identity is interpreted as a mindset and is embraced situationally. While youth accept a black identity, the results indicate the development of a hyphenated Eritrean-Canadian identity with greater emphasis on the Eritrean identity. Moreover, participants are critical of and view multiculturalism policy as ineffective in promoting tangible results. Through an analysis of the debates in the existing literature on ethnic, national and racialized identities, this research concludes that Eritrean youth develop a symbolic identity towards being Eritrean and Canadian.

Emotional Cartography of Everyday Heritage via Photography

This paper presented the results of a heritage education intervention in a non-formal context via a collective photographic exhibition organised by a cultural association. In accordance with the Faro Convention on the value of cultural heritage for society, people’s role in the construction and sustaining of their identity is recognised, and the fostering of shared responsibility towards the environment was sought. A mixed methodology was employed in order to evaluate the effects of participation in this project on the perception of heritage, to analyse what relationship there was between this conception and the photographic output, and to explain to what extent participation in a collective exhibition had an influence on the emotional resignification of everyday heritage. The results showed that the participants modified their traditional conception of heritage towards a symbolic-identity type, consciously questioned their relationship and commitment with everyday places, and rediscovered their environment by way of a contextualised learning sequence.

Incongruent Voting or Symbolic Representation? Asymmetrical Representation in Congress, 2008–2014

The electoral connection incentivizes representatives to take positions that please most of their constituents. However, on votes for which we have data, lawmakers vote against majority opinion in their district on one out of every three high-profile roll calls in the U.S. House. This rate of “incongruent voting” is much higher for Republican lawmakers, but they do not appear to be punished for it at higher rates than Democrats on Election Day. Why? Research in political psychology shows that citizens hold both policy-specific and identity-based symbolic preferences, that these preferences are weakly correlated, and that incongruous symbolic identity and policy preferences are more common among Republican voters than Democrats. While previous work on representation has treated this fact as a nuisance, we argue that it reflects two real dimensions of political ideology that voters use to evaluate lawmakers. Using four years of CCES data, district-level measures of opinion, and the roll-call record, we find that both dimensions of ideology matter for how lawmakers cast roll calls, and that the operational-symbolic disconnect in public opinion leads to different kinds of representation for each party.

The Poet as A Subject of Language: Ontological Bases of Signs and Trend Meanigs of Society

The article reveals the problem of the ontological meaning of the life and functioning of the poet in its relationship with the communicative practices of contemporary global world. As a result of comparing the two ways of thought (globalism — antiglobalism, traditionalism — neoliberalism, modern — postmodern), the authors come to a preliminary conclusion that it is unacceptable for the creative industries of branding and PR to displace ontological adequations of poetic values as a part of classic art. The article clearly differentiates the concept of symbolic identity and the category of existential selfhood of a poet - poet as a PR hero and poet as a subject of language as a house of being. We make a hypothesis about a possibility of rational reconciliation of the priorities of the academic tradition as an inalienable context of the aesthetic value of art-work and postmodern digital technologies of art-promotion (including network platforms in the aspect of exclusively their correlation as the aim and maens: the ontology is primary strategy and the representation is secondary tactics. The methodological tool for the substantiating of this hypothesis is the idea of a structural balance between the vertical centripetal dynamic axis of the paradigm (metaphor) and the horizontal centrifugal static axis of the syntagma (metonymy) in classical semiotics. Within the frames of the signifier and signified as the Selfness and the Other, dynamics and statics, history and structure, imagine ideal meanings pass into a real-symbolic language, focusing in the inner world of the poet, turning personal creativity into the property of cultural memory. Thus, the hypothesis is confirmed through a synthesis of classical semiotics and non-classical psychoanalysis. If we liken the semiotic axes of intersection of vertical and horizontal to the R. Descartes coordinate system, the point of intersection of horizontal and vertical turns out to be a poet who translates personal metaphors into cultural-semantic invariants, replenishing the civilizational memory of culture, confirming his existential value, which is different from his or her purely communicative image. From a philosophical point of view, the article analyzes the concept of a poet's status as his/her existential state in comparison with criticism of symbolic capital (prestige, reputation, brand).

KEBUNTUAN PEMAHAMAN TERHADAP POLEMIK WACANA ISLAM NUSANTARA: KAJIAN DARI PERSPEKTIF MAKNA PRAGMATIK

This study is aimed at describing of the impasse understanding of the polemic of the Nusantara Islamic discourse. The data were in the form of Indonesian language used in the polemic of the pros and cons of the Nusantara Islam issue, which is published on social media, Youtube. Data collection uses the method of listening with tapping, SBLC, download, and note techniques. The data analysis method used is Constant Comparative Analysis. The results of the analysis showed that there was a deadlock in understanding the issues of the Nusantara Islamic discourse regarding 4 things, namely symbolic identity, rejection in terms of terms, classic rivalry between tribes, and culture as the core problem. The deadlock of understanding was triggered by long competition between the two circles of Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama in viewing worship practices from different perspectives.

SERVBID: the development of a B2C service brand identity scale

Purpose This paper re-conceptualizes and measures brand identity (BI) from a services perspective. This paper aims to develop and test a psychometrically valid and reliable scale to measure service brand identity (SERVBID). Design/methodology/approach A multi-stage research design was adopted drawing on qualitative and quantitative studies consistent with extant scale development procedures. Qualitative studies comprised a comprehensive literature review, expert panel review and interviews to develop a theoretical framework and generate items. Quantitative studies comprised pilot testing (n = 106), online survey for scale development (n = 246) and scale validation (n = 245) on UK-based consumers using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings The study finds support for a five-dimensional SERVBID scale comprising: process identity; organization identity; symbolic identity; servicescape identity; and communication identity. Practical implications The SERVBID scale provides practitioners with a practical tool to understand, benchmark and assess SERVBID. The scale will assist marketers in assessing the strength of BI overall as well as the strength of individual facets of BI. Originality/value This study provides a deeper and complete understanding of the theoretical construct of BI through a service-dominant lens, in particular recognizing the defining role of the service process and servicescape in SERVBID construction.