Identity and Writing: the Case of Eastern Sephardic Women

Access to written culture, which began to be widespread among Sephardic women in the former Ottoman Empire at the end of the nineteenth century, opens a new perspective in gender studies of the Jewish minority in Muslim societies. Writing constitutes one of the main vehicles through which individuals appropriate their own identity and culture. In this sense, female Eastern Sephardic writers represent a fascinating example of how a cultural minority elaborates its consciousness and the awareness of its past. This article deals with this specific issue: the way that both the first Sephardic female writers and those who followed were able to elaborate a new identity through the act of writing and the awareness of its multiple possibilities. The first Sephardic female writers (Reina Hakohén, Rosa Gabay and Laura Papo) show us their contradictions: the identification with the traditional roles of women, the continuous justifications of their work as writers, the redefinition of what means to be a female writer in the context of Eastern Sephardic societies.

Identifying pedagogical innovation in cultural minority classrooms: A cultural historical activity theory and appreciative inquiry perspective in the Philippines and New Zealand

<p>This is a multiple case study which investigates teachers’ pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms using Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Appreciative Inquiry as theoretical lens. Pedagogical innovation refers to a new idea or the development of an existing product, process, strategy, or method in teaching and learning that is applied in a specific context with the intention to create added value or the potential to improve student learning. The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms; the ways in which teachers mediate the learning of their students through pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms; and how individual teachers’ school environments promote or inhibit the implementation of pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms. A total of nine teachers and their classes from five public or state secondary schools in the Philippines and Aotearoa New Zealand participated in the study. Data were collected using observations, talanoa, audio-visual recordings, and documents, which consisted of lesson plans, school newsletters, and publications. Data were analysed within and across cases using a thematic approach and a comparative approach in relation to the five standards of effective pedagogy. The data suggest that there are two aspects to understanding pedagogical innovation in cultural minority classrooms: the tangible aspects or artefacts for learning, and the intangible aspects or appreciative mediation for learning. Artefacts for learning pertain to any human-made objects available in the learning environment such as classrooms, which are essential in engaging student learning. These are concrete manifestations of teachers’ creativity utilised in teaching and learning. Common examples of artefacts for learning used by teachers across all case studies were student modules or kits and teaching instruments such as visual aids, photos, and information and communications technology. Appreciative mediation for learning pertains to the positive and strength-based operations and/or actions, attitudes, behaviours, and outlooks of teachers, which result in student learning. These include genuine appreciation and collaboration with students, teaching initiatives, positive disposition, and self reflection. Factors that affect the implementation of teachers’ pedagogical innovations are grouped into two: the social support system and the structural regulation of the school system. The social support system identified in the study that promoted teachers’ pedagogical innovation, and are common across all case studies, were family, community, school staff, and students. The structural regulation of the school system was found to hinder teachers’ pedagogical innovation. Examples common across all case studies are lack of and/or limited artefacts for learning, inadequate professional development for teachers, impassive curriculum, and poor student attendance.</p>

Identifying pedagogical innovation in cultural minority classrooms: A cultural historical activity theory and appreciative inquiry perspective in the Philippines and New Zealand

<p>This is a multiple case study which investigates teachers’ pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms using Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Appreciative Inquiry as theoretical lens. Pedagogical innovation refers to a new idea or the development of an existing product, process, strategy, or method in teaching and learning that is applied in a specific context with the intention to create added value or the potential to improve student learning. The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms; the ways in which teachers mediate the learning of their students through pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms; and how individual teachers’ school environments promote or inhibit the implementation of pedagogical innovations in cultural minority classrooms. A total of nine teachers and their classes from five public or state secondary schools in the Philippines and Aotearoa New Zealand participated in the study. Data were collected using observations, talanoa, audio-visual recordings, and documents, which consisted of lesson plans, school newsletters, and publications. Data were analysed within and across cases using a thematic approach and a comparative approach in relation to the five standards of effective pedagogy. The data suggest that there are two aspects to understanding pedagogical innovation in cultural minority classrooms: the tangible aspects or artefacts for learning, and the intangible aspects or appreciative mediation for learning. Artefacts for learning pertain to any human-made objects available in the learning environment such as classrooms, which are essential in engaging student learning. These are concrete manifestations of teachers’ creativity utilised in teaching and learning. Common examples of artefacts for learning used by teachers across all case studies were student modules or kits and teaching instruments such as visual aids, photos, and information and communications technology. Appreciative mediation for learning pertains to the positive and strength-based operations and/or actions, attitudes, behaviours, and outlooks of teachers, which result in student learning. These include genuine appreciation and collaboration with students, teaching initiatives, positive disposition, and self reflection. Factors that affect the implementation of teachers’ pedagogical innovations are grouped into two: the social support system and the structural regulation of the school system. The social support system identified in the study that promoted teachers’ pedagogical innovation, and are common across all case studies, were family, community, school staff, and students. The structural regulation of the school system was found to hinder teachers’ pedagogical innovation. Examples common across all case studies are lack of and/or limited artefacts for learning, inadequate professional development for teachers, impassive curriculum, and poor student attendance.</p>

“A Curse or a Blessing?”: Montreal Jews and the Politics of 1960s Quebec

In this article, the author argues that the politics of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec in the 1960s invigorated Montreal Jews as a religious and cultural minority rather than marginalizing or alienating them. While Jewish activists remained critical of the expanding ambitions of the Quebec state and the rise of nationalism in the province, they took the opportunity to advance Jewish claims and adopted a largely positive outlook on their communal future in Quebec. In fact, Montreal Jews, like their francophone neighbours, but perhaps unlike the anglophone majority, had motives to share in Quebec’s collective thrill during the 1960s: it created opportunities to discuss and advance cultural continuity. This perspective is crucial to nuance the popular assumption that animosity and reluctance alone characterized Quebec Jews’ reaction to the Quiet Revolution, leading many to find solace in Toronto after the election of the Parti québécois and in reaction to long-smouldering tensions. By exploring the themes of education, French language, and nationalism in Jewish English-language newspapers and institutional sources from the 1960s, the author reveals more nuanced dynamics between Jews and French Canadians at the time of the Quiet Revolution.

A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority

BACKGROUND: Groups in society that are under-represented in the workforce encounter various barriers in the job-seeking process. Some of these barriers are found on the employer’s side of the table. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates supervisors’ and employees’ assessments of job seekers with different forms of disabilities, health issues, or with a minority background. It also investigates respondents’ previous experience with such colleagues, and whether supervisor status affects their assessments. METHODS: A survey was distributed among supervisors (n = 305) and employees (n = 925) using a vignette design with ten characters, inquiring about willingness to include such an employee in their work group. The vignettes described job seekers with either a mental illness, a physical disability or a cultural minority. Risk ratio (RR) was calculated for being assessed positively, using a vignette character describing a single mother as reference. RESULTS: Vignette characters describing mental health issues and physical disabilities were less likely to be assessed positively than the reference case, except for the vignette describing audio impairment. Cultural minorities were assessed as positive, or more positively than the reference case. Supervisors and employees generally agreed in their assessments of vignette characters, and previous experience was consistently associated with a more positive assessment of the character in question. Various barriers to include the least favoured vignette characters were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Although some findings are promising with regard to increasing work participation for underrepresented groups, barriers pertaining to some of the vignette characters should be addressed in vocational rehabilitation efforts, as well as in organizations seeking to enhance equal opportunities and diversity.

The influence of culture on care receivers’ satisfaction and aggressive tendencies in the emergency department

Introduction Reducing aggressive tendencies among care receivers in the emergency department has great economic and psychological benefits for care receivers, staff, and health care organizations. In a study conducted in a large multicultural hospital emergency department, we examined how cultural factors relating to ethnicity interact to enhance care receivers’ satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Specifically, we explored how care receivers’ cultural affiliation, individual cultural characteristics, and the cultural situational setting interact to increase care receivers’ satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Method Data were collected using survey responses from 214 care receivers. We use structural equation models and the bootstrap method to analyze the data. Results Care receivers’ openness to diversity (an individual cultural characteristic) was positively related to their satisfaction that was associated with lower aggressive tendencies, only when they were affiliated with a cultural minority group and when the cultural situational setting included language accessibility. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that cultural affiliation, individual cultural characteristics, and cultural situational setting can affect care receivers’ satisfaction and aggressive tendencies in a multicultural emergency department context. In particular, high cultural openness of care receivers, and making information accessible in their native language, increased satisfaction and reduced aggressive tendencies among cultural minority care receivers in our study.

Addressing vaccine hesitancy and access barriers to achieve persistent progress in Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination program

As of March 31, 2021, Israel had administered 116 doses of vaccine for COVID-19 per 100 population (of any age) – far more than any other OECD country. It was also ahead of other OECD countries in terms of the share of the population that had received at least one vaccination (61%) and the share that had been fully vaccinated (55%). Among Israelis aged 16 and over, the comparable figures were 81 and 74%, respectively. In light of this, the objectives of this article are: To describe and analyze the vaccination uptake through the end of March 2021 To identify behavioral and other barriers that likely affected desire or ability to be vaccinated To describe the efforts undertaken to overcome those barriers Israel’s vaccination campaign was launched on December 20, and within 2.5 weeks, 20% of Israelis had received their first dose. Afterwards, the pace slowed. It took an additional 4 weeks to increase from 20 to 40% and yet another 6 weeks to increase from 40 to 60%. Initially, uptake was low among young adults, and two religious/cultural minority groups - ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs, but their uptake increased markedly over time.In the first quarter of 2021, Israel had to enhance access to the vaccine, address a moderate amount of vaccine hesitancy in its general population, and also address more intense pockets of vaccine hesitancy among young adults and religious/cultural minority groups. A continued high rate of infection during the months of February and March, despite broad vaccination coverage at the time, created confusion about vaccine effectiveness, which in turn contributed to vaccine hesitancy. Among Israeli Arabs, some residents of smaller villages encountered difficulties in reaching vaccination sites, and that also slowed the rate of vaccination.The challenges were addressed via a mix of messaging, incentives, extensions to the initial vaccine delivery system, and other measures. Many of the measures addressed the general population, while others were targeted at subgroups with below-average vaccination rates. Once the early adopters had been vaccinated, it took hard, creative work to increase population coverage from 40 to 60% and beyond.Significantly, some of the capacities and strategies that helped Israel address vaccine hesitancy and geographic access barriers are different from those that enabled it to procure, distribute and administer the vaccines. Some of these strategies are likely to be relevant to other countries as they progress from the challenges of securing an adequate vaccine supply and streamlining distribution to the challenge of encouraging vaccine uptake.