Characterizing Work-Life for Information Work on Mars

We present a design fiction, which is set in the near future as significant Mars habitation begins. Our goal in creating this fiction is to address current work-life issues on Earth and Mars in the future. With shelter-in-place measures, established norms of productivity and relaxation have been shaken. The fiction creates an opportunity to explore boundaries between work and life, which are changing with shelter-in-place and will continue to change. Our work includes two primary artifacts: (1) a propaganda recruitment poster and (2) a fictional narrative account. The former paints the work-life on Mars as heroic, fulfilling, and fun. The latter provides a contrast that depicts the lived experience of early Mars inhabitants. Our statement draws from our design fiction in order to reflect on the structure of work, stress identification and management, family and work-family communication, and the role of automation.

Exploratory Considerations in Chemistry Education—Didactic Modelling for Complexity in Students’ Discussions

Research has shown the importance of dealing with real-life issues and of enabling student encounters with complexity in chemistry education in order to increase student participation. Therefore, this study aims to analyse how complexity evolves in students’ discussions and how this complexity relates to aspects of tentativeness in chemistry. In the study, we analyse how a previously developed didactic model can be refined from the students’ considerations evolving from the present context. The study was conducted as an in situ study in one upper-secondary school. Students’ discussions were recorded on video. The recordings were transcribed and analysed using deliberative educational questions. Two different kinds of considerations emerged in the students’ discussions: factual and exploratory considerations. While factual considerations are an important element of chemistry education, students also need to encounter exploratory considerations. The study proposes a didactic model useful for teachers in didactic analysis and design of activities aiming to support students to unfold complexity through exploratory considerations. One implication is to base activities on real-life issues in order to invite the unpredictability needed for experiencing complexity and the exploratory nature of chemistry. These issues enable students to experience aspects of tentativeness in chemistry and thereby increase their understanding of NOS and chemistry as a knowledge building practice. Furthermore, this might also increase student participation in chemistry education.

Academia and Motherhood: A Narrative Inquiry of Ontario Academic Mothers’ Experiences in University Graduate Programs

This research provides a qualitative narrative inquiry into the experiences of academic mothers from a Southwestern Ontario university campus. Analysis of the semi-structured interviews and focus groups reveal six key themes regarding the nexus between motherhood and academia: (1) intersection of work and family; (2) embodied experiences of pregnancy; (3) mentoring and networking opportunities; (4) inconsistencies between institutional and program policies; (5) departmental support; and (6) an overall level of satisfaction in being a mother during graduate studies. These key findings are discussed and highlight some of the challenges associated with balancing motherhood, graduate studies, and family life. Issues related to maternal well-being, gender equity, diversity, and inclusion within academia are also discussed and shed light on the experiences of this increasing, yet largely overlooked demographic on Canadian university campuses.

«THE MAKROPULOS AFFAIR» AND THE THINKING ABOUT LONGEVITY AND THE SENSE OF LIFE

The paper deals with the play, written by the Czech writer Karel Čapek «The Makropulos Affair». The play is analyzed in the context of philosophical search of the time of its emergence. Particularly, I. I. Mechnikov’s essays concerning longevity and accompanying it the sense of life matters are observed in the paper. Also, the author makes the comparative analysis of the ideas, represented by the K. Čapek’s play and by the Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw’s theatrical work «Back to Methuselah», in which the ideas of longevity and the sense of life were raised. These works were published almost simultaneously, and both authors were influenced by Mechnikovs’ views. The points of contact and differences in authors’ positions are observed. The paper represents modi of actualization of longevity and the sense of life issues in the contemporary culture by the examples of the musical «The Recipe of her Youth» and the case study from the Julian Baggini’s popular philosophy guide «The Pig that Want to Be Eaten». We can agree with the Baggini’s idea that the sense of life is not defined by the numbers of years, but by their fullness with contents and the desire to use them in full.

Pedagogy of hope: global learning and the future of education

Global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency campaigns and the Black Lives Matter movements have recently posed challenges for educationalists about their role, particularly in relation to promoting positive visions of the future. Development education and global learning has a major contribution to make within these agendas, particularly if it brings into its practices the ideas of Paulo Freire and his concept of the pedagogy of hope. Hope can often be considered an idealistic and utopian term, but if it is grounded in real life issues and challenges, then it can provide a valuable approach to learning about global issues. Recent examples in the UK and the initiative by UNESCO on Futures of Education demonstrate ways in which questions can be posed about the future of education that can be empowering to all learners.

High Death Anxiety and Ambiguous Loss: Lessons Learned From Teaching Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

For gerontological educators, topics such as mortality, loss, and end-of-life issues often emerge or are central in their courses. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised our awareness of loss and death on a global scale and teaching during the pandemic has raised questions about how educators, communities, or systems of higher education can support students’ learning while simultaneously experiencing losses during intense times of uncertainty. In this mixed-method study of 246 students enrolled in undergraduate thanatology courses, we explored their levels of death anxiety and their experiences with pandemic-related losses. We found that students’ death anxiety increased significantly during the pandemic, in comparison to the years prior (p < .001). We also conducted a content analysis in a subset of students’ written narratives (n = 44) regarding their pandemic experiences. We identified three themes. Participants desired: (a) more flexibility from instructors, no questions asked; (b) more compassion and understanding; and (c) specific, targeted support resources. The voices of students were filtered through the authors’ interpretation as educators to provide several teaching recommendations that support student learning during challenging times. The recommendations align with a trauma-informed approach, given the high rates of death anxiety and ambiguous loss among students, and have immediate implications for educators teaching during the pandemic, and for years to come. Finally, we also advocate for more university and community-based thanatology, and gerontology education offerings in general, to help normalize conversations about death, loss, and bereavement.

Doing Time: Experiences of Care Home Residents in Germany During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Residents of care homes across the globe are affected by the spread of SARS-CoV-2 as they have been identified as a high-risk group and because they experienced strict social isolation regulations during the first wave of the pandemic. Social isolation of frail older people is strongly associated with negative health outcomes. The aim of this research project was to investigate how residents in care homes experienced social isolation during the first phases of contact ban in Germany. This paper draws on structured interview data collected from 22 residents in two care homes during early June 2020 in Frankfurt/Main. The findings show that their experiences were shaped by three factors: care home staffs’ approach to handling the contact ban; biographical sense of resilience; and a hierarchy of life issues. The findings highlight the importance of locally specific response mechanisms in care homes, and the need to contextualize residents’ experiences.

Undercommunicated Stories in Boundary Building Processes

This text focuses on the narrations of Romani in the Czech Republic with regard to conversational topics which are usually not communicated in either conversations across group borders or in the media. The topics covered in these conversations range from everyday life issues and stories about success in employment to stories about experiences during powerful moments in the state’s history that resonate for all its inhabitants. The narratives analysed in this text include the experience of the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the adventures of a group of boys who tried to illegally cross the state border during socialism. The interviews were filmed with a camera. From a methodological perspective, an interesting feature throughout the project was that during the conversations the narrators did not stress their Romani identity. The dominant tone was rather that of plain interpersonal communication. Thus, these narratives can be characterised as acts of everyday communication – a mode of interaction which is not common in the communication of Roma with non-Roma – which emphasize the shared overall context in which all inhabitants of the Czech Republic find themselves.