Transcending gender dichotomy through art teacher education in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a patriarchal society characterized by gender dichotomy and male domination that permeates through social, educational and domestic spheres resulting in numerous challenges for art teacher education students. Expanding critical consciousness within art teacher education programmes is an imperative step towards developing art teachers who are self-aware and reflexive concerning the intersections of gender, art and education. This study investigated how engagement with visual art can provoke a heightened critical awareness about gender bias, stereotyping and equity among Zimbabwean art teacher education students. Sixteen selected art teacher education students (eight males and females) at the Great Zimbabwe University participated in the study. Participants were guided by researcher-constructed prompts for purposes of image making, interpretation and dialogue. Visual discourse analysis of the students’ visual narratives and discourse analysis of focus group transcriptions revealed several themes as well as evidence of critical reflection and expanded critical awareness related to gender issues. Visual and dialogic methods offer promise for critical engagement and reconciliation of tensions surrounding issues of gender amongst art teacher education candidates.

Mediatised human rights education: the (challenging) role of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

The purpose of this article is to analyse and discuss Selma and the Quest for the Perfect Faith, a TV series made by The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and promoted for use in schools, and the accompanying teaching material about freedom of religion made by Save the Children. We discuss the series and material critically from a human rights and a human rights education perspective, and evaluate their suitability for use in religious education. The article is informed by mediatisation theory and argues that freedom of religion is primarily operationalised in accordance with journalistic criteria for presenting religion, and that it does not sufficiently balance the rights of children and the liberty of parents. This is inconsistent with sound human rights education and highlights the need for critical awareness when operationalising educational material produced and distributed by media actors for use in the classroom.

The Management of Reading Park Case study in Kaba Kamboja Batipuh Panjang

Reading park it means of a place to increase children’s interest in reading which makes reading a daily culture in improving the quality of human resources. In Kaba Kamboja, the withdrawal of interest in reading is carried out by managers the managers is who are collage students. The manager himself which has several strategies in its services, especially learning management in the form of : 1) critical awareness 2) motivating children, 3) two-way communication, 4) monitoring activities, and 5) program providers as needed. In the case of kaba kamboja its focuses on reading interest to make area on Batipuh Panjang are reading culture. The purpose of managing the reading park itself now more focused on children’s reading culture. Kaba Kamboja is opened every times a week and more towards tutoring and becoming a focus for playing and learning areas for the children of the jambak village

STRATEGIC PLAN TO STRENGTHEN RESEARCH AS A MECHANISM TO INCREASE MEANINGFUL TRAINING BASED ON FORMATIVE RESEARCH

Background: The academic activity of students and professors constitutes the basis of professional training in engineering. Training in electrical engineering has always been of less interest to university students compared to other professional training programs. However, in recent years, this interest has decreased beyond previous trends, an effect detected in all engineering programs, which has been accelerated by the distance learning mechanisms adopted in the face of the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, among the incentive mechanisms for young people, the promotion of research activity has been included. This study describes the model proposed within the Electrical Technology and Engineering programs of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas as a distinctive element of its research training strategy. Aims: To offer alternatives tending to promote the current research activities of the research groups of the electrical engineering area of the Universidad Distrital (Colombia) to increase the performance of the formative research processes, in particular with motivational aspects, development of critical awareness, and strengthening of resilience. Methods: A strategic plan was developed to increase the activity related to research processes within the academic program. It was based on the dynamics shown in the last seven years, and a set of strategies aimed at strengthening and encouraging this trend was projected for the next seven years. Results and Discussion: This strategic plan is expected to increase academic activity, particularly related to scientific production indicators. Projections for the next seven years indicate an increase in student participation related to scientific publications, the population in research groups, and project development. Conclusions: The proposed scheme corresponds to a model adjusted to higher education institutions with student populations of low academic strata and under national standards that prioritize quality in education from the point of view of both physical and human resources, particularly those that promote critical awareness of local and national reality. In this sense, the proposed plan is highly relevant and promotes one of the strengths identified in the academic program.

Socialization Towards Internationalization

Although students are the main recipients of internationalization in higher education (IHE), research on IHE mainly focuses on particular nations or educational institutions rather than the individual. Perceptions of university students towards internationalization, particularly what may impact their preparedness for and critical awareness of internationalization are largely lacking. This study explores in what ways students’ diverse socialization or experiences of socializing with different stakeholder’s impact their preparedness for and awareness of increasing internationalization in higher education institutions. The study utilizes data from a survey conducted with 511 students at two Chinese universities. The study found that students with diverse socialization backgrounds are more likely to develop a critical awareness of the social impact of internationalization, and that they believe internationalization enables them to learn from others, to develop capacities to analyze global issues, to develop skills to work with cultural others, and to make ethical decisions on social issues.

MUSIK KRITIS DALAM MEMBANGUN KESADARAN TERHADAP KONDISI SOSIAL POLITIK: STUDI KASUS MUSIKALISASI NYELENEH KARYA JASON RANTI BAGI GENERASI MUDA

Critical music has the ability to describe the socio-political reality that occur in the country. Musicians describe their concerns and ideas through lyrics found in critical music. So, musicians take advantage of the function of music as mass communication. Through critical music, the delivery of socio-political phenomena can be intertwined in a more informal and relaxed manner. Especially for the younger generation who are very close to the development of music, where Indonesia is in a demographic bonus phase. In this study, researcher attempted to explain the dynamics of critical music in Indonesia's political ecosystem and how it affects the critical awareness of the younger generation. Jason Ranti describes his anxiety through the lyrics that are eccentric but rich in meaning, relaxed but not purposeless, and critical without being patronizing. Jason Ranti's critical music can build the interest of the younger generation to be more critical of the ongoing socio-political phenomena. This study uses documentation as the main data which is supported by interviews. The result of this research is that Jason Ranti has contributed in spreading critical insights to the younger generation. By understanding the meaning of eccentric musicalization through critical hermeneutic theory, Jason Ranti describes the current social phenomenon and tries to provide alternative responses for his listeners. The younger generation becomes more caring, empathetic and interested about the socio-political phenomena that are happening. Through Jason Ranti's critical music, the younger generation can take responsive actions in responding to the socio-political phenomena that are currently happening. Critical Music, Socio-Political Conditions, Jason Ranti, Younger Generation.

Reorienting the Field of Human Rights Education

Review of: Foley Jr., W.J. (2021). Suggestions for critical awareness, accountability, and transformation in human rights education. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 23(1), 77-89. The examination of critical approaches to human rights and the focus on community engaged spaces to enact human rights are rich contributions of Foley's article. He also presents innovative approaches and methodologies to ensure student success and positive outcomes for all stakeholders involved. Going forward, more detail about the role of critical human rights in the higher education sector may be beneficial.

Navigating complexities, exploiting shortcuts: Talking about culture as researchers and university educators

Simplistic understandings of culture as ‘national culture’ and of the relation between language, identity, and culture, have been criticized for quite some time. Today, many teachers in higher education have developed a critical awareness of the complexities of culture and interculturality, and many would no longer subscribe to a simplistic understanding of culture as ‘national culture’. Yet despite this awareness, ‘national cultural’ parlance has not disappeared. Drawing on videotaped interactions among researchers and university educators of German as a Foreign Language during a workshop in West Africa, I demonstrate how we as researchers and university educators navigate complexities when discussing ‘culture’ and when, how, and why we, then and again, revert to simplistic concepts of culture in our talk. Analyzing the practices and ‘common sense resources’ we deploy and the discourses we thereby mediate provides insights into how we configure understandings of culture in action and points at problems in the ways we talk.

Coloniality, Belonging and Citizenship Deprivation in the UK: Exploring Judicial Responses

In this paper, I interrogate the English case law on citizenship deprivation and its effects on the migrant and diasporic communities most affected by it from a critical postcolonial perspective. I explore how it forms part of state responses to national security that are rooted in racist imperialist ideologies. These underpinnings are ignored in law because such responses are supposedly reserved for exceptional circumstances. This has led to a lack of critical awareness of the wider damage they cause. The damage caused is compounded by the ways that citizenship deprivation constitutes a technology of the politics of belonging. It orientalises people, “othering” and dividing them into those who belong and those who do not based on their differences. This approach leaves racialised and minoritised citizens more vulnerable to losing their citizenship which is a deliberate form of control reminiscent of the longstanding behaviour of colonialist imperialists.

Imagining the Anthropocene with the Wadden Sea

This contribution explores the potential of the Wadden Sea for the imagination of the Anthropocene. The concept of the Anthropocene represents a challenge to the cultural imagination, as it draws together deep, geological time, recent and current events, and long futures; the geographical and generational implications of justice; and the profound entanglement of human progress with ecological decline. We argue that the cultural landscape of the Wadden Sea is a space in which these paradoxes and connections are made visible and material. Literary and artistic works engaged with the Wadden Sea display a critical awareness of Anthropocene entanglements: in our analysis, we explore visual and textual representations of the Wadden Sea and show how it serves as a site for the imagination of the past and future of our planet.