This study examined the perceived effects of examination special centres on teaching and learning of English language and the quality of education in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive survey design. All the 123 English language teachers from 31 secondary schools, five secondary school principals, three religious priests and three traditional leaders in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria were sampled for the study. The researchers developed a 15-item-structured questionnaire for data collection (...) from the 31 teachers; while 3 structured interview questions were used to elicit responses from the principals, religious priests and traditional leaders. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data collected with questionnaire; while the oral interview was analysed qualitatively through thematic analysis. The study revealed that examination special centres have detrimental effect on the teaching and learning of English language in secondary schools and the quality of education in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that private and public secondary schools, and tutorial centres that have been turned into examination special centres should be closed down by Enugu State Ministry of Education. (shrink)

The overall goal of this target article is to demonstrate a mechanism for an embodied cognition. The particular vehicle is a much-studied, but still widely debated phenomenon seen in 7–12 month-old-infants. In Piaget's classic “A-not-B error,” infants who have successfully uncovered a toy at location “A” continue to reach to that location even after they watch the toy hidden in a nearby location “B.” Here, we question the traditional explanations of the error as an indicator of infants' concepts of objects (...) or other static mental structures. Instead, we demonstrate that the A-not-B error and its previously puzzling contextual variations can be understood by the coupled dynamics of the ordinary processes of goal-directed actions: looking, planning, reaching, and remembering. We offer a formal dynamic theory and model based on cognitive embodiment that both simulates the known A-not-B effects and offers novel predictions that match new experimental results. The demonstration supports an embodied view by casting the mental events involved in perception, planning, deciding, and remembering in the same analogic dynamic language as that used to describe bodily movement, so that they may be continuously meshed. We maintain that this mesh is a pre-eminently cognitive act of “knowing” not only in infancy but also in everyday activities throughout the life span. Key Words: cognitive development; dynamical systems theory; embodied cognition; infant development; motor control; motor planning; perception and action. (shrink)

Purpose This paper aims to unveil the general nature of virtual chat groups in multi-ethnic societies like Nigeria towards knowing whether and how diversity inclusiveness codes of conduct are encouraged and managed among virtual chat group participants. Design/methodology/approach Data in this research was collected via five virtual focus groups of five to eight discussants each and was complemented by virtual field surveys. Responses were validated through verification of registered personal mobile phone numbers. Each design was implemented to cover Nigeria’s six (...) geopolitical zones. The research was broadly framed – according to the uses and gratification theory, social inclusion hypothesis and utilitarian theory of ethics. Findings The research shows how virtual chat groups can enhance understanding of diversities. However, virtual chat-group outcomes are better managed if anticipated gratifications are predictable and based on the utilization of stated conduct codes. Research limitations/implications Given Nigeria’s vast population, the sample size for this study is not adequate nor systematic enough towards generalizations. However, the diverse background of focus group discussants enhances the vista for understanding inclusive virtual chats in diverse societies. Moreover, the instruments of research data collection were validated. Practical implications This research points out that virtual chat groups’ codes of conduct are most effective when participants can anticipate collective gratifications. However, firmness and fairness in the implementation of code of conduct principles are essential for long-term virtual group chat sustenance. Social implications Code of conduct principles are essential for the long-term virtual chat group sustenance. When this is achieved, some of the social problems of Nigeria may be solved, and the social, ethnic and religious differences may not hinder the proper development of the country. Originality/value The research exposes the nature and role of virtual chat group communication inclusivity codes of conduct amidst participants’ demographic diversity. (shrink)

Culture is acknowledged to be a critical element in the construction of an individual's identity; however, in today's increasingly multicultural environments, the influence of culture is no longer straightforward. It is now important to explore cultural identity clarity—the extent to which beliefs about identity that arise from one's cultural group membership are clearly and confidently understood. We describe a novel theoretical model to explain why having a clear and confident understanding of one's cultural identity is important for psychological well-being, as (...) it clarifies one's understanding of personal identity. We propose that a clear cultural identity clarifies one's personal existence, by providing a clear normative template, reducing personal uncertainty, providing an individual with a sense of continuity, and buffering an individual against the fear of death. We discuss the implications of this model within our complex cultural worlds. (shrink)

Abstract[I] want to single out one phenomenon that could be called the ‘politics of sources’. It points to the extent to which the histories that both scientists and historians can write are artifacts of the available sources. The Rockefeller Foundation not only opened its archives very early on for historical work but also invested a lot in making the archives readily available for historical exploration. During the 1980s, many young historians took advantage of this opportunity. Thus, in a relatively early (...) phase of the professional historiography of molecular biology, one could have gained the impression that the development of the new biology as a whole was a bio‐politically directed enterprise of the Rockefeller Foundation sustained by the vision that social processes could ultimately be controlled by biological processes. (shrink)

This article echoes those voices that demand new approaches and ‹senses’ for management education and business programs. Much of the article is focused on showing that the polemic about the educative model of business schools has moral and epistemological foundations and opens up the debate over the type of knowledge that practitioners need to possess in order to manage organizations, and how this knowledge can be taught in management programs. The article attempts to highlight the moral dimension of management through (...) a reinterpretation of the Aristotelian concept of practical wisdom. I defend the ideas that management is never morally neutral and that Aristotelian practical wisdom allows the recovery of moral considerations in management practice. I analyze the impact and implications that the introduction of practical wisdom in business schools entails for the conception and objectives of management education. This view reconfigures management education in terms of attention to values, virtues and context. Therefore, management programmes should prepare students to critically evaluate what they hear and to make decisions coherent with their values and virtues. In the final section, I reflect on the pedagogical implications of this approach. I point out that an integrated model of ethics and practical wisdom promotes education of cognition and education of affect as well. I provide an example to illustrate my perspective and to support my conclusions. (shrink)

This volume frames the question of responsibility as a problem of agency in relation to the systems and structures of globalization. According to Ricoeur responsibility is a “shattered concept” when considered too narrowly as a problem of act, agency and individual freedom. To examine this Esther Reed develops a short genealogy of modern liberal and post-liberal concepts of responsibility in order to understand better the relationship dominant modern framings of the meanings of responsibility. Reed engages with writings by major (...) modern (Schleiermacher, Hegel, Marx, Weber) and post-liberal (Buber, Levinas, Derrida, Badiou, Butler, Young, Critchley) theorists to illustrate the shift from an ethnic responsibility built on notions of accountability and attributions to an ethic responsibility that starts variously from the 'other'. Reed sees Dietrich Bonhoeffer as the most promising partner of this theological dialogue, as his learning of responsibility from the risen Christ present now in the (global) church is a welcome provocation to new thinking about the meaning of responsibility learned from land, distant neighbour, (global) church and the bible. Bonhoeffer's reflections on the centre, boundaries and limits of responsibility remain helpful to Christian people struggling with an increasingly exhausted concept of accountability. (shrink)

This essay introduces Michael Polanyi’s work through contrasting his innovative epistemology of subsidiary-focal integration with key distinctives of Christian analytic philosopher Alvin Plantinga. Polanyi’s contrasting proposals helpfully bring to light shaping assumptions of the analytic tradition, contributing creatively to a larger common agenda. Polanyi disputes the unexamined assumption that the simplest epistemic experience is a focally apprehended “find-myself-believing” that is explicitly and propositionally expressed. I also contrast the two regarding infallibilism, foundationalism, externalism, justification, epistemic duty, creative antirealism, and ways of (...) tapping Calvin’s notion of the sensus divinitatis. (shrink)

Nous étions des survivantes, des veuves, condamnées à vivre. Mais petit à petit notre lutte a été de se dire : « On veut quand même être vivantes, vivantes ! », SurVivantes.Survivre, cela veut dire qu’auparavant on avait vécu.Je me suis mariée en 1987. En 1988, nous avons eu notre première fille Anna et nous sommes allés voir la famille de mon mari. Une photo a été..

Durch einen Vergleich nicht-jüdischer und jüdischer Philosophiegeschichten werden unterschiedliche Behandlungsweisen und vielfältige inhaltliche Ausprägungen von «jüdischer Philosophie» vor dem Hintergrund der jeweils vertretenen philosophischen Haltung wie auch des religiösen Standpunktes der einzelnen Philosophiehistoriker aufgezeigt. Darüber hinaus werden Anregungen gegeben für mögliche Definitionen dessen, was «jüdische Philosophie» zu beinhalten hätte, und wie die künftige philosophiehistorische Forschung, jüdische wie nicht-jüdische, die gewonnenen unterschiedlichen Konzeptionen für Darstellung, Beurteilung und Einordnung in das Gesamt der Philosophiegeschichte berücksichtigen und fruchtbar machen könnte.

Interviews with female impersonators reveal the social, cultural, and economic aspects of their occupation and the subculture of the homosexual transvestite.

Reasoning about bedrock abstract concepts such as time, number, and valence relies on spatial metaphor and often on multiple spatial metaphors for a single concept. Previous research has documented, for instance, both future-in-front and future-to-right metaphors for time in English speakers. It is often assumed that these metaphors, which appear to have distinct experiential bases, remain distinct in online temporal reasoning. In two studies we demonstrate that, contra this assumption, people systematically combine these metaphors. Evidence for this combination was found (...) in both directly elicited and spontaneous co-speech gestures about time. These results provide first support for the hypothesis that the metaphorical representation of time, and perhaps other abstract domains as well, involves the continuous co-activation of multiple metaphors rather than the selection of only one. (shrink)

This study shows that professional identity should not be viewed as a composed variable with a uniform structure. Based on the literature and previous research, we view teachers? job satisfaction, self?efficacy, occupational commitment and change in the level of motivation as indicators of teachers? professional identity. Using two?step cluster analysis, three distinct professional identity profiles have empirically been identified, based on data of 1214 teachers working in secondary education in the Netherlands. These profiles differed significantly regarding the indicators of teachers? (...) professional identity. Teachers belonging to the found profiles did not significantly differ in their amount of experience. (shrink)

In this commentary, we point to guidelines for performing human neuroimaging studies and their reporting in microbiota-gut-brain articles. Moreover, we provide a view on interpretational issues in MGB studies, with a specific focus on gut microbiota–derived metabolites. Thus, extending the target article, we provide recommendations to the field to increase reproducibility and relevance of this type of MGB study.

Rebbetzin Esther Greenberg was famous throughout Israel as a mentor to countless women, including some of the best-known teachers and counselors.

En contexte de protection de la jeunesse, dans plusieurs situations, il arrive que le développement d’un lien d’attachement ne puisse s’établir suite à du rejet, de l’abandon ou par l’incapacité des parents à reconnaître ou répondre aux besoins de l’enfant. Dans de telles situations, au Québec, on envisage de plus en plus une approche « projet de vie » pour l’enfant avec l’objectif de mettre fin à l’ambivalence et au vide affectif, ceci dans des délais qui ne compromettent pas sa (...) capacité de se développer harmonieusement. Dans cette perspective, nous présentons ici les résultats d’une étude exploratoire qui a pour objectif de dresser un premier portrait des jeunes pour qui un « projet de vie » fut élaboré dans sept centres jeunesse du Québec. (shrink)

: This paper discusses how Herbert Simon's initial interest in decision making became transformed into a focus on understanding human problem solving in response to the concrete conditions of the Cold War and the practical goals of the military. In particular, it suggests a connection between the seachange in Simon's interest and his shift in patronage. As a result, Simon is portrayed as a component of the scientific-military World War II cyborg that further evolved during the Cold War. Moving from (...) decision making to problem solving, Simon's cyborg science not only required large sums of money, but also managed to acquire these. (shrink)

In his essay “Critique of Violence,” Walter Benjamin argued that only certain types of strikes can be considered revolutionary, while others—i.e., most bread and butter, or “political” strikes—tacitly rely on the violent logics of the state. This paper suggests, however, that by reading Benjamin against himself and applying his discussion of “pure means” to those “political” strikes, the extent to which even these basic collective actions represent effective “strategies of resistance” becomes evident. This framework requires an interdisciplinary approach to radical (...) labor studies, combining political theory with history in order to identify and analyze past instances of joyful community-building during strikes. Relying also on a historical case study—the 1926 miners’ lockout in South Wales—and Benjamin’s own writings on the discipline of history, this paper contends that strikes, and the “alternative communities” they encourage workers and their families to build, present enormous revolutionary potential. When theory and history are studied together, and when we pay close attention to the actual tactics of solidarity that make up strike actions, this potential is uncovered. (shrink)

L'auteure, riche de son expérience de scripte cinéma, analyse l'organisation spatio-temporelle des éléments constituants un film de fiction pour définir le concept de continuité apparente. Celui-ci est ensuite réinvesti dans l'étude de la stéréoscopie au cinéma. Ces deux notions sont à l'origine de la création de deux courts-métrages en 3D visant à les réunir.

Since coming to power in the landslide labour victory of 1997, New Labour has infused British politics with the language of community. Furthermore, John Rentoul claims that Tony Blair’s ‘idea of community . . . derives directly from Macmurray’ (1996[1995]: 42). While community is as central to Macmurray’s writings as it is to Blairite politics, on closer investigation it becomes apparent that Blair and Macmurray use the term community in rather different ways. Macmurray’s understanding of community is more specific than (...) Blair’s implying close relations among persons as opposed to a vague or merely historical and spatial sense of belonging and, thus, it avoids some of the problems that arise as a result of New Labour’s loose and broad uses of the term. Hence, this chapter teases out the philosophical meaning of a Macmurrian community, and it critiques Macmurray’s understanding of ethical relations among persons in community. In particular, Macmurray is highly critical of institutionalized exclusivist religion and argues for an intrinsic connection between what he refers to as ‘real religion’ (1995a[1961]: 170) and the inclusivity of community. Finally then, the chapter will relate the Macmurrian concept of community to an example of a non-political, religiously and culturally plural community in Leeds, West Yorkshire, leading to the conclusion that Macmurray’s understanding of community is a relevant and effective response to religious pluralism. (shrink)

This article seeks to draw out the links between systems thinking and the philosophy of John Macmurray. In fact, while systems theory is a growing trend in a number of disciplines, including counselling and psychotherapy, the narrative describes its ancient roots. Macmurray’s insistence that humans exist as interdependent rather than independent beings is supported by systems theory. Moreover, Macmurray’s critique of institutionalized religion and his favouring of inclusive religious community is akin to a model of spirituality that, in positive psychology, (...) is conceived of as an open system. (shrink)