Emancipatory practice development (ePD) is a practitioner‐led research methodology which enables workplace transformation. Underpinned by the critical paradigm, ePD works through facilitation and workplace learning, with people in their local context on practice issues that are significant to them. Its purpose is to embed safe, person‐centred learning cultures which transform individuals and workplaces. In this article, we critically reflect on a year‐long ePD study in an acute care hospital ward. We explore the challenges of practice change (...) within systems, building collective strength with frontline collaborations and leadership to sustain new learning cultures. Our work advances practice development dialogue through working closely with the underpinning theories. Our critique analyses how ePD can enact and sustain change within a complex system. We argue that ePD works to strengthen safety cultures by challenging antidemocratic practices through communicative action. By opening communicative spaces, ePD enables staff to collectively deliberate and reach consensus. Their raised awareness supports staff to resist ways of working which conspire against safe patient care. Sustainability of practice change is fostered by the co‐operative democracies created within the frontline team and meso level enablement. We conclude that the democratising potential of ePDt generates staff agency at the frontline. (shrink)

German medical schools have not yet sufficiently introduced students to the field of good scientific practice. In order to prevent scientific misconduct and to foster scientific integrity, courses on GSP must be an integral part of the curriculum of medical students. Based on a review of the literature, teaching units and materials for two courses on GSP were developed and tested in a pilot course. The pilot course was accompanied by a pre-post evaluation that assessed students’ knowledge and attitudes (...) towards scientific integrity and scientific misconduct. A syllabus was designed that comprised the following six topics: theoretical foundations of GSP; scientific publishing; empirical data; scientific supervision and teamwork; clinical research; personal interests. The comparison pre versus post-intervention yielded statistically significant changes in regard to the participants’ knowledge and attitude toward all forms of scientific misconduct treated in the course. As the majority of participants was not familiar with the fundamental regulations or guidelines of GSP, it seems crucial to train students in actively applying such norms to real-world conflicts. Students’ unfamiliarity with the fundamentals of GSP can be linked to the fact that many students have already experienced forms of scientific misconduct. Thus, GSP syllabi should be closely adjusted to a student’s realm of experience. All in all, courses on GSP can be seen as a potential means to increase the number of young scholars. (shrink)

ROLFE G. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 98–106 [Epub ahead of print]Cardinal John Henry Newman and ‘the ideal state and purpose of a university’: nurse education, research and practice development for the twenty‐first centuryCardinal John Henry Newman’s book, The Idea of a University, first published in the mid nineteenth century, is often invoked as the epitome of the liberal Enlightenment University in discussions and debates about the role and purpose of nurse education. In this article I will examine Newman’s (...) book in greater detail and with a more critical eye than is generally the case in the writing of nurse academics. In particular, I will focus on the claims that Newman was a champion of the Enlightenment University of the nineteenth century, that he promoted the idea of ‘disinterested’ universal knowledge for its own sake, that he was an early advocate of the pursuit of knowledge through scientific research, and the supposition that he would have welcomed the discipline of nursing into the University. In each case, I will suggest that these claims are based on an extremely selective reading of Newman’s work. I will conclude by employing the example of practice development to propose an alternative way for nursing to find its place in the modern University that does not involve a retreat into what I will argue is an outdated and nostalgic view of the aims and purpose of higher education. (shrink)

PARLOUR R and MCCORMACK B. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 308–321 Blending critical realist and emancipatory practice development methodologies: making critical realism work in nursing researchThis paper examines the efficacy of facilitation as a practice development intervention in changing practice within an Older Person setting and in implementing evidence into practice. It outlines the influences exerted by the critical realist paradigm in guiding emancipatory practice development activities and, in particular, how the former may (...) be employed within an emancipatory practice development study to elucidate and increase understanding pertinent to causation and outcomes. The methodology is based upon an emancipatory practice development approach set within a realistic evaluation framework. This allows for systematic analysis of the social and contextual elements that influence the explication of outcomes associated with facilitation. The study is concentrated upon five practice development cycles, within which a sequence of iterative processes is integrated. The authors assert that combining critical realist and emancipatory processes offers a robust and practical method for translating evidence and implementing changes in practice, as the former affirms or falsifies the influence that emancipatory processes exert on attaining culture shift, and enabling transformation towards effective clinical practice. A new framework for practice development is proposed that establishes methodological coherency between emancipatory practice development and realistic evaluation. This augments the existing theoretical bases for both these approaches by contributing new theoretical and methodological understandings of causation. (shrink)

To provide rigour when preparing a research design, the researcher needs to carefully consider not only the methodology but also the philosophical intent of the study. This, however, is often absent from reported research and provides the reader with little evidence by which to judge the merits of the chosen methodology and its influence on the study. The purpose of this paper is to set out the case for critical realism as a framework to guide appropriate action in practice (...) development and realistic evaluation for understanding the consequences of those actions.It is evident that critical realism and critical social science share common ground. Emancipatory practice development (ePD) is based on the philosophy of critical social science and therefore by virtue is linked to the tenets of critical realism. Until now, the evaluation of ePD programme has been well served by 4th-generation evaluation. However, this paper outlines the need for a different approach to evaluation, one that is based on critical realism, that is concerned with emancipation, and that can be used in the ever-changing environment of clinical practice. Realistic evaluation not only links strongly to ePD programmes, but also serves as the basis for effective research questions that will test the outcomes of the research and inform the transferability of ePD mechanisms into differing contexts. (shrink)

In an age of nationalisation of international educational policy, or vice versa, the politics and conflicts behind such policies often take centre stage to the detriment of professional expertise. In response, this article develops a nuanced critical realism to propose a practice-based development and implementation of educational policy reforms. Based on empirical reports of head teachers’ subversive practice, the article concludes by highlighting that professional expertise is a central component, dubbed ‘formless capability’, that all stakeholders use to (...) turn policy intentions into policy actions. Actuality consists of the three traditional domains of critical realism – the real, the actual and the empirical – whose importance is derived from whether it is a means to or an end in itself. It is argued here that empirical experiences of leading schools are the stage of actuality that is directly... (shrink)

Although both Kleinian psychoanalysts and their critics take it for granted that there is a therapeutic technique distinctive to the Kleinian approach, comparatively little has been written about what it is. In _Melanie Klein Today, Volume 2_, Elizabeth Bott Spillius brings together classic and new papers to make it possible to understand the main elements of the Kleinian therapeutic technique. In recent years there have been important refinements in this technique, notably in regard to the balance to be struck in (...) interpreting destructiveness, the use of the so-called part-object language, and the precise ways to understand and interpret 'acting-in' and the role of the past in the present. This collection draws these developments together and makes clear why an integral part of contemporary Kleinian theory and practice is concerned with the careful scrutiny of the therapeutic process itself. The volume includes detailed accounts of clinical work with both adults and children and takes further the theoretical ideas discussed in _Melanie Klein Today, Volume 1_. The papers and the editorial commentary in this book together comprise the most illuminating and coherent rationale for the Kleinian technique yet published. The ideas will be of interest to members of many disciplines and a final section includes papers on the application of the Kleinian approach in other fields of work. (shrink)

What makes safety claims about general purpose AI systems such as large language models trustworthy? We show that rather than the capabilities of security tools such as alignment and red teaming procedures, it is security practices based on these tools that contributed to reconfiguring the image of AI safety and made the claims acceptable. After showing what causes the gap between the capabilities of security tools and the desired safety guarantees, we critically investigate how AI security practices attempt to fill (...) the gap and identify several shortcomings in diversity and participation. We found that these security practices are part of securitization processes aiming to support (commercial) development of general purpose AI systems whose trustworthiness can only be imperfectly tested instead of guaranteed. We conclude by offering several improvements to the current AI security practices. (shrink)

Place, practice and status have played significant and interacting roles in the complex history of primatology during the early to mid-twentieth century. This paper demonstrates that, within the emerging discipline of primatology, the field was understood as an essential supplement to laboratory work. Founders argued that only in the field could primates be studied in interaction with their natural social group and environment. Such field studies of primate behavior required the development of existing and new field techniques. The (...) practices and sites developed by American primatologist Clarence Ray Carpenter were used to demonstrate that scientific standards could be successfully applied to the study of primates in the field. In an environment in which many field biologists fought for higher scientific status, Carpenter gradually adopted increasingly interventionist techniques. These techniques raised epistemological problems for studies whose value rested on the naturalness of the behaviors observed. Thus, issues of status shaped field practices and subsequently altered Carpenter's criteria for what constituted natural primate behavior. (shrink)

Engineering, as a complex and multidimensional practice of technology development, has long been a source of ethical concerns. These concerns have been approached from various perspectives. There are ongoing debates in the literature of the philosophy of engineering/technology about how to organize an optimized view of the values entailed in technology development processes. However, these debates deliver little in the way of a concrete rationale or framework that could comprehensively describe different types of engineering values and their (...) multi-aspect interrelations in real engineering practices. Approaching engineering values from a meaning-based perspective, as in this paper, can be a reliable method of tackling such a controversial problem. This paper therefore proposes that technology development be considered a systemic normative practice and attempts to provide a comprehensive view of various built-in values, their different origins and features, and a way of prioritizing them in real engineering processes. Studying two cases of the Zayandeh Rood Dam and the Abbasi Dam will lead to practical insights into how to understand norms in technology development and incorporate them into engineering practice. (shrink)

This book offers a critical analysis of the theory and practice of global development. Using how Chagas disease has been understood and addressed as an example of a failing of global development, Anna Malavisi argues for a rethinking from an ethico-epistemic perspective using a strong ethical approach.

Engineering, as a complex and multidimensional practice of technology development, has long been a source of ethical concerns. These concerns have been approached from various perspectives. There are ongoing debates in the literature of the philosophy of engineering/technology about how to organize an optimized view of the values entailed in technology development processes. However, these debates deliver little in the way of a concrete rationale or framework that could comprehensively describe different types of engineering values and their (...) multi-aspect interrelations in real engineering practices. Approaching engineering values from a meaning-based perspective, as in this paper, can be a reliable method of tackling such a controversial problem. This paper therefore proposes that technology development be considered a systemic normative practice and attempts to provide a comprehensive view of various built-in values, their different origins and features, and a way of prioritizing them in real engineering processes. Studying two cases of the Zayandeh Rood Dam and the Abbasi Dam will lead to practical insights into how to understand norms in technology development and incorporate them into engineering practice. (shrink)

The aim of this Swedish study was to develop the concept of moral sensitivity in health care practice. This process began with an overview of relevant theories and perspectives on ethics with a focus on moral sensitivity and related concepts, in order to generate a theoretical framework. The second step was to construct a questionnaire based on this framework by generating a list of items from the theoretical framework. Nine items were finally selected as most appropriate and consistent with (...) the research team’s understanding of the concept of moral sensitivity. The items were worded as assumptions related to patient care. The questionnaire was distributed to two groups of health care personnel on two separate occasions and a total of 278 completed questionnaires were returned. A factor analysis identified three factors: sense of moral burden, moral strength and moral responsibility. These seem to be conceptually interrelated yet indicate that moral sensitivity may involve more dimensions than simply a cognitive capacity, particularly, feelings, sentiments, moral knowledge and skills. (shrink)

Numerous studies have pointed to the benefits of discussing controversial political issues (CPI) with students in a school setting. Because teachers play a significant role in facilitating discussions on CPI, including determining how they are conducted and influencing their outcomes, it is essential to measure the discussion practices teachers employ when addressing CPI. However, existing tools inadequately measure teachers’ discussion practices in teaching CPI. Thus, our aim was to develop and validate a scale for this purpose. An exploratory factor analysis (...) on a pilot sample of Israeli school teachers ( N = 113) identified five factors, and a confirmatory factor analysis on a larger sample ( N = 205) demonstrated an adequate fit for this five-factor structure. Methodological benefits of measuring specific discussion practices in teaching CPI and the educational implications for teacher training are discussed. (shrink)

Although sustainable development is increasingly prioritised, many entrepreneurs remain skeptical about the appropriateness of sustainable practices for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), questioning the value of adopting green initiatives. Grounded in the resource-based view, this study investigates the mediating role of sustainable development practices in linking entrepreneurial and international orientations and business performance in SMEs. Data were gathered from 105 SME owners and senior managers across multiple sectors using the drop-off and pick-up method and analysed using partial least (...) squares (PLS) path modelling. The findings reveal that sustainable practices play a critical mediating role in enhancing business performance. Specifically, entrepreneurial orientation positively influences business performance indirectly through engagement in sustainable development practices, while international orientation does not produce a similar effect. This highlights the importance of aligning entrepreneurial traits, such as innovation, proactiveness, and risk-taking, with sustainability-oriented strategies. Additionally, the model’s predictive capability was assessed, and the study provides both theoretical insights into the mediating mechanisms of sustainability and practical recommendations for SMEs aiming to adopt sustainable business practices. (shrink)

This paper offers an account of the historical development of Kant's understanding of belief ( Glaube ) from its early ties to George Friedrich Meier's Auszug aus der Vernunftlehre through various stages of refinement. It will be argued that the Critique of Pure Reason reflects an important but not final stage in Kant's understanding of belief. Its structure is further refined and its scope narrowed in later works, including the Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of Judgment . After (...) charting these stages, an analysis of how belief relates to the Fact of Reason will be presented. (shrink)

This article proposes that restorative justice practices, as used in New Zealand schools, are better understood as an instrument of social development than a behaviour management practice. Concerns about the achievement of Māori students are relocated, from an individualised psychological and pedagogical problem to an interdisciplinary context of historical and social development. Social constructionist theory is suggested as a lens through which RJPs in schools may be seen as the intentional production of respectful social relationships, rather than (...) as behaviour management. A restorative process has the productive capacity to restore healthy relational functioning, both for those who have been offended against and those who have offended. It is argued that the primary function of restorative justice in schools is not about resolving specific conflicts, but rather, about the production and maintenance of respectful relationship, which is the antithesis of colonised relationship. Such a position reflects accountability on a communal, rather than individualised basis, and accords with recent moves in the United Nations Development Programme to look at Human Development as building agentive capacity. (shrink)

Background Since the enactment of the euthanasia law in the Netherlands, there has been a lively public debate on assisted dying that may influence the way patients talk about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide with their physicians and the way physicians experience the practice of EAS. Aim To show what developments physicians see in practice and how they perceive the influence of the public debate on the practice of EAS. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of in-depth interviews (...) with 28 Dutch physicians who had experience with a complex case of EAS. Respondents were recruited both by the network of physicians working for SCEN as well as via a national questionnaire, wherein participating physicians could indicate their willingness to be interviewed. Results Three themes came up in analysing the interviews. First, the interviewed physicians experienced a change in what patients would expect from them: from a role as an involved caregiver to being the mere performer of EAS. Second, interviewees said that requests for EAS based on non-medical reasons came up more frequently and wondered if EAS was the right solution for these requests. Last, respondents had the impression that the standards of EAS are shifting and that the boundaries of the EAS regulation were stretched. Conclusions The perceived developments could make physicians less willing to consider a request for EAS. Our results also raise questions about the role of physicians and of EAS in society. (shrink)

I offer a reflection on global development today, but also highlight the value of development ethics to help us guide the practice. Development ethics is more than just an applied ethics, it is a form of engaged philosophy since it engages with contemporary social and political problems from where they’re at in the world. It is not enough to argue for the inherent dignity of all when it is known that for many people their dignity is (...) crushed. Development ethics tries to understand the factors that result in the absence of dignity. (shrink)

We describe recent developments in research on mathematical practice and cognition and outline the nine contributions in this special issue of topiCS. We divide these contributions into those that address (a) mathematical reasoning: patterns, levels, and evaluation; (b) mathematical concepts: evolution and meaning; and (c) the number concept: representation and processing.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has sanctioned languages for ontology formulation, of which the most important is the Web Ontology Language (OWL). These have spawned in their turn powerful open-source software for developing and reasoning with ontologies and for querying data stores aligned to ontologies. Unfortunately, the resultant popularity of semantic technology has itself led to a situation where ontologies are now being created in heterogeneous, uncoordinated ways, thereby leading to a new problem of semantic stovepipes, and thus to (...) a new failure of data integration and reuse. The best practices here described counteract this tendency by providing a set of principles and rules to lead to the development of ontologies in a consistent, non-redundant fashion. (shrink)

The ability to reflect on practice is a fundamental component of effective medical practice. In a sector increasingly focused on professionalism and patient-centred care, Developing Reflective Practice is a timely publication providing practical guidance on how to acquire the reflective skills necessary to become a successful clinician. This new title draws from a wide range of theoretical and practical multidisciplinary perspectives to assist students, practitioners and educators in embedding reflection in everyday activities. It also offers structures and (...) ideas for more purposeful and meaningful formal reflections and professional development. Developing Reflective Practice: Focuses on the developing practitioner and their lifelong learning and the development of professional identity through reflection Provides practical how-to information for students, practitioners and educators, including realistic case examples and practice-based hints and tips Examines and explains the theoretical and conceptual approaches to reflective practice, including its models and frameworks"--Provided by publisher. (shrink)

Drawing upon career construction theory, we examined the mediating effect of deliberate practice on career adaptability and the effects of learning goal orientation and supervisor incompetence accusations as well as career development training on DP. Using data collected from 204 Chinese PhD students in three waves over a period of 2 months, we found that individuals who were inclined to learn new skills and obtain new knowledge were more likely to deliberately practice professional activities in their fields. (...) When a PhD student’s professional competence was questioned by his or her supervisor, the student was more prone to negative emotions and would reduce his or her effort in the development of expertise. CDT – contrary to expectations – negatively predicted DP of professional activities. One possible reason is that the participants in this study have strong autonomy so that those who really struggling are participating in training and seeking help and those who with strong professional abilities are not accessing training programs. Moreover, results showed that DP of professional activities significantly promoted PhD students to adapt to their academic circumstances. Implications for career-related practice within the academic domain are provided. (shrink)

Closing the Gap for U.S. Hispanic Youth looks at the circumstances of non-college bound youth and focuses specifically on Hispanicsóone of the nation's largest, youngest, fastest growing, and most at-risk populations. The book presents data on the potential and status of Hispanic youth, and explores a number of options and practical next-steps for the consideration of the public and private sectors to ensure that Hispanics are integrated into the new workplace.

There was a growing realization that Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are overarching, ambitious, complex, and less impactful. Consequently, the 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN) came out with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a well-thought-out global development agenda in the year 2015. By involving the private sectors in the designing of SDGs, UN has rightly identified their potentials in offering solutions to the most relevant sustainability challenges. SDGs came into force in January 2016 across the (...) globe when corporate social responsibility (CSR) was already legalized in India. There has been a whooping investment of approximately Rs. 15,000 crores by nearly 20,000 companies every year under CSR in the country. However, it is argued that the contributions to SDGs are not substantial. Based on review of relevant literature, the current paper makes a modest attempt to explore the connections between CSR and SDGs in contemporary India. Further, it critically examines how CSR in India contributes to SDGs. The paper also analyses the underlying reasons for the inadequate engagement of CSR with SDGs. Despite CSR practices in India having linkage with the SDGs, the outcomes are not as per the expectation as a number of firms operate with less involvement and strategic efforts. (shrink)

This paper is based on ethnographic research of data practices in a public health project called Weather Health and Air Pollution. I examine two different kinds of practices that make air pollution data, focusing on how they relate to particular modes of sensing and articulating air pollution. I begin by describing the interstitial spaces involved in making measurements of air pollution at monitoring sites and in the running of a computer simulation. Specifically, I attend to a shared dimension of these (...) practices, the checking of a numerical reading for error. Checking a measurement for error is routine practice and a fundamental component of making data, yet these are also moments of interpretation, where the form and meaning of numbers are ambiguous. Through two case studies of modelling and monitoring data practices, I show that making a ‘good’ measurement requires developing a feeling for the instrument–air pollution interaction in terms of the intended functionality of the measurements made. These affective dimensions of practice are useful analytically, making explicit the interaction of standardised ways of knowing and embodied skill in stabilising data. I suggest that environmental data practices can be studied through researchers’ materialisation of error, which complicate normative accounts of Big Data and highlight the non-linear and entangled relations that are at work in the making of stable, accurate data. (shrink)

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) weaves together rigor and relevance while it improves student achievement and engagement. The Philippine Department of Education implemented Indigenous People’s education to respond to the demands for culturally responsive teaching. Teacher education graduates are expected to articulate the rootedness of education in sociocultural contexts in creating a learning environment that recognizes respect, connectedness, choice, personal relevance, challenges, engagement, authenticity, and effectiveness. Practice teachers need relevant exposure and immersion to fully develop their competence in CRT. This (...) scenario necessitates attention to assessing the competence of 191 practice teachers in CRT, correlating their competence across dimensions, and verifying the role of gender and degree programs in competence development. This investigation provides evidence on the role of gender in competence development toward culturally responsive teaching. Such competence is vital in practice teachers, especially because they are exposed to learners with diverse backgrounds during their teaching internship. This evidence informs supervising instructors in molding practice teachers. (shrink)

While there is much extant literature on “case method” pedagogy as practiced in law and business education, there is little written on its use in teaching practical (i.e. professional or applied) ethics. After relating the history and nature of the case method in law, business, and philosophy, the author offers guidance on how to develop and use philosophy cases, focusing on lesson plans for their presentation, their purpose within the practical ethics curriculum, and how to write and grade course requirements (...) involving them. Much more than the examples philosophers typically invent (designed to illustrate a point or bring discussion to a close), philosophy cases are highly varied, promoting discussion and sensitivity to complex ethical situations. The author argues that since the goal of a practical ethics course is to most often to familiarize people with the special standards of conduct that apply to members of a certain group (e.g. doctors, lawyers, academics), philosophy cases should encourage the expression of ethical opinions, encourage students to identify issues within cases and to make decisions that account for ethical complexities, promote students’ ability to justify those decisions convincingly, and develop in students a sense of how to incorporate feasibility into the moral decision-making process. (shrink)

Drawing on a range of literature, I introduce two new concepts for understanding and exploring distributed cognition: resilience engineering and degeneracy. By re-examining Ed Hutchins’ (1995) ethnographic study of the navigation team I show how a focus on the developmental acquisition of cognitive practices can draw out several crucial insights that have been overlooked. Firstly, that the way in which agents learn and acquire cognitive practices enables a form of resilience engineering: the process by which the system is able to (...) overcome and adapt to errors and the vagaries of nature. Secondly, that the best way to engineer a resilient system is through promoting degeneracy – how differing structures produce the same function – at the level of cognitive practices. These two features show that focusing on cognitive practices and developmental trajectories is important for both greater explanatory leverage; and is also useful in regard to the practicalities of designing real-world cognitive systems. (shrink)

This study developed a cognitive behavioral therapy -based psychoeducation practice aimed at reducing obsessive-compulsive symptom levels in adolescents in Turkey and tested its effectiveness with a mixed-methods study. After the study was constructed as a pretest-posttest control group experimental application consisting of qualitative stages. The experimental application of the study was carried out with high school students in Turkey. In the sampling process, the schools, where the study will be carried out, were determined with the cluster sampling method. The (...) experimental and control groups were formed with 30 students with high obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms from these schools, and the developed CBT-based psychoeducation practice was applied to the experimental group for 12 weeks. Quantitative data were collected through the “Child Version of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory,” and normality analysis, t-test for dependent samples, and Single Factor Analysis of Covariance were used. Qualitative data of the study were collected through document review, session evaluation forms, and semi-structured interview protocol; content and descriptive analysis techniques were used in the analysis. It was concluded that the developed CBT-based psychoeducation application was an effective approach in reducing OCD symptoms in the Turkish adolescent sample, except for the neutralizing dimension. It was also determined that the findings obtained from the analysis during the application and the interviews after the application are parallel with the findings obtained by quantitative methods, and the qualitative and quantitative findings adequately explained the quantitative documents findings. (shrink)

We argue for teleology as a description of the way in which we ordinarily understand others’ intentional actions. Teleology starts from the close resemblance between the reasoning involved in understanding others’ actions and one’s own practical reasoning involved in deciding what to do. We carve out teleology’s distinctive features more sharply by comparing it to its three main competitors: theory theory, simulation theory, and rationality theory. The plausibility of teleology as our way of understanding others is underlined by developmental data (...) in its favour. (shrink)

Inter- and transdisciplinary research arise as necessary conditions to address societal problems. These collaborations, by definition, encompass experts from distinct domains, demanding an epistemic dependence between researchers. In such cases where, additionally, an epistemic asymmetry exists, this might then lead to tensions and enhance epistemic disagreements. How should scholars behave when in peer disagreement? On the one hand, in philosophical literature on the epistemology of disagreement, normative accounts about how one should respond when facing an epistemic disagreement are usually built (...) upon hypothetical scenarios that do not portray real-life disagreements in scientific settings. On the other hand, Science and Technology Studies (STS) research that deals with academic and scientific disagreement typically uses a descriptive, empirical approach. We argue that before a normative account of responses to disagreement is developed, we need to understand how academic disagreement actually takes place in real interdisciplinary scientific practice. In this chapter, we address a case of academic disagreement within an interdisciplinary research team in Brazil during their development of a framework for transdisciplinary collaboration. Data was collected with ethnographic tools, while the analytic perspective of the investigation is grounded on recent debates about research groups in social epistemology and in the epistemology of disagreement. We will show that an interplay between trust and disagreement is required for dealing with inter- and transdisciplinary research practices. We hold that shedding light on disagreements and communications between collaborators may improve the epistemic performance of collaborative research teams by refining the dynamics of inter- and transdisciplinary investigations. (shrink)

We send messages as much in how we communicate as by what we communicate. Learning best practices, such as those for data management proposed in the accompanying article, are components of becoming a responsible and contributing member of the community of scholars. Not only must we teach the principles underlying best practices, we should model and teach approaches for implementing those practices and help students come to view them within the larger context of becoming members of a professional community. How (...) to collaborate across differences and how to have disputes professionally are skills all professionals need, and they should be taught along with the content itself. (shrink)

Introduction. In foreign and domestic studies there is a steady scientific and practical interest in studying subjectivity, but methods and techniques that promote its development at the value and meaning level are not sufficiently presented. The study considers narrative practices that are effective ways to develop subjectivity. Narrative prac- tices are aimed at making sense of past experience, developing the ability to goal-setting and creating a positive mood for the future. The purpose of the study is to reveal the (...) potential of using narrative practices for developing subjectivity. Methods. The author uses comparative analysis of philosophical and psychological-pedagogical literature, generalization and systematization of the results of domestic and foreign studies. Scientific novelty of the study. The paper expands the understanding of narrative practices. The multidirectional influence of narrative practices on the development of human subjectivity is shown. Results. Subjectivity is understood as the property of a subject to be an agent of action. Subjectivity serves as a condition for self-realization of personality, determination of development trajectory, planning of life activity in accordance with the chosen system of values. The development of subjec- tivity is possible through using narrative practices. Narrative practices are understood as anthropocentric approaches, which are a set of techniques aimed at comprehending and interpreting the structure, content and meaning of life stories. Conclusions. Narrative practices have a positive impact on the development of subjectivity, as they form a conscious and active attitude of a person to the world and himself. Narrative practices can be diary entries, autobiographies, narratives with elements of confession, the method of deconstruction of dominant discourses. They allow organizing life experience, defining a system of values, setting goals, choosing ways of their implementation, feeling the author of one’s own life. (shrink)

Philosophical inquiry strives to be the unencumbered exploration of ideas. That is, unlike scientific research which is subject to ethical oversight, it is commonly thought that it would either be inappropriate, or that it would undermine what philosophy fundamentally is, if philosophical research were subject to similar ethical oversight. Against this, I argue that philosophy is in need of a reckoning. Philosophical inquiry is a morally hazardous practice with its own risks. There are risks present in the methods we (...) employ, risks inherent in the content of the views under consideration, and risks to the subjects of our inquiry. Likely, there are more risks still. However, by starting with the identification of these three risks we can demonstrate not only why an ethics of practice is needed but also which avenues are the most promising for developing an ethics for philosophical practice. Although we might be in the business of asking questions, we do not absolve ourselves of responsibility for the risks that inquiry incurs. (shrink)

Prominent scholars note that current approaches to leader development in business are insufficient in at least three ways, and call for approaches that teach leaders to process and reflect, take personal ownership, and develop their capacities for both proficient and morally centered leadership. This paper explores three related research questions: Can we use evidence from management research to build a process-based model of leader self-development? Does the spiritual leadership literature offer implications for integrating moral development into such (...) a model? Can spiritual development processes from a long-standing tradition be integrated, to further bring spiritual and moral development into leader development? Based on the leader and leadership development, spiritual leadership, and Ignatian literatures, one approach to building a spiritual leader development practice is presented. Using this model, business leaders are guided in forming leader development practices based on six categories of interdependent developmental activities: planning with discernment, experiences based on vocation, reflection including spiritual notes, assessment including examining present faults, education including on the lives of moral and effective leaders, and relationships including spiritual direction. This approach is differentiated from other approaches to leader development and to spiritual leadership. The role of the specific spiritual practices used here versus other traditions and the interplay of religion and spirituality in leader development are discussed, along with limitations of this approach and suggestions for further research. (shrink)

Suppose the aim of teaching ethics is to foster in students the development of mature and adept moral practice, which requires more than moral judgment based on principle. Students must first ‘tune in’ to a social situation as such, which involves modes of cognition older and deeper than principled reasoning. Merlin Donald’s three-stage account of the evolution of modern human cognition provides the heuristic framework for an inquiry into the nature and possibility of mature moral practice. Of (...) special interest is the mimetic culture of our hominin precursors, the cognitive forms of which remain active in the modern mind. Donald’s framework may serve to clarify how and when recognizably moral practices emerged in human evolution, including the sophisticated cognition involved in practicing – in the sense of rehearsing – actions in the world. Attending to the role of mimesis in mature moral practice can serve to enrich the teaching of ethics. (shrink)

The introduction of Artificial Intelligence systems has demonstrated impeccable potential and benefits to enhance the decision-making processes in our society. However, despite the successful performance of AI systems to date, skepticism and concern remain regarding whether AI systems could form a trusting relationship with human users. Developing trusted AI systems requires careful consideration and evaluation of its reproducibility, interpretability, and fairness, which in in turn, poses increased expectations and responsibilities for data scientists. Therefore, the current study focused on understanding Canadian (...) data scientists’ self-confidence in creating trusted AI systems, while relying on their current AI system development practices. (shrink)

The article examines examples of sociocultural practices in advertising and PR, music, cinema, gamification, tourism, and art. Analyzing the proposed topic, the dependence of transformation of sociocultural practices on technologization and informatization of society, on merging of different spheres of creative industries (on the example of advertising and content), and interdependence of society and the process of content creation were established. The sphere of “project activity” as a way of combining traditional and innovative foundations to improve and enrich culture, effectively (...) draw attention to social problems, and involve new people in the creative industry was considered separately. To carry out this research the author used the following methods: comparative-historical, hermeneutic method of generalization. At the end of the article, the author concludes that in the era of globalization with different topical problems in the creative sector of the economy there is a certain way out. This sector of the economy combines economy and culture, develops small and medium-sized businesses, reduces unemployment, and monetizes human ideas and creativity. Today sociocultural practices are required to be mobile, digitalized, merging different directions within the sphere, flexible, unique content, subordinated to economic indicators, and attracting attention to a particular event or problem. (shrink)

It is a matter of some irony that John Dewey’s pragmatist ethics remains relatively unexplored as a resource for ethics instructors, particularly those who teach practical ethics. The irony lies in the fact that Dewey’s ideas on the nature of moral inquiry are especially commensurate with the aims and methodology of practical ethics education. Two elements of Dewey’s moral philosophy are of particular relevance in this connection: the notion of moral inquiry as problem solving, and the role of imaginative deliberation (...) in moral inquiry. This chapter explores the influence of Dewey’s moral philosophy on contemporary approaches to practical ethics by showing how it is implicit in moral decision-making models and accounts of the moral imagination. I further show how for Dewey, the latter is a central feature of moral inquiry, both as it bears on developing skill in addressing morally problematic situations, as well as its indirect influence on moral self-cultivation. I end by suggesting that instructors would be serving students well by approaching the teaching of practical ethics through a Deweyan lens and employing pedagogical strategies emphasizing ethics as moral inquiry. (shrink)

With the rising popularity of mindfulness practice, it is necessary and crucial to evaluate mindfulness using comprehensive and objective measures. The instruments to assess mindfulness in China mainly evaluate mindfulness as a state or trait mode. Few process measures have been developed to clarify effective therapy benefits of the alterations obtained using mindfulness practice. Therefore, this study aims to adapt the Applied Mindfulness Process Scale into Mandarin and explore in detail the reliability and validity of this novel-translated measure. (...) Following cross-cultural modification for original AMPS into Mandarin as per established guidelines, psychometric evaluation was performed on a cohort of 234 Chinese adults. Construct validity was analyzed through exploratory factor analysis, together with confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was assessed by internal consistency together with test-retest reliability. Findings indicated that the internal consistency was high, with Cronbach’s alpha being 0.936. The principal component analysis led to a three-factor structure that explained 67.374% of all variations. The three-factor model was consistent with the original scale model. Based upon confirmatory factor analyses, all fitting indices satisfied the standard, which showed a close fit to the data. Therefore, the newly multi-culturally modified AMPS has sufficient validity, test-retest reliability, together with internal consistency. Chinese AMPS may offer researchers and clinicians a psychometrically optimized tool for evaluating the application of mindfulness and change process within mindfulness-based interventions in Mainland China. (shrink)

This study delves into the intricate realm of geographical knowledge development in the premodern Chinese and Islamic worlds, emphasizing their substantial contributions to global cartographic practices. Through a detailed examination of ancient maps and geographical texts, it reveals the sophistication and precision inherent in these cultures’ approaches to mapping and spatial understanding. The research underscores the role of multi-civilizational interactions in enriching scientific discourse, challenging the prevailing Eurocentric views in historical science and technology narratives. By highlighting the nuanced advancements (...) and exchange of geographical insights between these civilizations, the study offers a more inclusive and comprehensive perspective on the evolution of cartography and geographical knowledge, reshaping our understanding of the global history of science. (shrink)

The implementation of socially sustainable practices in suppliers situated in challenging institutional contexts is examined using institutional theory, both in terms of how institutional pressures affect implementation and what explains the decoupling of practices from the day-to-day reality. A multi-case study approach is employed based on seven apparel industry suppliers in Bangladesh. Cross-case analysis highlights the coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures on suppliers to implement socially sustainable practices. A key pressure identified that has not previously been highlighted in the literature (...) is horizontal collaboration between buyers, which intensifies coercive pressure on suppliers and increases the consequences of non-compliance. The factors that contribute to decoupling are categorized into firm-, supply chain-, and environment-related factors. Further, six propositions are developed on how specific forms of institutional pressure can tackle particular decoupling factors to support implementation. The paper responds to recent calls for greater scrutiny of why and how firms decouple ethical practices and supports the development of the literature specifically on social sustainability, which lags behind that on environmental sustainability and has been largely focused on the Western buyer perspective. The findings have implications for the diffusion of ethical practices into supply chains, especially distant suppliers in very different and challenging institutional contexts. (shrink)

The present paper addresses the issue of determining the best international practices for developing soft skills among students of different specialties through carrying out a theoretical review. Basing on literature on present-day theory the authors make an attempt to explain soft skills dichotomies, summarize existing approaches to classifying soft skills, consolidate and document best international practices for soft skills development among potential employees of different specialties including bachelor students, master students, doctoral and postdoctoral students. The data obtained in the (...) theoretical analysis reveal that the possible ambiguities in the interpretation of the concept of “soft skills” are caused, on the one hand, by the dichotomic perception of their nature by present-day researchers and educators and, on the other hand, by the absence of the common language which makes it difficult to provide a more unified definition most satisfactory to all concerned. The authors are convinced that soft skills have a cross-cutting nature and regard them as personal and interpersonal meta-qualities and meta-abilities that are vital to any potential employee who is going to make positive contributions not only to his/her professional development but to the development of a company he/she is going to work for. The results of the conducted theoretical review clearly indicate that the absence of the unified understanding of the concept of “soft skills” is reflected in the existence of different approaches to classifying soft skills, let alone, the selection of didactic tools for developing soft skills among potential employees. (shrink)