AI-books, Vines, Bricks

AI-generated texts and images are here transformed, “translated” – carried over – into new forms

Painting a Nation: The Creation and Legacy of Alphonse Mucha’s Slav Epic

 In the early twentieth century, Czech artist Alphonse Mucha created the Slav Epic, a series of twenty monumental paintings depicting the history and struggles of the Slav and Czech people in their search for cultural and political identity. Despite Mucha’s intention to celebrate Slavic heritage, the Epic was met with controversy upon its unveiling in 1928, as its nationalist vision conflicted with an evolving political and national landscape. Critics dismissed the work as overly decorative, thus questioning its artistic merit and relevance. However, the Slav Epic continues to evoke discussions on Pan-Slavism, nationalism, and Czech cultural identity. Through its mythologization of Slavic history, the series remains a significant, if polarizing, work that reflects the complexities of national identity. Ultimately, the Slav Epic is a testament to art’s power to provoke thoughts and emotions in its ability to engage and be relevant to a multi-generational audience.&nbsp

Racialized Lived Experiences of No-knock Raids in Canadian Policing: Supporting the Dissenting Opinion in the Legal Case of R v Cornell

A no-knock police raid is a law enforcement tactic where officers enter a private dwelling without prior notice. In Canada, there is a significant lack of comprehensive data, on the frequency and outcomes of no-knock police raids and their unintended damages and consequences. While quantitative studies on police violence have been informative, there is a significant gap in documenting racialized lived experiences with no-knock police raids in Canada. This research addresses the gap by focusing on the lived experiences of four Black and one South Asian individual subjected to no-knock police raids. Qualitative interviews were conducted in 2022 followed with thematic analysis. This exploratory study, though small in sample size, sheds light on the overlooked experiences of individuals subjected to no-knock police raids. It provides data to support the dissenting opinion in the legal case R v Cornell which advocates for the regulation of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams including controls on no knock tactics in Canada. The findings contribute to understanding the emotional and psychological toll no-knock police raids have on racialized individuals and communities. Findings contribute to the broader literature and discussions on how to improve policing tactics to mitigate harm by preventing unintended collateral harm and better protect privacy rights

Training and development of coaches: What can we learn from reaction surveys?

This study examined coaches’ perceived value and utility of participating in training and professional development. Specifically, coaches’ reaction to perceived satisfaction with a presenter, knowledge learned in the session, and the setting where the training took place. Participants were coaches who attended a 3-day Global Coaches House seminar during the course of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Coaches were asked to complete a 17-item reaction survey for each session they attended. The reaction survey assessed the degree of satisfaction with the presenter, session, and setting. A total of 381 surveys were completed by 175 coaches where each coach completed approximately two surveys. Results revealed that coaches were highly satisfied with the session and presenter but less satisfied with the setting. Stepwise regression analysis showed that four items accounted for 75.9% of the variance to predict coaches’ satisfaction with the presenter, including ‘ability to relate to the audience’, ‘knowledge of the subject matter’, ‘ability to keep trainees’ interest’, and ‘delivery and explanation of materials’. Similarly, four items explained 66.2% of the variance to predict coaches’ satisfaction with the session including ‘the session prepared trainees to perform new coaching tasks’, ‘satisfaction with communication of the session objectives’, ‘the relevance of the session to their job’ and ‘the session emphasized the most important information’. Finally, three items accounted for 49.2% of the variance to explain coaches’ satisfaction with the setting, including ‘satisfaction with the audio and visual aids’, ‘satisfaction with supplies and equipment’, and ‘classrooms and furniture’

The Rupture: Transformation towards a Posthumanist Education

Acknowledging the complexity that the Covid-19 global pandemic and the climate emergency have revealed, an UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education notes, “[I]t is evident that we cannot return to the world as it was before” (2020, p. 3). Can a posthuman feminism approach to education embracing transformation through affirmative ethics and the cyborg’s journey in speculative fiction narratives help realise our potentia, a portal through which to think differently, a rupture to go beyond the potestas of our times? Can we acknowledge the rupture and allow ‘a line of flight’ within education that breaks from the norm, destabilizing the status quo of human exceptionalism, which privileges some humans over others, and neglects the non-human? Let us re-imagine our world, via pedagogy, via philosophy, via stories to develop affirmative education for the world to come through a posthuman feminism approach interconnecting humans and non-human-others in our more-than-human world

Fostering the Human Rights of Migrant Children Through Art and Educational Practices at the United States-Mexico Border

This paper explores the impact of art and educational practices on fostering the psychosocial well-being and human rights awareness of migrant children residing in shelters at the U.S.-Mexico border. This population often faces acute vulnerabilities due to migratory status and exposure to trauma during transit, including violence, displacement, and family separation. The study emphasizes the collaborative efforts of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and early childhood educators within these shelters. Data collection entailed conducting interviews with early childhood educators, art instructors, and literacy mediators who work directly with migrant children. Observations were carried out in reading rooms and multilevel classroom settings, focusing on the structure and flow of activities to ensure they addressed the emotional and psychological needs of the children involved. This research is situated against the backdrop of migrant families and children entrapped at the U.S.-Mexico border due to the Remain in Mexico and Title 42 policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. These policies have resulted in prolonged stays in shelters for asylum-seeking families, creating environments characterized by immigration uncertainty, limited resources, and emotional strain. The findings illuminate the effectiveness of art and educational practices and the crucial role of early childhood educators in helping children process trauma, express their emotions, and develop a sense of identity and agency amidst challenging circumstances

Through the Eyes of a Visitor: A Different Perspective on Teaching

Educators and teacher educators can develop blind spots to professional ideas and issues. Objectivity may come through the eyes of someone outside the profession. This study looked at a higher education advisor studying education, but who had no intention to apply for licensure nor to teach. She participated in a materials development project to create culturally-appropriate electronic learning materials for Thai children. During the project, the participant reflected on not only developing materials for teaching but also teaching itself. In this study, we examined and triangulated the reflective journals, interviews, journal reflection and final philosophy statement of the participant. The data showed that she expressed ideas related to the profession of teaching that the education majors in the project did not express. The findings provide insights that can inform both English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching specifically, and teacher education more broadly

Sovereignty’s Sonic Limits: Music and Spectacle at the Border

Despite the wide proliferation of bordering processes across places, platforms, and populations, movements for border justice often maintain a materialist and geographically narrow focus. Activists draw public attention to the border’s physical infrastructure, challenging the use of barriers, policing, and incarceration to violently prevent and punish transnational migration. To counter this “border spectacle” enacted by the State (De Genova, 2013), protest against contemporary border regimes may take its own spectacular form, whether as sabotage, blockading and disruption, or as humanitarian interventions. Border resistance may also manifest as artistic interventions, including musical concerts, competing with the State over regimes of representation. In this article I consider what these situated interventions reveal about the nature of borders in an age defined by the State’s paradoxical efforts to both materialize (as in the form of barrier building) and dematerialize (as in the form of data driven surveillance) state borders in defense of an increasingly elusive national sovereignty. To do so I examine a quartet of musical concerts staged at (or across) four national borders – Mexico/US; East/West Germany; North/South Korea; Columbia/Venezuela – to demonstrate how artists, activists, and even governments have attempted a type of performative spectacle which simultaneously stages and challenges sovereignty, undermining the border’s function as a limit and temporarily enacting a world without borders

A Democratic Ethos or a Democratic Community: How perceptions of self and others can contribute to the formation of an authentically inviting community

Invitational Theory is rooted in three theoretical foundations, perceptual theory, self-concept theory, and a democratic ethos (Purkey, Novak, and Fretz, 2020). This essay addresses the third of these foundations, a Democratic Ethos. While perceptual theory and self-concept theory provide a relational foundation for invitational theory, it is the vision and practice of a democratic ethos that turns theory into reality, leading to the formation of an inviting culture where everybody matters and people learn to live together. In this essay the author seeks to re-introduce the Invitational community to this important theoretical foundation, which could profoundly and positively impact the enacting and application of invitational theory. The author reviews the invitational theory literature concerning a democratic ethos, and also draws on insights from a number of other theoretical voices. The essay concludes with an exploration of a number of potential implications and applications for the Invitational community

William Watson Purkey: In Memoriam

In Memoriam for William Watson Purkey for volume 3