May I have some more time to play, please? : An Exploration of Javanese Indonesian Children’s Happiness

Happiness was defined as a positive emotional state that is subjectively perceived individuals. This study is aimed to identify what factors which contribute to child’s happiness in Java, Indonesia. This research is very important considering the concept of happiness from a child's perspective is rarely studied. This study used an open ended question to 51 young Javanese Indonesian children 3-5 year-old and they answered individually. Children were asked a single question “what makes you happy most?”. The study was done in Java, Indonesia. The data were screened by using content analysis for the presence of statement revealing factors or source perceived as contributing to child happiness. The result showed that the most response mentioned by Javanese children is: have more time to play and given toys. This response was followed by other responses such as food and drink, hobbies, learning activity in school, indoor and outdoor activity in leisure time, material things, and people. In addition to the result, this study also found  that age and gender differences in what children perceive to make them happy. This result is clearly different from western study result. The study confirms a theory on the child development about the importance of daily interactions in children usual context. Keywords: children, happiness, age, gender

Teachers’ Ideological Dilemmas during the Pandemic at Higher Education Institutions:

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted higher education (hereinafter “HE”) teaching and learning approaches globally since 2020. It has compelled a major shift from face-to-face to online delivery, affecting the ways HE teachers teach and communicate with students. In this paper, we explore an under-researched area, teachers’ ideological dilemmas surrounding online teaching and issues related to remote or technologically mediated communication adopted in three countries, China, Japan and the UK. Drawing on the theoretical and methodological framework of discursive psychology, we focus on the concepts called ideological dilemmas and the kaleidoscope of common sense in order to examine common sense views of HE teachers regarding online and onsite teaching as well as blended learning where these constitute ideological dilemmas. Taking an exploratory, small case study approach, we present a discourse analysis of interviews with HE teachers and reveal their ideological dilemmas over online teaching. We identify the patterns of shifting justifications in the interviews. Our discussion highlights the dynamic and dilemmatic nature of the HE teachers’ views, some of which are shaped by the local university context, as well as the different ways in which the spread of COVID-19 is taking place and the various measures taken by each country’s government against the damaging effects of the pandemic

Current Situation and Future Development of Activity Theory in China

The cultural-historical activity theory was developed by the Russian psychologist Vygotsky and his colleagues in the 1920s and 1930s. Since then, it has been expanded globally and rapidly, particularly during the past 15 years. However, there has been little interaction between the broader international community and China with respect to the development of the theory and its applications in China, which has taken place along a path of its own. This paper aims to examine this development, focusing on 1) the general situation and background of the research, 2) the basic understanding, theoretical construction and unique features of development; 3) the focal areas in and limitations of the application; and 4) idea evolution in terms of different generation theories. At the end of the paper, emerging trends and future prospects of activity theoretical research in China will be suggested and discussed

Culture shapes how we look: Comparison between Chinese and African university students

Previous cross-cultural studies find that cultures can shape how we look during scene perception, but don’t mention its condition and limited to the East and West. This study recruited Chinese and African students to testify the cultural effects on two phases. In free-viewing phase: Africans fixated more on the focal objects than Chinese, while Chinese payed more attention to the backgrounds than Africans especially on the first fourth and fifth fixations. In recognition phase, there was no cultural difference on perception, but Chinese recognized more objects than Africans. Based on chosen subjects, we conclude that cultural differences exit on scene perception under conditions of no task and more clearly in its later period, but that differences may be hidden in a deeper way (e.g. memory) in task condition

Knowledge Sharing Among University Faculty Members

Knowledge production is part of higher education institutions (HEIs) and knowledge sharing (KS) is extremely important in this regard. However, many higher education institutions have not embraced the need for knowledge sharing among their faculty members as an inevitable endeavor to succeed in providing knowledge to students and other individuals. This article highlights and discusses some effective ways of knowledge sharing among faculty members in higher education and emphasizes how these KS strategies help to promote quality teaching and research among faculty members to achieve the goal of higher education. Besides, it discusses the essence of KS, namely: it preserves knowledge; it is a necessary ingredient for personal growth; it makes learning accessible and convenient; it promotes unity and collaboration among faculty members; it identifies gaps and opportunities; it provides quality higher education and ensures better world.  Further, the article underlines some challenges impeding KS ranging from individual to organization and technology, and provides appropriate remedies. Finally, the article highlights some effective ways of knowledge sharing encompassing speaking, writing and technology, which are crucial to assist university faculty members share knowledge among them. Keywords: Knowledge sharing, university faculty members, higher educatio