Embracing Diversity in Organisations by Promoting Identity

Recognising diversity in organisations through enabling the promotion of individual identity is key to successful participation and learning. This paper will discuss ethnographic data from a UK debt recovery organisation that explored the lives of the debt collectors. Making use of sociocultural theory, the organisation was constructed as a community of practice. In seeking to understand the mechanisms of learning, it emerged that relationships that were centred on learning and knowledge sharing were key to employees understanding the practices of the organisation. The tacit, nuanced nature of knowledge in this organisation relied on functioning learning relationships and an environment that encouraged the promotion of individual identity to enable successful participation. Employees assumed the roles of more learned other and apprentice, supporting Vygotskian (1978) notions of learning through relationship. The implications of this for organisations are that a blueprint for learning within organisation cannot be created and, instead, businesses should value the diversity of individual identity

Exploring practice and participation in transition to postgraduate social science study

This project aims to understand the processes of inclusion and transition into postgraduate education. Whilst there has been a research focus on transitions in schools and transitions to undergraduate study, postgraduate study has largely been ignored. This project includes the voices of both staff and students in generating data that has enabled the formulation of practical recommendations to HEIs surrounding the design of postgraduate learning environments and, importantly, recommendations for students and staff for managing learning and ensuring inclusion

‘If you don’t understand this don’t worry, for the rest of you I will go on’: Deconstructing children’s opportunity to participate in the classroom community of practice

Learning is a fundamental concern within Western societies as demonstrated through the development of schooling systems and National Curriculums, both of which strive to take charge of and advance children’s learning

The design of a yacht manufacturing facility for Robertson & Caine in the East London harbour

This treatise deals with the design of a new yacht manufacturing facility for Robertson and Caine in the East London harbour. It arose from issues with the degradation of the precinct and social and economic issues relating to this. This treatise investigates the issues and process involved in the design of a Yacht manufacturing Facility in the East London Harbour. The purpose of this treatise is to better understand the contextual, spatial, physical and theoretical nature of a Yacht Manufacturing Facility. This identifies a set of architectural issues to which an appropriate architectural design is proposed. Conclusions based on the research findings and analysis of a selected site will be drawn and translated to formulate a vision for the proposed yacht manufacturing facility

Talking about Taekwon-Do

An ethnographic study exploring children’s experiences of participating in International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) Taekwon-Do, in a North of England Taekwon-Do school

Learner Identity and Transition; an Ethnographic Exploration of Undergraduate Trajectories

This paper considers ethnographic data collected during undergraduate students’ transition to Higher Education (H.E.) Drawing on Lave and Wenger’s (1991) Communities of Practice theory the research focuses on the psychological process of identity as a trajectory, considering how reconciliation and negotiation of identities across and between communities influences transition. We aimed to explore the academic practices which construct the transition experience, to analyse those practices in terms of student identity and participation and to explore some of the psychological mechanisms which underpin transition to H.E. The data sources included observations, informal social interactions, one to one interviews and document analysis. Data collection took place over the first term of an undergraduate course. A theoretical thematic analysis was undertaken investigating the ways in which identity shaped participation, the practices that influenced participation and how participation subsequently influenced learner identity. We argue that the reconciliation of past, present and future identities is psychologically challenging for students during educational transition and this influences individual trajectories. Some practices assumed an already autonomous learner rather than enabling development of autonomy. Inability to participate in valued (and often implicit) academic practice was seen to negatively influence learner identities, delaying full participation. The focus for transition research could therefore consider enabling systems and practices which acknowledge differences and fully support successful changes in learner identity

Communities of practice in academia

Up to now, the relationships among the fundamental notions of communities of practice (CoPs), i.e. knowledge, participation, identity, and artefact development have been based mainly on results from qualitative studies; they are not yet sufficiently based on quantitative evidence. Starting from a literature review, we formulate a quantitative, causal model of CoPs that describes these variables in the context of academic communities, and aim to validate this model in two academic CoPs with a total of N = 208 participants. A cluster analysis classifies the participants into clusters that are in line with the core-periphery structure known from previous qualitative studies. A regression analysis provides evidence for the hypothesized model on the basis of quantitative data. Suggested directions for future research are to focus on factors that determine CoP participants’ contributions to artefact development and on approaches to automated monitoring of virtual CoPs

Bioequivalence: The Regulatory Career of a Pharmaceutical Concept

Generic drugs cannot be marketed without regulatory and clinical demonstration of "bioequivalence." The authors argue that the concept of "bioequivalence" is a joint regulatory and scientific creation, not purely a technical concept, and not purely a legal concept. It developed at the interstices of networks of pharmacologists, regulators, food and drug lawyers, and American and European policy makers interested in "generic" drugs. This article provides a situated perspective on the history of bioequivalence, which emphasizes the shaping role of the state upon scientific processes, networks of regulators and scientists, and the centrality of transnational dynamics in the formation of drug regulatory standards.Governmen

Duvet Woman versus Action Man: The Gendered Aetiology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome According to English Newspapers

The media is a potent source of information and meanings where the unfamiliar and uncertain is concerned, this includes medical professionals. So portrayals of conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) are worthy of exploration in that they inform public and professional understandings. In the study reported here, we explore representations of CFS/ME within UK print media (1998-2015) using thematic analysis informed by a constructionist feminist perspective. We found that portrayals of CFS/ME differs meaningfully, depending on whether the sufferer is identified as a man or a woman. More specifically, the psychological and emotional tended to be foregrounded where women were concerned and the scepticism surrounding CFS/ME as a ‘non disease’ was much more evident. On some occasions this was dealt with directly, whilst on others it was ‘leaked in’ or hinted at. This serves to delegitimise the illness in women. In contrast, the physical was usually foregrounded in the case of men suffering from the condition and their experiences were accredited greater legitimacy. We problematize these representations and discuss the potential impact upon public and professional sympathy, treatment options and long-standing, gendered constructions of illness